Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology to become state university

The Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology (NONESCOST) in Sagay City, Negros Occidental is on its way to becoming the State University of Northern Negros (SUN-Negros), following the Senate’s approval of House Bill (HB) 10283 for its conversion.

In a statement, the city government said Second District Rep. Leo Rafael Cueva and Mayor Alfredo Marañon III thanked Senator Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate committee on higher, and technical and vocational education, for sponsoring the bill passed during the third and final reading on January 31.

“This is just one step into becoming a law,” said Cueva, principal author of HB 10283.

In his letter addressed to Villanueva, the Negrense lawmaker thanked the senator for not just sponsoring the bill, but also exerting efforts to have it passed on third reading.

The college administration, led by president Renante Egcas, also acknowledged Villanueva for the support in such as another milestone for NONESCOST.

“It takes a village to achieve universityhood, and NONESCOST is always grateful for all the help and strong support we receive from our very own community,” it added, also thanking Cueva and Marañon.

The mayor’s father, the late governor and congressman Alfredo Marañon Jr., was known as the “Father of NONESCOST” for being the author of the law, converting the Iloilo State College of Fisheries-Sagay Branch (ISCOF-SB) into the NONESCOST under Republic Act 8448 on Jan. 9, 1998.

Starting as the Old Sagay Barangay High in 1970, it was converted into a municipal high school in 1978 and in the same year, was transformed into an extension campus of ISCOF.

In 1983, by virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 359, the municipal high school was converted into the ISCOF-SB.

Considered as the only science and technology state college in Negros Occidental, NONESCOST offers undergraduate and graduate programs in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Allied Sciences; Arts and Sciences; Business and Management; Criminal Justice Education; Education; Information and Communications Technology and Engineering; and Nursing and Allied Health Sciences.* (Nanette Guadalquiver)