HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT) has always been at the lead of progress in Aurora since its establishment twenty-six years ago. It was on December 30, 1993 when ASCOT was created by the virtue of Republic Act No. 7664 which was made and sponsored by then Senate President Edgardo Angara and the late representative Benedicto G. Miran.
Immediately they formed the pre-organization Task Force that would take over the management and operation of ASCOT through the leadership of Senator Angara. The Father and Founder of the College. Negotiation and transactions were made with the Department of Education, Culture and Sport (DECS), Division of Aurora under Superintendent, Mr. Domingo Hulipas. The admission for freshmen students was administered and identified the location of temporary classrooms to be used for the next school year 1993 which was at Baler Central School.
ASCOT opened immediately the next school year with Dr. Benny A. Palma acting as the President. He came from Aklan State College of Agriculture (ASCA) now, Aklan State University (ASU) in Banga, Aklan. ASCOT started with the first batch of three hundred one (301) freshmen students with its classes held at Baler Central School. They were provided with ten (10) classrooms and one bigger room for its administration office. At the start, services were rendered by thirteen faculty members and nine administrative personnel to teach and administer the State College. Dr. Palma was re-appointed as President of ASCOT for another term from August 9, 2000 to August 9, 2004.
RA 7664 endorsed ASCOT a campus site consisting of 196.06 hectares situated in Debudulan Mountain, Sitio Dicaloyungan, Brgy. Zabali, Baler, Aurora. The said area was declared as the ASCOT school site by the President Fidel Ramos under Proclamation No. 559 on April 7, 1996. It also mandated ASCOT to integrate the Aurora National Agricultural School in the town of Maria Aurora, Aurora and the Aurora National Fishery School in Casiguran, Aurora.
Additional campuses consisting of 110.8 hectares in Barangay Bazal, Maria Aurora and 105 hectares in Barangay Bianoan, Casiguran, Aurora were also acquired by ASCOT through a memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports represented by Regional Director Pedro V. Trinidad of Region IV. The DAT-BAT Program with 259 students, 10 faculty members, 2 support staff, books, farm equipment, vehicles, and buildings were also turned over to ASCOT.
ASCOT’s first ever commencement exercises was held at the Baler Municipal Plaza on June 8, 1996, with Representative Bellaflor Angara-Castillo as the Commencement Speaker. A total of 178 students, 30 collegiate and 148 vocational, composed the first batch of graduates in four – year degree courses in Agriculture and two-year completion certificates for ladderized technology courses.
Late in the year 1996, the General Education and other departments of the college moved to the completed Phase 1 of Dr. Juan C. Angara Hall in Sitio Dicaloyungan, Barangay Zabali, Baler, Aurora.
After the term of Dr. Palma, Dr. Rodolfo C. Undan, President of CLSU was appointed as the OIC-President of ASCOT through BOT Resolution No. 501 s. 2002, Special BOT Meeting February 21, 2002. And on March 4 of the same year, Dr. Romeo C. Cabanilla, Vice President for Business Affairs of Central Luzon State University was appointed as the 2nd College President of ASCOT. During his term he formed a strong partnership with Central Luzon Agriculture, Aquatic and Resources Research Development Consortium (CLAARDEC) to strengthen the research of ASCOT. Also he pushed through the creation of ASCOT Income Generating Project Manual to vigorously pursue a sustainable agribusiness and non-agribusiness programs by the College by utilizing its resources and developing entrepreneurial capabilities of faculty, staff and students and other development partners.
On January 2, 2007 Dr. Eusebio V. Angara was appointed as the 3rd College President of ASCOT and the 1st College President who came from Aurora. He has served for two successive terms of being the President when he was re-appointed on January 3, 2011. During his term he focused in strengthening the International Linkages of ASCOT wherein he acquired a funding from FUNESCO for the coastal resources management project. After his term he chose to served ASCOT and became one of the faculty at the Department of Forestry. After his term, Dr. Evi Q. Fontanos, Vice President for Academic Affairs was appointed as the OIC-President of ASCOT.
Dr. Doracie Zoleta-Nantes from Lucban, Quezon Province was appointed as the 4th College President of ASCOT on May 15, 2015 through BOT Resolution No. 11 s. 2015, Special BOT Meeting May 15, 2015). She was the 1st female College President of the institution. During her term, she successfully implemented the UNIFAST Law and she welcomed the opportunity to assist the Department of Education—Division of Aurora in the implementation of the K-12 Program when ASCOT offered the Senior High School Program (Grades 11 and 12).
Major remarkable events for ASCOT transpired in 2019. These include ASCOT’s Level II Accreditation and as a recipient of Bronze Award under the Program Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM) of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the change of ASCOT Leadership. After the term of Dr. Nantes, the then Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Amelia Picart automatically assumed the office as the OIC-President.
In accordance with Section 6 of Republic Act No. 8292, otherwise known as the “Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997,” including Sections 21, 25, and 27 of its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations, and by virtue of Resolution No. 45, Series of 2019, passed on August 30, 2019 by the Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT) Board of Trustees, Dr. Eutiquio L. Rotaquio Jr. who was currently working as a Professor of ASCOT under the Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences (DFES) and a product of ASCOT was elected as the 5th College President of ASCOT for a term of four years commencing on August 30, 2019 and expiring on August 29, 2023. He was named as the youngest College President in the Philippines as recognized by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC). His ambitious dream is to “Transform ASCOT into a globally-recognized scientific and technological University in Aurora by 2027.”
In the span of 30 years, ASCOT has grown and developed into a bigger institution of higher learning now having 3 campuses, namely: Zabali Campus situated in Brgy. Zabali, Baler, Aurora; Bazal Campus situated in Brgy. Bazal, Maria Aurora, Aurora; and Esteves and FTC Campus situated in Brgy. Esteves and Dibet, Casiguran. The College has now a total student population of five thousand ninety-seven (5,097) and a total workforce of three hundred twenty-seven (327). All throughout the years, ASCOT continuously and effectively implement its mandates of providing technical and professional training in the field of arts and sciences, education, agriculture, engineering, technology and short-term vocational courses.