REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6428 - AN ACT TO AMEND REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED FORTY-SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY-FOUR BY REORGANIZING THE METALS INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CENTER, GIVING IT CORPORATE EXISTENCE, ENLARGING ITS POWERS, PROVIDING FOR THE FINANCING THEREOF AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Section 1.    Section One of Republic Act Numbered Forty-seven hundred twenty-four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Section 1.    Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared a national policy to develop and expand the metals industry of the country by maintaining close coordination with the private sector in putting up a non-profit research and technological institution to provide both the government and the private sector with professional management and technical expertise on such vital activities for the development of the industry as training of engineers and technicians, information exchange, trade accreditation service, quality control and testing of metal products, research and business economics advisory services.

In coordination with other entities, it shall extend technological services to existing metalcraft industries in the rural areas to improve their capability and promote their development.t shall also initiate the establishment, whenever feasible, of metalcraft industries in these areas for their economic and social uplift."

Sec. 2.    Section two of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 2.    Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act, the term:

(a)    "Metals industry" shall refer to the manufacture from ore materials of products of all precious, base and rare metals and their alloys, including all processes from smelting in direct and indirect reduction furnaces to the final finished product state, either separately or part of an integrated process, namely: the production of bullion, pig iron, steel ingots, billets, pellets, blooms, skelps, slabs or bars, and rolling and/or processing into basic forms such as sheets, plates, strips, tubes, conduits, pipes, rails, rods, tin-plates and the like, and the rough castings, forgings, and extrusions and the final processing, manufacture, fabrication, and/or assembly into finished metal products such as power generating machinery, agricultural machinery, and implements, office machinery, metal working machinery, mining construction, and all other industrial machinery, and machine parts and accessories; electric machinery, apparatus, and appliances such as generators, transformers, motors and the like, and their metal parts and accessories; transport equipment such as railway locomotives and cars, passenger road motor vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, lorries, bicycles and other cycles, aircraft, ships and boats and their metal parts and accessories; and various metal manufacture such as railway construction accessories, wires, tubes and fittings, firearms, wire netting and the like, nails, bolts, and similar articles, needles and pins, safes, hand tools and implements, tools, dies and molds, household utensils, forks and spoons and cutlery, hardwares and metals, metal containers for transport and storage, and other miscellaneous manufactured articles of base, precious and rare metals and their alloys;

b)    "Allied industries" shall refer to such industries as the coal and coke and the refractory industries, the principal manufactured products of which are consumed or used by the metals industries in processing of metallic raw materials into finished or semi-finished products; 

c)    "Center" shall mean the Metals Industry Research and Development Center;

d)    "Private Sector" shall mean those private entities or individual engaged in metals and allied industries as herein defined;

e)    "Board shall refer to the Board of Trustees of the Metals Industry Research and Development Center."

Sec. 3.    Section three of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 3.    Fund to carry out provisions of this Act. — Pursuant to the national policy enunciated in Section one of this Act, there is hereby established a special fund to be known as the Metals Industry Research and Development Fund, consisting of government contributions, as provided in this section, the private sector contribution as provided in section Seven hereof, and the reasonable fees and charges that may be collected for services rendered by the Center. The sum of two million five hundred thousand pesos is hereby appropriated upon the approval of this Act out of the funds of the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated and two million five hundred thousand pesos shall be appropriated annually thereafter as the government contribution to the said fund: provided, that any unexpended balance thereof shall not revert to the general fund. The National Science Development Board shall also allot such sums as may be required by the needs of the Center out of the proceeds of the Special Science Fund."

Sec. 4.    Section Four of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 4.    Establishment of Metals Industry Research and Development Center. — There is hereby established a nonstock, non-profit corporate entity to be known as the Metals Industry Research and Development Center which shall have the general powers set out in Section Thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen Hundred Fifty-Nine as amended:

The administration of said Center and the exercise of its corporate powers are hereby vested exclusively in the Board of Trustees organized under this Act. The Center shall undertake the following activities for which it may collect reasonable fees and charges:

a.    Business Economics Advisory Services:

(1)    To provide management advisory services to industrial firms to help increase their operational and financial efficiency;

(2)    To render consultation services in the preparation of feasibility studies for new projects for the metals industry;

(3)    To provide a periodic analysis of the economic status of the industry and its component sectors as a guide for policy determination by the government and as an individual framework for financial institutions;

(4)    To serve as liaison between the private sector and the government agencies implementing industrial policies to provide close rapport required for the successful development of the metals and allied industries; and

(5)    To provide computer services, including the preparation of computer programs for operations research type of applications to the metals industry.

b.    Training, Information Exchange and Accreditation Service:

(1)    To operate an information exchange center to gather and disseminate information on recent economic and technological developments, both local and foreign, that are of interest to the industry;

(2)    To assemble and maintain an up-to-date library on metals economics and technology;

(3)    To collect information and statistics for preparation of comprehensive and up-to-date industry studies;

(4)    To maintain, in consultation with the Department of Education and with appropriate existing government agencies and training institutions an effective training program for engineers, technicians and craftsmen to cope with the manpower requirements of metal plants and metal fabrication industries;

(5)    To correlate studies on the various sectors of the metals and allied industries as a basis for formulating a development program and a framework for investment to induce the rapid and systematic growth of the industry;

(6)    To design, develop, and implement a system of accreditation for skilled laborers, technicians and engineers who have attained a degree of experience or proficiency in the various fields of specialization in the metals and allied industries.

c.    Control and Testing of Metal Products:

