MAASIN City Mayor Nacional Mercado beamed with pride over the integration of Maasin City College (MCC) to Southern Leyte State University (SLSU)-Maasin City Campus, saying it is “a realization of a dream.”
“MCC was established with the primary purpose of providing quality public education to the constituents of Maasin City and the neighboring towns. The City of Maasin being the set of the province, we dreamed of having a university with the goal of expanding what we have so we could offer more; however, our resources are not enough,” said Mercado.
He added that the integration with the SLSU, which is the existing university of the province, is the only way for the city to have its own university.
“Thus, when there was a proposal for integration, the city was very delighted and just recently, when the bill was signed into law, we rejoiced for having been given the chance for integration. Finally, our future graduates will be graduates of a prestigious university,” Mercado said.
According to the mayor, the SLSU-Maasin City Campus will still offer the same courses they are currently offering, the Social Work and Public Administration.
“These two courses will be the campus flagship. Though this also possessed a big challenge to the local government unit, we readily accept the same for we know this integration will be for the greater good of the City and the province in general,” he added.
MCC, which started in 2007, has 60 faculty and staff.
On Tuesday, October 9, President Rodrigo Duterte presented the Republic Act No. 11079 which offers the Integration of the MCC to SLSU in the presence of Southern Leyte congressional, provincial, and city officials, along with the Commission on Higher Education and SLSU officials.
“I’m happy for the Maasin guys to have their own state university. It’s a long dream... Makatapos na talaga kayo sa pag-aral (You will really finish your studies),” Duterte, who was born in Maasin City, said in his speech in Malacañang.
“It is my sincere hope that by affording the youth of Maasin City access to quality university education, they will be further inspired to take part in nation-building through highly specialized research programs in various fields of endeavor,” the president added.
Former Maasin City Vice Mayor Maloney Samaco authored the ordinance on the creation of MCC in 2006.