CEBU, Philippines - Sixth District Rep. Gabriel Luis "Luigi" Quisumbing has filed a bill which seeks to convert the Cordova Public College in the town of Cordova into a state college to be known as the Cordova State College of Science and Technology.
Under House Bill No. 1922, Rep. Quisumbing said he filed the bill in order to ensure its fiscal autonomy, enhance its academic standards, and provide accessible and affordable but quality education to poor but deserving students not only from the municipality of Cordova but also from Lapu-Lapu.
The Cordova College shall primarily provide quality but affordable advanced instruction and professional training in engineering, industrial technologies, business, arts and sciences, and other relevant fields of study.
It shall also undertake research and extension services, and provide progressive leadership in its areas of specialization.
Cordova is a third class municipality with a population of around sixty thousand, Quisumbing said.
He said it is estimated that only ten percent of the town's yearly high school graduates pursue a college education while a small percentage find income employment with no security of tenure at the nearby export processing zones a factory workers.
The sixth district solon said that pursuing a college degree is almost impossible for many poverty-stricken residents of Cordova given the high cost of transportation, personal sustenance, and other necessary expenses that go with the equally high cost of education especially in private universities and colleges in Cebu City or Mandaue City.
This also holds true for neighboring communities where incidence of poverty is also high, Quisumbing said.
"In an effort to address this problem, the local government of the Municipality of Cordova established the Cordova Public College with the objective of providing accessible and affordable tertiary, vocational and technical education to the youth of the municipality," he said.
Quisumbing also hopes that the establishment of the college will stimulate the economic activity in the area and provide residents with the opportunity to acquire skills and education necessary for them to obtain decent and stable jobs for the improvement of their economic and social standing and for their total development as individuals as well.
He said it is the state's mandate to establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of society.
With the conversion of the Cordova Public College into a state college, Quisumbing hopes to seek adequate support and funds from the national budget to ensure that the institution has the necessary facility, personal and instructional materials which are at par with other tertiary learning institutions. (THE FREEMAN)