RESERVING TO THE PRESIDENT/PRIME MINISTER STAND-BY AUTHORITY TO ISSUE WAGE ORDERS AND PRESCRIBING THE PROCEDURE FOR SUCH ISSUANCE.

WHEREAS, since 1974 as a result of the periodic rounds of
quantum increases in the prices of imported crude oil, the President/Prime
Minister has used his authority under the Constitution to grant the workers
immediate relief from the impact of spiralling prices in consumer goods and
services in the form of increases in wages, allowances or other wage-related
benefits;

WHEREAS, due to the continuous instability of wages and
prices, brought about by external economic factor beyond the nation’s control,
causing abrupt and drastic erosion in the real income of the workers, it is
imperative in the interest of social and economic stability, that the
President/Prime Minister retain such powers; and

WHEREAS, such stand-by powers can be effectively and
immediately exercised thru the issuance of wage orders either upon the
Recommendation of the National Wages Council created under Executive Order No.
614, or at the President/Prime Minister’s own initiatives.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
order and decree:

SECTION 1. Determination of now appropriate minimum wages.
The President/Prime Minister may, at his own initiative and on the basis of
urgent economic necessity or upon recommendation of the National Wages Council,
make a determination of appropriate new minimum wage rates, allowances or other
wage-related benefits whether on a national, regional or industry basis, and
issue the corresponding wage orders. It shall be the duty of the National Wages
Council to recommend such determination whenever it finds in the course of its
continuing study of the wage rates that the prevailing minimum wages are no
longer adequate to maintain We minimum standard of living necessary for the
health, efficiency, and general well-being of the workers within the framework
of the national development program.

SEC. 2. Wage recommendation. In the determination of the
appropriate new minimum wage rates or other benefits, the National Wages Council
shall either conduct public hearings, giving notice to interested parties, or
hold, in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Employment, tripartite
conferences for the purpose. The Council shall have thirty (30) days from the
completion of the hearings or conferences within which to recommend to the
President/Prime Minister the issuance of the wage order establishing appropriate
new minimum wage rates or wage-related benefits.

SEC. 3. Wage Order. If the President/Prime Minister approves
the recommendation, he shall immediately issue a wage order prescribing the new
minimum wage rates or other benefits. If he rejects the recommendation of the
Council, he shall issue a statement of his reasons therefor and shall direct the
Council to consider the same immediately.

SEC. 4. Effectivity of Wage Order, a wage order snail take
effect fifteen (15) days “after its’ publication in a newspaper of general
circulation.

SEC. 5. Effectivity. This Decree shall take effect
immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 16th day of January, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-one.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA
		Presidential Executive Assistant

 

Vol. 25, Vital Documents, Presidential Decree 1980-1981