WHEREAS , it is the major aspiration and firm commitment of the Estrada Administration to provide every Filipino adequate food at all times;

WHEREAS , said aspiration and commitment to the Filipino people can only be effectively realized if there is private sector participation and empowerment of farmers and fisherfolk in the development of agricultural and fishery sectors;

WHEREAS , the NAFC must be strengthened for it to be able to perform its primary task more efficiently

WHEREAS , there is an immediate need to transfer the NAFC from the Department of Agriculture to the Office of the President to enable it to pursue its mandate more effectively and expeditiously;

WHEREAS , Section 31, Chapter 10, Title III, Book III of Executive No. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987, provides continuing authority to the President of the Republic of the Philippines to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President;

NOW THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA , President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the power vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Dispositive Action . The NAFC is hereby transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Office of the President.

SECTION 2. Scope of Transfer . The transfer shall be limited to policy and program coordination/integration and administrative supervision.

SECTION 3. Mode of Transfer . The Executive Director of NAFC shall immediately prepare and, with the approval of the President, shall implement short and long-term plans and programs consistent with the overall policy of agricultural development.

SECTION 4. Repealing Clause. All executive orders, rules and regulations and other issuances or parts thereof that shall be inconsistent with the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.

SECTION 5.   Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 30th day of May in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Nine.

(SGD.) JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(SGD.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA
Executive Secretary