WHEREAS, it is the policy of the state to carry out a concerted attack on the problems of mass poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and social justice;

WHEREAS, to provide the proper perspectives to such problems, there is a need for greater emphasis on the integrated area development of the countryside;

WHEREAS, integrated area development must be undertaken to marshall cooperative activity towards the creation of a just and humane society;

WHEREAS, integrated area development must seek its roots in a people working in commission with each other;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent and compelling need to develop among government planners and decision makers a common policy orientation that can serve as a guide for the formulation of programs and projects geared towards integrated area development;

WHEREAS, the task of development calls for a shift from the traditional broad and piecemeal approach to a systematic and coordinated implementation of projects aimed at the countryside;

WHEREAS, it now becomes essential that these activities and projects in the countryside be properly integrated, priorities be established, and a central planning and implementing body charged with the development of an integrated plan of action for integrated rural development be created;

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

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. It is the declared policy of the state to promote and support the improvement, growth and development of the countryside through integrated area development consistent with the principle of self-help and self-reliance.

SECTION 2. Creation of the National Council on Integrated Area Development. To pursue the abovementioned policy, there is hereby created a National Council on Integrated Area Development hereinafter referred to as the Council which shall be composed of the following: The President of the Philippines as Chairman, and the Secretary of Agriculture as Vice-Chairman. The members of the Council are: the Secretary of Local Government and Community Development, the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, the Secretary of National Defense, the Secretary of Natural Resources, the Secretary of Public Highways, the Secretary of Public Works, the Secretary of Finance, the Director-General of the NEDA and the Budget Commissioner.

The Council shall function within the framework of the National Economic and Development Authority, and as such is within the administrative supervision of the same.

The Vice-Chairman shall concurrently by the Chief Executive Officer of the Council and is hereby empowered to convene the Council as often as he may deem necessary.

The members of the Council shall receive a reasonable amount of per diem as the Council may provide for every meeting actually attended by them.

SECTION 3. Powers and Functions of the Council. The Council shall have the following powers and functions:

1. Institutionalize the implementing mechanism for integrated area development through formal planning, monitoring and budgetary controls;
2. Formulate an integrated framework plan to guide the development of depressed areas;
3. Rationalize the participation of the rural people through their local governments in development planning and implementation;
4. Initiate small-scale, high-impact integrated projects utilizing existing indigenous resources;
5. Mobilize efficiently multi-sectoral resources and properly channel these into integrated rural development projects.

SECTION 4. Powers and Functions of the Vice-Chairman as Chief Executive Officer. The Vice-Chairman as Chief Executive Officer shall have the following powers and functions:

1. to approve an integrated plan of action for integrated area development primarily for depressed areas;
2. to establish a system of priorities for integrated area development and provide the basic criteria for selecting project areas;
3. to arrange and/or negotiate for funding from local and/or foreign financing agencies and institutions subject to the approval of the Council;
4. to approve requests of the implementing departments and agencies for budget releases for projects in accordance with the integrated plan of action, budgets and work program approved by the Council; Provided-that such approval shall be subject to availability of funds in accordance with the existing budgetary policies, laws, rules and regulations which shall be approved by the Council;
5. to enter into contracts of any kind to enable it to carry out its purposes and functions under this Decree subject to the approval of the Council;
6. to avail of the expertise of any particular employee, technician or group of persons in any bureau, office or department of the Government whose services are deemed necessary for the attainment of the goals of the Council;
7. to formulate, adopt and implement guidelines and standards for an efficient system of reporting and evaluation;
8. to promote fuller local participation in planning, management and program execution;
9. to establish the appropriate organizational set-up to implement the integrated plan of action;
10. to conduct, when appropriate, seminars, public hearings and/or conferences on significant issues pertaining to integrated area development;
11. to promulgate and adopt administrative rules and regulations for the effective management of the Council's activities;
12. to hire the personnel necessary for the operations of the Council and fix their compensation in accordance with the plantilla and pay plan approved by the Council;
13. to remove, suspend or otherwise discipline for cause any subordinate employee, of the Council;
14. to call on any department, bureau, office, agency, or state university or college and other instrumentalities of the government for assistance in the form of personnel facilities and other resources as the needs arise in the discharge of its functions;
15. to undertake such other activities as may be deemed necessary for the attainment of the objectives and provisions of the Decree;
16. to delegate such authority as may be properly delegated; Provided, that such delegation is in writing, copies of which shall be furnished the Council; and
17. to perform such other duties as may be lawfully assigned by the Council.

SECTION 5. Qualifications and Compensation of the Executive Secretary as Chief Operating Officer. There shall be an Executive Secretary of the Council to be appointed by the President upon consultation with the members of the Council. The Executive Secretary shall act as the Chief Operating Officer and shall possess the following qualifications:

1. a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
2. at least thirty (30) years of age; and
3. a proven record of executive competence in the field of public administration and/or rural development projects or in the management of agricultural, industrial or commercial enterprises.
   The annual compensation and allowances of the Chief Operating Officer shall be fixed by the Council.

