MALACAŅANG
M a n i l a
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 955 July 8, 1976
ESTABLISHING ORGANIZATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS WITHIN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS, it is the primary tasks of the President to exercise overall management of the total development effort and administration of the government machinery;
WHEREAS, the Constitution provides that in the interim period before the convening of the National Assembly, the President performs legislative functions;
WHEREAS, in fulfillment of these tasks the President needs a staff to assist him in effectively managing and overseeing the development process and administering the affairs of state; and this staff assistance has been provided by the Office of the President;
WHEREAS, Presidential Decree Nos. 1 and 830 provide for a continuing reorganization of the Office of the President to make it attuned to the requirements of the Presidency;
WHEREAS, as part of this continuing reorganization process, a system of Presidential Assistants has been established within the Office of the President by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 831 to provide effective staff support to the President;
WHEREAS, there is now a need to strengthen and complete the reorganization of the Office of the President by defining the support systems, working relationships, and the allocation of tasks and responsibilities among the different staff units;
WHEREAS, the reforms to be instituted herein are in line with the dynamically changing character of the Presidency and are in preparation for the transition towards the Parliamentary form of government provided for by the Constitution;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order the adoption of the following organizational and administrative reforms within the Office of the President:
Section 1. Organization of the Office of the President. The Office of the President shall consist of the President's immediate offices, the system of Presidential Assistants, and the common staff support system herein provided shall compose the Office of the President proper.
Section 2. A System of Presidential Assistants. The system of Presidential Assistants provided for under Presidential Decree No. 831 shall perform technical and advisory staff support and coordination work for the President on their respective functional areas that relate to the President's task of managing the development process include legislative functions; administering the operations of general government; and attending to the internal administrative requirements of this Office.
All existing positions of Presidential Assistants, including the Presidential Executive Assistant and the others appointed by the President prior to Presidential Decree No. 831, shall be retained and shall be assigned functional areas of responsibility. The President may create from time to time additional positions of Presidential Assistants with specific functional areas of responsibility.
Consistent with these provisions, the additional position of Presidential Assistant for Political Affairs is hereby created.
The powers, functions and areas of responsibility of the Presidential Assistants shall be defined in appropriate implementing orders to be issued by the President.
Section 3. Coordination of Presidential Assistants. The Presidential Executive Assistant shall exercise supervision over the internal administrative requirements of the Office of the President (proper). For this purpose he shall be assisted by a Presidential Assistant.
The Presidential Executive Assistant shall coordinate the Presidential Assistants and for this purpose establish a system for effective coordination and regular consultations among the Presidential Assistants and the various staff units.
Section 4. Common Staff Support System. In order to provide the vehicle for coordinated staff work and to maintain a total integrated view of the general administration and development effort, the various operating units in the Office of the President (proper) shall form a common staff support system and shall be organized along the tasks of the Office of the President namely: development management, general government administration, and internal administration of the Office of the President.
Section 5. Organization of the Common Staff Support.
(a) The Presidential Executive Assistant shall draw up the necessary organizational structure of the common staff support to provide staff assistance to the President and the system of Presidential Assistant along the following functional areas: development management, general administration and internal administration of the Office of the President described as follows:
Development Management Provide the President with effective technical staff support in his task of exercising overall management of the development process to include project development execution and monitoring, policy development execution and monitoring, policy coordination, economic intelligence, and financial and budgetary operations, legal and political matters and such other functions as the President may assign.
General Administration Provide the President with staff support in matters concerning general government administrative operations.
Internal Administration Provide auxiliary and support services for the internal administration of the Office of the President (proper).
(b) To provide the President with multi-disciplinary/sectoral staff that can maintain a total perspective and provide an integrated approach, the Development Management Staff is hereby reconstituted and renamed the Presidential Management Staff to act as the primary staff arm of the President on matters related to development management.
Section 6. Regional Presidential Assistant There is hereby created the position of Regional Presidential Assistant for each region in the country except Metropolitan Manila. The Regional Presidential Assistant shall be the personal representative of the President in his assigned region.
The Presidential Executive Assistant shall draw up the necessary organizational guidelines and budgetary requirements/directives to implement this provision and shall submit the same to the President for approval within a period of three months after the issuance of this decree.
Section 7. Abolition of Offices The positions of Presidential Regional Officers for Development, the Presidential Regional Action Officers and the Coordinating Officers for Program Execution are hereby abolished and their functions not inconsistent herewith, together with all funds, records, equipment and properties, if any, are hereby transferred to the Office of the Regional Presidential Assistants.
Section 8. Appropriations The existing budgets of the Office of the President (proper) including the balance of their unexpended appropriations for Calendar Year 1976 shall continue to be appropriated and programmed. The Presidential Executive Assistant and the Presidential Assistant on General Government Affairs, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Budget, shall work out the additional appropriations required by virtue of the creation of new Presidential Assistants, the Regional Presidential Assistants and the restructuring of the common staff support.
The annual budgetary requirements for the succeeding calendar years of the Office of the President (proper) including the independent budgetary units under it as reconstituted shall be in lump sum and shall likewise be included in the General Appropriations Decree.
Section 9. Repealing Clause All provisions of existing laws, proclamations, orders, decrees, instructions, rules and regulations or parts thereof contrary to or in conflict with the provisions of this Decree are hereby modified or repealed accordingly.
Done in the City of Manila, this 8th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.
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