Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Subsection (b), section seven of Republic Act Numbered One thousand one hundred seventy-nine, is amended to read as follows:

"(b) Over-all supervision of the Pilot Adjustment and Training Center and all the regional training centers that may be established;"

SEC. 2. The second paragraph of subsection (c), section eight of Republic Act Numbered One thousand one hundred seventy-nine, is amended to read as follows:

"The Pilot Adjustment and Training Center and the regional training centers that may be established shall operate eight hours a day, five instruction days per week for a minimum duration of three months with individual extension possible up to a maximum of twelve months."

SEC. 3. Two new sections are inserted after section eight of Republic Act Numbered One thousand one hundred seventy-nine to read as follows:

"REGIONAL TRAINING CENTERS"

"SEC. 8-A. (1) Creation.—To ensure that vocational rehabilitation services shall benefit the blind and other handicapped in the provinces, there shall be established, in addition to the now existing Pilot Adjustment and Training Center at Barranca, Cubao, Quezon City, according to the period hereinafter specified suitable regional adjustment and training centers for vocational rehabilitation, as follows:

"For the fiscal year nineteen hundred and sixty, Region No. 1, comprising the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, La Union, Mountain Province, Pangasinan, Zambales, Tarlac and the cities of Baguio and Dagupan, possibly in the regional headquarters at Dagupan City; and Region No. 7, comprising the Provinces of Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Sulu and the cities of Zamboanga, Ozamis and Basilan, possibly in the regional headquarters at Zamboanga City;

"For the fiscal year nineteen hundred and sixty-one, Region No. 4, comprising the provinces of Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate and the City of Naga, possibly in the regional headquarters at Naga City; and Region No. 5, comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental, Romblon, Antique, Capiz, Aklan and Iloilo and the cities of Bacolod, Roxas and Iloilo, possibly in the regional headquarters at Iloilo City;

"For the fiscal year nineteen hundred and sixty-two, Region No. 2, comprising the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Batanes, possibly in the regional headquarters at Tuguegarao, Cagayan, and Region No. 8, comprising the provinces of Surigao, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Lanao, Agusan, the cities of Davao, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro and Marawi, possibly in the regional headquarters at Cagayan de Oro City; and Region No. 9, comprising the provinces of Cotabato and Davao and the cities of Davao and Cotabato in the regional headquarters at Davao City.

"For the fiscal year nineteen hundred and sixty-three, Region No. 3, comprising the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pam-panga, Bulacan, Bataan, Rizal, Quezon, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marindu-que and Palawan and the cities of Cabanatuan, Pasay, San Pablo, Tagaytay, Cavite, Trece Martires, Lipa, Quezon and Manila, possibly in San Pablo City; and Region No. 6, comprising the provinces of Negros Oriental, Bohol, Leyte, Samar and Cebu and the cities of Cebu, Dumaguete, Calbayog, Tacloban and Ormoc, possibly in the regional head- quarters at Cebu City.
"(2) The establishment of these regional adjustment and training centers shall be at the cost of at least fifty thousand pesos each and shall be patterned after that of the first pilot project now in operation. The funds for these constructions may be drawn from the fiduciary funds of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. And the operating expenses of all existing rehabilitation centers under the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation shall be incorporated in the General Appropriation Act to be marked as ‘Special Purposes for Vocational Rehabilitation’.

"(3) The following shall compose the nucleus of the staff for such regional centers with the corresponding compensation:

"(a) One superintendent, at P3,984 per annum, range P43
"(b) One clerk, at P1,476 per annum, range P23
"(c) One intake social worker, at P1,884 per annum, rang P28
"(d) One social worker, at P1,884 per annum, range P28
"(e) One homebound social worker, at P1,884 per annum, range P28
"(f) Two vocational counselors, at P1,884 per annum, range P28
"(g) One part-time physician, at P1,800 per annum, range P27
“(h) One chief instructor, at P3,108 per annum, range P38-40
“(i) One Braille instructor at P1,716 per annum, range P24-32
"(j) One travel technique instructor at P1,716 per annum, range P24-32
"(k) One craft instructor, at P1,716 per annum, range P24—32
"(l) One rural project instructor, at P1,716 per annum, P24-32
“(m) One clerk-laborer, at P1,152 per annum, range P18
"(n) One caretaker, at P1.152 per annum, range P18
"(o) One guard-driver, at P1,440 per annum, range P22

