BACOLOR --- Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) will soon be named Pampanga State University
This, after the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 9989 on Tuesday, March 12.
The bill is also set to expand the university’s "curricular offerings and its governing board".
Pampanga 3rd District Representative Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., who is the principal author of the bill, said the renaming of the university “is also an initiative of our good Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.”
“We thank him for his support. He considers himself a Kapampangan. His mother, Madam Juliette Gomez-Romualdez, traces her roots to Mabalacat City,” he said.
Gonzales thanked his colleagues for approving the bill.
He said this development would be the school’s answer to the “increasing challenges of modern tertiary education.”
“There is a need to further strengthen and consolidate the synergy of DHVSU and its campuses. Hence, its conversion to a university system will greatly enhance the university’s delivery of quality education, and in turn support the socio-economic development of the province of Pampanga and Central Luzon,” he said.
House Bill No. 9989 provides that the main campus of Pampanga State University shall be in the town of Bacolor.
It comprises the campuses in the towns of Mexico, Porac, Sto. Tomas, Lubao, Candaba, Apalit, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Guagua, and Sasmuan, “as well as other campuses that will be created prior to and after the effectivity of this Act.”
The bill also states that Pampanga State University “may open new branches or extension campuses in consortium with other academic institutions as it may deem necessary, to improve access to quality education, promote innovation and progress in the academe, and advance its research capabilities, subject to applicable arrangements with other institutions.”
The university’s general mandate is to provide advanced instruction and professional training in education, engineering, science and technology, arts and humanities, information and communications technology, liberal arts, medical and health-related programs, and other relevant fields of study.
The university shall also conduct research and extension services in support of the socio-economic development of Pampanga and Central Luzon.
The Pampanga State University shall comply with the policies, standards and guidelines of the Commission on Higher Education for the offering of courses and the introduction of new and revised programs, according to the bill.
The bill provides that state university shall have the general powers of a corporation embodied in the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines.
The exercise of its corporate powers shall be vested exclusively in its board of regents and the university president.
The chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education shall head the Pampanga State University board of regents as chairperson, with the university president as vice chairperson.
The bill defines the other board members to include the chairperson of the Senate committee on higher, technical and vocational education; chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on higher and technical education; the regional directors of the National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Trade and Industry; the presidents of the federation of Pampanga State University faculty associations, federation of university student councils and federation of alumni associations; a representative of university non-teaching personnel; two prominent citizens from the private sector; and another two prominent citizens from the province of Pampanga.
The bill also defines the powers of the Pampanga State University board of regents, president and other officers.
Bill No. 9989 likewise states that the Pampanga State University “shall enjoy academic freedom and institutional autonomy pursuant to Paragraph 2, Section 5 of Article XIV of the Constitution.”
It gives the university certain tax exemptions. Funding for the university shall be included in the annual national budget.