DELINEATING PRIMARY AND JOINT RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT-WIDE SERVICE AGENCIES AND ESTABLISHING THE MECHANISM THEREOF

WHEREAS, various laws have granted specific and general
mandate for government-wide service agencies to undertake activities relative to
auditing, consultancy, training, and general management services;

WHEREAS, it is recognized that government-wide service
agencies, in the performance of their main functions, have evolved their own
distinct institutional expertise which should be given impetus within the
context of a total systems approach for the efficient and effective conduct of
government operations;

WHEREAS, there is a need to formulate policy guidelines
which would maintain the comparative advantage, optimize the resources, and
enhance the overall capability of the government-wide service agencies; and

WHEREAS, the setting up of institutional arrangements among
government-wide service agencies is necessary to ensure coordination, avoid
duplication of efforts and provide adequate emphasis to the critical areas of
governmental administration;

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:

1. DELINEATION OF PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

   SECTION 1. General Principle.—The primary
   responsibility of an agency shall refer to the major functions, activities, and
   authorities essential to the accomplishment of its basic goals and objectives as
   mandated by law or competent authority which distinguishes it from other
   agencies and serves as guide towards avoiding duplication or overlapping of
   functions.

   The primary responsibility of government-wide service agencies shall serve as
   the main criterion in delineating their activities and in determining the
   principal agency which shall undertake specific service-wide functions:
   Provided, That primary responsibility shall not be interpreted to mean
   an exclusive and pre-emptive right: Provided, Further, That in case a
   service-wide agency conducts supportive or related activities they shall be
   undertaken in close consultation or jointly with the appropriate agency which
   has primary responsibility relative to said activities.

   SEC. 2. Scope.—The government-wide service agencies
   shall refer primarily to the Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission,
   Budget Commission, and other related or similar agencies concerned with specific
   activities as listed under Section 3 below.

   SEC. 3. Specific Guidelines.—The primary
   responsibilities of government-wide service agencies with respect to the
   following activities among others, are hereby delineated and prescribed:

   1. Audits—In the conduct of performance or similar audits, the
      Commission on Audit shall have primary responsibility for the examination and
      audit of financial transactions, accounts and reports; the Civil Service
      Commission for the inspection and audit of personnel management programs
      including personnel performance evaluation; and the Budget Commission for
      management audit, with emphasis on organization and staffing, methods
      improvement, resource utilization and cost benefit effectiveness.
   2. Management Consultancy—In the provision of management consultancy
      services, the functional delineation among government-wide service agencies as
      indicated in the immediately preceding paragraph shall be followed. In case,
      however, of contracts for management consultancy services, the provisions of
      Section 7 of this Decree shall apply.
   3. Training—In the conduct of non-degree training programs, the
      abovementioned functional delineation shall be observed. It is however,
      recognized that training is an integral function of any agency. The Commission
      on Audit shall have the primary responsibility for training in the field of
      accounting and auditing rules, procedures and related matters; the Civil Service
      Commission for general policies and overall coordination of training programs
      for government personnel without prejudice to the specialized role of the Career
      Executive Service Board relative to the training for senior level government
      executives; and the Budget Commission for budgeting, organization and
      management, compensation and classification and related management activities.
   4. Debt Recovery—The Office of the Solicitor-General shall have
      primary responsibility for the prosecution of collection and recovery cases that
      are referred to it by the Commission on Audit or other government agencies:
      Provided, That the Commission on Audit or the agency concerned shall
      have primarily responsibility for the institution of measures that would lead to
      the discovery and investigation of accounts and claims due the government,
      including the institution of such administrative actions as may be feasible,
      short of legal proceedings, either by itself or through the agency concerned, to
      secure collection and recovery thereof. Where legal action is deemed necessary,
      the Commission on Audit or the agency concerned shall gather all the evidence
      and papers pertinent thereto and refer the matter to the Office of the
      Solicitor-General for prosecution.
   5. Accounting—The Commission on Audit shall have primary
      responsibility for the issuance of accounting rules and regulations and for the
      technical supervision of accounting offices of government agencies with respect
      to the implementation of such issuances. The Budget Commission shall be
      responsible for the design, preparation and approval of accounting systems of
      government agencies. The National Computer Center shall have; primary
      responsibility for providing overall assistance or advice with respect to
      systems mechanization or computerization.

