Law creating Mindanao Polytechnic college signed

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo will sign into law Wednesday a bill converting the Mindanao Polytechnic State College (MPSC) in Cagayan de Oro City into a state university. A Malacañang statement Tuesday said this was in response to demands of industries and business establishments in Region 10 and other parts of the country for high-level manpower. The law, which stemmed from bills authored by Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, will convert the MPSC into the Mindanao University of Science and Technology (MUST). The signing will be held Wednesday morning at the MPSC compound in Lapasan village in Cagayan de Oro City. Witnessing the signing are Senate majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Cagayan de Oro 1st Dist. Rep. Bambi Emano and Rep. Rodriguez. Earlier, Arroyo had stressed the need for a critical mass of research-and-development-capable manpower to make the Philippines a first-world country in 20 years. The Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) also defines a strategy to further science and technology, and accelerate economic progress by enhancing the competitiveness of human capital; develop a critical mass of scientists and R&D personnel; speed up knowledge creation and dissemination to push productivity; and improve the mechanisms that promote technology-based entrepreneurship. As a state college, the MPSC will be run like a university at its main campus in Lapasan village and in its satellite campuses in Jasaan and Alubijid in Misamis Oriental, Oroquieta City, and Panaon, Misamis Occidental. MPSC students are known for high passing percentage in engineering board examinations. MPSC has been certified under Category A by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC). It is one of the 14 state colleges and universities classified as Level IV by the joint evaluation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Converting MPSC into MUST is in response to Northern Mindanao's need for a wider and more comprehensive higher-education provider to match demand of industries in the region for high level and research manpower in science and technology, the Palace said. Named as a CHED Zonal Research Center in Region X and Region XIII (CARAGA), the MPSC was also recognized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for its extension services. MPSC houses the DOST Provincial Science and Technology Center in Misamis Oriental, and the Oro Science and Technology Centrum that develops a science and technology culture. - GMANews.TV