WHEREAS, the Final Agreement provides for the establishment of a Special Zone of Peace and Development in Southern Philippines (ZOPAD);

WHEREAS, the proposed ZOPAD will entail the provision of focused development assistance, especially in the depressed areas of concerned provinces and cities; and

WHEREAS, there is need for a inter-agency efforts to undertake economic and social development planning in support of the ZOPAD.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law and the Constitution, do hereby order the following:

SECTION 1. CONSTITUTION OF THE SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING TASK GROUP. There is hereby constituted a Special Development Planning Task Group to undertake planning activities for the developmental requirements of the ZOPAD.

SEC. 2. COMPOSITION. The Special Development Planning Task Group shall be chaired by a representative/officer from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to be designated by the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, with representatives/personnel from the following agencies to be designated by their respective Secretaries:

a. Department of Agriculture (DA);
b. Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR);
c. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR);
d. Department of Budget and Management (DBM);
e. Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC);
f. Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and
g. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)

SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS. The Special Development Planning Task Group shall have the following functions:

a.	Initiate the formulation of an integrated development framework for the ZOPAD which will maximize the development potentials of the areas covered, taking into consideration existing development priorities and strategies of the government;
b.	Identify areas where anti-poverty interventions of both the government and the private sector can be initially channeled;
c.	Adopt a process of maximum consultations with concerned sectors (concerned Regional Development Councils and ARMM, local government units, other national government agencies, non-government organizations and peoples organizations, and religious, political, and civic groups) in the formulation of the development framework and identification of areas for focused anti-poverty interventions;
d.	Submit regular accomplishment reports to the President; and
e.	Perform such other tasks as may be assigned by the President.

SEC. 4. PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES. The member agencies of the Special Development Planning Task Group shall contribute equipment and personnel (on detail) to the Task Group. All member-agencies of the Special Development Planning Task Group shall contribute funds for the operation of the Task Group to be determined in a subsequent Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) among others.

SEC. 5. REPEALING CLAUSE. All Administrative Orders, rules and regulations, and other similar issuances, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVITY. This Administrative Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE, in the City of Manila, this 3rd day of September, in the Year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:
(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary