EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 797
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 797 -
REORGANIZING THE MINISTRY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, CREATING THE
PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS,
under the New Republic, national economic development shall be pursued
with renewed vigor and greater determination;
WHEREAS, the attainment of national goals is contingent among others on
the development of employment opportunities, the protection of workers,
and the promotion of industrial peace;
WHEREAS, recent local and international developments have imposed new
demands and challenges on the existing delivery system for labor and
labor-related services;
WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 1416 as amended, the President
is empowered to undertake such organizational and related improvements
as may be appropriate in the light of changing circumstances and new
developments.
NOW, THEREFORE, I FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by
virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and the authority
vested in me by Presidential Decree No. 1416 as amended, do hereby
order and ordain:
Section 1. The Ministry of Labor and Employment,
hereinafter referred to as the Ministry, shall be the primary policy,
programming, coordinating and administrative entity of the executive
branch of the government in the field of labor and employment. The
primary function of the Ministry shall be the development of employment
opportunities, the protection of workers, and the promotion of
industrial peace.
Sec. 2. The authority and responsibility for the
exercise of the powers and the discharge of the functions of the
Ministry shall be vested in the Minister of Labor and Employment,
hereinafter referred to as the Minister, who shall be appointed by the
President. He shall be assisted by such Deputy Ministers as may be
appointed by the President. The Minister is authorized to determine and
assign the respective functional areas of responsibility of the Deputy
Ministers, should there be more than one; Provided, That such
delineation of responsibilities shall cover the substantive functions
and operations of the Ministry; and Provided, further, that no Deputy
Minister shall be assigned primarily administrative responsibilities.
Sec. 3. There is hereby created a Bureau of Local
Employment, which shall assume the functions of the Bureau of
Apprenticeship and the domestic employment functions of the Bureau of
Employment Services, and which shall absorb applicable functions,
appropriations, records, equipment, property, and such personnel as may
be necessary of the abolished units.
Sec. 4. There is hereby created a Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration, hereinafter referred to as the
Administration, which shall assume the functions of the Overseas
Employment Development Board, the National Seamen Board, and the
overseas employment functions of the Bureau of Employment Services;
which shall absorb the applicable functions, appropriations, records,
equipment, property, and such personnel as may be necessary of the
abolished units; and which shall have the powers, functions, and
structure as provided for below.
(a)
The Administration shall formulate and undertake,
in coordination where necessary with the appropriate entities
concerned, a systematic program for promoting and monitoring the
overseas employment of Filipino workers taking into consideration
domestic manpower requirements, and to protect their rights to fair and
equitable employment practices. It shall have original and exclusive
jurisdiction over all cases, including money claims, involving
employer-employee relations arising out of or by virtue of any law or
contract involving Filipino workers for overseas employment, including
seamen. This adjudicatory function shall be undertaken in appropriate
circumstances in consultation with the Construction Industry Authority
of the Philippines. The governing Board of the Administration, as
hereunder provided, shall promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations to govern the exercise of the adjudicatory functions of the
Administration.
(b) The
Administration shall have a three-man Board
composed of the Minister as Chairman, the Administrator, and a third
member who shall be appointed by the President, who shall be well
versed in the field of overseas employment, and who shall serve for a
term of two years. The Administrator and such Deputy Administrators as
may be necessary shall be appointed by the President. The President
may, at his discretion, designate a Deputy Administrator as the third
member of the Board, and he may also confer the rank of Deputy Minister
in a concurrent capacity to a particular incumbent of the position of
Administrator.
(c) The
principal substantive subdivisions of the
internal structure of the Administration shall be established along the
major functional areas corresponding to welfare services, placement and
market development, and regulation. Each principal substantive
subdivision shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the
President upon the recommendation of the Minister. The Administration
shall have its own support staff.
(d) An
Advisory Board for Overseas Employment and an
Advisory Board for Seamen are hereby created with such members as may
be appointed by the Minister. The Advisory Boards shall have an
essentially private sector composition to advise the Administration on
its overseas operations, and its members shall be entitled to rates of
compensation comparable to those prescribed for members of the
abolished Overseas Employment Development Board and the National Seamen
Board.
(e) The
Regional Labor Office for the Middle East and
Africa created under Executive Order No. 787 shall form part of the
Administration. The head of the Regional Labor Office shall have the
rank of Ambassador (Chief of Mission II).
Sec. 5. The Bureau of Labor Standards is hereby
renamed the Bureau of Working Conditions. In addition to its present
functions, the Bureau shall assume the functions of the Institute of
Occupational Health and Safety abolished under Executive Order No. 591.
Sec. 6. The Ministry proper of the Ministry shall
be composed of an Office of the Minister, a Planning Service, a Labor
Statistic Service, a Financial and Management Service, an
Administrative Service, an Information and Publication Service, an
International Labor Affairs Service, and a Legal Service. The Deputy
Ministers shall form part of the Office of the Minister.
