WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 6849 dated 8 February 1990 provided for the installation, operation and maintenance of public telephones in each and every municipality in the Philippines;

WHEREAS, the Municipal Telephone Projects Office (MTPO), created under the Department of Transportation and Communications to administer the provisions of RA 6849, has a life not exceeding ten years, starting February 1990;

WHEREAS, the Telecommunications Office of the DOTC is mandated to provide, among others, telecommunications services in areas where no such services are available and assist the private sector engage in telecommunications services;

WHEREAS , the MTPO was given zero allocation under the 1999 General Appropriations Act and has scaled down its operations in view thereof;

WHEREAS, there is need to ensure continued provision of telecommunications services to the countrysides;

WHEREAS, there is need to rationalize the functions and programs relative to the provision of telephone services in the countryside;

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

SECTION 1. Deactivation of the Municipal Telephone Projects Office. The Municipal Telephone Projects Office under the Department of Transportation and Communications is hereby deactivated.

SEC. 2. Transfer of Functions, Resources and Obligations. Pursuant to the deactivation of MTPO, all its functions, programs, equipment, facilities, records, and other properties as well as its obligations are hereby transferred to the Telecommunications Office of the DOTC.

SEC. 3. Disposition of Personnel. The Secretary of Transportation and Communications is directed to review the need for the personnel of the Office for eventual termination or integration to the Telecommunications Office, and to submit recommendations to the President within 30 days from the effectivity of this Order.

SEC. 4.Separability Clause. Any portion or provision of this Executive Order that may be declared unconstitutional shall not have the effect of nullifying other portions or provisions for as long as such remaining portions can still subsist and be given effect.

SEC. 5. Repealing Clause. All executive rules, regulations and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.

SEC. 6.Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after the completion of its publication in at least one national newspaper of general circulation.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 5th  day of March 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