MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 18, December 09, 2010 ]
RATIONALIZING THE ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION OF CERTAIN AGENCIES, OFFICES AND OTHER SIMILAR ENTITIES ATTACHED TO OR UNDER THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (OP)
WHEREAS, the government is continually pursuing the rationalization of the operation and organizations of the Executive Branch, as mandated under Executive Order (EO) 366 dated 04 October 2004, to improve and systematized government’s operations by a) focusing its efforts on its vital/core functions and priority programs and projects, and channeling resources to these core public services, and b) minimizing areas of overlap and redundancies within a Department, and among Departments/Agencies;
WHEREAS, there are agencies, task forces, inter-agency committees and other similar entities attached to or under OP which should be rationalized in order to focus its efforts on the overall management of the affairs of government and supervise directly those agencies requiring the utmost attention and intervention of the President;
WHEREAS, Presidential Degree (PD) No. 1416 (Granting Continuing Authority to the President of the Philippines to Reorganize the National Government), as amended by PD 1772, provided that the President of the Philippines shall have continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the National Government and may, at this discretion, create, abolish, group, consolidate, merge or integrate entities, agencies, instrumentalities and units of the National Government, as well as expand, amend, change, or otherwise modify their powers, function and authorities;
WHEREAS, Section 31, Chapter 10, Title III, Book III of Executive Order No. 292 (Administrative Code of 1987) dated 25 July 1987 provides continuing authority to the President to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President;
WHEREAS, Section 78 of the General Provision of the Republic Act No. 9970 (General Appropriations Act of 2010) authorizes the President of the Philippines to direct changes in the organizational units or key positions in any Department or Agency;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO, III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the power vested in me by law, do hereby order the following:
Section 1. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the government to enhance its institutional capacity to deliver public goods and services in a more economical, efficient, ethical, effective and accountable manner.
In view of this, a review of agencies, task forces, inter-agency committees and other similar bodies has to be regularly undertaken to determine which of these are still relevant or have:
a) Already become inoperational or dormant and/or outlived their purposes;
b) Functions which unnecessarily duplicate/overlap those of other agencies or which can be subsumes in other departments/agencies; and
c) Functions which could better be undertaken by the local government units (LGU) or the private sector.
Section 2. Implementation of Dispositive Actions for the Agencies, Task Forces, Inter-Agency Committees and other Similar Bodies Under/Attached to OP. Consistent with the policies, objectives and parameters of the rationalization of the operations and organizations of the Executive Branch as provided for under existing laws, the following agencies are hereby abolished:
a) Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) – whose functions are already being performed by the Bureau of Customs and other law enforcement agencies;
b) Mindanao Economic Development Council – whose functions have become redundant pursuant to the creation of the Mindanao Development Authority by virtue of RA 9996;
c) Minerals Development Council – whose functions may properly be performed by the DENR, in coordination with other Departments in the Executive Branch;
d) Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region, Office of the North Luzon Quadrangle Area, Office of the Presidential Adviser on New Government Center – whose functions are to ensure implementation of priority projects of the past administration, and not necessarily congruent with the present dispensation;
e) Bicol River Basin Watershed Management Project – whose functions may be managed by the DENR in coordination with other agencies;
f) Office of External Affairs – whose functions may be managed by the DILG in ensuring the greater participation of the constituencies in the development and implementation of the administration’s program of the Governement;
g) Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change – which becomes redundant due to the creation of the Climate Change Commission per RA 9729 dated October 23, 2009.ℒαwρhi৷
Section 3. Personnel Who May Be Affected by the Rationalization Efforts. The personnel who may be affected by the abolition of the agencies concerned shall be allowed to avail of the benefits provided under applicable existing laws.
Section 4. Winding-up of the Operations and Disposition of the Functions, Positions, Personnel, Assets and Liabilities of the Abolished Agencies. The winding-up of the operations of the abolished agencies under section 2 hereof, including the final disposition or transfer of their functions, positions, personnel, assets and liabilities, as may be necessary, shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Rules and Regulations Implementing EO 72 (Rationalizing the Agencies Under or Attached to the Office of the President) dated March 15, 2002. The winding up shall be completed not later than 31 December 2010.
The Office of the Executive Secretary, with the assistance of the DBM, shall work out the smooth and efficient implementation of this Executive Order.
Section 5. Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect upon its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
DONE in the City of Manila, this 9th day of December in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Ten.
(SGD.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO, III
President of the Philippines
By the President:
(SGD.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR.
Executive Secretary
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