WHEREAS, in view of the success in achieving self-sufficiency in rice and corn, the government has launched a national program on food sufficiency;

WHEREAS, the Rice and Corn Production Coordinating Council, the agency responsible for the breakthrough in rice and corn sufficiency, cannot effectively implement the over-all program of food self-sufficiency because of its limited scope, jurisdiction, and authority;

WHEREAS, without a unifying authority, the working together of several government agencies with interrelated functions and activities will eventually lead to duplication, confusion, and unintegrated measures which will frustrate government efforts toward the attainment of self-sufficiency in food commodities;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need for a coordinating agency that shall oversee, unify and integrate the administration and implementation of the government ™s good self-sufficiency program.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby create the National Food and Agriculture Council under the Office of the President composed of the following officials who shall attend in person the meetings and deliberations of said body:

1. The Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources - Chairman
   
2. Executive Secretary Rafael M. Salas - Action Officer
   
3. The Chairman-General Manager, Rice and Corn Administration
   
4. The Director, Bureau of Plant Industry
   
5. The Commissioner, Agricultural Productivity Commission
   
6. The Director, Bureau of Soils
   
7. The Dean, College of Agriculture, U.P.
   
8. The Director, Bureau of Animal Industry
   
9. The Commissioner, Philippine Fisheries Commission
   
10. The Commissioner, Budget Commission
    
11. The Chairman, National Land Reform Council
    
12. The Administrator, Agricultural Credit Administration
    
13. The Secretary, Presidential Arm on Community Development
    
14. The Governor, Central Bank of the Philippines
    
15. The President, Philippine National Bank
    
16. The Chairman, Development Bank of the Philippines
    
17. The Administrator, National Irrigation Administration
    
18. The Administrator, Irrigation Service Unit
    
19. The Director, Bureau of Agricultural Economics
    
20. The Director, Office of Statistical Coordination and Standards, National Economic Council
    
21. The Executive Director, Rice and Corn Board

The Action Officer shall have the power and responsibility of administering, directing and overseeing the implementation of the decisions, programs and policies of the Council by the various government agencies and offices having to do with the food self-sufficiency program.

The Action Officer shall maintain a continuous liaison and dialogue with the private sector with the end in view of having them involved in the food self-sufficiency program and coordinating and integrating their activities in this respect with that of the government sector.

The Action Officer shall, in the absence of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources and on his behalf, supervise the other members of the council in the discharge of their respective functions and duties related to the implementation of the food self-sufficiency program.

The National Food and Agriculture Council shall have a secretariat which shall be headed by an Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director, both of whom shall be designated by the Council, and composed of personnel assigned and/or detailed to the council from the different departments, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities of the government. In addition, all personnel, facilities and resources of the RCPCC and its agencies shall be transferred to the Council.

The Council shall have the following major functions and powers:

a) It shall supervise, coordinate, and evaluate the implementation of the Food Self-Sufficiency Program of the government.

b) It shall supervise, coordinate, and integrate all policies and programs of all agencies and instrumentalities of the government charged with the prosecution of existing laws, policies, procedures, rules and regulations concerning production, stabilization, procurement and distribution, processing and marketing of rice and corn, vegetables and fruits, fish products, livestock, poultry and meat products and other prime food commodities.

c) It shall formulate the long and short range programs calculated to achieve major self-sufficiency in food commodities.

d) It shall coordinate with the National Land Reform Council in the formulation and implementation of plans and programs for the attainment of food self-sufficiency in the land-reform districts, as part of the over-all plans and programs for national self-sufficiency.

e) It shall coordinate and evaluate the activities and accomplishments of all agencies of the government charged with the prosecution of the different aspects of the Food Self-Sufficiency Program. Accordingly, it shall coordinate the release of public funds in accordance with approved programs and projects in food self-sufficiency; and shall release to the public such information and statistics pertinent to the progress and accomplishments of the different aspects of the national program.

f) It shall have the power and authority to call on any department, bureau, office, agency and other instrumentalities of the government for assistance in the form of personnel, facilities, and other resources as the need arises during the discharge of its functions.

g) It shall perform other functions as may be necessary to attain the objectives of the National Food Self-Sufficiency Program, and shall discharge such other duties as the President may direct.

The National Food and Agriculture Council shall submit to the President periodic progress reports of the activities.

Done in the City of Manila, this 6th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and sixty-nine.


By the President:
(SGD.) RAFAEL M. SALAS
Executive Secretary