WHEREAS,
the country's continuing and accelerated efforts at national
development require an adequate research base for planning and policy
formulation; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, more rapid national development further demands a steady and
expanding supply of economic technicians both within and outside
government who are specialists in various areas of technical work;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, a continuing interaction between government officials and
academic research workers in mutually beneficial and in the interest of
national development; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, to meet the above-mentioned demand it is necessary to provide
adequate financial support so that existing programs for the
development of qualified manpower and research on economic development
can be strengthened, improved, and expanded;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
decree and order the following to be part of the law of the land:cralaw:red
Section 1. Creation of the Philippine Center for
Economic Development. — There is hereby created and established a
Philippine Center for Economic Development, which shall be located at
the University of the Philippines, with a distinct corporate
personality. The function of the Center is to give financial and moral
support to the research, teaching, training and other programs of the
School of Economics of the University of the Philippines. The Center
shall formulate a program for financing the endowment of faculty chairs.
The School of Economics nevertheless remains under the effective
academic and administrative supervision of the University of the
Philippines System. The School will undertake its academic function at
a larger scale to be made possible by the financial support of the
Center, and in so doing will be assisted by the Advisory Committee of
the Center; but the School will maintain a high degree of independence,
relying on faculty initiative as the prime means of developing
competent training and research. This shall pertain to all of the
following functions of the School:cralaw:red
(a) To conduct and engage in research work and
studies oriented towards national policy and the needs of national
development in the field of economics, particularly in the areas of
(1) monetary and fiscal policy;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(2) tariff and trade policy;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(3) industrial and agricultural policy;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(4) regional economic development;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(5) long, medium, and short-term economic planning
techniques;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(6) manpower and employment;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(7) economic studies on education, health and social
development, in general; and
(8) statistical programs and policy; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) To undertake training programs designed to
provide the government and the nation as a whole of planners, analysts
and economic statisticians, or in general, of technicians skilled and
knowledgeable in the problems of economic development;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) To serve as the medium for bringing together
experts and specialists in other disciplines to conduct studies and
investigations and engage in interchange of ideas so as to bring in
their knowledge and experience to bear on common problems with a view
to evolving fresh ideas and approaches that could be effectively
applied to economic development;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(d) To engage in the publication of the results of
research.
Section 2. Powers. — The Center shall have the
following powers:cralaw:red
(a) To adopt, alter and use a corporate seal;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) To collect, receive and maintain a fund of funds,
from government appropriations, and from donations, grants, gifts,
bequests, loans from domestic or foreign lenders or other sources of
income, and to apply the income and principal thereof to the promotion
of itsms and purposes; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) To acquire, purchase, pledge, own, hold, operate,
develop, lease, mortgage, pledge, exchange, sell, transfer or
otherwise, in any manner permitted by law, real and personal property
of every kind and description or any interests therein as may be
necessary to carry out its purposes;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(d) To raise or borrow money from domestic or foreign
sources for the purposes of the Center and to do any and all acts
required and/or necessary under the law to effect the same;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(e) In furtherance of its purposes, to extend
financial assistance and to enter into, make, perform and carry out, or
cancel and rescind contracts of every kind and for any lawful purpose
with any person, firm, association, corporation, syndicate, domestic or
foreign, or others in which it has a lawful interest;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(f) To invest funds, as it may be able to obtain from
donations, grants, loans or appropriations, the returns of which the
corporation uses to subsist and carry on the activities and purposes
for which it was formed;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(g) In general, to carry on any activity and to have
and exercise all of the powers conferred by law on a private or
government-owned or controlled corporation; and to do any and all of
the acts and things herein set forth to the same extent as juridical
persons could do, and in any part of the world, as principal, factor,
agent, or otherwise, either alone or in syndicate or otherwise in
conjunction with any person, entity, syndicate, partnership,
association or corporation, domestic or foreign.
Section 3. Board of Trustees. — The affairs of the
Center shall be managed by a Board of Trustees which shall be composed
of nine members as follows:cralaw:red
(a) The Director-General of the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA), as Chairman;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) The Executive secretary;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) The Secretary of Industry;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(d) The Secretary of Finance;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(e) The Commissioner of the Budget;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(f) The Governor of the Central bank;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(g) The President of the University of the
Philippines;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(h) The Dean of the School of Economics;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(i) Two members to be appointed by the President of
the University of the Philippines, upon recommendation of the Dean of
the School of Economics, shall serve for a term of three years and may
be reappointed.
Section 4. Functions and Responsibilities of the
Board of Trustees. — The Board shall have the following functions:cralaw:red
(a) To approve and authorize on an annual basis a
program for financial assistance to the School of Economics;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) To appoint the Executive Director and the other
officers and staff of the Center, whose number, organizational
structure and compensation shall be determined by the Board upon
recommendation of the Executive Director;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) to constitute themselves or their representatives
into an Advisory Committee whose functions shall be to make
recommendations to the School with respect to the latter's academic and
other programs;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(d) To promulgate rules and regulations necessary for
the discharge of its powers and functions and the internal organization
and operations of the Center;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(e) To monitor and review periodically the programs
and projects of the Center.
Section 5. Executive Director of the Center. — The
Executive Director shall be the executive officer of the Center and
shall receive such salary and remuneration as may be determined by the
Board of Trustees. He shall have the following powers and duties:cralaw:red
(a) To have control and supervision over the
personnel, staff, operations and internal administration of the Center
in accordance with existing laws and the rules and regulations
promulgated by the Board of Trustees;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(b) To recommend to the Board of Trustees such
policies and measures which he deems necessary for the effective
exercise and discharge of the powers and responsibilities of the Center;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) To submit an annual report to the Board of
Advisers on the operations, the status of the programs funded by, and
the financial condition of, the Center, including a recommendation for
its budget for the ensuing year.
Section 6. Endowment Fund. — To provide a source for
the funding of programs and projects of the Center, there is hereby
established and Endowment Fund which shall be self-sustaining and shall
consist of contributions, donations, bequests, grants and loans from
domestic and/or foreign sources, government subsidy appropriations and
other income accruing from the operations of the Center. For the
initial organizational and operational requirements of the Center,
there is hereby appropriated out of any fund in the National Treasury
or other sources not otherwise appropriated the sum of Five Million
Pesos (P5,000,000.00) and an annual amount of Two Million Pesos
(P2,000,000.00) shall continue to be appropriated for six years to
support the operations of the Center.
The Endowment Fund shall be administered as a trust with the Board of
Trustees of the Center as trustee thereof, provided that the principal
of the fund shall not be impaired and that only the earnings thereof
shall be available for expenditure.
Section 7. Finance Committee. — The Board of Trustees
shall constitute a Finance Committee, composed of at least three
members, to be headed by a member of the Board of Trustees, which shall
administer the Endowment Fund for, and shall be responsible directly
to, the Board of Trustees. It shall advise and make recommendation to
the Board of Trustees on matters pertaining to the funding aspect of
programs proposed to be funded by the Center, on matters pertaining to
maintaining the integrity of the Endowment Fund.
Section 8. Applicability of Procurement Restrictions.
— Requirements and restrictions under existing laws and regulations on
procurement of supplies and equipment and on contracting applicable to
government-owned or controlled corporations shall not apply to the
Center.
Section 9. Appointments and Discipline of Personnel.
— Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, appointments,
compensation and discipline of the personnel in the staff of the Center
shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by
the Board of Advisers and shall be exempt from the Civil Service Law,
laws, rules and WAPCO; Provided, that any government retiree employed
in the Center shall not be required to reimburse or refund any gratuity
received from the government nor shall any pension or annuity to which
he is entitled be suspended or reduced on account of his employment in
the Foundation.
Section 10. Exemption from Taxes. — Any provision of
existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any donation,
contribution, bequest, subsidiary or financiald which may be made to
the Center shall be exempt from taxes of any kind, and shall constitute
allowable deductions in full from the income of the donors or givers
for income tax purpose.
The Center, its assets, acquisitions, income, and its operations and
transactions shall be exempt from any and all taxes, fees, charges,
imposts, licenses and assessments, direct or indirect imposed by the
Republic of the Philippines or any of its political subdivision or
taxing authority thereof, except import taxes, duties and fees.
DONE in the City of Manila,
this 13th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-four.
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