Presidential Decree No. 848 (PD 848) — Constituting Certain Municipalities with in the Province of Kalinga-Apayao into a Special Development Region to Be Known as Kalinga Special Development Region.
WHEREAS, the socio-economic conditions prevailing in certain
municipalities in the province of Kalinga-Apayao need special attention
and action of the government in order to hasten the development of the
said area;
WHEREAS, in order to crystallize the socio-economic program
of the government, it is of paramount necessity to identify and group
together barangays and municipalities in the province of Kalinga-Apayao
having similar or identical problems in order to apply comprehensive and
incisive solutions to the same;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, by virtue of the
powers vested in me by the Constitution of the Philippines, do hereby
Decree and order the following as part of the law of the land:
Declaration of Policy.
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy.—For purposes of
increasing the share of each Kalinga in the fruits of socio-economic
progress and improving the quality of their lives, it is hereby declared
the policy of the government to foster and accelerate the growth and
development of the Kalinga by implementing socio-economic development
programs, mobilizing the resources of government agencies and
instrumentalities to assist the Kalinga people, encouraging self-help
projects, providing improved educational facilities and stimulating the
development of their own leaders.
Creation and Composition of the Region.
SEC. 2. Creation and Composition of the Region.—The
following municipalities in the province of Kalinga-Apayao, namely:
Lubuagan
Tinglayan
Tanudan
Pasil
are hereby constituted into a Special Development Region to be
known as Kalinga Special Development Region, hereinafter referred to as
Region, which shall be under the direct supervision of the President of
the Philippines through the Presidential Assistant on National
Minorities. The Region shall be a body corporate governed by the
provisions of this Decree and/or other pertinent laws.
Principal Office.
SEC. 3. Principal Office.—The principal office of
the Region shall be situated in Lubuagan, Tinglayan, Tanudan or Pasil
as may be decided by the Governing Council to be set up as hereinafter
provided.
Purposes and Objectives.
SEC. 4. Purposes and Objectives.—The Region shall
have the following purposes and objectives:
To hasten the growth and development of the Kalinga people;
To enable the Kalinga people to participate more actively in
the national development effort;
To coordinate and integrate into a long term
comprehensive development program the various sectoral plans and
activities intended for the area by other agencies,
departments and instrumentalities.
Duties and Functions of the Region.
SEC. 5. Duties and Functions of the Region.—The
Region shall have the following duties and functions:
To develop and undertake such action projects as may be
necessary to achieve the purposes and objectives of this Decree;
To call upon and enlist the assistance of any department,
bureau, office, agency or instrumentality of the government as it
may require in the performance of its functions;
To coordinate with any department, bureau, office,
agency or instrumentality of the Government that may be
implementing various sectoral development programs in the area;
To perform such other duties as may be assigned to it by the
President of the Philippines.
Governing Council.
SEC. 6. Governing Council.—All functions and powers
of the Region shall be vested in, and exercised by a Governing Council
hereinafter referred to as Council, composed of:
The incumbent mayors of the municipalities composing
the Region;
One leader of a barangay from the charter member municipality.
For the purpose of this provision, a leader of a barangay may be a
respected pangat or traditional leader, who need not be a
barangay official, or a respected member of the barangay
council;
Two prominent citizens of the Region; and
The Administrator of the Region who shall be the Chairman of
the Council.
They shall be residents of the Region and shall be able to read
and write.
The Governing Council shall have four (4) regular
monthly meetings in the Office of the Region and shall have special
meetings as often as necessary. The members of the Governing Council
except the Administrator shall be entitled to a per diem of P250.00 each
per meeting and the reimbursement of all necessary expenses in
attending to and returning from the same; Provided, however, that
no member shall collect more than a total of P1,000.00 as per diem for
any one month period.
All members of the Council shall be
appointed by the President of the Philippines and shall hold office for a
term of four (4) years.
Majority of the Council shall
constitute a quorum to do business and a simple majority of the quorum
is sufficient to pass a resolution, except in specific instances where
the law requires a greater number as a prerequisite to make the
resolution valid and binding.
Administrator.
SEC. 7. Administrator.—The
President shall appoint a Kalinga as Administrator who shall act as its
Chief Executive Officer. He shall serve full time for a term of four
(4) years unless sooner removed for cause and shall receive a
compensation of Sixty Thousand Pesos per annum. He shall reside in the
Region and shall not engage in any business or profession during his
term of office.
SEC. 8. Powers of the Governing
Council.
