EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 371
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 371 -
PROCLAIMING A SPECIAL ZONE OF PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTHERN
PHILIPPINES AND ESTABLISHING THEREFOR THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES COUNCIL
FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT AND THE CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY
WHEREAS, the economic and social
development of the country, especially the improvement of the living
conditions of the underprivileged, is a primary task of Government:
WHEREAS, recent improvements in the standards of living and greater
opportunities for economic development arising from our economic and
social reform program have not fully benefited our brothers and sisters
in some areas of the Southern Philippines;
WHEREAS, peace and development in the Southern Philippines will enable
our people to enjoy their just share in the fruits of progress;
WHEREAS, the Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
embarked on a peace progress to attain a just, comprehensive, peaceful
and lasting resolution of the internal armed conflict in the Southern
Philippines;
WHEREAS, the peace process culminated in the signing of the Final Peace
Agreement in Manila 2 September 1996 between the Government and the
MNLF thereby ending the decades-old conflict in Mindanao;
WHEREAS, there is a new window of opportunity to focus, promote and
accelerate development efforts in the Southern Philippines arising from
the signing of the Final Peace Agreement between the Government; and
the MNLF;
WHEREAS, the Final Peace Agreement calls for the establishment of a
Special Zone of Peace and Development (ZOPAD) in the Southern
Philippines wherein peace and development efforts shall be intensified;
WHEREAS, the Final Peace Agreement further calls for the establishment
of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD)
and a Consultative Assembly (CA) that will coordinate, promote and
accelerate the peace and development efforts in the ZOPAD; and
WHEREAS, Section 14 Article X of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
states that: “The President shall provide for regional development
councils or other similar bodies composed of local government
officials, regional heads of departments and other government offices,
and representatives from non-governmental organizations within the
regions for purposes of administrative decentralization to strengthen
the autonomy of units therein and to accelerate the economic and social
growth and development of the units in the region.”
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law and the
Constitution, do hereby order the following:
Section 1. Proclamation of a Special Zone of Peace
and Development (ZOPAD) in the Southern Philippines. — There is hereby
proclaimed a Special Zone of Peace and Development (ZOPAD) in the
Southern Philippines which shall be the focus of intensive peace and
development efforts in the next three years. Investments shall be
channeled to this area to spur economic activities and uplift the
conditions of the people therein. The ZOPAD shall consist of the
following:
(a)
The provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte,
Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Palawan, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu,
South Cotabato, Tawi-Tawi Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur;
and
(b) The cities
of Cotabato, Dapitan, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi,
Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, and Zamboanga.
Sec. 2. Development Efforts in the ZOPAD. — Within
the next three years, the abovementioned areas covered by the ZOPAD
shall be provided with the following development efforts:
(a)
Provision for basic services in the depressed areas of the ZOPAD, such
as water, electricity, educational facilities, socialized housing, and
health and sanitation, among others;
(b) Provision
for adequate infrastructure facilities to support the development
requirements within the ZOPAD and enhance linkages with areas outside
of it;
(c) Promotion
of investments and trade, both domestic and international, to generate
employment and create opportunities for economic development;
(d) Provision
for entrepreneurial development support, livelihood assistance, and
credit facilities so that those in the ZOPAD, especially the vulnerable
sectors such as women, farmers and fisherfolk, unemployed, urban and
rural poor, among others, shall have greater control over their
economic destinies; and
(e) Provision
for capability-building assistance for local communities and
organizations, especially women’s groups, to take full advantage of
development programs and projects in the ZOPAD.
Sec. 3. Medium for Development Efforts in the
ZOPAD. Development efforts in the ZOPAD. — Development efforts in the
ZOPAD shall be carried out through the following:
(a)
Institutional mechanisms, such as the Southern Philippines Council for
Peace and Development (SPCPD) to be hereby established, the Cabinet
Officer for Regional Development (CORD) system, area-specific
development task forces, regional development councils system, Southern
Philippines Development Authority, and other institutional mechanisms
which may be established; and
(b) Existing
development programs, such as but not limited to the BIMP-East ASEAN
Growth Area, Social Reform Agenda localization programs, flagship
projects, and Presidential Council for Countryside Development (PCCD)
programs for priority provinces.
Sec. 4. Priority Areas and Projects. — Development
efforts in the ZOPAD shall give priority to the following areas:
(a)
Provinces in the area belonging to the 20 poorest provinces in the
country (namely Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi);
(b) All 5th
and 6th class municipalities in the provinces in the ZOPAD; and
(c) Depressed
communities within the towns and cities covered by the ZOPAD.
Projects to be implemented in
the ZOPAD shall include the following:
(a)
Human development projects, including but not limited to health and
sanitation services, educational development, and welfare services, to
promote the well-being of families in depressed communities and enhance
their capabilities to participate in economic programs;
(b) Socialized
housing projects to address housing backlogs in priority areas;
(c) Water
supply development to provide potable water especially to depressed
communities in the ZOPAD;
(d) Roads and
bridges to connect depressed communities to centers of economic
activities and improve mobility of goods and service within the ZOPAD
and between the ZOPAD and other growth centers;
(e) Airports
and seaports to address the needs of commuters and facilitate transport
of products in the priority areas;
(f)
Telecommunications and power/electrification programs to support the
increase in economic activities in the ZOPAD;
(g)
Development and promotion of tourism to harness the tourism potential
and enhance appreciation and awareness of history and culture in the
ZOPAD;
(h)
Environmental and marine resources improvement program to protect and
conserve natural resources in the ZOPAD;
(i)
Enhancement of agricultural production through irrigation and
post-harvest and marketing facilities;
(j)
Establishment of food processing facilities to generate employment and
create forward and backward economic linkages;
(k)
Establishment of Provincial Industrial Centers and People’s Industrial
Enterprises to serve as focal points for business activities and
generate additional economic opportunities; and
(l) People
empowerment programs to ensure greater participation of women and other
disadvantaged groups in governance and in the determination of their
political, economic, and social destinies.
Sec. 5. Establishment of the Southern Philippines
Council for Peace and Development. — There is hereby established in the
Office of the President, a Southern Philippines Council for Peace and
Development (SPCPD) to serve as a special and transitory body to
coordinate and promote the economic and social growth and development
of the ZOPAD. The SPCPD shall be subject to the control and supervision
of the President. The powers and functions of the SPCPD shall be
derivative and extension of the powers of the President, i.e., those
powers of the President that could be delegated under the Constitution
and existing laws. The Chairman of the SPCPD shall submit to the
President, in consultation with the Consultative Assembly, the SPCPD’s
plans and programs, annual development reports and other documents on
the ZOPAD.
Sec. 6. Composition of the SPCPD. — The SPCPD
shall be composed of one chairperson, one Vice-Chairperson and three
Deputies. For the effective coordination of programs in the area, the
Chairperson shall be designated by the President from among the
governors in the ZOPAD, including the Governor of the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The other members of SPCPD shall also be
designated by the President from among the heads of departments or
other government offices and representatives of non-government
organizations within the ZOPAD.
Sec. 7. Functions of the SPCPD. — The SPCPD shall
promote and coordinate peace and development efforts in the ZOPAD. In
particular, the SPCPD shall have the following functions:
(a)
To take charge in promoting, monitoring, and coordinating the
improvement of peace and order in the ZOPAD;
(b) To focus
on peace and development efforts more particularly in the depressed
areas of the ZOPAD and cause the implementation of peace and
development projects;
(c) To provide
support to local government units as necessary;
(d) To
exercise such other powers and functions necessary for the effective
implementation of its mandate as may be delegated by the President;
(e) To assist
in the preparation for the holding of elections, referenda or
plebiscite and people’s initiative in the ZOPAD as may duly deputized
by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC); and
(f) To cause
the creation of such offices or instrumentalities as shall be necessary
for the effective and efficient administration of the affairs of the
areas. There shall be approved from the Office of the President for
budgetary purposes. The offices or instrumentalities referred to above
are those internal to the SPCPD such as administrative or support staff
necessary for SPCPD to efficiently and effectively function, or such ad
hoc committees that may be formed from existing government personnel
and representatives of non-governmental organizations or people’s
organizations to effectively promote the programs in the ZOPAD.
