The Pampanga State University (PSU) campus in Bacolor town will be named after Don Honorio Ventura.
Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) Bacolor will now be called PSU Don Honorio Ventura Campus.
Thus clarified outgoing Pampanga Third District Representative Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales, Jr.
PSU was inaugurated on June 27, 2025 via House Bill 9989 authored by Gonzales, which was enacted as Republic Act No. 12148.
Some groups aired their opposition to its renaming, citing history, culture and tradition.
"The Bacolor campus [seat of the school] will still be called PSU-DHV campus. It's not about the name but that sense of identity, sense of belonging. Like pag sinabing nag graduate ka sa Pampanga State University, Kapampangan ka. PSU is the pride of Kapampangans," Gonzales said.
The history of DHVSU will not be forgotten, he added.
The former lawmaker paid tribute to Honorio Ventura, who was the governor of Pampanga from July 30, 1887 to September 3, 1940. "I thank Don Honorio Ventura for the school."
The university was established on November 4, 1861, as Escuela de Artes y Oficios de Bacolor, a grammar school, by an Augustinian friar, Juan P. Zita, aided by civic leader Don Felino Gil on land donated by the Suarez family.
The school was renamed Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trades in 1978 was converted into a university and renamed Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University in 2009.
PSU president Enrique Baking said they are not abandoning history or the past.
"We are not abandoning history or the past. If we are eyeing for the future, if you are trying to forecast something beneficial for the future, of course you have to take back what happened in the past and what is happening at present which will serve as the basis in charting your destiny. We are doing this for the next generation," he said.
The two officials said the renaming of the school is a "reaffirmation of the Kapampangan identity" after DHVSU's significant growth in enrollment and the diversity of courses offered.
Provisions of Republic Act No. 12148 state that the law will enable PSU to expand its curricular offerings like courses in the liberal arts, medical, and allied medical fields, open new extension campuses, continue academic freedom for students, and provide scholarship programs and admission.
Some 42,000 students are enrolled in 60 different academic programs of PSU at campuses located in Bacolor, Porac, Mexico, Lubao, Santo Tomas, Candaba, Apalit, and the City of San Fernando.