The Republic Vol. I, No.11 (16 May - 15 June 1976) · Rare Periodicals

The Republic Vol. I, No.11 (16 May - 15 June 1976)

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Title: The Republic Vol. I, No.11 (16 May - 15 June 1976)
Issue Date: Vol. I, No.11 (16 May - 15 June 1976)
Year: 1976
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extracted text: 1 I Tne Librarian /•I - ’ ' - University of the Phil Main tih - — ^iman, Quezoh ciV Ma“ ^NiU.KsrrY OF THE PHiumA 1 THE REPUBLIC Isangbansajsangdiwa Vol. I, No. 11 For Government Managi 16 May - 15 June 1976 « Uplift the welfare of the workingman THE very institution of martial law government in our country is premised on the belief that our social, political and economic structures must be radically overhauled to promote the welfare of the Filipino workingman. Initial sacrifices had to be made, however. To ensure continued expansion of production the government, at first, had to place a temporary ban on labor strikes as well as lockouts by management. The government believes that reason able wages and assured industrial peace will promote greater national production, attract local and foreign investments, and enable us to be competitive with the rest of the world in the export market. This economic growth is expected to be directly tran slated into a higher standard of living for all Filipinos. But the worldwide inflation of the recent years and the energy crisis have eroded the capability of the workers to sustain themselves and their families. Two choices confronted the government: will we allow wages to go up with the danger that local in flation will further accelerate or will we continue to impose the burden of economic sacrifice to our laborers? In some high-growth countries, the choice would unhesitantly have been the first one-harness “sweat labor” and build a strong export market. In the New Society, however, the program of human dignity takes precedence over the program of economic growth. Despite the strong pressures from some sectors, the President decided on Labor Day, last May 1, that the minimum wages must be raised to enable the workers to cope with the rising prices of goods. Before this statutory enactment, the government has in effect raised the minimum wages by decreeing a 13th-month bonus and the payment of emergency allowances for lowersalaried workers. But more than raising minimum wages, the New Society government has restored the dignity and strength of the workers. Ideally, the government should not be very much involved in labor-manage ment discussions when both parties are strong and socially responsible. Because we are a developing country, however, with the ills of heavy unemploy ment and heavier unemployment problems to con tend with, the workers’ groups do not possess strong leverage. Only about ten percent of the industrial labor force belong to labor unions. To remove the inequities in the labor market, President Ferdinand E. Marcos enacted the com prehensive Labor Code last year. The Code set up the mechanics of achieving the aims set forth by the Constitution (Section 9, Article II): To “afford protection to labor, promote full employment, ensure work opportunities regardless of sex, race, creed and regulate relations between workers and employees.” Thus, the Department of Labor, as the chief implementor of government policies on labor, graduat ed from one of the minor arms of the government to a fully-expanded agency. From a position of relative functional insignificance, the Department has risen to play an strategic role in attaining economic growth tempered with social justice. The Department of Labor has expanded from a basically regulatory role to the field of manpower development. Eleven regional offices of the National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC) had been established; a nationwide network of 41 public em ployment exchanges had been set up. To strengthen our international reserves posi tion, the Department of Labor has also encouraged Filipino workers to take advantage of opportunities abroad. The Overseas Employment Development Board and the National Seamen Board became fully operational in 1975, actively pinpointing work poten tials abroad as well as protecting the rights of Filipino expatriates. The government has not been remiss in pro tecting workers’ rights. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) which has replaced the ineffec tive Court of Industrial Relations has extended the coverage of its arbiters throughout the archipelago. NLRC is emphasizing the importance of collective bargaining to promote job security and benefits. In formulating and implementing its labor policies, the government has seized on the method ology of tripartism —the involvement of government, management and labor—in arriving at a program that is not only enforceable but also popular. Labor and management now settle differences over the bargain ing table, ensuring industrial peace and continued production, with the government always ready to lend a hand. □ 2 16 May - 15 June 1976 The Natior THE REPUBLIC Know your Sangguniang Bayun THE Sangguniang Bay an is a forum where various sectors of society participate not only in local