Sec. 2.    The purpose of the said College shall be to provide higher vocational, professional, and technical instruction and training in business education and commerce; and for special purposes, to promote research, advance studies, and progressive leadership in the field of business education and commerce.

Sec. 3.    No student shall be denied admission to the Philippine College of Commerce by reason of age, sex, nationality, religious belief, or political affiliation.

Sec. 4.    The head of this institution shall be known as the President of the Philippine College of Commerce. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Board of Trustees. The powers and duties of the President of the College, in addition to those specifically provided for in this Act, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the President of a college.

Sec. 5.    The Board of Trustees of the Philippine College of Commerce shall be composed of the Secretary of Education, who shall be ex officio Chairman of the Board, the Chairman of the Committee on Education of the Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives, the Director of Public Schools, the President of the College, the President of the Philippine School of Commerce Alumni Association, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. In the absence or inability of the Secretary of Education, as ex officio Chairman of the Board of Trustees, or in the event that there is no incumbent Secretary of Education, the Undersecretary of Education shall act as the ex officio Chairman of the Board of Trustees. When both the Secretary and the Undersecretary of Education are unable to exercise the powers of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, or when these two positions are vacant, the members of the Board may elect among themselves a temporary chairman who shall act as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Members of the Board shall serve without compensation, other than actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the Board or upon other official business authorized by resolution of the Board.

Sec. 6.    The Board of Trustees shall have the following powers and duties in addition to its general powers of administration and the exercise of all the powers of a corporation as provided in section thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred fifty-nine as amended otherwise known as the Corporation Law:

(a)    To elect a temporary chairman in the absence of both the Secretary and the Undersecretary of Education;

(b)    To receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law such sums as may be provided by law for the support of the College;

(c)    To confer the titles of Associate in Business Education and/or Associate in Commerce, and the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Business Education, Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Master of Arts in Business Education, and Master of Arts in Commerce to successful candidates for graduation;

(d)    To appoint, on the recommendation of the President of the College, professors, instructors, lecturers and other employees of the College; to fix their compensation, hours of service, and such other duties and conditions as it may deem proper; to grant to them, in its discretion, leave of absence under such regulations as it may promulgate, any other provisions of the law to the contrary notwithstanding, and to remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been had;

(e)    To approve the curricula and rules and discipline drawn up by the College Council as hereinafter provided;

(f)    To fix the tuition fees required of students, as well as matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory courses, and all special fees, and to remit the same in special cases, constituting a special trust fund of the College; 

(g)    To provide fellowships for faculty members and scholarships to students showing special evidence of merit;

(h)    To prescribe rules for its own government, and to enact for the government of the College such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purposes of the College as defined in section two of this Act;

(i)    To receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the College, or of the department thereof, or ford to any student or students, in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and, in default thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may in its discretion determine.

(j)    To establish branches in the cities and provinces, if and when it becomes essential and necessary and if funds are available.

Sec. 7.    A quorum of the Board of Trustees shall consist of a majority of all the members. All process against the Board of Trustees shall be served on the President or secretary thereof.

Sec. 8.    On or before the fifteenth day of June of each year, the Board of Trustees shall file with the President of the Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the progress, conditions, and needs of the College.

Sec. 9.    There shall be a College Council, consisting of the President of the College and all instructors and professors of the College. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. It shall fix the requirement of admission to the College, as well as for graduation and the receiving of a title or degree. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be recipients of titles or degrees. Through its President or committee, it shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline approved by the Board of Trustees.

Section 10.    The body of instructors and professors of the College shall constitute the faculty of the College, with the President as the presiding officer. In the appointment of professors or instructors of the College, no religious test shall be applied, nor shall religious opinions or affiliations of the faculty of the College be made a matter of examination or inquiry: Provided, however, That no instructor or professor in the College shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of the teachings, nor attempt either directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Trustees, to influence students or attendants at the College for or against any particular church or religious sect.

Section 11.    Professors and other regular instructors in the College shall be exempt as such from any civil service examinations or regulations as a requisite to appointment.

Section 12.    There shall be a secretary of the College, appointed by the Board of Trustees. He shall be the secretary of such Board and also of the College, and shall keep such records of the College as may be designated by the Board.

Section 13.    The President of the College, with the cooperation of the Superintendent of City Schools of Manila, may use one or more of the Secondary Schools in the City of Manila, as training or laboratory schools of the College.

Section 14.    Heads of Bureaus or Offices of the National Government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon request of the President of the College, such apparatus, equipment or supplies as may be needed by the College, and to detail employees for duty therein, when in the judgment of the Head of the Bureau or Office such apparatus, equipment, supplies, or employees can be spared without serious detriment to the public service. Employees so detailed shall perform such duties as are required under such detail, and the time so employed shall count as part of their regular services. 

Section 15.    In order not to interrupt the smooth functioning of the present curricula of the Philippine School of Commerce, the faculty of the School as well as the other personnel, shall be absorbed by the new College. Salaries of this personnel shall be adjusted at the discretion of the Board of Trustees within the amount available for appropriation.

Section 16.    The Treasurer of the Philippines shall be ex officio Treasurer of the College and all accounts and expenses thereof shall be audited by the Auditor General or his duly authorized representatives.

Section 17.    For carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act, the sum of four hundred fifty thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated from any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated: Provided, That all its present authorized appropriations shall be retained by the School. Thereafter, necessary funds shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Section 18.    This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 21, 1952