CREATING THE PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 453
• Sections: 11

Preamble

WHEREAS, the country's continuing and accelerated efforts at

national development require an adequate research base for planning and

policy formulation;

WHEREAS, more rapid national development further demands a

steady and expanding supply of economic technicians both within and

outside government who are specialists in various areas of technical

work;

WHEREAS, a continuing interaction between government

officials and academic research workers is mutually beneficial and in

the interest of national development;

WHEREAS, to meet the above-mentioned demands it is necessary

to provide adequate financial support so that existing programs for the

development of qualified manpower and research on economic development

can be strengthened, improved, and expanded;

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

Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in ma by the Constitution,

do hereby decree and order the following to be part of the law of the

land;

Section 1 Creation of the Philippine Center for Economic Development.

SECTION 1. Creation of the Philippine Center for Economic

Development.—There is hereby created and established a Philippine

Center for Economic Development, which shall be located at the

University of the Philippines, with a distinct corporate personality.

The function of the Center is to give financial and moral support to the

research, teaching, training and other programs of the School of

Economics of the University of the Philippines. The Center shall

formulate a program for financing the academic and other programs of the

School, including the endowment of faculty chairs.

The School of Economics nevertheless remains under the effective

academic and administrative supervision of the University of the

Philippines System. The School will undertake its academic functions at a

larger scale to be made possible by the financial support of the

Center, and in so doing will be assisted by the Advisory Committee of

the Center; but the School will maintain a high degree of independence,

relying on faculty initiative as the prime means of developing competent

training and research. This shall pertain to all of the following

functions of the School:

To conduct and engage in research work and studies oriented

towards national policy and the needs of national development in the

field of economics, particularly in the areas of:

monetary and fiscal policy;

tariff and trade policy;

industrial and agricultural policy;

regional economic development;

Long-, medium- and short-term economic planning techniques;

manpower and employment;

economic studies on education, health and social development,

in general; and

statistical programs and policy;

To undertake training programs designed to provide the government

and the nation as a whole of planners, analysts and economic

statisticians, or in general, of technicians skilled and knowledgeable

in the problems of economic development;

To serve as the medium for bringing together experts and

specialists in other disciplines to conduct studies and investigations

and engage in interchange of ideas so as to bring in their knowledge and

experience to bear on common problems with a view to evolving fresh

ideas and approaches that could be effectively applied to economic

development;

To engage in the publication of the results of research.

Section 2 Powers.

SEC. 2. Powers.—The Center shall have the following

powers:

To adopt, alter and use a corporate seal;

To collect, receive and maintain a fund or funds, from

government appropriations, and from donations, grants, gifts,

bequests, loans from domestic or foreign lenders or other sources of

income, and to apply the income and principal thereof to the promotion

of its aims and purposes;

To acquire, purchase, pledge, own, hold, operate,

develop, lease, mortgage, pledge, exchange, sell, transfer or otherwise,

in any manner permitted by law, real and personal property of every

kind and description or any interests therein as may be necessary to

carry out its purposes;

To raise or borrow money from domestic or foreign sources for

the purposes of the Center and to do any and all acts required

and/or necessary under the law to effect the same;

In furtherance of its purposes, to extend financial assistance

and to enter into, make, perform and carry out, or cancel and

rescind contracts of every kind and for any lawful purpose with any

person, firm association, corporation, syndicate, domestic or foreign,

or others in which it has a lawful interest;

To invest funds, as it may be able to obtain from donations,

grants, loans or appropriations, the returns of which the corporation

uses to subsist and carry on the activities and purposes for which it

was formed;

In general, to carry on any activity and to have and exercise

all of the powers conferred by law on a private or government-owned or

controlled corporation; and to do any and all of the acts and things

herein set forth to the same extent as juridical persons could do, and

in any part of the world, as principal, factor, agent, or otherwise,

either alone or in syndicate or otherwise in conjunction with any

person, entity, syndicate partnership, association or corporation,

domestic or foreign.

Section 3 Board of Trustees.

SEC. 3. Board of Trustees.—The affairs of the Center

shall be managed by a Board of Trustees which shall be composed of nine

members as follows:

The Director-General of the National Economic and Development

Authority (NEDA), as Chairman;

The Executive Secretary;

The Secretary of Industry;

The Secretary of Finance;

The Commissioner of the Budget;

The Governor of the Central Bank;

The President of the University of the Philippines;

The Dean of the School of Economics;

Two members to be appointed by the President of the University of

the Philippines, upon recommendation of the Dean of the School of

Economics, shall serve for a term of three years and may be reappointed.

