Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. In the performance of his duties, the Secretary of Justice shall be assisted by a Technical Staff which shall have one Chief to be known as the Head Technical Assistant with a salary of twelve thousand pesos per annum, two assistant chiefs to be known as Senior Tech-I Assistants each of whom shall receive eleven thousand four hundred pesos per annum, two Senior Special Assistants each of whom shall receive ten thousand eight hundred  pesos per annum and eight special assistants whose salaries shall be as follows:

1. Two   special   assistant  at  ten  thousand  two  hundred pesos each per annum;
2. Two special assistants at nine thousand six hundred pesos each per annum;
3. Two special assistants at eight thousand four hundred pesos each per annum;
4. Two special assistants at seven thousand two hundred pesos  each per annum;

SEC. 2. The Head Technical Assistant and the two Senior Technical Assistants shall be members of the bar for at least five years. The two Senior Special Assistants and the Special Assistants shall be members of the bar or must have held the position of Senior Executive Assistant or Chief Training Officer in the Office of the Secretary of Justice for a period of at least two years: Provided, That no officer or employees holding office as such in the Office of the Secretary of Justice on the date of the passage and effectivity of this Act shall, by reason thereof, be removed from office or be demoted to a lower category or scale except for cause as provided by law and after due process.

SEC. 3. In the interest of greater efficiency in the discharge of its functions, the Technical Staff may, in the discretion of the Secretary of Justice, be organized into two divisions to assist the Secretary of Justice and the Undersecretary of Justice, respectively, each one headed by an assistant chief.

SEC. 4. The provisions of any law, rule or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding, the members of the Technical Staff shall receive the salary rates provided for in Section 1 hereof.

SEC. 5. Such sums as may be necessary to cover the salaries of the personnel provided in Section 1 and for the salaries  of  such  other  complementary  personnel   in  the stenographic and clerical staff as well as for maintenance travelling and other operating expenses and equipment of the Technical Staff are hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated Henceforth, appropriations to cover salaries of the personnel of the Technical Staff shall be carried in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June  19, 1964.