HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Most significantly, the institution symbolizes the mute testimony of the founder’s great faith and love of people who can rise to heights compatible with their capabilities provided they are given the opportunities to do so. Hon. Rafael Lazatin, the founder and first president of the RCC was guided by his unquenchable desire to serve the public and inspired by the clamor of the masses for education when he founded this institution in June 1946. The founder was a two-term mayor of Angeles City, a former provincial board member, a two-term governor of Pampanga, a former assemblyman of the Batasang Pambansa, a prominent educator, an agriculturist, and an industrialist.

Now, occupying the tallest building at the heart of Angeles City, RCC is a permanent landmark in the lives of the people who were and are being benefited directly or indirectly by its educational output. People from all walks of life, coming not only from Angeles City but also from neighboring towns and provinces patronize this institution. The school offers ambitious young men and women who could not afford to continue their studies in Manila and RCC gives an opportunity to pursue their college education.

Inaugurated as Republic Academy, a secondary school in June 1946, that once resided in a rented residential house in Angeles, Pampanga. In 1947, students and parents expressed their desire for college courses be offered in the institution so that high school graduates may be able to continue higher education without having to go to Manila. Thus, Republic Junior College was born that initially offered normal and education courses.

In 1949, the education-conscious masses and the many employees in nearby Clark Airforce Base requested the institution to open other courses, and so the College of Commerce and Liberal Arts were initiated. The Republic Junior College was then given the name Republic Central Colleges (RCC).

Heeding the country’s need for a Citizen’s Army Training, the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) unit was organized and activated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on June 08, 1957. This was the first ROTC unit recognized in the province of Pampanga.

RCC also offered short courses in secretarial science, stenography, typing, dressmaking, tailoring, beauty culture, and embroidery. These courses equipped the students with skills for gainful employment.

In 1961, a new teacher training course, the Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education which replaced the Junior Normal and B.S.E.- Inverted Course was formally opened. This course has become the flagship of RCC, and its curriculum was updated and enriched in consonance with the demands of time. The year 1963-1964 saw the opening of additional departments, the Law School and the Graduate School, the first to operate in the province. Engineering courses were subsequently added during the first semester of 1966. Later, Computer Science courses and Hotel and Restaurant Management courses were also offered.

School year 1974-75 ushered the opening of RCC’s School of Agriculture. The college offered courses that is aimed at training and developing young men and women to become farm managers, productive farmers, technological agriculturists, productive swine and poultry raisers and proficient workers in nursery management and plant propagation. After operating for a few years and numerous students graduating, operation was suspended voluntarily because of lack of enrollment due partly to the proliferation of government agricultural schools.

Government permission and recognition was granted to Republic Central Colleges for all of the aforementioned courses.

RCC has grown through the years and has continued to serve not only the people of Angeles City but also the neighboring communities. It is one of the main sources of professionals, most specially teachers who are employed by both public and private schools in the city and adjacent towns. It has also produced lawyers, certified public accountants, engineers, businessmen, entrepreneurs and information technologists.

PRESENT TIMES

For more than 50 years Republic Central Colleges (RCC) has shared in the noble task of developing responsible citizens and training leaders in nation building. It continues its pursuit of academic excellence. The quality of the academic programs and community services are continuously being enhanced, a more active research center is being established and the school is working for an assured financial stability and sustainability. Despite the country’s economic and political crises, facilities and infrastructures in the school are continuously being improved and expanded. In fact, the construction of the concrete buildings as stated in the ten-year development program of President, Dr. Victoria Lazatin Angeles was completed last year.

RCC main campus is located along Plaridel Street, in the heart of Angeles City. It is enclosed by the seven-story Saint Rafael Building, and the five-story Our Lady of Loreto Building, Our Lady of Lourdes Building, and the newly built Our Lady of Fatima Building. This improvement and expansion project of the President may result in more curricular offerings.

The school has another site located along Mc Arthur Hi-way in Barangay Balite, City of San Fernando. This is the sprawling 10-hectare site of the Republic Central Colleges School of Agriculture. The site has been devoted to food production projects and animal husbandry. It has a botanical garden and a religious formation center.

Significantly, RCC continues to make a name for itself in the field of education. And just last year, with the increase of the demand of nursing education that is of high quality and within their means RCC offers Bachelor of Science in Nursing as a new academic program. Having met all the requirements, the school is one of the few schools at present, granted permit to operate by CHED in school year 2004-2005.

In addition to the academic and vocational training that the college offers, RCC also provides training in extra and co-curricular areas, such as a drum and bugle corps, school band, choral groups, and performing arts group for interested students. The college takes pride in having many students who excel in academic meets, athletic tournaments, and performing arts competitions. The institution also offers scholarship grants for deserving students who cannot afford college education.

For faculty development, the schools provides scholarship and study grants, encourages participation in local, national and international seminars, workshops and conferences, and awards grants for the undertaking of research studies.

Republic Central Colleges expresses an immense concern not only to instruction and research but also equally to the area of community extension. The school has been extending community services in different places that are in need.

In 2002, the school has forged a strong collaboration with Marisol Bliss, one of the sitios of Barangay Ninoy Aquino in Angeles City, to become its adopted community. To conceptualize, implement, monitor and evaluate the projects for Marisol Bliss, RCC established its community extension arm, the RCC Integrated Community Extension Services Program (RCC-CES).

The school is laying emphasis on its commitment to the people through quality instruction, research and community involvement. Presently, the school has Level-II accreditation status of its programs; the Bachelor of Secondary Education, majors in Filipino, English, Mathematics and Biology, Bachelor of Elementary Education, Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and the Bachelor of Arts programs in English, History and Political Science.

Aware of its commitment to develop the most important resource of the nation- its human resources, the Republic Central Colleges has always strived to give its students a well-rounded education guided by its philosophy.