legislation but also in formulation of national pol icies. On the local level, the Sangguniang Bayan is composed of the members of the old municipal/city councils and provincial boards plus representatives of the youth, barangays, capitalist, professional and labor sectors. These enlarged local legislative bodies are call ed Sangguniang Pambayan (Municipal Sangguniang Bayan), Sangguniang Pan lungsod (City Sangguniang Bayan), and Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Sangguniang Bayan). The case of Metropolitan Manila is special. Its legislative body is the Metro Manila Commission whose members are a governor, a vice-governor, and three commissioners. The Metro Manila mu nicipal and city Sangguniang Bayans can only recommend to the Commission such measures as they think are necessary. On the regional level, the Sang guniang Bayan is composed of the members of all the Sangguniang Pan lungsod and Sangguniang Pambayan in a region. The regional Sangguniang Ba yan is called Pampook na Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian (PKS). The national Sangguniang Bayan is composed of members of all provincial and city Sangguniang Bayan. This na tional body, called the Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian, was organized because of the necessity for the Sangguniang Bayan to include national issues in its formulations. A national legislative advisory coun cil to be called the Sangguniang Pambansa shall be organized with the advise of the Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian. The council shall exercise the posters of . advisory legislation and the President shall approve its recommendations. Its membership may include cabinet membei a; d sectoral representatives. iiing Bayan system is a milestone in the development of Philip pine political processes, not only be cause it broadens citizen participation in government affairs but also because it identifies specifically the groups of interest in a typical Filipino unit, the barrio, now called the barangay. Breakdown of Representation 1. General Representation. PD 826 did not abolish the provincial boards and city/municipal councils. It renamed them under the general term, “Sang guniang Bayan,” and enlarged their res pective memberships. The members of the pre-PD 826 boards and councils have been retained to represent the gen eral populace in the local units. As stipulated by the Constitution’s Tran sitory Provisions, they shall continue in office until they are removed by the President, or until their successors are chosen. 2. Barangay Representation. The barangays, citizens’ assemblies with 100-500 families each, are the base for citizen participation in government af fairs. The members elect barangay chair men and barangay youth leaders who in turn elect their representatives to the municipal or city Sangguniang Bayans. The interest of each neighborhood is thus represented in the Sangguniang Bayan. 3. Sectoral Representation. Capital, professional, and labor interests now have specific identities in municipal legislation. Formerly, no representative was officially designated to be respon sible for a specific sector. 4. Municipal Representation in the Provincial Legislative Body. Before, the provincial boards could always legislate without consulting with the municipali ties concerned. Now; with municipal representatives participating in the pro vincial Sangguniang Bayan, municipal interests can hardly be overlooked. Powers and Privileges THE local Sangguniang Bayans ex ercise the same powers and func tions vested in the former provincial boards and municipal/city councils. They may therefore pass ordinances and enact measures that are deemed necessary. Moreover, certain powers of legislation not previously vested in local govern ment units may be delegated to the Sang guniang Bayan, in line with the policy of enlarging local autonomy. All members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Panlungsod, and Pambayan are entitled to per diems and transpor tation allowances on a reimbursement basis for sessions and meetings actual ly attended. Subject to the approval of the De partment of Local Government and Community Development (DLGCD), each Sangguniang Bayan determines the amount of per diems and allowances to be given to its members. For their services, members of the Sangguniang Bayan are not allowed to collect any other forms of remuneration or compensation such as salaries and representation allowances. Composition of the Sanggunian Sangguniang Pambayan. The total membership of the municipal Sanggu niang Bayan is twice the number of members of the old municipal council including the vice-mayor. With the mem bers of the old municipal council, the Sangguniang Pambayan includes: the president of the municipal barangay federation (Pambayang Katipunan ng mga Barangay); the president of the municipal kabataang barangay federation , (Pambayang Katipunan ng mga Kaba taang Barangay); four representatives from the professional, capital, industrial labor, and the agricultural labor sectors; and as many barangay captains in the municipal it v as may be necessary to complete the total number of members needed. The presiding officer is the municipal