WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Philippines directs the State to establish and maintain a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the goals of national development, and further prescribes that all educational institutions shall aim to develop scientific, technological and vocational efficiency;

WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 6-A promulgated on September 29, 1972, it has been declared a policy to reorient the educational system toward an accelerated national economic growth; and

WHEREAS, the conversion of the Visayas Agricultural College into a State Agricultural College, broadening for this purpose its curricular programs, would serve to achieve the above national goals;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree to be part of the laws of the land the following:

SECTION 1. The present Visayas Agricultural College located in the Municipality of Baybay, Leyte, is hereby converted into the VISAYAS STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, hereinafter referred in this Decree as the College.

SEC. 2. The College shall primarily provide higher vocational, professional, and technical instruction and training in agricultural and industrial fields with special emphasis given to the coconut industry. It shall also promote research, advance studies, and progressive leadership in the fields of agriculture including agricultural education and home technology, with special emphasis given to coconut industry, fishery, forestry and industrial education.

SEC. 3. In addition to its present secondary agricultural course and undergraduate courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Homemaking and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, the College shall offer undergraduate courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering, and Bachelor of Science in Forestry; post graduate courses leading to the degrees of Master of Science in Agriculture and Master of Science in Agricultural Education; courses in fresh-water fish culture and such other degree courses and special courses as the Board of Trustees may deem necessary.

SEC. 4. No student shall be denied admission to the College by reason of sex, ethnic consideration, or religious belief or affiliation.

SEC. 5. The head of the college shall be known as the President of the Visayas State College of Agriculture. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines.

The power and duties of the president of the college in addition to those specifically provided for in this Decree, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the president of a college.

SEC. 6. The governing body of the college shall be the Board of Trustees of the Visayas State College of Agriculture. It shall be composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture who shall be the chairman, the Director of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture in Los Baños, the President of the College, and four prominent residents of Leyte who are distinguished leaders in agricultural education or in agricultural activities.

Such residents shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines. Of the first group appointed, the President shall designate one to serve for one year; one to serve for two years; one to serve for three years; and one to serve for four years. Thereafter persons appointed to succeed such members shall hold office for a term of four years and until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified. In case of a permanent vacancy, the position shall be filled by appointment by the President of the Philippines. Such appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term only.

When the Secretary of Education and Culture is unable to perform his duties as Chairman of the Board due to illness, absence or other cause, or in case of vacancy in the office, the Undersecretary of Education and Culture shall temporarily perform the functions of the Chairman of the said Board. When both the Secretary and the Undersecretary of Education and Culture are unable to exercise the powers of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the members of the Board shall elect for among themselves a temporary chairman who shall act as Chairman thereof.

SEC. 7. The members of the Board of Trustees shall serve without compensation but they shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the Board or upon other official business authorized by resolution thereof.

SEC. 8. In addition to its general powers of administration, the Board of Trustees shall have the following powers and duties:

1. To receive and appropriate for the purposes specified by law such sums as may be provided for the support of the college.
2. To confer degrees upon successful candidates for graduation of the College. It may also confer the usual honorary degrees upon persons in recognition of learning, statesmanship or eminence in science, agriculture, forestry, industry or public service related to such fields;
3. Subject to Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, to appoint, upon recommendation of the President of the College, the Deans of the different schools of the College, the Registrar, the heads of departments, professors, instructors, lecturers and other employees of the College; to fix, in accordance with WAPCO rates, their compensation; to prescribe hours of service, duties and the conditions of works as it may deem proper; to grant to them in its discretion, leave of absence under such regulations as it may promulgate, any provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, and to remove them for cause upon investigation and hearing- pursuant to Civil Service Law governing disciplinary action;
4. To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the College Council as hereinafter provided;
5. To fix the tuition fees required of students as well as matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory trust fund of the College, and remit the same to the office or authority concerned;
6. To provide fellowships and scholarship for deserving faculty members and students;
7. To prescribe rules for its own government and for this purpose, to enact such regulations not contrary to law, as may be necessary;
8. To receive in trust legacies, gifts and donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the College or of a department thereof, or for aid to any student in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and in default thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may in its discretion determine;
9. To provide vocational training to adult citizens and out-of-school youths; and
10. To name after prominent Filipinos or heroes any building, annex, ground, or branch of the College.

SEC. 9. A quorum of the Board of Trustees shall consist of a majority of all the members holding office at the time the meeting of the Board is called. All processes against the Board of Trustees shall be served on the President or secretary thereof.

SEC. 10. On or before the fifteenth day of June of each year, the Board of Trustees shall submit to the President of the Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the progress, condition, and needs of the College.

SEC. 11. There shall be a College Council consisting of the President of the College and all members of the faculty of the College. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. It shall fix the requirements for admission to the College, as well as for graduation and the conferring of degrees, subject to review of the Board of Trustees. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be recipients of degrees. Through the President of the College or a duly authorized committee, the Council shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline.

SEC. 12. The body of instructors and professors of the College shall constitute the faculty of the College, with the President of the College as the presiding officer.

No member of the faculty of the College shall attempt directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Trustees, to influence students or attendants at the College towards any ideology, political or otherwise, which preaches the overthrow of the government through violence or subversion.

SEC. 13. There shall be a secretary of the College who shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation of the President of the College. He shall be the Secretary of the Board and also of the College, and shall keep such of the records of the College as may be determined by the Board of Trustees.

SEC. 14. The President of the College may, upon prior consultation with the superintendent of schools of the province, designate any secondary school in the division concerned as training or laboratory school of the College.

SEC. 15. The treasurer of the Philippines shall be ex-officio treasurer of the College. All accounts and expenses therefor shall be audited by the Commission on Audit and all disbursements shall be made in accordance with auditing rules and regulations.

SEC. 16. Heads of bureaus and offices of the National Government are hereby authorized to loan, or transfer, upon request of the President of the College, such apparatus, equipment or supplies as may be needed by the College and to detail employees for duty therein, when in the judgment of the head of the bureau or office, such apparatus, equipment, supplies or the services of such employees can be spared without serious detriment to the public service. Employees so detailed shall perform such duty as is required under such detail, and the time so employed shall be counted as part of their regular official service.

SEC. 17. The requirements provided in this Decree as may prove adverse to the present faculty and employees of the Visayas Agricultural College who may be absorbed by the Visayas State College of Agriculture shall not apply to them. But future appointees to the said College shall be subject to all the requirements provided in this Decree.

SEC. 18. All parcels of land, buildings, equipment and facilities owned by the Visayas Agricultural College, as well as all obligations and appropriations thereof, shall be transferred to the Visayas State College of Agriculture.

SEC. 19. In addition to the amount already appropriated for the Visayas Agricultural College, there is hereby appropriated, from the funds of the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of two million pesos for purposes of carrying out immediately the provisions of this Decree. Hereafter, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Decree shall be included annually in the General Appropriations Decree.

SEC. 20. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.