EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 623
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 623 -
CONVERTING THE ILOCOS REGION FUELWOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM CREATED UNDER
LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 866 INTO A CORPORATION AS A SUBSIDIARY OF
THE PHILIPPINE VIRGINIA TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION, REDEFINING ITS
FUNCTIONS, POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS, the Virginia tobacco
industry and domestic markets are presently confronted by acute
fuelwood shortage, and it is imperative that the forest resources of
the areas producing said tobacco should be properly managed, conserved
and developed in line with the policy of the government to tap
indigenous and renewable sources of energy and promote ecological
balance.
WHEREAS, Letter of Instruction No. 866 dated May 23, 1979 directed the
Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration and the Ministry of Natural
Resources to vigorously pursue the implementation of the Ilocos Region
Fuelwood Development Program (IRFDP).
WHEREAS, it is imperative to strengthen the Program to improve its
organizational capability to facilitate the attainment of its
objectives.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the
Philippines, in order to effect the desired changes and progress in the
social, economic, and political structure of our Society do hereby
order, direct and make as part of the law of the land, the following:
Section 1. Conversion of the IRFDP to Virginia
Tobacco Fuelwood Corporation (VTOFCO). — The Ilocos Region Fuelwood
Development Program created under Letter of Instructions No. 866, dated
May 23, 1979 is hereby converted and reconstituted into a body
corporate as a subsidiary of PVTA to be known as the VTOFCO.
Sec. 2. Domicile. — The principal office of the
Corporation shall be in Metro Manila but branches may hereafter be
established in such places as the needs of VTOFCO may
require.
Sec. 3. Corporate Existence. — The VTOFCO shall
exist for fifty (50) years subject to extension for another fifty (50)
years.
Sec. 4. The Board of Directors. — The powers and
functions of the Corporation shall be exercised by a Board of
Directors, hereinafter referred to as the Board, which shall be
composed of the following:
Chairman
— The Chairman of the Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration shall
be the ex
officio Chairman of the Board;
Vice-Chairman — The Minister of
Natural Resources shall be the ex officio Vice-Chairman of the
Board;
The following shall be ex
officio members;
a)
The Provincial Governor of Abra;
b) The
Provincial Governor of Ilocos Norte;
c) The
Provincial Governor of Ilocos Sur;
d) The
Provincial Governor of La Union;
e) The
Director of the Bureau of Forest Development;
f) The
Director of the Bureau of Lands;
One (1) member to be appointed by the President who shall have a term
of office of three (3) years.
Five (5) Members of the Board shall be necessary to constitute a
quorum.
Sec. 5. General Objectives. — The VTOFCO shall
undertake all manner of activity, business or development projects for
the establishment of a reliable fuelwood and related industries that
shall include but not limited to the following objectives:
a)
Operate production and marketing activities or services to ensure
adequate and continuous supply of fuelwood for the Virginia tobacco
industry and domestic markets;
b) Adopt
measures vital to the growth and development of the fuelwood and
related industries capable of contributing to their proper shares in
the economy as a whole;
c) Provide
comprehensive direction to the public sector in the management and
development of forest resources on a fully commercial scale; and
d) Promote the
adoption of effective strategies and systems to limit the
indiscriminate use and destruction of the forest lands of the country.
Sec. 6. Specific Objectives. —
a)
Directly engage in the production of fuelwood by establishing nurseries
and plantations primarily in the Virginia tobacco producing areas or in
such areas or other places accessible to the industry or feasible to
the production of fuelwood;
b) Undertake
harvesting and/or processing operations of fuelwood products and its
by-products, and to put up the necessary infrastructures and support
facilities;
c) Develop and
implement a marketing program to ensure efficient distribution of
fuelwood products and its by-products raise from its plantation areas;
d) Undertake
studies and encourage adoption, in the production, harvesting,
processing and marketing phases, of such proven strategies and systems
as to promote the fuelwood and related industries and safeguard the
forest resources as renewable source of energy and for ecological
reasons; and
e) Promote
policy recommendations for the management of the Country’s forest
resources.
Sec. 7. General Powers. — The VTOFCO is hereby
authorized to adopt and use a corporate seal which shall be judicially
noticed; to make contracts, to lease or own real personal properties
and to sell or otherwise dispose of the same; to sue and to be
sued.
Sec. 8. Specific Powers. — In addition to the
powers vested in the defunct Ilocos Region Fuelwood Development Program
which are now vested in the corporation, the Corporation shall have the
following powers:
a)
To acquire and hold such lands as may be necessary for the carrying out
of the powers, functions, purposes and objectives of the Corporation
within such areas and in such locations as may be determined by the
Administrator and approved by the Board of Directors;
b) To
promulgate such rules and regulations as may be reasonably necessary
and desirable for the attainment of the objective of this Executive
Order;
c) To enter
into, make and execute contracts of any kind as may be necessary or
incidental to the attainment of its purposes and powers, with any
person, firm or corporation, with the Government of the Philippines or
with any foreign government, subject to existing laws;
d) To contract
indebtedness when essential to the proper administration of its
corporate affairs or when necessary for the proper transaction of its
business or for carrying out the purposes of this Executive Order;
e) To create
and operate and/or contract to operate such divisions, functional
units, offices and departments of the Corporation as it may deem
necessary or useful for the furtherance of any of the purposes of this
Executive Order;
f) To enter
into any lawful arrangement for sharing profits, joint ventures, union,
interests, reciprocal concession or cooperation with any person, or
corporation, association, partnership, syndicate or entity located in
or organized under the laws of any authority in any part of the world
in the carrying on of any business which the Corporation is authorized
to carry on, or any business or transaction deemed necessary,
convenient or incidental to the carrying on of the purposes of the
Corporation;
g) To
establish and maintain fuelwood plantations and to market its products
and by-products thereof;
h) To
undertake research in the promotion of the quality and quantity of
fuelwood products and by-products;
i) To obtain
funds to support or carry out its objectives and purposes and/or to
invest idle funds or such funds and other income sources derived from
marketing, and contributions, etc., in any authorized government
depository banks and/or to arrange financing or credit, or any kind of
assistance for its own account or for the account of its clients in
such manner as the Board Directors of the Corporations may deem
reasonable from governmental or private sources in the Philippines or
elsewhere or from international public or private lending institutions,
and to secure any or all of the same by any guarantee or
counter-guarantee by pledge, mortgage, deed of trust or assignment of
the property of the Corporation, or by creating or suffering to exist a
charge, lien, or encumbrance, general or special, upon its assets, for
the purposes of securing the performance by the Corporation of any
obligation or liability it may undertake;
j) To accept
and receive donations such as cash and cash equivalents, including but
not limited to personal and real properties;
k) To do any
and all such other things as may be necessary or incidental to the
attainment of the purposes of the VTOFCO; and
l) Generally,
to exercise all the powers of a corporation under the Corporation Law,
in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions hereof.