(1)    To determine and recommend appropriate standards for the metals and allied industries to protect consumers and end-users and to enable local producers to attain quality that will meet international standards;

(2)    To study, recommend and provide upon request suitable production methods that private industry may adopt to improve quality and to standardize products to comply with the close tolerance requirements of mass production and modern engineering products;

(3)    To provide umpire services in arbitration cases between suppliers and customers dealing with metals or intermediate and finished products of the metals and allied industries;

d.    Metals Research and Development:

(1)    To establish a metals research and development laboratory to provide answers to problems encountered by the metals and allied industries;

(2)    To provide working experience and opportunities for professional development to creative Filipino engineers at both the professional and student levels in the fields of metals technology;

(3)    To develop and introduce methods and processes for the utilization of indigenous raw materials in the manufacture of metal products;

(4)    To encourage the development of tributary industries with emphasis on those which may use locally available materials, such as coal chemicals;

(5)    To undertake fully or lend support to engineering firms which lack physical facilities for performing developmental or evaluation tests in improving existing plant methods or introducing new ones;

(6)    To provide technological services to and train manpower in metalcraft industries in the rural areas to improve their production techniques and the quality of their products;

(7)    To engage in the manufacture and disposition of metal products which the private sector is incapable or unwilling to manufacture; and

(8)    To undertake such other services as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act."

Sec. 5.    Section Five of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 5.    Board of Trustees. — The Center shall be administered by a Board of Trustees composed of the Chairman of the National Science Development Board as Chairman ex-officio, a representative of the Board of Investments, to be designated permanently for one year by the Board, a representative of the National Economic Council, to be designated permanently for one year by the Council, the Director of Mines, and three representatives from the private sector representing the metals and allied industries, who shall, upon recommendation of the active associations and professional organizations duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission representing the primary metals sector, the metal forming sector and the equipment machinery and durable consumer goods manufacturing sector be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.

The members of the Board shall elect the Vice-Chairman from among themselves, each member from the private sector shall serve for four years and until his successor shall have been appointed and shall have qualified: provided, that no vacancy shall be filled except for the unexpired portion of any term. The presence of four members constitute a quorum. The members of the Board shall not receive any compensation except a per diem of one hundred pesos for every session of the Board which they attend but the total of such per diems shall not exceed five hundred pesos each month: provided, Further, that the present members of the Board shall continue to hold office until one year from the approval of this Act or until their successors shall have been duly appointed and shall have qualified.

There shall be an Executive Director of the Center, to be appointed by the Board: provided, that within two years from the date of the approval of this Act, the Board may, if the exigencies of the service so require, appoint a part time director any to the contrary notwithstanding. The director shall have the following power and duties:

(1)    Plan, program, direct, supervise and coordinate all activities of the Center;

(2)    Assist the Board in the determination, formulation and implementation of policies, procedures, rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective operation of the Center;

(3)    Promote and maintain close coordination between the government and the private sector engaged in the development and expansion of the metals and allied industries;

(4)    Subject to such conditions as the Board may prescribe, to sign personally or through his duly authorized representative, checks, vouchers or other documents involving the acquisition or disposition of property or funds; and

(5)    Perform such other related duties as pertain to the office of an Executive Director and those that may be assigned to him by the Board."

Sec. 6.    Section Six of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 6.    Powers and Duties of the Board. — The Board of Trustees, in addition to its general corporate powers, shall exercise the following powers and duties:

(a)    To formulate plans and programs and promulgate such policies, procedures, rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective operation of the Center;

(b)    To receive, administer, dispose of and disburse the funds of the Center;

(c)    To receive grants, legacies, devises, and donations of whatever kind to the Center. Such grants, legacies, devices and donations shall be tax-exempt and deductible from the income tax return of the giver or his estate as the case may be, upon certification of the Board that said grants, legacies, devices and donations are dedicated to the purposes of the Center;

(d)    To appoint and in proper cases take disciplinary action against the technical and administrative personnel of the Center and fix their compensation, terms of office and other conditions of employment; provided, that all positions in the Center shall be exempt from the regulations of the Wage and Position Classification Office: provided, further, that such positions as the Board may declare to be highly technical shall not be subject to the provisions of the civil service law and rules;

(e)    To create donor positions which shall accommodate exceptionally qualified engineers or scientists in metallurgy and allied fields from both government and private sector and visiting research scientists;

(f)    To enter into contracts for and in behalf of the Center;

(g)    Subject to the provisions of Sec. 7 hereof to allocate and fix the amount of contributions from the private sector as the public interest may require and as the financial condition of the private sector may permit; and

(h)    To exercise such other powers and functions as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act."

Sec. 7.    Section Seven of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 7.    Responsibilities of the Private Sector. — To be entitled to the technical services and benefits to be derived from the activities of the Center as provided in Sec. 4 hereof, the private sector provide an annual contribution in the amount of at least one hundred fifty thousand pesos for the first year, one hundred seventy-five thousand pesos for the second year, two hundred thousand pesos for the third year, and two hundred twenty-five thousand pesos for the fourth year, and two hundred fifty thousand pesos for the fifth year and every year thereafter, for the capital and operational requirements of the Center and pay such reasonable fees and charges as may be fixed by the Board.n the case of metalcraft industries in the rural areas no annual contribution shall be necessary to avail of the Center's services, but they shall pay the fees and charges therefore, subject to such discounts as the Board may determine."

Sec. 8.    Section Eight of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 8.    Ownership of Property. — All properties, equipment and facilities acquired through the Metals Industry Research and Development Fund shall be owned by the Center."

Sec. 9.    This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: May 31, 1972