Page 11 - EXHIBIT 12 RESEARCH MANUAL

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1

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Section

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The development of the Isabela State University over the years took various transformations.
Starting as a Farm School established by American Supervising Teacher Horatio Smith in December
1918, it changed name and transferred location. From a Farm School it was converted into a Rural
High School in 1928, transferred to Jones and reverted back as a Farm School in 1935, relocated
back to Echague and named Isabela Agricultural High School in 1946, renamed Echague Rural High
School in 1952.

As a course in forestry was integrated into the agricultural courses in 1960, it was appropriately
renamed as Echague Agricultural and Forestry School (EAFS). Earning the status as an agricultural
school in the region in 1963, improvements in the school came as additional academic programs
were offered in support to the reorganization of the then newly created Bureau of Vocational
Education (BVE). This development paved the way for the designation of the school as the Manpower
Training Center for the region in 1970.

House Bill 2866 in the Seventh Congress of the Philippines further elevated the status of the school.
The conversion of EAFS into a state college was initiated when the bill was approved by the Lower
House on April 17, 1972 and was subsequently passed by the Senate on May 30, 1972. The bill was
signed into law converting the school into the Isabela State College of Agriculture (ISCA). With this
new status, the academic programs in agriculture, forestry and home economics were expanded as
agricultural engineering, agri-business, and post-secondary courses were opened.

The promulgation of the Educational Decree on September 20, 1972 set another direction with the
adoption of a government policy to re-orient the educational system for an accelerated national
economic growth and social development.

As the need to enhance national development through education was realized, the need for a
state university in the province was deemed necessary. Thus, in 1978, Presidential Decree 1434
merged two state colleges in the province, the ISCA at Echague and the Cagayan Valley Institute of
Technology (CVIT) at Cabagan into the Isabela State University (ISU). The merger also transferred
the college level courses of the Isabela School of Arts and Trades (ISAT) in Ilagan, the Jones Rural
School (JRS) in Jones, the Roxas Memorial Agricultural and Industrial School (RMAIS) in Roxas and
the San Mateo Vocational and Industrial School (SMVIS) in San Mateo to the ISU.

In 1999, the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 18, series of 1999
was enacted thereby providing the guidelines for the integration of CHED supervised institutions

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