WHEREAS, the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System, in close coordination with the Department of Labor, are still conducting actuarial and financial studies for the integration of benefits presently administered by the Bureau of Workmen's Compensation, the Social Security System, the Government Service Insurance System and the Philippine Medical Care Commission;

WHEREAS, integration of benefits will not only maximize economy and efficiency of administration and eliminate duplication and overlapping of benefits, but also result in the extension of a wider range of social security benefits;

WHEREAS, it is necessary to establish a sound foundation for the State Insurance Fund to be governed by the Employment Compensation Commission created in the Labor Code, which shall be regarded as a joint and unified resource of both the SSS and the GSIS subject to policies promulgated by the said umbrella Commission:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby suspend the effectivity of the operation of Title II and III, Book IV of the Labor Code of the Philippines on "Employees Compensation and State Insurance Fund" and "Medicare", respectively, from November 1, 1974 to January 1, 1975, to enable the Department of Labor, the Social Security System, the Government Service Insurance System and the Philippine Medical Care Commission to perfect the organization of the Employment Compensation Commission and all the programs under it.

Done in the City of Manila, this 18th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.