mayor. < The municipal barangay federation president and the municipal kabataang barangay federation president are elect ed by their respective federations. The sectoral representatives are chosen this way. the municipality’s residents are grouped by a coordinator chosen by the provincial governor according to the sectors they belong to; the coor dinator must not be a municipal official. From among themselves, the sectoral group members choose their respective representatives to the municipal Sang guniang Bayan. The barangay captains, fortheir part, choose from among them selves as many more representatives as are needed. Sangguniang Panlungsod. The city Sangguniang Bayan has twice the nqmber of members of the previous city council. The members of the city Sang guniang Bayan and their manner of se lection parallels that of the municipal Sangguniang Bayan. The members are: the city mayor as presiding officer; the vice-mayor; the members of the old city council; the city barangay federation president; the city kabataang barangay federation president; the sectoral repre sentatives; and the barangay captains. Sangguniang Panlalawigan. The pro vincial Sangguniang Bayan consists of: the provincial governor as presiding of ficer; the vice-governor; the members of the old provincial board; the president of the provincial barangay federation (Panlalawigang Katipunan ng mga Ba rangay); the president of the provincial kabataang barangay federation (Pan lalawigang Katipunan ng mga Kabataang Barangay); and one representative from each of the municipalities within the province. The provincial barangay federation president and the provincial kabataang barangay federation president are electProvincial Sangguniang Bayan I PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR PRESIDING OFFICER SANGGUNIANG BAYAN MEMBERS Provincial Board PKB PKKB Pres. One municipal Sangguniang Bayan representative from each municipality Vice Gov. Board Members City/Municipal Sangguniang Bayan ed by their fespective federations. The municipal representatives are elected by and from among the members of each municipal Sangguniang Bayan, but the municipality from which the provincial barangay federation president comes does not send a representative to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Meetings of the Sangguniang Bayan To carry out its functions, the Sang guniang Bayan of a province, or a city, or a municipality meets either in a reg ular or a special session. Regular sessions are meetings conducted at specific times of the year. Special sessions are meetings called under special circumstances and. for special purposes at any time of the year. The number and frequency of regular or special sessions are determined by individual Sangguniang Bayans with the approval of the secretary of Local Government and Community Develop ment. Unless impracticable, all sessions of the Sangguniang Bayan are open to the public. Term of Office THE term of office of the present members of the Sangguniang Ba yan is interim in nature and temporary in duration. The President can revoke the appointment of any Sangguniang Bayan member upon the recommenda tion of the DLGCD secretary. Appoint ments of Sahgguniang Bayan members may be rescinded for any of the same grounds provided for by the Revised Administrative Code for the recall of members of the old provincial board and the municipal and city council, or upon the request of the Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian. The President can also call a new election to replace or renew the present membership of the Sangguniang Bayan. After such an election, which will be supervised by the Commission on Elec tions, the term of office of all Sanggu niang Bayan members will be specifically defined in a decree by the President. The Pampook na Katipunan THERE are thirteen regional Sanggu niang Bayans since Metropolitan Manila is considered as one region. A PKS is composed of all the Sangguniang Panlungsod and Sangguniang Pambayan in the region. The governors, mayors, and presiding officers of the Sangguniang Bayans in each of the thirteen regions are included as members of their res pective PKS. A PKS convenes at least once a year on a date set by its executive com mittee, or at the call of the President. Its executive committee consists of seven members: one governor or mayor; one barangay federation president; one kabataang barangay federation president; and four sectoral representatives. The executive committee’s members are elected by and among the PKS mem bers. For every convention, a PKS elects officers headed by a temporary chair man. Their terms of office last only for the duration of the conference. Each PKS has a permanent secre tariat, the staff support of which is pro vided by the DLGCD. The Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian THE members of the Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian, comprising all the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and Sanggu niang Panlungsod in the entire country, elect from among themselves the mem bers of an executive committee, which acts for and in behalf of the Katipunan when the latter is in convention. At least once a year, the