Sec. 9. Capitalization. — The authorized capital
stock of the Corporation shall be ONE HUNDRED MILLION (P100,000,000.00)
PESOS, Philippine Currency, to be fully subscribed by the Philippine
Virginia Tobacco Administration and paid as follows:
a)
The net assets of and the appropriations for the Ilocos Region Fuelwood
Development Program shall form part of the authorized capital of the
Corporation;
b) The balance
shall be paid by the Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration from
the Tobacco Fund entrusted with the National Treasury in such releases
as may be approved by the President of the Philippines as recommended
by the Minister of the Budget, provided that the Minister of the Budget
shall immediately release from the said Tobacco Fund such sum as should
enable the Corporation to function effectively.
Sec. 10. Cash Advances. — The Central Bank of the
Philippines is hereby authorized to extend to the Corporation advances
and grant loans which may be needed for its operations.
Sec. 11. Powers of the Board. — In addition to the
general and specific powers of VTOFCO, the Board shall exercise the
following:
a)
To formulate policies, plans, projects, rules and regulations to carry
out effectively the functions of the Corporation;
b) To direct
the management, operations and administration of the Corporation;
c) To approved
the budget and authorize such expenditures by the Corporation as are in
the interest of the effective administration and operation of the
Corporation;
d) To
establish offices and/or branch offices and create positions necessary
for the efficient operation of the Corporation; fix and authorize
payment of salaries, allowances, per diems, honoraria and other
remunerations or emoluments of the members of the Board, Administrator,
Deputy Administrator and other officers and personnel of the
Corporation including personnel of other government agencies and
instrumentalities who may be designated to work for the VTOFCO by
detail or designation in an ex-officio or concurrent capacity;
e) To exercise
such other powers as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes for
which the Corporation was organized.
Sec. 12. Management. — The management of the
Corporation shall be headed by an Administrator and a Deputy
Administrator who shall be appointed by the Board of Directors unless
sooner removed by the Board. The Administrator and the Deputy
Administrator shall each receive such salary as may be determined by
the Board but in no case less than SIXTY THOUSAND (P60,000.00) PESOS
per annum and FIFTY-TWO THOUSAND (P52,000.00) PESOS per annum,
respectively.
Sec. 13. Powers and Duties of the Administrator. —
The Administrator shall perform the functions and duties of the Program
Director of the defunct Program. In addition thereto, the Administrator
shall have the following powers and duties:
a)
To prepare the agenda for meetings of the Board and to submit for the
consideration of the Board proposed policies and measures which are
necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions thereof;
b) To execute
and administer the policies and measures approved by the
Board;
c) To
represent the Corporation in all dealings with other offices, agencies
and instrumentalities of the Government and with all persons and
entities, public or private, domestic or foreign; and
d) To exercise
such other powers as may be vested in him by the Board.
Sec. 14. Coordination of Policies. — The
Corporation shall coordinate its policies, plans, projects and
regulations with those of the Philippine Virginia Tobacco
Administration, the Ministry of Natural Resources and other agencies of
the Government involved in fuelwood and the development and use
thereof.
Sec. 15. Reorganization. — The Board is hereby
authorized to reorganize the administrative structure of the defunct
IRFDP as established under Letter of Instructions No. 866.
Sec. 16. Transfer of the IRFDP Properties, Assets,
Unexpended Balance and Personnel. — The IRFDP properties, assets and
unexpended appropriations and necessary personnel as may be determined
by the Board are hereby transferred to the VTOFCO.
Sec. 17. By-Laws, Rules and Regulations. — The
Board may adopt a by-laws for the Corporation and promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations which are not inconsistent herewith for
the effective implementation of the policies and purposes of the
Corporation and revise or amend the same as may be expedient.
Sec. 18. General Counsel. — The Office of the
Government Corporate Counsel shall be the General Counsel of the
Corporation. The Corporation may, however, organize its own legal
department to assist management and the Board in the performance of its
functions.
Sec. 19. The Corporation Law. — The provisions of
the Corporation Law, is so far as they are not inconsistent with the
provisions and policies provided herein, shall be applicable to the
VTOFCO.
Sec. 20. Repealing Clause. — LOI No. 866 and the
provisions of any other Presidential Issuance, Ordinance, Rules and
Regulations inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly. If for any reason, any section or provision of
this Executive Order is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other
sections or provisions hereof, which are not affected thereby, shall
continue to be in full force and effect.
Sec. 21. Effectivity. — This Executive Order shall
take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 30th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and eighty.
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