By DANIEL P. TAPAOAN, JR.

City Mayor Albert D. Chua and MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to jointly implement pro-poor programs last February 3 at the Sangguniang Panlungsod Session Hall.

Titled Plano and Pasilaw, the programs allow families in the City of Batac to avail free services of the MMSU engineers, particularly for structural, plumbing and electrical plans. 

 
Under the agreement, the city government’s Building Office shall refer qualified applicants of the two programs to MMSU for the free consultation services. The departments of Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering are specifically tapped for these programs.

Dr. Agrupis said MMSU students will formulate the plans, with the supervision and approval of their professors, as required by the local government unit for the issuance of a building permit. “This is one way to help the people of the City of Batac so they will no longer pay professional fees for specialists,” she stressed.

The university president added that this will serve as the students’ “applied laboratory” in their respective fields, thus preparing them for their eventual graduation.

The officials of the City Government of Batac, the university Vice President for Administration and Finance, Engr. Ami Ruth Cocson, the dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Nathaniel Alibuyog, and other faculty members witnessed the MOA signing.