Katipu nan meets in a convention, the date of which is set by the executive committee. The Katipunan may also convene at the instance of the President, as often as and for any purpose he deems necessary. Convention Officers. At the start of every conference, the delegates elect a temporary chairman and other offi cers needed to conduct the convention. Their terms of office last only for the duration of the convention. The chairman acts as presiding of ficer of the convention and automatic ally becomes an ex-officio member of the Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian ex ecutive committee. He retains his mem bership in the committee until a differ ent chairman or presiding officer is elected in a new convention of the Katipunan. National Secretariat. A National Secretariat, created under the DLGCD, assists the Katipunan ng mga Sanggu nian. Headed by an executive director, it functions mainly as a channel of com munications among the members of the Katipunan, a custodian of funds, docu ments and records of the Katipunan, and as liaison channel between the Ka tipunan and the general public. The staff support of the National Secretariat is provided for by the DLGCD. □ THE REPUBLIC 16 May - 15 June 1976 , 3 Improving the map for 2000 A.D. A25-YEAR Physical Perspective Plan for the Philippines, prepared by the Planning and Projects Development Office (PPDO) of the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Com munications (DPWTC), is currently re viewed for implementation by the Na tional Economic and Development Au thority (NEDA), the central planning agency. According to Pete Prado, PPDO manager, the plan was formulated to meet the need for expressing national development planning in spatial and locational terms. The plan was prepared by the DPWTC in response to Letter of Instructions No. 363 which directed all government agencies involve/in develop ment planning to submit their respective ten-year (medium term) and 25-year (long term) plans to NEDA-foT coor dination and integration of all develop ment efforts. LOI 363, issued January 12 this year, stated: “In line with the present policy to centralize the planning functions of the government and to integrate, coordinate and consolidate aU development plans of all departments, offices and agencies of the government, all heads of depart ments, offices and agencies are hereby directed to prepare their respective de. velopment plans, namely (1) a medium term plan covering a period of ten years and (2) a long-term or perspective plan up to the year 2000.” The PPDO is one of the two govern ment agencies directly involved in the country’s physical planning, the other being the Human Settlements Commis sion. The Commission has not yet com pleted its draft report. The PPDO has already accomplished its report which is in fact one of the earliest to be sub mitted within the deadline set by LOI 363 (originally March 15 and now ex tended to June 30). The PPDO report constitutes the first phase (physical planning) of a com prehensive national development plan integrating land use, settlement network, transportation and communications, wa ter resources, power development as well as planning and implementation machinery. Hie other phases of the com prehensive national plan cover the eco nomic (being prepared by such depart ments as finance and trade) and social (by such departments as social welfare and education) aspects. It is the PPDO planners’ belief that physical planning should be the basis of the other phases of national development because loca> tion and space are permanent features of development. The plan recognizes the fact that the Philippine society responds to space age technology and other developments, and the plan therefore allows for re visions every five years. In formulating the plan, thePPDO planners propose to: 1. Determine national goals and objectives—maximum feasible growth, higher standards of living, equitable dis tribution of wealth, resources and facil ities, efficient, comfortable and safe en vironment, maximum utilization of na tural resources, national integration, and adoption of new and strong moral and social values. 2. Analyze existing and past con ditions which led to the deterioration of our physical facilities, economic and social well-being, and based on these, set higher, more acceptable and realistic standards. Cross-checking and adjustments were made such that plans are compatible with the nature and character of our projected rate of re sources development. The practical ex periences of other countries were also observed. 