CREATING THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INTEGRATED AREA DEVELOPMENT IN LIEU OF THE CABINET COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 1378
• Sections: 17

Preamble

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the state to carry out a

concerted attack on the problems of mass poverty, unemployment, underemployment,

and social justice;

WHEREAS, to provide the proper perspectives to such

problems, there is a need for greater emphasis on the integrated area

development of the countryside;

WHEREAS, integrated area development must be undertaken to

marshall cooperative activity towards the creation of a just and humane

society;

WHEREAS, integrated area development must seek its roots in

a people working in commission with each other;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent and compelling need to develop

among government planners and decision makers a common policy orientation that

can serve as a guide for the formulation of programs and projects geared towards

integrated area development;

WHEREAS, the task of development calls for a shift from the

traditional broad and piecemeal approach to a systematic and coordinated

implementation of projects aimed at the countryside;

WHEREAS, it now becomes essential that these activities and

projects in the countryside be properly integrated, priorities be established,

and a central planning and implementing body charged with the development of an

integrated plan of action for integrated rural development be created;

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. Declaration of Policy. It is the

declared policy of the state to promote and support the improvement, growth and

development of the countryside through integrated area development consistent

with the principle of self-help and self-reliance.

Section 2

SECTION 2. Creation of the National Council on

Integrated Area Development. To pursue the abovementioned policy, there is

hereby created a National Council on Integrated Area Development hereinafter

referred to as the Council which shall be composed of the following: The

President of the Philippines as Chairman, and the Secretary of Agriculture as

Vice-Chairman. The members of the Council are: the Secretary of Local Government

and Community Development, the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, the Secretary of

National Defense, the Secretary of Natural Resources, the Secretary of Public

Highways, the Secretary of Public Works, the Secretary of Finance, the

Director-General of the NEDA and the Budget Commissioner.

The Council shall function within the framework of the National Economic and

Development Authority, and as such is within the administrative supervision of

the same.

The Vice-Chairman shall concurrently by the Chief Executive Officer of the

Council and is hereby empowered to convene the Council as often as he may deem

necessary.

The members of the Council shall receive a reasonable amount of per diem as

the Council may provide for every meeting actually attended by them.

Section 3

SECTION 3. Powers and Functions of the Council. The

Council shall have the following powers and functions:

Institutionalize the implementing mechanism for integrated area development

through formal planning, monitoring and budgetary controls;

Formulate an integrated framework plan to guide the development of depressed

areas;

Rationalize the participation of the rural people through their local

governments in development planning and implementation;

Initiate small-scale, high-impact integrated projects utilizing existing

indigenous resources;

Mobilize efficiently multi-sectoral resources and properly channel these

into integrated rural development projects.

Section 4

SECTION 4. Powers and Functions of the Vice-Chairman as

Chief Executive Officer. The Vice-Chairman as Chief Executive Officer shall

have the following powers and functions:

to approve an integrated plan of action for integrated area development

primarily for depressed areas;

to establish a system of priorities for integrated area development and

provide the basic criteria for selecting project areas;

to arrange and/or negotiate for funding from local and/or foreign financing

agencies and institutions subject to the approval of the Council;

to approve requests of the implementing departments and agencies for budget

releases for projects in accordance with the integrated plan of action, budgets

and work program approved by the Council; Provided-that such approval

shall be subject to availability of funds in accordance with the existing

budgetary policies, laws, rules and regulations which shall be approved by the

Council;

to enter into contracts of any kind to enable it to carry out its purposes

and functions under this Decree subject to the approval of the Council;

to avail of the expertise of any particular employee, technician or group of

persons in any bureau, office or department of the Government whose services are

deemed necessary for the attainment of the goals of the Council;

to formulate, adopt and implement guidelines and standards for an efficient

system of reporting and evaluation;

to promote fuller local participation in planning, management and program

execution;

to establish the appropriate organizational set-up to implement the

integrated plan of action;

to conduct, when appropriate, seminars, public hearings and/or conferences

on significant issues pertaining to integrated area development;

to promulgate and adopt administrative rules and regulations for the

effective management of the Council's activities;

to hire the personnel necessary for the operations of the Council and fix

their compensation in accordance with the plantilla and pay plan approved by the

Council;

to remove, suspend or otherwise discipline for cause any subordinate

employee, of the Council;

to call on any department, bureau, office, agency, or state university or

college and other instrumentalities of the government for assistance in the form

of personnel facilities and other resources as the needs arise in the discharge

of its functions;

to undertake such other activities as may be deemed necessary for the

attainment of the objectives and provisions of the Decree;

to delegate such authority as may be properly delegated; Provided,

that such delegation is in writing, copies of which shall be furnished the

Council; and

to perform such other duties as may be lawfully assigned by the

Council.

Section 5

SECTION 5. Qualifications and Compensation of the

Executive Secretary as Chief Operating Officer. There shall be an Executive

Secretary of the Council to be appointed by the President upon consultation with

the members of the Council. The Executive Secretary shall act as the Chief

Operating Officer and shall possess the following qualifications:

a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;

at least thirty (30) years of age; and

a proven record of executive competence in the field of public

administration and/or rural development projects or in the management of

agricultural, industrial or commercial enterprises.