Section 4 Functions and Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees.

SEC. 4. Functions and Responsibilities of the Board of

Trustees.—The Board shall have the following functions:

To approve and authorize on an annual basis a program for

financial assistance to the School of Economics;

To appoint the Executive Director and the other officers and

staff of the Center, whose number, organizational structure and

compensation shall be determined by the Board upon recommendation of the

Executive Director;

To constitute themselves or their representatives into an

Advisory Committee whose function shall be to make recommendations to

the School with respect to the latter's academic and other programs;

To promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the discharge

of its powers and functions and the internal organization and

operations of the Center;

To monitor and review periodically the programs and projects of

the Center.

Section 5 Executive Director of the Center.

SEC. 5. Executive Director of the Center.—The

Executive Director shall be the executive officer of the Center and

shall receive such salary and remuneration as may be determined by the

Board of Trustees. He shall have the following powers and duties:

To have control and supervision over the

personnel, staff, operations and internal administration of the

Center in accordance with existing laws and the rules and regulations

promulgated by the Board of Trustees;

To recommend to the Board of Trustees such policies and

measures which he deems necessary for the effective exercise and

discharge of the powers and responsibilities of the Center;

To submit an annual report to the Board of Advisers on the

operations, the status of the programs funded by, and the

financial condition of the Center, including a recommendation for

its budget for the ensuing year.

Section 6 Endowment Fund.

SEC. 6. Endowment Fund.—To provide a source for the

funding of programs and projects of the Center, there is hereby

established an Endowment Fund which shall be self-sustaining and shall

consist of contributions, donations, bequests, grants and loans from

domestic and/or foreign sources, government subsidy appropriations and

other income accruing from the operations of the Center. For the initial

organizational and operational requirements of the Center, there is

hereby appropriated out of any fund in the National Treasury or other

sources not otherwise appropriated the sum of Five Million Pesos

(P5,000,000.00) and an annual amount of Two Million Pesos

(P2,000,000.00) shall continue to be appropriated for six years to

support the operations of the Center.

The Endowment Fund shall be administered as a Trust with the

Board of Trustees of the Center as trustee thereof, provided that the

principal of the fund shall not be impaired and that only the earnings

thereof shall be available for expenditure.

Section 7 Finance Committee.

SEC. 7. Finance Committee.—The Board of Trustees

shall constitute a Finance Committee, composed of at least three

members, to be headed by a member of the Board of Trustees, which shall

administer the Endowment Fund for and shall be responsible directly to,

the Board of Trustees. It shall advise and make recommendations to the

Board of Trustees on matters pertaining to the funding aspect of

programs proposed to be funded by the Center, on matters pertaining to

maintaining the integrity of the Endowment Fund.

Section 8 Applicability of Procurement Restrictions.

SEC. 8. Applicability of Procurement Restrictions.—Requirements

and restrictions under existing laws and regulations on procurement of

supplies and equipment and on contracting applicable to government-owned

or controlled corporations shall not apply to the Center.

Section 9 Appointments and Discipline of Personnel.

SEC. 9. Appointments and Discipline of Personnel.—Any

provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, appointments,

compensation and discipline of the personnel in the staff of the Center

shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the

Board of Advisers and shall be exempt from the Civil Service Law, laws,

rules and WAPCO; Provided, That any government retiree employed

in the Center shall not be required to reimburse or refund any gratuity

received from the government nor shall any pension or annuity to which

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

the Foundation.

Section 10 Exemption from Taxes.

SEC. 10. Exemption from Taxes.—Any provision of

existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any donation,

contribution, bequest, subsidy or financial aid which may be made to the

Center shall be exempt from taxes of any kind, and shall constitute

allowable deductions in full from the income of the donors or givers for

income tax purposes.

The Center, its assets, acquisitions, income, and its operations

and transactions shall be exempt from any and all taxes, fees, charges,

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

Republic of the Philippines or any of its political subdivision or

taxing authority thereof, except import taxes, duties and fees.

Done in the City of Manila, this 13th day of May, in the year of

Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.

(Sgd.)

FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.)

ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Executive Secretary