Municipality of Murcia headed by Mayor Victor Gerardo Rojas signed a memorandum of agreement with Central Philippines State University headed by Dr. Aladino Moraca for the opening of a CPSU extension class in their locality last March 26, 2021 at the Murcia Public Plaza Covered Court.
The realization of this partnership is a response to the municipality’s utmost desire and commitment to establish a tertiary school that could cater the need of their economically-challenged and underserved sectors of society to gain access to free and quality tertiary education.
Mayor Rojas had made known to the public his full cognizance of the need to establish a government-funded tertiary school in their locality. This had become his priority that led to their partnership with CPSU, a state university with nine satellite campuses sin Negros Occidental and with its main campus located in Kabankalan City.
“This event marks another milestone for the municipality. Education is one of the priority projects of my administration. The establishment of this school will give opportunity to the residents of Murcia to finish their tertiary education,” Mayor Rojas said.
CPSU president Dr. Aladino Moraca stated that the said event was truly remarkable with a very promising benefit to its residents especially to the youth of Murcia who are its future workforce.
“This partnership of the University with Murcia is not only transactional but most importantly, it is transformational. This is also part of the horizontal growth of the University to be able to provide education to the less privileged but deserving students in the entire province,” Dr. Moraca added.
Students who avail of the free tertiary education by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) known as the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) are dubbed as the “scholars ng bayan.”
Hon. Johnny Reosura, Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Murcia expressed gratefulness to CPSU for responding earnestly to their request for an extension class and for facilitating the process seriously towards its realization. He likewise acknowledged the efforts of their technical working group (TWG) who worked diligently in processing and complying with the requirements for the granting of its approval together with the CPSU team.
“It has long been our dream to have a higher education program in our municipality and our prayers were answered through CPSU, headed by Dr. Moraca,” Hon. Reosura said.
Hon. Frederick Manuel Ko, board member of the 3rd District of Negros Occidental who spoke on behalf of Gov. Eugenio Lacson, likewise extended his heartfelt thanks to CPSU for its support to the dream of every Murciahanon to have access to free tertiary education which is considered a vital need of the community. He further explained that since Murcia is an agricultural community, its direction is one with the University as its promotes and strengthens agriculture in the entire province.
“I believe that education is the greatest equalizer in life. When our youth is armed with education, they can par with other graduates and ensure better future for them and their family. The endeavor of our teachers, parents and local government will now be given recognition and direction with the opening of this extension class,” Hon. Ko said.
Hon. Carlito Yu, Jr., chair of the Committee on Education of the Municipality, also expressed sincere gratitude to CPSU emphasizing on the collaboration of the two agencies that led to greater achievement which was sealed through the ceremonial signing of the memorandum of agreement.
The site of the said extension class is a two-hectare land with an already existing structure located at Brgy. Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, donated by Magsaysay family. The building is currently under renovation in preparation for the upcoming opening of classes comes August 2021.
Initial programs to be offered as stipulated in the agreement are the Bachelor in Agni-business (BSAB) and the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT).
The said CPSU - extension class is expected to operate for 4 years as they work out their conversion to be an extension campus of the University for the years thereafter.
The ceremonial signing was attended by Murcia SB members, brgy. officials, DepEd officials, the Murcia Technical Working Group (TWG) headed by Dr. Mylene Cornel, CPSU VP for Research and Extension Dr. Mae Flor Posadas, Director for Quality Assurance Dr. Grenny Jungco, Director for Instructional Media Production and Development Dr. Josephine Asuncion Emoy, and the College of Agriculture and Forestry dean Dr. Roland Marcel Bachiller.
By: J.A. Emoy