CREATING THE “RURAL WORKERS OFFICE” IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the State under the New Society
to protect, promote and develop the welfare of rural workers;

WHEREAS, rural workers especially the landless, belong to
the forgotten species of the labor force which have not been sufficiently
covered by the industrial benefit package and agricultural support mechanisms
espoused by government agencies;

WHEREAS, rural workers urgently need special assistance to
raise their capability for self-development and to link them up vitally with the
mainstream of progress and growth; and

WHEREAS, it is essential to establish an Office designed
especially for such purposes;

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. There is hereby created in the Department of
Labor a Rural Workers Office, hereinafter referred to as the “Office”, which
shall be under the direct supervision and control of the Secretary of Labor and
shall be headed by an Executive Director assisted by a Deputy Executive
Director.

SEC. 2. The Executive Director and the Deputy Executive
Director shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon
recommendation of the Secretary of Labor.

SEC. 3. The Office shall have the following powers and
functions:

1. To exercise general supervision and control over the social amelioration
   program in the sugar industry and all such programs as may be established under
   the succeeding paragraph;
2. To determine and recommend social amelioration programs for the rural
   workers; which programs shall include the amount of fees and charges, the mode
   of collection and disposition, subject to the approval by the President;
3. To initiate, undertake, arrange or authorize research projects to identify
   and study socio-economic problems of rural workers and propose solution thereto;

4. To process and evaluate proposed socio-economic projects for rural workers
   under the social amelioration program, for approval by the Secretary of Labor;
5. To supervise, regulate and audit implementation of approved socio-economic
   projects for rural workers and their families and to monitor the progress of
   these projects;
6. To engage in income and employment generating projects provided that they
   are geared towards rural workers’ organization and training for self-reliance
   and self-development;
7. To enter into agreements for the development of rural employment, provisions
   of skills and placement facilities for rural workers in coordination with
   appropriate institutions including international agencies;
8. To provide special assistance for the organization of rural workers into
   unions, cooperatives and other appropriate forms of organizations;
9. To register, regulate and maintain exclusive control and supervision over
   rural workers cooperatives and unions under the social amelioration program;
10. To assist misplaced, unassimilated and unemployed rural workers and their
    families in the urban areas by helping equip them with skills for urban
    employment or for returning to the countryside;
11. To assist, in coordination with other government agencies, in the
    enforcement of policies and programs designed to protect and promote the welfare
    of rural workers, including improvement of their working conditions;
12. To receive donations, grants and other forms of assistance from domestic and
    international sources, and enter into agreements with such agencies for the
    carrying out of the foregoing functions; and
13. To exercise such other functions as may be assigned by the Secretary of
    Labor.

SEC. 4. The Secretary of Labor shall establish offices in
the regions and such other extension offices as may be deemed appropriate.

SEC. 5. The technical staff and other personnel of the
Office shall be appointed by the Secretary of Labor upon recommendation of the
Executive Director; Provided, That civil service eligibility
requirements and OCPC positions and salary schedules shall not apply to
personnel and positions of the Office declared highly technical.

SEC. 6. There shall be constituted a Special Project Fund
(SPF) in the name of the Secretary of Labor which shall come from the P0.10 per
picul of sugar produced as originally decreed by Presidential Decree 788 and all
fees and charges levied and collected by the Office in accordance with the
social amelioration program as provided for in Section 3 par. (b) of this
Decree. The Special Project Fund shall be used to finance socio-economic
projects for the benefit of the rural workers. When deemed appropriate, a
portion of the Special Project Fund as determined by the Secretary of Labor
maybe set aside for lending purposes to qualified rural workers borrowers. The
Commission on Audit is hereby authorized to audit periodically the expenditure
charged against the Fund.

SEC. 7. The Office shall adopt an annual budget of
expenditures for its personnel services, maintenance and other operating
expenses and capital outlay which is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of
any funds in the National Treasury that are not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 8. The Secretary of Labor shall issue rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this Decree.

SEC. 9. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May, in the year of Our Lord,
nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

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