The council shall have the following powers:
To promulgate, prescribe and adopt policies and procedures
that will guide the administration and government of the Region;
To formulate, develop, adopt and implement socio-economic
programs to achieve the objective of this Decree;
To review and evaluate project proposals submitted
by the Administrator for the development of the Region;
To approve the annual and/or supplemental budgets
of the Region as may be submitted to it by the Administrator;
To evaluate, monitor and supervise the progress of all programs
of the Region;
To approve all contracts entered into by the Region;
To approve the organization, plantilla and plans submitted by
the Administrator for the operation and management of the Region.
Powers and Functions of the Administrator.
SEC. 9. Powers and Functions of the Administrator.—
The Administrator shall have the following functions:
He shall be the Chief Executive of the Region and shall
execute the policies of the Governing Council;
He shall direct and supervise the day-to-day
operations and internal administration of the Region. He may,
however, delegate certain administrative responsibilities to
other officers of the Region subject to the approval of the
Governing Council;
He shall prepare periodic review of program progress;
He shall submit annual and/or supplemental budget estimates to
the Governing Council;
He shall recommend policies and programs to the Council; and
He shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by
the council from time to time.
Auditor.
SEC. 10. Auditor.—The Commission on Audit shall
recommend to the council a representative who shall be the Auditor of
the Region and such personnel as may be necessary to assist said
representative in the performance of his duties. The salaries of the
Auditor and his staff shall be fixed and paid by the Region.
The
Auditing reports shall contain a statement of the resources, liabilities
and expenses, surplus, reserves, and such other facts which under
auditing rules and regulations are considered necessary to accurately
describe the financial conditions and operations and criticisms of the
Auditor of the Region or the Chairman of the Commission on Audit as the
case may be, to point out, explain why or answer any inaccuracies
therein, if any, to file a statement which shall be appended by the
Auditor of the Region and Chairman of the Commission on Audit in their
respective reports.
Chief Legal Counsel.
SEC. 11. Chief Legal Counsel.—The Region shall
have one Chief Legal Counsel to be appointed by the Administrator whose
salary and other privileges shall be fixed by the Council. The position
of the Chief Legal Counsel is considered highly technical and
confidential. The Chief Legal Counsel of the Region shall have the
following functions:
He shall be the Secretary of the Council and as such shall be
the official custodian of all the minutes, records and proceedings of
all council meetings, and the official seal of the Region;
In consultation with the Administrator, he shall
prepare the agenda of the Council for its regular and special meetings;
He shall give legal advise to the Region, the
Council, the Administrator and all the other divisions of
the Region and shall render legal opinion whenever the same
is required.
He shall represent the Region in all cases brought for or
against it; and
He shall exercise such other functions assigned to him by the
Council.
The Chief Legal Counsel shall have such staff and assistant legal
counsel as the Council may determine.
Personnel.
SEC. 12. Personnel.—The
Region shall have such personnel as may be necessary for the
performance of its basic functions and such other personnel as may be
assigned or detailed from other agencies of the Government. All
positions, except technical and professional staff and such other
positions as the Governing Council may declare to be highly technical,
policy determining and primarily confidential, shall be subject to Civil
Service rules and regulations and coverage of the plans of the Wage and
Position Classification Office; Provided, That all personnel
shall be entitled to the benefits and privileges normally accorded to
government employees, such as retirement, GSIS insurance, leave and
similar matters; Provided, finally, That the Governing Council
shall be the final authority on appeals on personnel matters concerning
its professional and technical personnel.
Donations.
SEC. 13. Donations.—The Region shall be
authorized to receive grants, donations or gifts, in whatever form and
whatever sources; Provided, That said grants, gifts, or donations
shall be administered, obligated and disbursed in accordance with the
terms thereof, or in the absence of such terms, in such manner as a
majority of the Governing Council may in its discretion determine;
Pro-vided, finally, That said grants, gifts, donations shall be subject
only to such limitations as the grantor, giver or donor may impose as
accepted by the Governing Council.
Said grants, gifts or donations shall be tax exempt.
SEC.
14. Appropriation.—The amount of Three Million Pesos out of
any available funds from the National Treasury, or from the Special
Activities Funds, is hereby appropriated and authorized to be released
for the organization of the Region and its initial operation.
Henceforth, funds sufficient to fully carry out the objectives of the
Region shall be appropriated every fiscal year in the General
Appropriations Act.
SEC. 15. If any provision of this
Decree is rendered invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not
affected shall remain valid.
SEC. 16. All laws, decree,
orders, proclamations or rules and regulations inconsistent with the
provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed and/or amended
accordingly.
SEC. 17. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 12th day of December, in the
year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-five.
(Sgd.)
FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President
Republic of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.)
JACOBO C. CLAVE
Presidential Executive Assistant
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
