PROVIDING FOR ADDITIONAL MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIVING ALLOWANCE FOR WAGE EARNERS

WHEREAS, representatives of workers, employers and
the Government met at a National Tripartite Conference at Puerto Azul,
Ternate, Cavite, on August 16 and 17, 1979, for the purpose of
considering measures for the protection of wages, promotion of
employment and industrial peace, ensuring economic viability and growth
in the face of the global energy crisis;

WHEREAS, the Conference recommended immediate
restoration of the purchasing power of the effective minimum wage as of
April 1979, with provision for exemption from or deferment of compliance
in the case of temporarily distressed enterprises;

WHEREAS, in addition to the current efforts of the
Government to hold, down prices, especially those of prime commodities,
it is urgently necessary to act immediately on the recommendation of the
Conference in order to provide timely and adequate relief for the
working masses in the face of rising costs of living;

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

SECTION 1. All private employers shall pay their
employees whose wage or salary is not more than P1,500.00 a month, a
monthly additional mandatory emergency living allowance of P60.00
effective September 1, 1979 and another P30.00 a month effective January
1, 1980, except those engaged in the following:

1. Cottage industries, handicrafts, and shellcrafts;
2. Small and medium scale enterprises established after the
   promulgation of this Decree shall be exempt for a period of two years
   from start-up operations;
3. Retail and service enterprises outside Metropolitan Manila and
   cities with a population of not more than 150,000; in the case of retail
   and service enterprises in Metropolitan Manila and cities with a
   population of more than 150,000, those employing not more than 15
   workers;
4. Non-plantation agriculture and plantations or agricultural
   enterprises with an area of not more than 24 hectares in a locality or
   employing not more than 20 workers; with respect to the sugar industry,
   LOI 829 shall be maintained until further action by the President.
5. Labor-intensive and export-oriented enterprises engaged in the
   manufacture of garments, footwear, furniture, as well as leather and
   electronics products, until December 31, 1979; provided employers who
   have the ability to pay as determined by the Minister of Labor shall
   pay.
6. Private hospitals outside Metropolitan Manila and in the case
   of private hospitals in Metropolitan Manila, those with a bed capacity
   of not more than 100;
7. Private educational institutions until allowed to adjust tuition fees; and
8. Employers who have given increases in wages and/or allowances
   of at least P60.00 a month on or after August 1, 1979, whether granted
   unilaterally or under collective agreement. Those who have given less
   than P60.00 shall pay the difference.

SEC. 2. Where a construction contract entered into
prior to the promulgation of this Decree, is based on payment to workers
employed to carry out the contract, for wages and/or allowances lower
than the amounts provided in this Decree, the owner or principal or
client to the contract shall be responsible to compensate the contractor
such difference for labor cost in the remaining work on the contract by
a corresponding negotiated adjustment in value of the unaccomplished
petition of the contract.

SEC. 3. For purposes of compliance with this Decree,
fifty per cent of the credited tips and/or service charges may be
included in the computation of the minimum wage and/or allowances in the
hotel and restaurant industry.

SEC. 4. The Minister of Labor shall issue rules to
implement this Decree. In the case of temporarily distressed or
dislocated enterprises or new enterprises full or fifty per cent
exemption from or deferment of compliance may be granted by the Minister
of Labor upon recommendation of the Ministries concerned. The Minister
of Labor shall create a tripartite advisory committee as may be needed
to assist him in implementing pertinent provisions of this Decree.

SEC. 5. The Standing Cabinet Committee shall monitor
the implementation of this Decree and in the performance of its
assigned functions, shall receive and act on any grievance, complaints
on any adverse effects encountered by industry, labor or management
groups, which may be referred to them, subject to guidelines issued by
the President (Prime Minister) after consultation with the ministries
concerned.

SEC. 6. Violation of this Decree and of the
implementing rules promulgated by the Minister of Labor shall be
punished under the applicable provisions of the Labor Code pertaining to
the non-payment of wages and other benefits.

Done in the City of Manila, this 21st day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine.

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