WHEREAS, it is necessary to link directly the functions of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics with the requirements of national social and economic development planning;

WHEREAS, the National Economic and Development Authority, being the highest development planning body, is the logical focal point for securing the desired linkage that will give more development orientation in the operations of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics and make it serve move efficiently the requirements of development planning; and

WHEREAS, to attain this objective, the organizational status and form of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics should be redefined and reconstituted under the administrative supervision of the National Economic and Development Authority;

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

SECTION 1. The Bureau of the Census and Statistics of the Department of Trade is hereby reconstituted as a new agency to be known as the National Census and Statistics Office. The Office shall be transferred from the Department of Trade and placed under the administrative supervision of the National Economic and Development Authority.

SEC. 2. The Office shall be headed by an Executive Director and shall have the same organizational structure and functions prescribed for the Bureau of the Census and Statistics under the Integrated Reorganization Plan, as amended: Provided, however, That the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority may make modifications thereon as may be necessary: Provided, further, That except for the Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director who shall be appointed by the President, upon recommendation of the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, all other personnel of the Office shall be appointed by the Executive Director and shall be under his control and supervision: Provided, furthermore. That the staffing pattern for high-level professional and technical personnel of the Office which shall be prepared for purposes of implementing the reorganization prescribed for the Bureau of the Census and Statistics under the Plan shall be reviewed and recommended for approval by the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority: Provided, finally, That the regular professional and technical personnel of the Office shall be exempt from the coverage of the classification and compensation plans of the Wage and Position Classification Office, and Civil Service rules and regulations.

SEC. 3. The present personnel complement of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, together with its applicable appropriations, records, equipment and property shall be transferred to the Office herein created.

SEC. 4. The National Economic and Development Authority shall: (a) provide general policies and priorities which shall serve as the general framework for the statistical operations of the Office; (b) review and recommend for approval statistical programs and budgets for such programs, as recommended by the Office.

SEC. 5. The Office shall assist the Statistical Advisory Board and the National Economic and Development Authority in the formulation of a continuing comprehensive statistical program for the Government and shall provide technical assistance and support to projects of other statistical agencies and institutions particularly those concerned with the improvement of economic statistics.

SEC. 6. This Decree shall take effect and shall be implemented immediately.

SEC. 7. All laws, executive orders, decrees, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Done in the City of Manila, this 20th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.