[ LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 748, October 06, 1978 ]

TO:
The Chairman, Commission on Population
The Minister of Education
The Minister of Health
The Minister of Labor
The Minister of Local Government and Community Development
The Minister of Social Services and Development
The Director, National Media Production Center

You are directed to constitute yourselves into a yearly Working Committee to manage the Population and Family Planning Week, to be held in conjunction with an annual National Population Welfare Congress.  The Population and Family Planning Week is set forth in Proclamation No. 1487, dated August 25, 1975 and the date for that week is revised to be on the 3rd week of every November (beginning on a Monday) instead of the fixed dates set forth in that Proclamation,

Your respective Deputy Ministers, or their representatives, are to constitute themselves into a Working Committee to undertake the preparation of the programs for the Population Week.  In the case of the Population Commission and the National Media Production Center, representatives in this Working Committee will be at the level of the Director or Deputy Director.

The National Population Welfare Congress (hereinafter referred to as Congress) should be convened as the culmination of the Family Planning Week.  In this Congress, the participation of all sectors, including the private sector, should be assured.  The agenda of the Congress is to vary from year to year, but for the present the Theme should focus on the content of the Report of the Special Committee to Review the Philippine Population Program.  The Congress will encourage a free discussion of all aspects of family planning and should include all sectors and knowledgeable individuals working in this field, including professional societies in the country.

You are allowed to increase your membership after consulting with the National Economic and Development Authority.

Officials and employees of your respective Ministries, and of other Ministries and instrumentalities invited by you to participate, are allowed to attend the Congress on official time.

The Budget Commission is directed further to allow your respective Ministries to contribute and disburse a budget to attain this project, within your respective appropriations.

The private sector is enjoined to participate directly.  For this purpose the Population Center Foundation is to be represented in the  Committee created under this Letter of Instruction.  The Center will be asked to assist in coordination the participation of all private agencies engaged in the  population program.

Done in the City of Manila, this 6th day of October, in the years of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines