THE Senate and the House of Representatives have approved the bicameral conference committee report on the measure integrating the Cebu City Mountain Extension Campus in Barangay Babag, Cebu City as a satellite campus of the Cebu Technological University.
House Bill 6030 is awaiting signature by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Once signed into law, the Cebu City Mountain Extension Campus shall be known as Cebu Technological University - Cebu City Mountain Satellite Campus.
Construction of the Babag campus started in mid-2016. Babag is located about 14 kilometers away from Cebu City proper.
The campus was designed to have 20 classrooms that can accommodate 1,000 students.
Cebu City South District Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa, who initiated the construction of the facility, is also one of the principal authors of the bill.
In a social media post in August 2017, Abellanosa said more than P100 million had been appropriated for the campus.
"Once...signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte, the CTU Cebu City Mountain Satellite Campus in Barangay Babag will be institutionalized and guaranteed an annual budget in the General Appropriations Act," Abellanosa stated.
"And finally, for the first time in the city's history, the mountain folks of Cebu City will have better access to free college education," he added.
Other principal authors of the measure include Zamboanga Sibugay Representative Ann Hofer and Davao Representative Karlo Nograles.
The bill amends Republic Act No. 9744, otherwise known as “An Act Converting the Cebu State College of Science and Technology System in the City of Cebu and All its Satellite Campuses Located in the Province of Cebu into a State University to be known as the Cebu Technological University and Appropriating Funds Therefore.” (Keith A. Calayag/SunStar Philippines)