3. Prepare a schedule of plan im plementation, accompanied by a budget proposal. The goal of the plan is to develop the nation’s resources and create a na tional environment which will promote the general well-being, dignity, unity and quality of life for the greatest number of Filipinos by the year 2000. The objec tive is to optimize the spatial organiza tion of social and economic activities. On the assumptions that the present conditions of political stability will pre vail and that the economic and social perspective plans of other departments are adopted, the planners believe the goal is achieved when there is: □ Acceleration of industrial de velopment; □ Increase in agricultural produc tion; □ Promotion of social develop ment; □ Expansion of employment op portunities; □ Environmental protection; and □ Physical integration. Assuming also that projections made by PPDO planners do not vary significant ly from those of other departments, the planners believe the objective is achieved when there is: □ An optimal pattern of land use developed according to objectives, cri teria, capability, climate, etc.; □ Hierarchical pattern of settle ments functioning complementarity; □ Comprehensive transportation and communication systems, an integ rated water resources and power grid systems established in accordance with the land use scheme and operating in support of approved settlement pattern. Among the outputs (service ren dered or to be rendered) the PPDO out lined are land reform and reforestation programs, irrigation and flood control, transportation, communications, and postal services, river basin development, power expansion (electrification), and planned population. The working motto of the PPDO plan is “progress without integration does not constitute democratic fulfill ment.” The planners believe that since the country is divided into hundreds of islands, each with a distinct ethnic and cultural personality, inter-regional mob ility and interaction through improved transportation and communications fa cilities provide the key to national in tegration and such venues for social mobility as higher income, better educa tion and increased employment. The following issues and problems were taken into consideration by the planners of the PPDO report: population growth and distribution, food produc tion, income distribution and living standards, employment, infrastructure requirements, environmental balance, and physical integration. For as long as the country is overpopulated (2.8 percent a year, one of the highest in the world) not even the most sophisticated physical planning can solve the country’s ills. Therefore, the PPDO report urges that the measures to control population growth should continue and improve. Controls include the dispersion of certain populations to planned settle ments and centers. This means that cer tain areas of the country have to be urbanized and others industrialized, and still others agriculturalised. The food production campaign will then have to continue to veer toward the nutritional and medical needs of the population. Food prodi ction programs should entail the development of food supply areas through infrastructure, marketing and distribution systems and planned changes in food consumption patterns. The sub-standard level of health and nutrition and the general living condi tions of families, particularly in the rural areas are generally low (in 1971, there were 1.6 million families in the rural areas and 200,000 in the urban areas with incomes less than Pl,500 yearly), making them a constant social burden and sometimes a threat to the stability of the social order. The demands of a growing population and an expanding economy for infrastructure support re quire sustained investment through a progressive infrastructure development program. However, because of the lack of resources and the backlogs in the im plementation of the existing infrastruc ture program, there remains a big gap between the requirements and the actual infrastructural support for social, indus trial and agricultural plans. The PPDO plan recognizes that the increasing population, rapid urbaniza tion, and the inevitable encroachment of industrial age technology on the natural environment will greatly affect the ecological balance. Thus, the plan strongly reiterates the conservation of forests, rivers, seas, and other natural formations. Pollution and other atmos pheric and climactic disturbances are included among the elements ’ to be combatted. The plan also details its develop ment concepts in four key areas: growth center scheme which calls for distribu tion of urban centers in Mindanao and the Visayas; comprehensive utilities through the allocation of transportation, communications and power in key areas in Luzon, Visayas and outside Metro politan Manila; integrated water re sources, stressing the need of the major river basin areas of the country (Caga yan, Agno, Pampanga, Bicol, Panay, Jalaur, Ilog-halabang, Agu§an, and Cotabato rivers); and harmonious organiza tion of the infrastructure with the na tural surrounding. This means that roads should be constructed without destroy ing valuable forests or that tourist areas be preserved whenever possible by dis couraging construction of discordant structures like towering hotels. The rest of the PPDO plan are charts and maps showing figures and facts with corresponding plans for physical improvement. The plan is optimistic that the new approach to decision making on the barangay level will pro vide a faster and more favorable ap proach to the implementation of the programs for development Aside from the barangays, the plan sees the CIP (Capital Improvement Program) of the provincial and municipal governments as one major implementing machinery. More significantly, PPDO proposes the creation of a stable institution