CREATING THE "RURAL WORKERS OFFICE" IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 1365
• Sections: 10

Preamble

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the State under the New Society

to protect, promote and develop the welfare of rural workers;

WHEREAS, rural workers especially the landless, belong to

the forgotten species of the labor force which have not been sufficiently

covered by the industrial benefit package and agricultural support mechanisms

espoused by government agencies;

WHEREAS, rural workers urgently need special assistance to

raise their capability for self-development and to link them up vitally with the

mainstream of progress and growth; and

WHEREAS, it is essential to establish an Office designed

especially for such purposes;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby

order and decree:

Section 1

SECTION 1. There is hereby created in the Department of

Labor a Rural Workers Office, hereinafter referred to as the "Office", which

shall be under the direct supervision and control of the Secretary of Labor and

shall be headed by an Executive Director assisted by a Deputy Executive

Director.

Section 2

SEC. 2. The Executive Director and the Deputy Executive

Director shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon

recommendation of the Secretary of Labor.

Section 3

SEC. 3. The Office shall have the following powers and

functions:

To exercise general supervision and control over the social amelioration

program in the sugar industry and all such programs as may be established under

the succeeding paragraph;

To determine and recommend social amelioration programs for the rural

workers; which programs shall include the amount of fees and charges, the mode

of collection and disposition, subject to the approval by the President;

To initiate, undertake, arrange or authorize research projects to identify

and study socio-economic problems of rural workers and propose solution thereto;

To process and evaluate proposed socio-economic projects for rural workers

under the social amelioration program, for approval by the Secretary of Labor;

To supervise, regulate and audit implementation of approved socio-economic

projects for rural workers and their families and to monitor the progress of

these projects;

To engage in income and employment generating projects provided that they

are geared towards rural workers' organization and training for self-reliance

and self-development;

To enter into agreements for the development of rural employment, provisions

of skills and placement facilities for rural workers in coordination with

appropriate institutions including international agencies;

To provide special assistance for the organization of rural workers into

unions, cooperatives and other appropriate forms of organizations;

To register, regulate and maintain exclusive control and supervision over

rural workers cooperatives and unions under the social amelioration program;

To assist misplaced, unassimilated and unemployed rural workers and their

families in the urban areas by helping equip them with skills for urban

employment or for returning to the countryside;

To assist, in coordination with other government agencies, in the

enforcement of policies and programs designed to protect and promote the welfare

of rural workers, including improvement of their working conditions;

To receive donations, grants and other forms of assistance from domestic and

international sources, and enter into agreements with such agencies for the

carrying out of the foregoing functions; and

To exercise such other functions as may be assigned by the Secretary of

Labor.

Section 4

SEC. 4. The Secretary of Labor shall establish offices in

the regions and such other extension offices as may be deemed appropriate.

Section 5

SEC. 5. The technical staff and other personnel of the

Office shall be appointed by the Secretary of Labor upon recommendation of the

Executive Director; Provided, That civil service eligibility

requirements and OCPC positions and salary schedules shall not apply to

personnel and positions of the Office declared highly technical.

Section 6

SEC. 6. There shall be constituted a Special Project Fund

(SPF) in the name of the Secretary of Labor which shall come from the P0.10 per

picul of sugar produced as originally decreed by Presidential Decree 788 and all

fees and charges levied and collected by the Office in accordance with the

social amelioration program as provided for in Section 3 par. (b) of this

Decree. The Special Project Fund shall be used to finance socio-economic

projects for the benefit of the rural workers. When deemed appropriate, a

portion of the Special Project Fund as determined by the Secretary of Labor

maybe set aside for lending purposes to qualified rural workers borrowers. The

Commission on Audit is hereby authorized to audit periodically the expenditure

charged against the Fund.

Section 7

SEC. 7. The Office shall adopt an annual budget of

expenditures for its personnel services, maintenance and other operating

expenses and capital outlay which is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of

any funds in the National Treasury that are not otherwise appropriated.

Section 8

SEC. 8. The Secretary of Labor shall issue rules and

regulations to implement the provisions of this Decree.

Section 9

SEC. 9. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May, in the year of Our Lord,

nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the

Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA

Presidential Assistant