EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 797, May 01, 1982
REORGANIZING THE MINISTRY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, CREATING THE PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
development shall be pursued with renewed vigor and greater determination;
WHEREAS, the attainment of national goals is
contingent among others on the development of employment opportunities, the
protection of workers, and the promotion of industrial peace;
WHEREAS, recent local and international
developments have imposed new demands and challenges on the existing delivery
system for labor and labor-related services;
WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 1416 as
amended, the President is empowered to undertake such organizational and
related improvements as may be appropriate in the light of changing
circumstances and new developments.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President
of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution
and the authority vested in me by Presidential Decree No. 1416 as amended, do
hereby order and ordain:
SECTION 1. The Ministry of Labor and Employment,
hereinafter referred to as the Ministry, shall be the primary policy,
programming, coordinating and administrative entity of the executive branch of
the government in the field of labor and employment. The primary function of
the Ministry shall be the development of employment opportunities, the
protection of workers, and the promotion of industrial peace.
SECTION 2. The authority and responsibility for
the exercise of the powers and the discharge of the functions of the Ministry
shall be vested in the Minister of Labor and Employment, hereinafter referred
to as the Minister, who shall be appointed by the President. He shall be
assisted by such Deputy Ministers as may be appointed by the President. The
Minister is authorized to determine and assign the respective functional areas
of responsibility of the Deputy Ministers, should there be more than one; provided,
That such delineation of responsibilities shall cover the substantive functions
and operations of the Ministry; and provided, further, that no
Deputy Minister shall be assigned primarily administrative responsibilities.
SECTION 3. There is hereby created a Bureau of
Local Employment, which shall assume the functions of the Bureau of
Apprenticeship and the domestic employment functions of the Bureau of
Employment Services, and which shall absorb applicable functions,
appropriations, records, equipment, property, and such personnel as may be
necessary of the abolished units.
SECTION 4. There is hereby created a Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration, hereinafter referred to as the
Administration, which shall assume the functions of the Overseas Employment
Development Board, the National Seamen Board, and the overseas employment
functions of the Bureau of Employment Services; which shall absorb the
applicable functions, appropriations, records, equipment, property, and such
personnel as may be necessary of the abolished units; and which shall have the
powers, functions, and structure as provided for below.
(a) The Administration shall formulate and
undertake, in coordination where necessary with the appropriate entities
concerned, a systematic program for promoting and monitoring the overseas
employment of Filipino workers taking into consideration domestic manpower
requirements, and to protect their rights to fair and equitable employment
practices. It shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases,
including money claims, involving employer-employee relations arising out of or
by virtue of any law or contract involving Filipino workers for overseas
employment, including seamen. This adjudicatory function shall be undertaken in
appropriate circumstances in consultation with the Construction Industry
Authority of the Philippines. The governing Board of the Administration, as
hereunder provided, shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to
govern the exercise of the adjudicatory functions of the Administration.
(b) The Administration shall have a three-man
Board composed of the Minister as Chairman, the Administrator, and a third
member who shall be appointed by the President, who shall be well versed in the
field of overseas employment, and who shall serve for a term of two years. The
Administrator and such Deputy Administrators as may be necessary shall be
appointed by the President. The President may, at his discretion, designate a
Deputy Administrator as the third member of the Board, and he may also confer
the rank of Deputy Minister in a concurrent capacity to a particular incumbent
of the position of Administrator.
(c) The principal substantive subdivision of the
internal structure of the Administration shall be established along the major
functional areas corresponding to welfare services, placement and market
development, and regulation. Each principal substantive subdivision shall be
headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the President upon the
recommendation of the Minister. The Administration shall have its own support
staff.
(d) An Advisory Board for Overseas Employment and
an Advisory Board for Seamen are hereby created with such members as may be
appointed by the Minister. The Advisory Board shall have an essentially private
sector composition to advise the Administration on its overseas operations, and
its members shall be entitled to rates of compensation comparable to those
prescribed for members of the abolished Overseas Employment Development Board and
the National Seamen Board.
(e) The Regional Labor Office for the Middle East
and Africa created under Executive Order No. 787 shall form part of the
Administration. The head of the Regional Labor Office shall have the rank of
Ambassador (Chief of Mission II).
SECTION 5. The Bureau of Labor Standards is
hereby renamed the Bureau of Working Conditions. In addition to its present
functions, the Bureau shall assume the functions of the Institute of
Occupational Health and Safety abolished under Executive Order No. 591.
SECTION 6. The Ministry proper of the Ministry
shall be composed of an Office of the Minister, a Planning Service, a Labor
Statistics Service, a Financial and Management Service, an Administrative
Service, an Information and Publication Service, an International Labor Affairs
Service, and a Legal Service. The Deputy Ministers shall form part of the
Office of the Minister.
