Bill renaming Mariano Marcos State University after ex-president Marcos refiled

The state-run Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac City, Ilocos Norte province is among the 24 universities and colleges nationwide that were allowed by the Commission on Higher Education to “hold limited face-to-face hands-on training and laboratory classes.” PHOTO FROM MMSU

MANILA, Philippines — The Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, may soon be named after former president Ferdinand E. Marcos — if a bill filed at the House of Representatives is enacted.

A lawyer, educator, and politician from Batac, Ilocos Norte, Mariano Marcos was a Congressman from 1925 to 1931, and the father of former president Ferdinand Marcos, who was president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986 and the father of the present President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

House Bill No. 2407 filed by Ilocos Norte 2nd District Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba last July 27, copies of which were released by the House secretariat on Wednesday, seeks to rename the university as the Ferdinand E. Marcos State University (FEMSU) in recognition of the former chief executive’s “unparalleled vision.”

“In recognition of President Marcos’ unparalleled vision and undying legacy, this bill seeks to rename Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) as [FEMSU] — from one generation to the other,” the bill’s explanatory note read.

“A generation that has honored the father and is now ready to honor the son, similar to how a father passes the torch to his son,” it added.

Barba said the renaming of the state university is being sought after it was already approved on the third reading under the 18th Congress.

He also noted that if the late former president Marcos were alive today, he would be proud of what the school has achieved.

“Over the years, MMSU has lived up to its name.  It was recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as Center of Excellence in Teacher Education and Center of Development in Agriculture, Biology, Forestry and Information Technology.  MMSU has also been chosen as one of the few National Universities for Agriculture and Fisheries Education in the entire Philippines,” Barba said.

“If President Marcos were alive today, he would have been proud of what MMSU has achieved and become — a university worthy of its name and a place from whence our leaders of the future will come, men and women who can thus rule others because they have learned the basic precept of learning first to rule themselves their emotions and their passions,” he added, quoting the ex-president.

MMSU was a mixture of three schools in Batac and was instituted by former president Marcos in January 1978.

Last December 2019, the same bill was filed by Barba, but it did not reach the former president’s desk due to time constraints.

READ: Ilocos Norte state university to be renamed