for com prehensive physical planning. The body, following guidelines by NEDA, will ny ~ nitor and evaluate plahimfjlemefitatk n. conduct a reappraisal, and review and undertake its revisions. The proposed physical planning office can function as ■ a resear,ch office on land use and en vironmental standards. The plan also proposed the fol lowing legal mechanism for controling development: □ Public spending. In order to ef fectively implement the plan, priority should be given to the increasing effic iency and coordination in the public spending process. Budgeting could be an effective instrument of planning if it conforms with the requirements of the total plan. □ Taxation. Although taxation is principally a revenue-raising power of government, it may also serve such pur poses as redirection of development, production and general land use. Exam ples of such are special assessments, effluent charges, etc. □ Expropriation. When necessary for the puhlic interest, the state may exercise the power of eminent domain. • □ Police power. If public safety and welfare so demand, authorities may intervene to regulate and restructure land use. Among the tools for development control suggested by the PPDO are zon ing (important in directing land use pat terns, location of industries, housing), subdivision regulations (to improve qual ity of subdivisions), official mapping, building regulations, licensing system (supplemental devise to regulate land use) and taxes on idle or vacant lands. As can be seen, some of the pro posals have already been implemented even at this stage. The formation of the Metro Manila Commission, for example, is one such clear direction toward the integration of physical facilities of four cities and 13 towns. The “balik-probinstya” project and the electrification of many of our rural areas are also moves toward integrated physical planning. □ Q Laws THE REPUBLIC r ee No. itution»n with by oregional lawigan each of ry. The i as the a Sangila shall ition to > of the Sanggujmprise lg mga ors and iang Ba de PKS e a year nmittee that an elected re PKS, for and session. >e comi presifederaSweet exemption AMENDING Presidential Decree No. .791, President Marcos, through PD 924, extended tax exemption to road-building equipment, sugarcane transport, agricultural tractors and their respective implements used in the sugar industry which are “actually needed and to be exclusively used by the grantee in the development of the factory site and in the production, manufacture, milling, processing or refining of sugar.” The President, in issuing PD 791, pointed out that since all new sugar mills are being financed by government lending institutions, their collapse by reason of financial problems resulting from high acquisition cost of the mill means that the government will ulti mately suffer the loss. PD 924 is design ed to reduce the high cost of production, particularly in the case of new sugar mills wherein the acquisition cost of all machineries have jacked up. It is also ex pected that the exemption will afford the new mills a wider range of incentives for a more viable milling operation. □ ng mga y chair may be :e shall he contwelve > Metro secreshall be £ local evelope PKS an con124 and ?uniang provinf. They Bayan, Janggun memas well it ere at - leration Sanggu:onvene nian to ng Pamidvisory ve mat1, which ssembly will be gthening ;unian is yard the :nt. □ Save PT A funds PRESIDENT Marcos has exempted the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) from the coverage of Presidential Decree No. 711 which had abolished all special and fiduciary (trust) funds and transferred their operations and fundings to the general fund. PD 711 was issued to prevent the accumulation of big cash balances in special and fiduciary funds resulting in useless immobilization of public funds. The PTA, a government corporation created by PD 189 as amended by PD 564, and tasked specifically with the tourism development program of the government, was adversely affected by PD 711 because its funds are being derived from the passage tax imposed by Republic Act No. 1478; the tax on stock transactions and additional travel tax imposed by R.A. 6141; and the hotel room tax under the National Internal Revenue Code. President Marcos point ed out that the agency’s “flexibility to carry out a development program to achieve the goals of the government in economic development through tour ism is curtailed if PD 711 is made ap plicable to it.” In Letter of Instructions No. 397, the President directed all government officials, agencies and entities concerned to resume remitting their collections of travel tax, stock and transfer tax and hotel room tax to the PTA. The exemp tion will support the PTA’s tourism de velopment plan which at present cannot be carried out as its authorized capital stock has not yet been released. □ ^Trofningin LETTER of Instructions No. 317 provides that the Civil Service Commission shall be responsible for the coordination and integration of a service wide continuing program of personnel development for all government per sonnel at all levels. For this purpose, each department and agency shall set up a career and personnel development plan for its