EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 197 - DIRECTING ALL DEPARTMENTS, BUREAUS, COMMISSIONS, AGENCIES, OFFICES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING GOVERNMENT-OWNED OR CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS, TO INCREASE THEIR RATES OF FEES AND CHARGES BY NOT LESS THAN 20 PERCENT

WHEREAS, pursuant to Sec. 54, Chapter 12, Book IV of Executive Order No. 292 (Administrative Code of 1987), heads of bureaus, offices or agencies, may, upon approval of the department head, charge and collect the cost of the services rendered by the bureau, office or agency concerned;  

WHEREAS, it is only proper that the persons receiving the services for which the fees and charges are imposed should be made to share the burden of the expenses incurred by the government;

WHEREAS, despite Executive Order No. 159, series of 1994, directing all departments, bureaus, commissions, agencies and instrumentalities of the national government, including government-owned or controlled corporations, to adjust their fees and charges by just and reasonable rates sufficient to cover the full cost of services rendered, only very few agencies have complied;

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

Section 1. All departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and units, including government-owned or controlled corporations, are hereby directed to review and upgrade their rates of fees and charges by not less than twenty percent (20%).  

The revised rates shall, wherever practicable, be uniform for similar or comparable services and functions and shall be determined by the respective department heads, governing boards, or equivalent functionaries; Provided, that this Executive Order shall not apply to fees charged by the Department of Foreign Affairs for the processing of passports of Overseas Filipino Workers and other fees charged by departments, bureaus, offices, units, and agencies, including government-owned or controlled corporations, related to constitutionally mandated free or subsidized services, such as in education (government colleges and universities) and in health, as well as to those exempted by international agreements, as shall be determined by the President.

Sec. 2. The heads of departments shall be responsible for the implementation of this Executive Order by the bureaus, offices, units, and agencies, including government-owned or controlled corporations, within their respective jurisdictions.

Sec. 3. The Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management shall jointly promulgate the rules and regulations to implement this Executive Order and monitor compliance by agencies.

Sec. 4. All executive issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 5. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 13th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand.

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