TO:	All Heads of Ministries, Bureaus, Offices Agencies and Instrumentalities of the National Government, including Government- Owned or Controlled Corporations
	All Concerned

Effective immediately, all public works projects and other projects involving civil works of national offices, agencies, and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, costing more than P300,000 each, shall be advertised for public bidding and the contract therefor awarded to the bidder submitting the lowest complying bid.

Projects costing more than p300,000 shall be undertaken by administration of the agency concerned or through negotiated contract only in cases of urgent necessity and in times of emergency arising from natural calamities where immediate action is necessary to prevent imminent loss of life or property, subject to the approval of the Head of the Ministry concerned if the project cost is less than P1,000,000 and of the President of the Philippines, upon recommendation of the Ministry Head concerned if the project cost is P1,000,000 or more.  Expenditure on projects undertaken by administration shall not exceed the amount coverd by the approved Program of Work in accordance with Section 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1342 and the amount of the negotiated contract shall not exceed the approved government estimate.

In no case shall a contract be awarded nor works started without the necessary funds released for the purpose.

The agencies concerned shall continue to undertake by administration projects costing P300,000 or less each in accordance with Section 10 of Presidential Decree No. 1342.

All concerned are directed to desist from splitting projects into smaller components in order not to defeat the purpose of this instruction.

This supersedes all Letters of Instruction, orders, directives, circulars and rules and regulations inconsistent herewith.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 19th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine,