Presidential Decree No. 1378 (PD 1378) — Creating the National Council on Integrated Area Development in Lieu of the Cabinet Coordinating Committee on Integrated Rural Development Projects
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Separability Clause. If any of this
Decree shall be invalid, the remainder shall continue to be operative.
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. 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
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
