Projects Office.
Section 3
SEC. 3. Projects Office.—For purposes of administering the provisions of this Act, there is hereby created a Municipal Telephone Projects Office in the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) with the following functions: Develop, in coordination with all other agencies concerned, a plan for providing public calling stations with technology capable of voice and data transmission in every municipality and, when feasible, in such barangay not otherwise served by an existing telephone exchange using appropriate technology and for this purpose formulate or cause to be formulated, engineering studies; Undertake the implementation of the said plans and programs and toward this end, to enter into contracts subject to existing laws and regulations for the procurement of equipment, construction of facilities and the installation of the system; Arrange for funding from any source, private, government, foreign or domestic, including official development assistance, bilateral and multilateral loans subject to applicable laws and regulations; Prescribe and ensure compatibility with minimum standards and regulations to assure acceptable standards of construction, maintenance, operation, personnel training, accounting and fiscal practices for the municipal telecommunications operators of public calling stations; Furnish technical assistance and personnel training programs for the municipal telecommunications operators of public calling stations; Monitor and evaluate local telecommunications and effect system integration and operations whenever economically and technically feasible. Provided, however, That the approval of the provincial government of the province where any or all of the functions abovementioned are to be discharged is first secured.