Preamble
WHEREAS, representatives of workers, employers and the Government met at a National Tripartite Conference at Puerto Azul, Ternate, Cavite, on August 16 and 17, 1979, for the purpose of considering measures for the protection of wages, promotion of employment and industrial peace, ensuring economic viability and growth in the face of the global energy crisis; WHEREAS, the Conference recommended immediate restoration of the purchasing power of the effective minimum wage as of April 1979, with provision for exemption from or deferment of compliance in the case of temporarily distressed enterprises; WHEREAS, in addition to the current efforts of the Government to hold, down prices, especially those of prime commodities, it is urgently necessary to act immediately on the recommendation of the Conference in order to provide timely and adequate relief for the working masses in the face of rising costs of living; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President and Prime Minister, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, do hereby order and decree: