EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 442
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 442 - CREATING
THE PRESIDENTIAL COMPLAINTS AND ACTION OFFICE IN THE OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENT, DEFINING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS,
more than a social responsibility of the government, public service is
a moral commitment to the people that must be relentlessly pursued;
WHEREAS, it has become a moral as well as social imperative to take
immediate measures to insure that the public is served effectively,
efficiently and expeditiously;
WHEREAS, the Office of the President can best serve as the command
center for the measures that will address request for assistance as
well as complaints and grievances by the general public;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by
virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby under:
Section 1. A presidential Complaints and Action
Office in the Office of the President, hereinafter referred to as the
Action Office, is hereby created.
Sec. 2. The Action Office shall perform the
following powers and functions:
1.
Provide callers, visitors, and other persons who come to the Office of
the President to transact business with the necessary information on
the status of their papers or requests and the division or unit
responsible therefor;
2. Attend to
and interview such callers and visitors in order to expedite action on
their papers or requests;
3. Direct and
guide, if necessary, callers and visitors to the particular official or
employee acting on their papers;
4. Serve as
the liaison unit of the Office of the President with various agencies
and departments of the government on all requests for assistance as
well as complaints and grievances by the general public;
5. Initiate
fact-finding efforts in all activities involving or affecting immoral
practices, graft and corruption, smuggling, lawlessness, subversion,
and all other activities which are prejudicial to the government and
the public interest, and to submit proper recommendation to the
President of the Philippines or the Executive Secretary;
6. Entertain
complaints of graft and corruption and violation of Republic Acts No.
1379 and 3019, as amended, and commence fact-finding investigation
thereon prior to referral to the appropriate bodies for possible
prosecution;
7. To receive
and evaluate, and to conduct fact-finding investigations of, sworn
complaints against the acts, conduct or behavior of any public official
or employee and to file and/or forward the proper administrative and/or
criminal charges with the appropriate agency;
8. To
coordinate with other offices in order to carry out its objectives and
functions, and institute a follow-up and feedback mechanism to ensure
that the referrals of the Action Office are given attention and
expeditiously acted upon;
9. To
coordinate the organization of public assistance units in the various
government offices, patterned after the operational structure of the
Action Office, which shall serve as linkages of a network to be
established by the said Office;
10. To conduct
seminars for designated action officers of the various
departments/offices/agencies of the government on matters related to
current policies and procedures in rendering assistance to the public
and for improving systems and procedures to hasten the delivery of the
required services to the people;
11. To make
available to the public counselling services pertaining to their
request or complaints; and
12. To perform
other functions and responsibilities as the President of Executive
Secretary may direct.
Sec. 3. The Action Office shall adopt a policy of
arbitration, conciliation and mediation leading to amicable settlements
of adversarial complaints, among private persons.
Sec. 4. To accomplish the objectives of the Action
Office under Sec. 2 hereof, such Presidential Action Teams as may be
necessary to address specific key areas of government shall be
organized to insure effective and speedy action and/or service to the
public. The Malacañang Public Assistance Center is hereby
renamed Public Assistance Office and placed under the direct control
and supervision of the Action Office.
Sec. 5. All heads of Departments/Offices Agencies
of the Executive Department shall organize public assistance and action
units in their respective offices and designate an Action Officer who
shall perform liaison work between his/her officer and the Action
Office. The names of those designated or assigned to the assistance
units or action committees shall be submitted to the Office of the
Executive Secretary within fifteen (15) days after the approval of this
Executive Order.
Sec. 6. The present personnel, supplies, equipment
appropriation, and other resources of the Malacañang Public
Assistance Center are hereby transferred to the Action Office. Funds
necessary for additional personnel, supplies and equipment shall be
charged against existing appropriations of the Office of the President.
Sec. 7. The Executive Secretary shall exercise
supervision and control over the Action Office and its
teams.
Sec. 8. This Executive Order shall take effect
immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 3rd day of January, in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and
ninety-one.
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Since 19.07.98.