WHEREAS,
Presidential Decree No. 187 prescribed the metric system as the sole
standard of weights and measures to be used throughout the Philippines
starting January 1, 1975 for all products, commodities, materials,
utilities, services and in all business and legal transactions;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, while metric conversion is already being done in areas where
it is readily feasible, many industrial, agricultural, trade,
educational and other economic, social and cultural sectors require
more time to adjust their machinery, equipment, inventories, supplies,
products, operational, administrative and marketing systems;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, metrication involves not merely conversion from the English
and other systems of weights and measures to the metric system but also
standardization in metric packaging patterns for better consumer
protection and facility in manufacturing and international and domestic
trading;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, it is desirable to effect such reforms in our way of life in
an expeditious but orderly and inexpensive manner;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, there is need to extend the operations of the Metric System
Board and to provide adequate administrative, financial and other
support for country-wide metrication;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 amendments to Presidential Decree No.
187: chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 1. Section two of Presidential Decree No.
187 is hereby amended to read as follows:cralaw:red
"Sec. 2. Creation of Metric System Board. — In order
to effect the orderly change from the English and other systems of
weights and measures to the metric system, a Metric System Board,
hereinafter referred to as Board, is hereby created, which shall be
composed of the Secretary of Trade as Chairman, and the Secretary of
Agriculture, Secretary of Natural Resources, Secretary of Finance,
Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, Secretary
of Education and Culture, Secretary of Justice, Secretary of Industry,
Secretary of Health, Secretary of Local Government and Community
Development, Secretary of Public Highways, Secretary of National
Defense, Secretary of Public Information, Director General of the
National Economic and Development Authority, and the Chairman of the
National Science Development Board as members. The department
undersecretaries and the board vice-chairman concerned shall serve as
alternates; Provided, however, that a member may designate another
official to represent him on the Board and serve as Chief of Staff
Metrication Officer of the department or office concerned. The chairman
and members, or their alternate or representative on the Board in the
absence of their principal, shall be entitled to a per diem of two
hundred pesos for every board meeting they actually attended.
Section 2. Paragraph (b), (c) and (d) of Section
three of the same decree are hereby amended to read as follows:cralaw:red
"b. Draw up a program, after consultation with the
private sector, for the nation-wide use of the metric system and
standard metric packaging patterns, including the respective starting
and completion dates, in the different agricultural, commercial,
industrial, utilities, scientific, services and other sectors;
Provided, That the metric system shall be fully adopted in all sectors
throughout the Philippines by January first, nineteen hundred and
seventy-seven; Provided, however, that for financial, technological and
other reasons, the Board may grant extensions in highly meritorious
cases. The Board shall consider the need to provide adequate time for
the modification of existing devices or acquiring new devices in
conformity with the metric system and the need to disseminate widely
information on the metric system, the metric conversion programs and
implementing rules and regulations;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
c. Promulgate rules and regulations for the
implementation hereof, and, after approval thereof by the President of
the Philippines, widely disseminate the same to all government offices
and instrumentalities and the general public, including publication
once for three consecutive weeks in at least three newspapers of
general circulation in the Philippines;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
d. Appoint personnel from division chief level and
above, preference to be given to qualified persons who were laid off
from the government service as a result of reorganization; Provided
that professional, highly technical and executive personnel may be
employed under such terms and conditions as the Board or the Chairman
may prescribe. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 3. Section four of the same decree is hereby
amended to read as follows:cralaw:red
"Sec. 4. Metrication Director and Secretariat. —chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
a. The Board, upon recommendation of the Chairman,
shall appoint a Metrication Director who shall direct and supervise
technical staff studies on metrication and oversee and coordinate
implementation of duly approved programs. He shall be a citizen of the
Philippines, at least thirty-five years of age, of recognized executive
ability, with broad educational background and adequate experience in
senior level management, business, economics and/or technology. He
shall receive an annual salary of forty thousand pesos and a monthly
allowance of one thousand pesos.
b. The Director of the Philippines Bureau of Product
Standards shall serve as Executive Secretary of the Board. The Chairman
may request for the detail to the Board Secretariat of personnel from
other government offices and instrumentalities, which are hereby
enjoined to extend all the necessary assistance to the Board.
Section 4. Section five of the same decree is hereby
amended to read as follows:cralaw:red
Sec. 5. Appropriation. — The sum of five hundred
thousand pesos (P500,000.00) is hereby appropriated out of any funds in
the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the expenses of
the Board for fiscal year nineteen hundred and seventy-six, the special
budget for which shall be subject only to approval by the Board. The
appropriation for the Board shall be included and programmed in the
annual national budget for the succeeding fiscal years.
Section 5. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take
effect upon its approval. The Metric System Board shall cease to exist
by June thirty, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine.
Section 6. Repealing clause. — The provisions of any
laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations inconsistent herewith are
hereby repealed or amended accordingly.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 16th day of July, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-five.
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