The annual compensation

and allowances of the Chief Operating Officer shall be fixed by the

Council.

Section 6

SECTION 6. Powers and Functions of the Chief Operating

Officer. The Chief Operating Officer of the Council shall exercise the

following powers and functions:

to implement the integrated plan of action for integrated area development

as formulated and approved by the Council;

to recommend policy guidelines and submit program of work activities in

consonance with the policies and plans promulgated by the Council;

to undertake comprehensive studies tackling critical components needed for

the development of identified depressed areas;

to program and implement on-going and proposed plans, programs and projects

within the specified areas for integrated area development;

to rationalize and systematize existing, on-going and proposed community

projects in identified areas for development vis-a-vis the over-all integrated

area development plan for the specified area;

to manage, supervise and monitor project implementation;

to submit periodic financial and work accomplishment reports to the Council;

to perform such other duties as may be lawfully assigned by the Chief

Executive Officer.

Section 7

SECTION 7. Staff Appointment. Any provision of

existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the appointments of personnel of

the Council may either be on full-time basis or part-time basis and shall be

exempt from the requirements and restrictions of the Civil Service law, rules

and regulations, and Section Two Hundred Fifty Nine of the Revised

Administrative Code. The compensation of said employees shall be determined by

the Council upon consultation with the Office of Compensation and Position

Classification of the Budget Commission; Provided, that any government

retiree employed in the said office shall not be required to reimburse or refund

any gratuity received iron the Government nor shall any pension or annuity to

which he is entitled to be suspended or reduced on account of his employment

with the Council; Provided, further that the personnel of the Council

shall be permanent and career in status without prejudice to transfer, detail

assignment, promotion, discipline and dismissal in accordance with the Personnel

Management Programs of the Council and shall be entitled to benefit and

privileges normally accorded to government agencies on detail with the Council

including adequate and reasonable honoraria or allowances.

Section 8

SECTION 8. Abolition of the Cabinet Coordinating

Committee. The Cabinet Coordinating Committee on Integrated Rural

Development Projects is hereby abolished and all its powers and functions as

stipulated in LOI 99 and Presidential Decree Nos. 805, 926, 1048 and 1189

implementing the Mindoro, Bicol, Samar and Cagayan projects, respectively, shall

be transferred to the Council together with applicable funds and appropriations,

records, equipment, property and such personnel as my be necessary. Moreover,

the Cabinet Coordinators for the Mindoro, Samar, Cagayan, and Bicol River Basin

Projects, respectively, shall retain their respective powers and functions. The

Project Directors of the various on-going projects, their respective tenures,

compensation, powers and functions are likewise hereby retained unless otherwise

changed or revised by the Council.

Section 9

SECTION 9. Functions and Responsibilities of the

Implementing Departments and Agencies. All designated implementing

departments and agencies shall be responsible for the execution of the projects

under their respective jurisdiction and shall submit to the Council, their

respective annual project plans, budgets and corresponding work programs for

approval within three (3) months before the start of the ensuing calendar year.

They shall also submit release and periodic accomplishment reports to the

Council.

Section 10

SECTION 10. Observance of Terms and Conditions of the

Loan Agreements. It shall be the responsibility of the Council to ensure

that all departments, government agencies and local governments concerned

observe strictly all the terms and conditions embodied in Loan Agreements

executed between the foreign funding agencies and the Philippine Government for

integrated area development projects.

Section 11

SECTION 11. Expenditures and Disbursements.

Expenditures and disbursements made by the Council for its on-going projects

shall not be subject to the procurements requirements and restrictions imposed

by existing laws and regulations upon government agencies, instrumentalities and

government-owned or controlled corporations.

Section 12

SECTION 12. Exemption from Taxes. Any provision of

existing laws to the contrary, notwithstanding any donation, contribution,

request, subsidy or financial aid which may be made to the Council shall be

exempt from taxes of any kind, and shall constitute allowable deductions in full

from the income of the donors or donees for income tax purposes.

The assets of the Council and its commodity requirements procured from local

and foreign supplies shall be exempt from all taxes, duties, fees, charges,

imposts, licenses and assessments, direct or indirect, imposed by the Republic

of the Philippines or any of its political sub-divisions or taxing

authority.

Section 13

SECTION 13. Appropriations. The budget of the

Council, exclusive of the fund releases from foreign funding and the Philippine

Government counterpart fund, shall be five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) for

fiscal year 1978 which is hereby appropriated out of the Special Activities Fund

under the National Support Fund, P.D. 1250. Thereafter, such amount as necessary

to carry out the provision of this Decree shall be included in the annual

General Appropriation Act of the government in such amounts as shall be adequate

for the purpose.

Section 14

SECTION 14. Separability Clause. If any of this

Decree shall be invalid, the remainder shall continue to be operative.

Section 15

SECTION 15. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees,

executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations, or parts

thereof, which are inconsistent with any provision of this Decree are hereby

repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 16

SECTION 16. Effectivity. This Decree shall take

effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 17th 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