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
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