MAGALANG, Pampanga – The first and only state-run agricultural university in Central Luzon was not a recipient of the pork barrel fund or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from any legislator.
This was gleaned from the presentation made by Honorio Soriano Jr., president of the Pampanga State Agricultural State University (PSAU) here, in last Friday’s media forum dubbed “Balitaan” organized by the Capampangan in Media Inc. in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. and the Social Security System.
Soriano said most of the funding for various infrastructure and research programs of the university came from government agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Agriculture as well as non-government organizations.
“There is no PDAF-funded projects here particularly those from (Janet Lim) Napoles,” stated Soriano. PSAU, formerly Pampanga Agricultural College, was converted into a state university by virtue of Republic Act 10605 through the initiative of then 1st District Rep. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin and Senators Allan Peter Cayetano, Lito Lapid and Edgardo Angara Jr.
RA 10605 was signed by President Aquino in June last year making the PSAU the second state-run agricultural university in the country after Bicol and the fi rst in the region. Soriano also said former President and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2nd District, Pampanga) released P50 million during her administration to establish the university’s new library.
Soriano said PSAU is now among the top educational institutions in the Philippines, ranked No. 4 all over the country in terms of its passing rate in the Licensure Examination for Teachers. “Our passing grade is way above the national mean of only 39.75 percent,” Soriano said adding that one of the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education is to have a passing rate above the national mean.
“This can only speak of quality,” he said which made PSAU a recipient of a number of local and national awards on its research in energy, water and ecological conservation.
Soriano said that PSAU’s strategic thrusts are geared towards boosting agro-industrial development in Pampanga by producing top-caliber graduates and entrepreneurs as well as embarking on programs to help farmers and other stakeholders in the province to help in poverty alleviation.
PSAU is located at the foothills on the western slope of the majestic Mt. Arayat on nearly 700 hectares of government agricultural lands. It is about 3.5 kilometers east of the town proper and about 15 kilometers southwest from Angeles City and the Clark Freeport Zone.
Pampanga now has two state universities, the other being the Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University in Bacolor.
