President Benigno Aquino III signed into law a bill converting the Negros State College of Agriculture in Kabankalan City into a state university before leaving for New Zealand, Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District), one of its authors, said yesterday.

Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District), the late Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (Neg. Occ., 5th District), Rep. Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna) and Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara (Aurora) co-authored with Alvarez House Bill 1814 which called for the conversion of the college into a university.

Juan Miguel Zubiri filed a counterpart bill in the Senate before he resigned, she added.

Rep. Alvarez said the bill was originally filed by her father, Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez Jr., in the 14th Congress when he was a congressman, and she re-filed it when she took over his post in the 15th Congress.

NSCA was established as the Negros State College of Agriculturein 1946 and was converted to Negros Occidental Agriculture College in 1977.

As a congressman, Vice Governor Alvarez sponsored NOAC’s conversion into state college in 2001, she said. Its main campus is in Kabankalan City.

The congresswoman said it was her father who initiated the establishment of NSCA extension campuses in Ilog, Candoni, Cauayan, Sipalay, Hinobaan, Moises Padilla, Hinigaran, and Victorias.

Establishment of extension campuses in strategic areas where college education is not easily available is one of the priority projects of the vice governor, she said.

Today, NSCA's enrollment is 6,218 with about 200 faculty members. It offers courses mainly in agriculture as well as education, human resource management, engineering, computer science and criminology, she said.

“The signing of this bill into law is the best birthday gift ever. Quality and affordable education is now more readily available to our youth,” said the congresswoman, who celebrated her birthday Saturday.*CPG

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