Sec. 7. The Ministry shall exercise supervision
and control over the following bureaus and offices:
(1)
Bureau of Local Employment
(2) Bureau of
Labor Relations
(3) Bureau of
Working Conditions
(4) Bureau of
Rural Workers
(5) Bureau of
Women and Minors
(6) Institute
of Labor and Manpower Studies
Sec. 8. The Ministry shall exercise administrative
supervision over the following entities:
(1)
National Labor Relation Commission
(2) National
Wages Council
(3) Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration
(4) Welfare
Fund for Overseas Workers
Sec. 9. The following corporation is attached to
the Ministry for policy and program coordination:
(1)
Employees Compensation Commission
Sec. 10. The following entities are hereby
abolished, and their functions, together with applicable
appropriations, records, equipment, property, and such personnel as may
be necessary are hereby transferred to such appropriate units of the
Ministry as may be deemed suitable by the Minister:
(1)
Bureau of Employment Services
(2) Bureau of
Apprenticeship
(3) Free Legal
Assistance Office
(4) National
Seamen Board
(5) Overseas
Employment Development Board
(6)
Population/Family Planning Office
Sec. 11. The Ministry shall have such
ministry-wide regional offices as may be necessary, under the
supervision and control of the Office of the Minister, in accordance
with Article I, Chapter III, Part II of the Integrated Reorganization
Plan as amended. Each regional office shall be headed by a Regional
Director who shall be assisted whenever necessary by an Assistant
Regional Director. The Regional Director shall have supervision and
control over the activities of the Ministry in the region, except as
may be otherwise determined by the Minister.
The abolition of the Arbitration Branches, the Field Services
Divisions, and the Labor Relations Divisions in the regional offices
pursuant to Executive Order No. 591 shall be given effect, and their
applicable appropriations, records, equipment and such personnel as may
be necessary are transferred to the appropriate units as determined by
the Minister.
Positions of Conciliators and Med-Arbiters which may be created under
the new staffing patterns in the regional offices, as well as such
positions in the Bureau of Labor Relations, shall have starting rates
of compensation which shall be equivalent to two salary ranges below
those of Arbiters in the National Labor Relations Commission. The
Minister is authorized to effect from time to time such regional
reassignment of Conciliators and Med-Arbiters as may be necessary in
the interest of the service.
Sec. 12. The Ministry shall have such offices
overseas as will enable it to carry out its responsibilities
effectively, subject to prior approval by the President on the
establishment of each such office abroad. The Labor Attaché or
his equivalent shall have supervision over all other personnel of the
Ministry as may be assigned to an embassy or other foreign service post
overseas, including those of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration.
Sec. 13. The Minister shall have the authority to
reorganize the internal structure of the various offices and units
under the Ministry, as enumerated in Section s 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12 of
this Executive Order.
Sec. 14. The Ministry is hereby authorized to
issue such orders, rules and regulations as may be necessary to
implement the provisions of this Excutive Order, Provided, That
approval of the Office of Budget and Management is obtained relative to
the new staffing pattern including appropriate salary rates, the
organizational structure at divisional and lower levels, and the
realignment of existing appropriations. The Minister may appoint
qualified personnel of the abolished and reorganized agencies to
appropriate positions in the new staffing pattern, and those not so
appointed are deemed laid off.
Sec. 15. All Presidential appointees of the
bureaus, offices, and other entities under the supervision and control
of or under the administrative supervision of the Ministry are laid
off, unless otherwise reappointed by the President; Provided, That
those who are Career Executive Service Officers may either be
reappointed or reassigned by the President upon the recommendation of
the Minister to other appropriate positions in the Ministry, or
assigned to the Career Executive Service Board which shall endeavor to
find appropriate placement for them in other ministries or agencies;
Provided, further, that those Career Executive Service Officers who
have been assigned to the Career Executive Service Board shall continue
to receive their salaries from any available and applicable funds; and
Provided, finally, That those who are not placed in appropriate
positions within six months after their assignment to the Career
Executive Service Board shall be similarly laid off.
Sec. 16. All those who are laid off under the
provisions of this Executive Order shall be entitled to all benefits
and gratuities provided for under existing laws.
Sec. 17. Except as may otherwise be determined by
the Minister, all present incumbents of positions in the reorganized
units of the Ministry shall continue to exercise their usual functions,
duties, and responsibilities, pending the issuance of the appropriate
implementing orders.
Sec. 18. To carry out the provisions of this
Executive Order, such amount as may be necessary shall be made
available to the Ministry from any applicable appropriation item,
subject to the approval of the President upon recommendation of the
Office of Budget and Management.
Sec. 19. All laws, decrees, orders, proclamations,
rules, regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with any
of the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly.
Sec. 20. Any portion or provision of this
Executive Order that may be declared unconstitutional shall not have
the effect of nullifying the other provisions thereof, provided that
such remaining portions can still stand and be given effect in their
entirety to accomplish the objectives of this Executive Order.
Sec. 21. This Executive Order shall take effect
immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this first day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
eighty-two.
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