TOLEDO City and three towns in Cebu’s Third District now have their own Cebu Technological University (CTU) regular campuses.
This is after the bills authored by Deputy Speaker Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, Third), which were approved by the Lower House and the Senate, lapsed into law last month.
Aside from Toledo City, the other three CTU campuses are situated in the towns of Pinamungajan, Asturias and Balamban.
“I am overjoyed to learn nga finally, nahimo na gyung balaod ang paghimog regular CTU campuses sa tulo ka mga lungsod ug usa ka dakbayan sa atong distrito. The amount needed for their operation will be included in the national annual budget. We can just imagine how many families will benefit from a more accessible education for the youth. Dili na kinahanglan moadto sa Cebu City,” said Garcia, who is starting a fresh term after running unopposed during the May 9, 2022 elections.
The four new CTU campuses were made possible after Garcia filed several house bills converting the satellite CTU campuses in the four areas in his district into regular campuses.
While Garcia’s house bills were eventually signed by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, they lapsed into law last June.
This led to the approval of Republic Act (RA) 11787 (CTU Pinamungajan Campus Act), RA 11788 (CTU Toledo Campus and CTU Asturias Campus Act) and RA 11757 (CTU Balamban Campus Act).
6 of 7 towns have regular campuses
With the passage of these laws, six of the seven local government units in Cebu’s Third District now have a CTU regular campus.
The first ones were in Barili and Tuburan. These government-run universities are offering short-term technical-vocational courses, as well as undergraduate and graduate courses.
Garcia was instrumental in providing buildings and equipment for these schools. He also distributed scholarship grants and educational assistance for the students. (PR)