EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 370
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 370 -
ESTABLISHING THE PROGRAM TO REFOCUS ORIENTATION FOR THE POOR (PRO-POOR)
IN LOW INCOME MUNICIPALITIES (LIMs), PROVIDING FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
THEREOF, ENJOINING THE ACTIVE SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATION OF GOVERNMENT
DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS (RDCs), AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) THERETO AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
WHEREAS,
Art. II. Sec. 9 of the 1987 Constitution provides, that “The State
shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the
prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from
poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote
full employment, a rising standard of living and an improved quality of
life for all”;
WHEREAS, the 1988 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) shows
that there has not been any significant improvement in the income share
of the bottom 30% of the population;
WHEREAS, the government has identified poverty alleviation as a major
thrust;
WHEREAS, in view of the foregoing, there is need to, among others,
focus government action to respond immediately to the needs of the
depressed communities, initially in the rural areas;
NOW, THEREFORE, I CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Republic of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby
order:
Section 1. Program to Refocus Orientation for the
Poor (PRO-POOR). — There is hereby established the Program to Refocus
Orientation for the Poor (PRO- POOR), hereinafter referred to as the
Program.
Sec. 2. Program Objective. — The Program shall
foster and accelerate the socio-economic growth and development in Low
Income Municipalities (LIMs) and improve the quality of life therein.
Sec. 3. Program Coverage. — (a) The Program shall
target approximately four hundred fifty (450) LIMs following a phased
approach covering a period of three (3) years. An initial list of
municipalities shall be selected and identified on the basis of
poverty-related criteria. The drawing up of the list shall be
undertaken in consultation with the Local Government Executives (LGEs)
and the Regional Development Council (RDC) Chairmen. New municipalities
shall be added to the target LIMs in subsequent targeting activities
from 1990 to 1992.
(b) The activities shall target the achievement of
coordinated improvement in the delivery of public services to the LIMs.
Specially, the Program calls for national and local agencies to focus
an expanding coverage, raising quality, or increasing the effectiveness
of these services with both large and important short-term and long-
term impact on community development. It shall likewise adopt
structures and procedures which are consistent with the stated national
policies of decentralization and local autonomy.
(c) The Program shall be municipal- based in terms of
planning, consultation, prioritization, and implementation. Emphasis
shall be on managing local resources including resources made available
to localities, ensuring that the projects are consistent with the
development goals of the municipality, and widening community
participation to provide impetus and direction for future action.
Sec. 4. Program Implementation. — (a) The Program
implementation shall involve agencies with municipal-based units,
namely: Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education,
Culture and Sports (DECS), Department of Health (DOH), Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Local Government (DLG), Department
of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Philippine Constabulary-Integrated
National Police (PC-INP); as well as those agencies with capabilities
for responding to municipal needs but have units based at the regions,
provinces, or cluster of municipalities, namely: Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Environmental and
Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Science and Technology (DOST),
Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), National Irrigation
Administration (NIA), National Electrification and Administration
(NEA), and Philippine Information Agency (PIA). These agencies shall
form a core team to assist the mayor who shall assume a lead role in
the implementation of the Program.
(b) The heads of the aforecited agencies shall issue
the necessary orders to ensure the full implementation by their
agencies of the Program in the targetted municipalities. They are
hereby directed to undertake the necessary preparations, training and
orientation of their respective staff for the implementation of the
Program.
(c) The agencies concerned shall recommend the
necessary realignment/reallocation of their respective resources to
pursue the priorities of the Program.
(d) The Department of Local Government shall
undertake an assessment of the mayors of LIMs included in the initial
list of targetted municipalities in terms of their willingness and
readiness to implement the Program.
(e) Concerned Local Government Executives (LGEs) are
enjoined to extent full cooperation to and support the Program.
Sec. 5. Creation of a Standing Committee. — There
is hereby created a Standing Committee for the Program to be headed by
the Presidential Adviser on Rural Development as Chairman with a senior
representative each of the seventeen (17) implementing agencies as
members. The Standing Committee shall monitor and report to the Office
of the President the status of implementation of the Program.
Sec. 6. Functions of the Standing Committee. — The
Standing Committee shall have the following functions:
1.
Identify the LIMs which shall be included in the first phase of the
Program:
2. Formulate
the detailed overall guidelines and time-table for program mobilization
and implementation;
3. Prepare and
submit to the President and the Cabinet, after 6 months, a report on
the status of program implementation and submit regular quarterly
reports thereafter;
4. Provide the
forum for the resolution of operational issues and problems on a
continuing basis;
5. Provide
technical advice and support to the agencies implementing the Program;
6. Perform
such other functions as may be assigned by the President.
Sec. 7. Staff Support. — Technical and Secretariat
services to the Standing Committee shall be provided by the Office of
the President which shall be the central monitoring arm of the Program.
Staff activities shall include coordination with the implementing
agencies, evaluation, review and consolidation of reports submitted by
the agencies, and regular visits to municipalities covered by the
Program.
Sec. 8. Effectivity. — This Executive Order shall
take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 25th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and eighty-nine.
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Since 19.07.98.