On August 10, 2020, Batangas State University, through the Verde Island Passage Center for Oceanographic Research and Aquatic Life Sciences, together with Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology, Occidental Mindoro State College, Romblon State University, and Marinduque State College signed a Memorandum of Agreement.
The signed MOA enables the 5 SUCs bordering the Verde Island Passage, the world’s center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity, to collaborate in the DOST-GIA funded MBioAssess-VIP project. The MOA also serves as a mandate for the conservation and protection of the VIP.