THE STATE shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.
It is likewise the policy of the State to establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society.
The Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) has a number of extension campuses in the Province of Pampanga, located in the Municipalities of Sto. Tomas, Porac, Lubao, Candaba, Apalit, Mexico, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Guagua and Sasmuan.
These municipalities provide annual funding for expenses related to the operation of these extension campuses to include payment of personnel services, construction and improvement of academic buildings and support facilities.
These extension campuses have been providing the people of the locality and nearby areas, especially poor but deserving students, years of accessible and quality education despite their modest resources.
DHVSU has greatly helped in improving the economic status of the people of Pampanga, by providing its constituents with the opportunity to avail of free and quality education through the university’s curriculum in education, computing studies, engineering and architecture, industrial technology, business administration, environmental science, among others.
As DHVSU aspires to further improve the delivery of accessible, free and quality education to the people of Pampanga and its nearby localities, the conversion of these extension campuses into regular campuses will widen the SUC’s opportunity to achieve its goal.
A guaranteed and appropriate budgetary support from the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) shall pave the way for the improvement of their facilities and services as it will enable these campuses to acquire their own infrastructure, laboratory equipment and other vital facilities and improve the quality of instruction through the hiring of more qualified faculty.
Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid filed Senate Bill No. 1862 otherwise known as the “Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) – Sto. Tomas, Porac, Lubao, Candaba, Apalit, Mexico, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Guagua and Sasmuan Campuses Act.
The extension campuses of DHVSU in the Municipalities of Sto. Tomas, Porac, Lubao, Candaba, Apalit, Mexico, Sta. Rita, Floridabianca, Guagua and Sasmuan, all in the Province of Pampanga, are hereby converted into regular campuses of the DHVSU, to be known as DHVSU-Sto. Tomas Campus, DHVSU-Porac Campus, DHVSU-Lubao Campus, DHVSU-Candaba Campus, DHVSU-Apalit Campus, DHVSU-Mexico Campus, DHVSU-Sta. Rita Campus, DHVSU-Floridablanca Campus, DHVSU-Guagua Campus and DHVSU-Sasmuan Campus.
Meanwhile these campuses shall primarily provide short-term technical-vocational, undergraduate, and graduate courses within their areas of competency and specialization, pursuant to the mandate of the DHVSU, and according to their capabilities as the Board of Regents may deem necessary to meet the human resources development needs of the province of Pampanga and Region III.
They are also mandated to undertake research and extension services, and to provide progressive leadership in these areas. The Lapid bill stipulates that the DHVSU President shall exercise overall supervision and management of the campuses.
Each campus shall be headed by a Campus Administrator who shall render full-time service and is appointed or designated by the Board, upon the recommendation of the search committee and the President, subject to the guidelines, qualifications and standards set by the Board.
All assets, real and personal, personnel, and records of the DHVSU Extension Campuses located in the Municipalities of Sto. Tomas, Porac, Lubao, Candaba, Apalit, Mexico, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Guagua and Sasmuan, Province of Pampanga, as well as liabilities or obligations, shall be transferred to the DHVSU.
The positions, rights, and security of tenure of faculty members and personnel therein employed under existing laws prior to their conversion into regular campuses shall be respected.
All parcels of land belonging to the government and occupied by the DHVSU Sto. Tomas Campus, DHVSU-Porac Campus, DHVSU-Lubao Campus, DHVSU-Candaba Campus, DHVSU-Apalit Campus, DHVSU-Mexico Campus, DHVSU-Sta. Rita Campus, DHVSU-Floridablanca Campus, DHVSU-Guagua Campus and DHVSU-Sasmuan Campus are hereby transferred to the DHVSU, and shall be titled under its name: Provided, That should the campuses or the DHVSU cease to exist or be abolished or should such aforementioned parcels of land be no longer needed by the DHVSU, the same shall revert to the local government units concerned or to the Republic of the Philippines, as the case may be.
The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA). The Municipalities of Sto. Tomas, Porac, Lubao, Candaba, Apaiit, Mexico, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Guagua and Sasmuan shall provide the same financial support to the respective extension campuses until such time that the amount necessary for the continued operation and maintenance of the campuses shall be included in the annual GAA.
The DHVSU started when an Augustinian friar, Fr. Juan P. Zita, dreamed of helping young lads of Bacolor. Aided by equally benevolent civic leader Don Felino Gil, the school was officially founded on November 4, 1861 upon the approval of its statues by Governor-General Lemery as “Escuela de Artes y Oficios de Bacolor” and built it on a lot donated by Suarez sisters of Bacolor. On December 9, 2009 at the university gymnasium, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9832, an Act converting DHVCAT into Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU).
Among DHVSU’s most outstanding alumni are: Eduardo G. Datu, Public Service, Engr. Ferdinand P. Labung, Science and Technology (Civil Engineering), Dr. Ernesto T. Nicdao, Leadership Empowerment in Education, Myrna C. Bituin, Entrepreneurship and Employment Creation, Arch. Rene B. Nuqui, Science and Technology (Architecture), Alvaro M. Jimenez, Arts and Culture (Visual Arts), Domingo P. Nacpil, Poverty Alleviation and Human Development, Hon. Monina Laus, Women Empowerment, and Dr. Lourdes M. Javier, Corporate Social Responsibility.