"The compensation for the staff of the regional centers shall be drawn from the fiduciary fund of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation which are its net proceeds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes draw as stipulated in section ten (b) of Republic Act Numbered One thousand one hundred seventy-nine.

"NATIONAL COUNCIL ON REHABILITATION

"SEC 8-B (a) Creation.—In order to have a central body to coordinate activities relating to all phases of -rehabilitation of handicapped persons, there is hereby established a National Council on Rehabilitation, hereinafter referred to as the Council.

"The Council shall "have fifteen members composed as follows:

"The first six members shall be nominated by the heads of the following Government agencies: Department of Health; Department of Education; Department of Labor; Department of National Defense; Social Welfare Administration and the Social Security System, which shall be referred to as Group I.

"Under Group II, shall be four representatives from medical, educational, scientific and legislative fields; four representatives from civic, financial, industrial, labor organizations, and one representative from radio and press.

"All these fifteen members shall be appointed by the President to compose the National Council on Rehabilitation.

"(b) Term of Office.—Each appointed member of the Council shall hold office for a term of four years, except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor is appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term; and except that, of the members first appointed, Group I shall enjoy four years of office; members of Group II shall be appointed with three holding office for three years, another three for two years and the next three for one year as designated by the President at the time of appointment.

"None of these members shall be eligible for re-appointment until a year has elapsed after the end of his preceding term; however, the six members from Group I shall enjoy eligibility of re-appointment to ensure continuity and direction of program without the stipulated one year provision.

"(c) Duties and Functions.—It shall be the duty and function of the Council:

"(1) To formulate policies regarding rehabilitation of the handicapped in the Philippines;
“(2) To help provide proper coordination of existing rehabilitation programs so as to extend maximum services to the blind and other handicapped persons and to prevent or minimize overlapping of services;
"(3) To help determine standards and criteria for all organizations and agencies engaged in rehabilitation work, whether governmental or voluntary;
"(4) To formulate rules and regulations to implement the purposes for which the council has been established;
"(5) To initiate appropriate actions, including legal, for any violation of such rules and regulations which shall be promulgated;
“(6) To initiate research on rehabilitation;
"(7) To compile statistics on the following:

"(aa) Census of handicapped individuals in the Philippines in relation to number and classification;
"(bb) Census of rehabilitation facilities;
"(cc) Census of rehabilitation needs;
"(dd) Census of already qualified handicapped workers; and
"(ee) Census of employment opportunities;

"(8) To conduct and supervise campaigns to raise fund as provided for in section ten (a) of Republic Act Numbered one thousand one hundred seventy-nine; and
"(9) To submit annual report to Congress.
"(d) Chairman.—The fifteen members of the Council shall appoint its chairman by democratic process from among its members within fifteen days from the date of appointment while meeting in bane.
"(e) Executive Secretary.—The Council is also empowered to appoint an executive secretary outside of its members by a majority vote. The executive secretary shall be paid an annual compensation of five thousand four hundred pesos which shall be drawn from the fiduciary fund of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation which are its net proceeds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes draw as stipulated in section ten (b) of Republic Act Numbered One thousand one hundred seventy-nine, and shall possess the following qualifications: At least five years experience with accepted competence in rehabilitation work, at least a four-year college course graduate and with good moral standing.
"(f) Compensation of the members of the Council.—The members of the Council which shall meet at least six (6) times a year shall receive no compensation, but shall be entitled to an honorarium not exceeding twenty-five pesos per meeting; and shall also be entitled to receive an allowance for actual and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses while so serving away from their places of business."

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, August 1, 1959.