FURTHER AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 232, AS AMENDED

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 623
• Sections: 5

Preamble

WHEREAS, the recent international events which unleashed

economic dislocations on all sectors of the national economy including

that of the coconut industry indicate an imperative need for the

Government to pursue through a single agency definite development plans

in the coconut industry aimed at improving the economic status of the

coconut and other palm oil farmers and assuring domestic consumers with a

continuous supply of coconut-based products at reasonable prices; and

WHEREAS, to insure that the aforesaid objectives and

purposes are pursued there is need to re-organize the Governing Board of

the Philippine Coconut Authority by including in its composition the

required management and financial expertise and directing the

implementation of definite plans calculated to promote the growth and

development to the coconut industry:

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

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

do hereby decree the further amendment of Presidential Decree No. 232,

as follows:

Section 1

SECTION 1. Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 232, as

amended by Presidential Decree No. 271, is hereby amended and changed to

read as follows:

"SEC. 4. Governing Board. — The corporate powers

and duties of the Authority shall be vested in, and exercised by a

Board, to be composed of seven members, to wit: The Chairman, who shall

act as the Chairman of the Board, and the President, both of the

Philippine National Bank, who shall be ex-officio members, and the

remaining five members, to be appointed by the President, from the

recommendations of the following:

Three members recommended by the Philippine Coconut

Producers Federation;

One member recommended by the United Coconut Associations of

the Philippines; and

One member recommended by the owner and operator of the

hybrid coconut seednut farm authorized to be established under Section

3-B hereof.

"A representative of foreign organizations, associations or

entities, or a foreign expert, of recognized competence and experience

in the development and production of hybrid coconut palm tree shall act

as an adviser and participate in the deliberations of the Board: Provided,

That said adviser shall not be entitled to vote on any matter taken by

the Board.

"The Board shall elect from among their members a Vice-Chairman

who shall assume the functions of the Chairman, whenever the latter is

absent or incapacitated.

"The Board shall meet at least once a month and the members

shall each receive, for each meeting actually attended, a per diem of

two hundred pesos: Provided, That such per diems shall not

exceed one thousand pesos during any month for each member.

"The Board shall have the following additional powers and

duties:

To direct and manage the affairs of the Authority;

To prepare and adopt an annual budget which, notwithstanding

any law or regulation to the contrary, shall not be subject to approval

by the Budget Commission; and

To establish the internal organization of the Authority and

fix the salaries and other compensation of its officers and employees;"

Section 2

SEC. 2. Section 5 of the same decree is hereby amended and

changed to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. Personnel. — The chief executive officer of

the Authority shall be the Administrator assisted by such Deputy

Administrators as the Board may prescribe, all of whom shall be

appointed, or removed, by the Board and delegated with such powers and

duties as it may prescribe.

"The Board may establish such departments as it may be convenient

for the discharge of its duties: Provided, That only one

agronomical research department shall be created with the following

responsibilities:

To operate and maintain one central research station and such

sub-stations as the Board may prescribe and, for that purpose, all

research stations and centers, facilities and equipment operated by any

governmental agency or instrumentality in the researches on genetical,

agronomical and disease control relating to coconut culture are all

hereby transferred to the Authority;

In coordination and cooperation with the hybrid coconut seed

farm herein authorized to be established, to coconut genetical and

agricultural researches and investigations for the improvement of the

coconut palm productivity but in no case shall it engage in the

production of seednuts;

To train people in the proper methods of planting and caring

of the hybrid coconut palm tree;

To conduct scientific researches and investigations in the

control and elimination of "kadang-kadang" and other diseases of

coconut; and

To compile scientific information and disseminate results of

agronomical researches and investigations on coconut productivity.

"All officers and employees of the Authority shall be selected and

appointed by the Board on the basis solely of merit and fitness and are

not subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law and Rules as

well as the regulations of the Wage and Position Classification Office."

Section 3

SEC. 3. Upon effectivity of this Decree, the Board of the

Authority as presently constituted shall cease to exist.

Section 4

SEC. 4. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 26th day of December 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