SECTION 6. Powers and Functions of the Chief Operating Officer. The Chief Operating Officer of the Council shall exercise the following powers and functions:

1. to implement the integrated plan of action for integrated area development as formulated and approved by the Council;
2. to recommend policy guidelines and submit program of work activities in consonance with the policies and plans promulgated by the Council;
3. to undertake comprehensive studies tackling critical components needed for the development of identified depressed areas;
4. to program and implement on-going and proposed plans, programs and projects within the specified areas for integrated area development;
5. to rationalize and systematize existing, on-going and proposed community projects in identified areas for development vis-a-vis the over-all integrated area development plan for the specified area;
6. to manage, supervise and monitor project implementation;
7. to submit periodic financial and work accomplishment reports to the Council;
8. to perform such other duties as may be lawfully assigned by the Chief Executive Officer.

SECTION 7. Staff Appointment. Any provision of existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the appointments of personnel of the Council may either be on full-time basis or part-time basis and shall be exempt from the requirements and restrictions of the Civil Service law, rules and regulations, and Section Two Hundred Fifty Nine of the Revised Administrative Code. The compensation of said employees shall be determined by the Council upon consultation with the Office of Compensation and Position Classification of the Budget Commission; Provided, that any government retiree employed in the said office shall not be required to reimburse or refund any gratuity received iron the Government nor shall any pension or annuity to which he is entitled to be suspended or reduced on account of his employment with the Council; Provided, further that the personnel of the Council shall be permanent and career in status without prejudice to transfer, detail assignment, promotion, discipline and dismissal in accordance with the Personnel Management Programs of the Council and shall be entitled to benefit and privileges normally accorded to government agencies on detail with the Council including adequate and reasonable honoraria or allowances.

SECTION 8. Abolition of the Cabinet Coordinating Committee. The Cabinet Coordinating Committee on Integrated Rural Development Projects is hereby abolished and all its powers and functions as stipulated in LOI 99 and Presidential Decree Nos. 805, 926, 1048 and 1189 implementing the Mindoro, Bicol, Samar and Cagayan projects, respectively, shall be transferred to the Council together with applicable funds and appropriations, records, equipment, property and such personnel as my be necessary. Moreover, the Cabinet Coordinators for the Mindoro, Samar, Cagayan, and Bicol River Basin Projects, respectively, shall retain their respective powers and functions. The Project Directors of the various on-going projects, their respective tenures, compensation, powers and functions are likewise hereby retained unless otherwise changed or revised by the Council.

SECTION 9. Functions and Responsibilities of the Implementing Departments and Agencies. All designated implementing departments and agencies shall be responsible for the execution of the projects under their respective jurisdiction and shall submit to the Council, their respective annual project plans, budgets and corresponding work programs for approval within three (3) months before the start of the ensuing calendar year. They shall also submit release and periodic accomplishment reports to the Council.

SECTION 10. Observance of Terms and Conditions of the Loan Agreements. It shall be the responsibility of the Council to ensure that all departments, government agencies and local governments concerned observe strictly all the terms and conditions embodied in Loan Agreements executed between the foreign funding agencies and the Philippine Government for integrated area development projects.

SECTION 11. Expenditures and Disbursements. Expenditures and disbursements made by the Council for its on-going projects shall not be subject to the procurements requirements and restrictions imposed by existing laws and regulations upon government agencies, instrumentalities and government-owned or controlled corporations.

SECTION 12. Exemption from Taxes. Any provision of existing laws to the contrary, notwithstanding any donation, contribution, request, subsidy or financial aid which may be made to the Council shall be exempt from taxes of any kind, and shall constitute allowable deductions in full from the income of the donors or donees for income tax purposes.

The assets of the Council and its commodity requirements procured from local and foreign supplies shall be exempt from all taxes, duties, fees, charges, imposts, licenses and assessments, direct or indirect, imposed by the Republic of the Philippines or any of its political sub-divisions or taxing authority.

SECTION 13. Appropriations. The budget of the Council, exclusive of the fund releases from foreign funding and the Philippine Government counterpart fund, shall be five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) for fiscal year 1978 which is hereby appropriated out of the Special Activities Fund under the National Support Fund, P.D. 1250. Thereafter, such amount as necessary to carry out the provision of this Decree shall be included in the annual General Appropriation Act of the government in such amounts as shall be adequate for the purpose.

SECTION 14. Separability Clause. If any of this Decree shall be invalid, the remainder shall continue to be operative.

SECTION 15. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with any provision of this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 16. Effectivity. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 17th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA
		Presidential Assistant