SECTION 7. The Ministry shall exercise
supervision and control over the following bureaus and offices:
(1) Bureau of Local Employment
(2) Bureau of Labor Relations
(3) Bureau of Working Conditions
(4) Bureau of Rural Workers
(5) Bureau of Women and Minors
(6) Institute of Labor and Manpower Studies
SECTION 8. The Ministry shall exercise
administrative supervision over the following entities:
(1) National Labor Relations Commission
(2) National Wages Council
(3) Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(4) Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers
SECTION 9. The following corporation is attached
to the Ministry for policy and program coordination:
(1) Employees Compensation Commission
SECTION 10. The following entities are hereby
abolished, and their functions, together with applicable appropriations,
records, equipment, property, and such personnel as may be necessary are hereby
transferred to such appropriate units of the Ministry as may be deemed suitable
by the Minister:
(1) Bureau of Employment Services
(2) Bureau of Apprenticeship
(3) Free Legal Assistance Office
(4) National Seamen Board
(5) Overseas Employment Development Board
(6) Population/Family Planning Office
SECTION 11. The Ministry shall have such
ministry-wide regional offices as may be necessary, under the supervision and
control of the Office of the Minister, in accordance with Article I, Chapter
III, Part II of the Integrated Reorganization Plan as amended. Each regional
office shall be headed by a Regional Director who shall be assisted whenever
necessary by an Assistant Regional Director. The Regional Director shall have
supervision and control over the activities of the Ministry in the region,
except as may be otherwise determined by the Minister.
The abolition of the Arbitration Branches, the
Field Services Divisions, and the Labor Relations Divisions in the regional
offices pursuant to Executive Order No. 591 shall be given effect, and their
applicable appropriations, records, equipment and such personnel as may be
necessary are transferred to the appropriate units as determined by the
Minister.
Positions of Conciliators and Med-Arbiters which
may be created under the new staffing patterns in the regional offices, as well
as such positions in the Bureau of Labor Relations, shall have starting rates
of compensation which shall be equivalent to two salary ranges below those of
Arbiters in the National Labor Relations Commission. The Minister is authorized
to effect from time to time such regional reassignment of Conciliators and
Med-Arbiters as may be necessary in the interest of the service.
SECTION 12. The Ministry shall have such offices
overseas as will enable it to carry out its responsibilities effectively,
subject to prior approval by the President on the establishment of each such
office abroad. The Labor Attaché or his equivalent shall have supervision over
all other personnel of the Ministry as may be assigned to an embassy or other
foreign service post overseas, including those of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration.
SECTION 13. The Minister shall have the authority
to reorganize the internal structure of the various offices and units under the
Ministry, as enumerated in Sections 6, 7, 8, 11 and 12 of this Executive Order.
SECTION 14. The Ministry is hereby authorized to
issue such orders, rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the
provisions of this Executive Order, provided that approval of the Office of
Budget and Management is obtained relative to the new staffing pattern
including appropriate salary rates, the organizational structure at divisional
and lower levels, and the realignment of existing appropriations. The Minister may
appoint qualified personnel of the abolished and reorganized agencies to
appropriate positions in the new staffing pattern, and those not so appointed
are deemed laid off.
SECTION 15. All Presidential appointees of the
bureaus, offices, and other entities under the supervision and control of or
under the administrative supervision of the Ministry are laid off, unless
otherwise reappointed by the President; provided, That those who are
Career Executive Service Officers may either be reappointed or reassigned by
the President upon the recommendation of the Minister to other appropriate
positions in the Ministry, or assigned to the Career Executive Service Board
which shall endeavor to find appropriate placement for them in other ministries
or agencies; provided, further, that those Career Executive
Service Officers who have been assigned to the Career Executive Service Board
shall continue to receive their salaries from any available and applicable
funds; and provided, finally, That those who are not placed in
appropriate positions within six months after their assignment to the Career
Executive Service Board shall be similarly laid off.
SECTION 16. All those who are laid off under the
provisions of this Executive Order shall be entitled to all benefits and gratuities
provided for under existing laws.
SECTION 17. Except as may otherwise be determined
by the Minister, all present incumbents of positions in the reorganized units
of the Ministry shall continue to exercise their usual functions, duties, and
responsibilities, pending the issuance of the appropriate implementing orders.
SECTION 18. To carry out the provisions of this
Executive Order, such amount as may be necessary shall be made available to the
Ministry from any applicable appropriation item, subject to the approval of the
President upon recommendation of the Office of Budget and Management.
SECTION 19. All laws, decrees, orders,
proclamations, rules, regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent
with any of the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly.
SECTION 20. Any portion or provision of this
Executive Order that may be declared unconstitutional shall not have the effect
of nullifying the other provisions thereof, provided that such remaining
portions can still stand and be given effect in their entirety to accomplish
the objectives of this Executive Order.
SECTION 21. This Executive Order shall take
effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this first day of
May, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty two.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.) JOAQUIN T. VENUS, JR.
Deputy Presidential Executive Assistant