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PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 244
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 244 -
AUTHORIZING THE CREATION OF A PHILIPPINE VETERANS ASSISTANCE
COMMISSION, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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WHEREAS,
government services for the benefit of Philippine veterans and their
dependents are inadequate;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, veterans and their dependents deserve the renewed interest of
the government in terms of broader avenues for assistance;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, such renewed attention can best be directed through an
appropriated government agency capable of drawing, absorbing, investing
and managing private financial contributions sufficient to provide
assistance for employment, medical care, education and other related
services;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, Commander-in- Chief of all the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081,
dated September 21, 1972, General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972
as amended, do hereby order and decree, that:cralaw:red
Section 1. Philippine Veterans Assistance Commission.
—chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(a) To carry out the purposes of this Decree, a
Philippine Veterans Assistance Commission, hereinafter referred to as
the Commission is hereby created. The Commission shall be a body
corporate and politic and shall be composed of the Secretary of
National Defense, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines, the Administrator of the Philippine Veterans Bank and
three appointive members, who shall represent the veterans group, to be
appointed by the President. The President shall designate the Chairman
of the Commission. The term of the appointive members shall be for
three years: Provided, That the terms of the first three appointive
members shall be one, two and three years respectively. All vacancies,
except through the expiration of the term, shall be filled for the
unexpired term only. The appointive members of the Commission shall
receive seventy five pesos per diem for each meeting actually attended
by them: Provided, That no compensation shall be paid for more than one
meeting a week.
(b) The Commission shall have under its general
supervision an Administrator who shall serve as the chief executive
officer immediately responsible for carrying out the program and the
policies of the Commission. The Administrator shall be a veteran who
has had previous experience in technical and administrative fields
related to the purposes of this Decree. He shall be appointed by the
President and shall receive a salary to be fixed by the Commission with
the approval of the President. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) The Commission, upon the recommendation of the
Administrator, shall appoint all such other officers and personnel as
may be deemed necessary, fix their compensation; prescribe their duties
and establish such methods and procedures as may insure the efficient,
honest and economical administration of the provisions and purposes of
this Act: Provided, however, That the officers and personnel of the
Commission shall, as far as possible, be qualified veterans and/or
their dependents.
Section 2. Purposes, Powers and Duties of the
Commission. —chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(a) To establish, maintain and make available for
veterans and their dependents all such services necessary to provide
them assistance for employment, medical care, education and other
related services.
The term "veterans" refers to veterans of the Philippine Revolution,
World War II, Korean War as used by the Philippine Veterans
Administration and all such other veterans as may be determined by the
Commission.
The term "dependents" refers to the spouse, children, legitimate,
acknowledged natural or adopted children wholly dependent upon and
living with the veterans, who are not more than twenty three years of
age or over twenty three years of age if they are incapable of
self-support because mentally or physically defective. The term
"dependents" also covers parents of the veterans who are wholly
dependent upon and living with them. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) To manage, invest and otherwise deal with the
funds and financial contributions transferred or made to the Commission
by the Government and private persons such that the services to be
provided under this Act shall be financed out of the income of such
investments and cause the Commission to operate on a self-sustaining
basis.
(c) To adopt, amend and rescind, such rules and
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions and
purposes of this Decree.
(d) To submit annually in January a public report to
the President covering its activities in the administration and
enforcement of this Decree during the preceding year and including
information and recommendations on Commission policies.
(e) To enter into agreements or contract for such
service andd as may be needed for the proper, efficient and stable
administration of the Commission or in furtherance of its expressed
purposes.
(f) To adopt an annual budget of expenditures
including salaries of personnel against all funds available to the
Commission under this Decree.
(g) To require reports, compilations and analysis of
statistical and economic data and to make investigations as may be
needed for the proper administration of the Commission.
(h) To acquire property, real or personnel, which may
be necessary or expedient for the attainment of the purposes of this
Decree.
(i) To perform such other acts as it may deem
appropriate for the proper enforcement of this Decree.
Section 3. Funds of the Commission. —
As the initial contribution of the Government to the Commission, there
shall be appropriated out of the General Funds, not otherwise
appropriated, the sum of five hundred thousand pesos to meet initial
expenses for the organization and operation of the Commission and for
the achievement of the purposes of this Decree.
The Commission shall actively solicit, campaign for, and receive
contributions, donations, gifts and other valuable properties or money
from private persons and government agencies or institutions. Such
contributions, donations, gifts or transfers shall be deductible items
for income tax purposes of the donor, contributor, gift-giver, or
transferor. For this purpose, the pertinent provisions of the National
Internal Revenue Code are accordingly amended.
Section 4. Disbursement and Investment of Funds.
Collections and Income or Earnings From such Collections. — chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Of the total yearly collection of all funds of the Commission, not more
than seven per centum shall be disbursed for the payment of salaries
and wages and purchases of office equipment and materials and
operational expenses of the Commission for any year.
The remaining ninety three per centum shall be invested by the
Commission in any or all of the following ways only:cralaw:red
(a) In interest-bearing bonds or securities of the
Government of the Philippines, or bonds or securities for payment of
the interest and principal to which the faith and credit of the
Republic of the Philippines is pledged.
(b) In interest — bearing deposits in any domestic
bank doing business in the Philippines having an unimpaired paid-up and
surplus equivalent to one million five hundred thousand pesos or over.
(c) In investments which will provide credit
facilities for small short-term loans to veterans and their dependents.
(d) In other projects and investments which, in the
determination, of the Commission, shall redound to the benefit of
veterans and their dependents.
The total income or earnings from investments of such fund collections
shall finance services provided herein for veteran and their dependents.
Section 5. Auditor of the Commission. —
The Commissioner on Audit or his representatives shall check and audit
all the accounts, funds and properties of the Commission in the same
manner and as frequently as the accounts, funds and properties of the
government are checked and audited under existing laws; and they shall
as far as practicable, have the same powers and duties as they have
with respect to the checking and auditing of public accounts, funds and
properties in general.
Section 6. Miscellaneous Provisions. —
(a) Penalty clause. Whoever shall obtain or receive
any money or check under this Decree or an agreement thereunder,
without being entitled thereto, with intent to defraud the Commission,
shall be fined not less than five hundred pesos nor more than five
thousand pesos, or imprisoned for not less than six months nor more
than one year, or both at the discretion of the court.
(b) Whoever fails or refuses to comply with the
provisions of the Decree or with the rules and regulations promulgated
by the Commission, shall be punished by a fine not less than five
hundred pesos nor more than five thousand pesos, or imprisonment for
not less than six months nor more than one year, or both at the
discretion of the court. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) If the act or omission penalized by this Act be
committed by an association, partnership, corporation or any other
institutions, its managing head, directors or partners shall be liable
to the penalties provided in this Decree for the offense.
(d) Any officer or employee of the Commission who
receives or keeps funds or property belonging, payable or deliverable
to the Commission and who shall appropriate the same, or shall take or
misappropriate or shall consent, or through abandonment or negligence,
shall permit any other person to take such property or funds, wholly or
partially, or shall otherwise be guilty of misappropriations of such
funds or property, shall suffer the penalties provided in Article 217
of the Revised Penal Code. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 7. Repealing Clause. —
All such laws, decrees, orders, rules or regulations or any part
thereof as are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Decree
are hereby repealed.
Section 8. This Decree shall take effect upon its
approval.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 12th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-three.
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