   SEC. 4. Staffing Pattern.—The Commission on Audit
   and other independent constitutional bodies or agencies shall determine their
   respective staffing patterns in accordance with the abovementioned delineation
   of activities, subject to pertinent budgetary and compensation laws.

2. COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY

   SEC. 5. Creation.—In order to avoid duplication of
   activities and to promote consistency in the application of relevant national
   policy, a Committee on Government Management Consultancy hereinafter referred to
   as the Committee is hereby created under the Office of the President. The
   Committee shall be composed of the Presidential Executive Assistant or his
   representative from the Office of the President who shall serve as Chairman and
   with the heads or designated representatives of the Commission on Audit, Civil
   Service Commission, and Budget Commission as members: Provided, That
   the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Reorganization and the Managing
   Director of the NCC nay attend meetings of the Committee where required as may
   be determined by the Committee: Provided, Further, That the Committee
   shall call upon the heads or representatives of affected agencies as may be
   necessary, to facilitate the conduct of its work on specific matters.

   SEC. 6. Functions.—The Committee shall perform the
   following powers and functions:

   1. Process and approve, or refer to the appropriate government-wide service
      agency for appropriate action, management consultancy services of government
      agencies with other government or private institutions in accordance with the
      provisions contained in Section 7 of this Decree: Provided, That
      processing and approval shall be related only to the determination of the
      appropriateness, suitability or capability of the supplier firm or parties
      contracted to provide said services;
   2. Recommend such modifications as may be necessary in the terns and conditions
      of the contract for management consultancy services pursuant to the conditions
      stated in the immediately preceding paragraph;
   3. Institute individually or jointly, such measures, as may be necessary to
      improve the in-house capability of government-wide service agencies to meet the
      management consultancy requirements of the government;
   4. Recommend to the President policy measures as would optimize the
      government’s utilization of management consultancy services; and
   5. Perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by competent
      authority.

   SEC. 7. Rules Governing Management Consultancy
   Services.—Management Consultancy Service shall refer to contracts with
   government or private institutions for services to undertake studies relating to
   finance, personnel, and management systems the results of which are
   recommendatory to the agency concerned. In addition to whatever supplementary
   rules which the Committee may promulgate, the following shall govern the
   processing of contracts for management consultancy services:

   1. Proposed contracts which are internal to the government or where the parties
      involved are all government agencies and concern only a specialized field shall
      be directly forwarded by the user agency for processing and approval to the
      relevant government-wide service agency m accordance with the functional
      specialization as delineated in Section 3 above: Provided, That if a
      contract involves several functional fields it shall be referred to the
      Committee for processing and approval;
   2. Proposed contracts which involve private firms or institutions regardless of
      whether they concern a specialized field or not, shall be forwarded to the
      Committee for processing and approval: Provided, That in all cases, the
      evaluation of contracts shall be in accordance with the provision of Section
      6(a) of this decree relative to the appropriateness of the contracted firm or
      party.

   SEC. 8. Exemptions.—The following contracts for
   management consultancy services are exempt from the provisions of this
   decree:

   1. Contracts with private individuals in their personal capacity and not in
      representation of a partnership or firm;
   2. Contracts involving an amount of less than P50,000.00: Provided,
      That a series of contracts with the same firm on related matter shall be
      considered as one contract;
   3. Contracts involving non-profit private or public research or educational
      institutions, whether as users or suppliers of management consultancy services;
      and
   4. Contracts arising out of bilateral or multilateral external assistance
      programs of the government where such contracts are part of the assistance
      program.

   SEC. 9. Staff Support.—The member agencies of the
   Committee shall contribute such resources as may be necessary for its
   operations.

3. GENERAL PROVISIONS

   SEC. 10. Repealing Clause.—All laws, decrees,
   charters, executive orders, administrative orders, proclamations, rules and
   regulations or parts thereof that are in conflict with this decree are hereby
   repealed or modified accordingly.

   SEC. 11. Effectivity.—This decree shall take effect
   immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 16th 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