WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of this office that in many Bureaus and offices of the National Government there exist considerable quantities of unused furniture and equipment and dormant supplies and material;

WHEREAS, other Bureaus and offices, which are not aware of the existence of such unused and dormant supplies, materials, furniture, and equipment, may be able to use them instead of buying new articles of similar kind;

WHEREAS, public interest demands that these unused and dormant articles be properly utilized, or otherwise disposed of, and that accumulation of unnecessary or excessive stock of supplies and equipment in the future must be avoided; and

WHEREAS, more effective supervision and control in the purchase and issue of supplies, materials, furniture, and equipment are necessary in order that the expenditure of the authorized appropriations for consumption of supplies and materials and for the purchase of furniture and equipment may be made with the utmost economy;

Now, therefore, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, I, Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Philippines, in order to avoid unnecessary or extravagant expenditure of public funds, do hereby order and decree that-

(1) Under the control and direction of the Secretary of the Finance, the Division of Purchase and Supply shall receive and store in its warehouses all the unused or dormant supplies, materials, furniture, and equipment now existing or which may exist hereafter in all the different branches of the National Government, shall take care of said articles, account for them, cause them, if necessary, to be repaired or placed in condition for appropriate use, appraise their value, which in no case should exceed the current market price, and cause them to be issued to any branch of the government that may requisition or order for similar articles charging therefore their appraised value.

(2) From the date of the issuance of this Executive Order, no Head of Department or Chief of Bureau, office, or dependency of the National Government shall be authorized to hold any supplies, materials, furniture, or equipment which are not in actual and current use or the use of which may not have been definitely determined, and such officials are hereby directed to transfer to the Division of Purchase and Supply without cost, under the provisions of section six hundred forty-one of the Administrative Code, all unused or dormant articles are now existing.

(3) Upon the receipt of a requisition or order for any article, the Purchasing Agent shall first see if there is a similar article in the stock of the Division of Purchase and Supply, and there be any, he shall issue the article on hand to the requisitioning Bureau or Office, instead of buying a new one.

(4) Before sending any requisition or order to the corresponding Head of Department, Chief of Bureaus and offices are hereby enjoined to secure a certificate of the respective accounting officer on the requisition or order, as to the availability of an appropriation to cover the payment of the cost of the articles requisitioned or ordered. Failure to comply with this requirement shall render the responsible official personally liable for the payment of the articles so requisitioned of ordered.

(5) Hereafter, requisitions or orders for supplies, materials, furniture, and equipment for use in any branch of the National Government sent to the Division of Purchase and Supply, or to the commercial houses and dealers concerned in the case of purchase made under the direct order and payment system, shall be coursed through the Budget Office. The Commissioner of the Budget shall carefully examine all requisitions and orders received by his office and shall see to it that only articles that are necessary for the service and whose cost is not excessive or extravagant, are purchased. Should said official find any item in such requisition or orders which he considers unnecessary or extravagant, he shall suspend further action on the questioned item and bring the matter to the attention of the Department Head concerned. In case of disagreement between any Department Head and the Commissioner of the Budget, the matter shall be submitted to the President for decisions.

(6) No article of any kind that is intended to be purchased with public funds shall be received in any Bureau or office of the National Government unless the corresponding requisition or order therefore has been approved by the Commissioner of the Budget, except in case of emergency, in which event the corresponding requisition or order shall be immediately submitted in the usual course, bearing a notation that the article requisitioned has already been delivered and a statement of the nature of the emergency.

Done at the City of Manila, this twenty-third day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the second.


By the President:

(Sgd.) ELPIDIO QUIRINO
Secretary of the Interior