WHEREAS, the scope of responsibility and function of the Department of Public Highways, as created under Presidential Decree No. 458, has been enlarged with the creation of the Bureau of Barangay Roads;

WHEREAS, there are now three bureaus under the Department, in addition to the existing twelve regional offices and districts and cities under them;

WHEREAS, the magnitude of the work and responsibility of the Department, as well as the wide scope of its operation, warrants the existence of a Legal Service in the Department Proper to provide legal service and support to all the bureaus, regions and field offices under it;

WHEREAS, the Commission on Reorganization recognized the need of a legal service in the different departments whose scope of operation and magnitude of work and responsibility are similar to those of the Department of Public Highways;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of Presidential Decree No. 458, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Organization of the Department of Public Highways.—The Department of Public Highways, hereinafter called the Department, shall composed of a Department Proper made up of the immediate Office of the Secretary, the Planning Service, the Administrative Service, the Financial and Management Service, the Project Execution Service, the Legal Service and the Special Projects Service; three bureaus, namely: (a) the Bureau of Construction and Maintenance, (b) the Bureau of Equipment, (c) the Bureau of Barangay Roads; and the Regional and District Offices."

SEC. 2. The Legal Service shall be headed by a Director for Legal Affairs and assisted by an Assistant Director for Legal Affairs to be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Secretary. It shall have under it two divisions, namely: (1) the Complaints and Investigation Division and (2) the Law-Division, each to be headed by a Chief Legal Officer to be appointed in accordance with the Civil Service Law.

SEC. 3. The Legal Service shall be directly under the Office of the Secretary and shall be responsible for extending legal advice, service and support to the Secretary and the Undersecretary and all the bureaus, regions, district and city offices of the Department; represent the Secretary and other officials of the Department, in collaboration with the Office of the Solicitor General, in all cases involving said officials and/or functions of the Department and the bureaus and offices under it; assist the Secretary and the Undersecretary in the formulation or preparation of proposed presidential decrees affecting the functions and operations of the Department; assist the Secretary in the formulation and preparation of department policies, memoranda or circulars pertaining to the functions and operations and area of responsibility of the Department, and perform such other function as may be specially assigned to it by the Secretary.

SEC. 4. All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed and/or modified accordingly.

SEC. 5. This Decree shall take effect upon its approval.

Done in the City of Manila, this 5th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.