Sec. 8. Role of SPCPD with respect to development
concerns. — With respect to development concerns in ZOPAD, the SPCPD
shall undertake the following additional tasks:
(a)
Promote, coordinate, and monitor development efforts in the ZOPAD,
including the encouragement of domestic and foreign investments,
subject to existing laws, especially from the Organization of Islamic
Conference and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations;
(b) Network
with government and other development institutions to generate
resources and economic opportunities for the ZOPAD; and
(c) Coordinate
for the Office of the President with concerned departments and local
government units in the promotion and the implementation of the
programs and projects of the following agencies, namely: the Southern
Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), the Office of Muslim Affairs
(OMA), and the Office of Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC), only
insofar as their respective offices or projects located in the ZOPAD
are concerned; and the Basilan Development Task Force, the Central
Mindanao Development Task Force the Sulu Development Planning Task
Group.
Sec. 9. Role of SPCPD with respect to Peace and
Order Concerns. — The SPCPD shall promote, coordinate and monitor the
improvement of peace and order in the ZOPAD, as follows:
(a)
Monitor the implementation of peace and order and public safety
measures in the area;
(b) Hold
consultative meetings and disseminate vital information pertaining to
peace and order in the area;
(c) Conduct
advocacy and public information to drive to enhance public support for
law and order in the area;
(d) Keep
itself informed of peace and order programs and situation obtaining in
the area, through coordination with military and police forces, and
request such police or military forces to address specific
contingencies in accordance with law, provided however, that the
control and supervision of the police and the military forces shall
remain and continue to be vested in their respective chains of command
under existing laws; and
(e) Submit
reports and make recommendations to the President on matters pertaining
to peace and order in the ZOPAD, in coordination with the Consultative
Assembly.
Sec. 10. Support and Assistance of Government
Agencies on Peace and Development Efforts in the ZOPAD. — All
department, agencies, and instrumentalities of government, including
government-owned and controlled corporations, are hereby directed to
provide the necessary support for the successful and timely
implementation of the above-mentioned programs, projects and concerns
in the ZOPAD, in coordination with the SPCPD.
Sec. 11. Establishment of the Consultative
Assembly. — There is hereby established a Consultative Assembly to
serve as an advisory body to the SPCPD in the development of the ZOPAD.
The Assembly shall be transitory and shall be under the control and
supervision of the President.
Sec. 12. Composition of the Consultative Assembly.
— The Consultative Assembly shall be composed of the following:
(a)
Chairperson of the SPCPD, who shall be the presiding officer of the
Consultative Assembly;
(b) The
Governor and Vice-Governor of the ARMM and fourteen (14) Governors of
the provinces and nine (9) City Mayors in the ZOPAD; and
(c) Fifty-five
(55) members from various sectors, including recommendees of
non-government organizations (NGO’s), and people’s organizations (POs).
Sec. 13. Functions of the Consultative Assembly. —
The Consultative Assembly shall have the following functions:
(a)
To serve as a forum for consultation and ventilation of issues and
concerns;
(b) To conduct
public hearings as may be necessary and to provide appropriate advice
to the SPCPD; and
(c) To
formulate and recommend policies to the President through the
Chairperson of the SPCPD and adopt rules and regulations to the extent
necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the affairs
of the area.
(d) The rules
and regulations referred to above pertain only to the internal affairs
and procedures of the SPCPD and the Assembly, in order to promote the
efficiency, effective, and orderly performance of their functions. Such
rules and regulations shall be submitted to the President for approval.
Sec. 14. Duration of Existence of the SPCPD and
the Consultative Assembly. — The SPCPD and the Consultative Assembly
shall exist for a period of three years from the effectivity of this
Order unless extended by the President.
Sec. 15. Effect on Local Government Units. —
Nothing in this Executive Order shall affect the existence or diminish
the powers and functions under existing laws of all local government
units in the ZOPAD, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Sec. 16. Funding. — Funds for the operations of
the SPCPD and the Consultative Assembly shall be sourced from the
Office of the President and from such other funding sources as may be
recommended by the Department of Budget and Management.
Sec. 17. Separability Clause. — If any part or
provision of this Executive Order is held invalid or unconstitutional,
the other parts or provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid
and effective.
Sec. 18. Effectivity Clause. — This Executive
Order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in two
newspapers of national circulation.
DONE in the City of Manila,
this 2nd day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
ninety-six.
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Since 19.07.98.