per sonnel in accordance with the following guidelines: Definition. A “career and personnel development plan” is systematized and evaluated direction of the human efforts in an organization to increase its effec tiveness for immediate and future needs. Purpose. The career and personnel development plan shall have the follow ing major goals: □ To increase individual and agency effectiveness by improving each em ployee’s performance on his present job; □ To provide a reservoir of skilled employees to meet future professional, administrative, technical and clerical needs of the organization; □ To increase job satisfaction among employees by providing them with the opportunity to grow toward their occupational goals; and □ To develop and utilize the in terests and abilities of the employees in such a manner as to achieve fully the goals of the organization. Scope of the Plan. The plan shall include provisions on merit promotions, performance evaluation, in-service train ing, including overseas and local scholar ships and training grants, job rotation, suggestions and incentive awards sys tems, and such other provisions for em ployees’ health, welfare, counseling, re creation and similar services. It shall also include efforts directed to enable the employees to progress sys tematically in their employment career and to utilize their services effectively so as to achieve fully the objectives and goals of the organization. Also part of the plan are develop ment programs for employees at all levels. However, since career develop ment is basically self-development, em ployees must volunteer to participate. The plan shall also include the use of such methods as job rotation, counsel ing, training and related employee de velopment tools. Basic Policies. Career and personnel development shall start with orientation training upon entrance of the employee into the service and end in retirement counseling. The performance appraisal of the employee shall be a basis for determining what training the employee needs to improve in his job performance. Promo tions shall come as a result of demons trated ability to perform in a higher grade position while occupying a lower position. Employees shall be given incentives to promote morale, efficiency and in tegrity in the public service. Scholar ships, training grants and other forms of in-service training shall form part of the career and personnel development plan. Procedures. Each department, bu reau or agency shall prepare a broad plan of action on career and personnel development with the objectives or pur poses mentioned above. The department or agency shall: □ Identify its career and personnel development needs; □ Establish career ladders for each type of work in its organization; □ Review its training and develop ment efforts to enable it to formulate its career and personnel development policy and institute a better conducted program for career and personnel de velopment; □ Establish career and personnel development schemes adaptable or prac ticable to the agency; and □ Identify current and possible ingovernment ' ter-agency and intra-agency training facilities and include their utilization in the plan. Guidelines. It is basically the em ployee’s responsibility to develop him self. Management should encourage and assist in this process whenever possible by making available opportunities, train ing, education or experience which will enhance an employee’s usefulness to the service. It should be stressed that career and personnel development is a con tinuing and controled process. Each assignment for the employee suitable for advancement is a job that needs to be done and is a training for the next bigger job. The plan should be comprehensiveone which briefly describes each segment as they bear upon the goals and objec tives of the organizational component(s) and the personnel for which and for whom development is designed. It should also include an estimate of the resources required to carry out the plan, Le. facilities, time, funds and the institution responsible for development, whether it is the agency, the department or other training or educational institutions. Responsibilities. Delineation of re sponsibilities for the development of an integrated national plan for career and personnel development, which shall serve as the basis for all career and personnel development activities in the govern ment shall be as follows: □ Each bureau or agency shall set up a career and personnel development plan for its personnel following the guidelines set forth above. It shall or ganize a Career and Personnel Develop ment Committee which shall be re sponsible for assessing the over-all needs for training and development to be reflected in the agency career and per sonnel development plan to be prepared by the professional staff which is re sponsible for career and personnel development. Each department shall consolidate for consistency and balance the career and personnel development plans set up by all the agencies under it and provide for the budgetary support for such plans. The Department of Local Govern ment and Community Development shall take responsibility in setting up an in tegrated career and personnel develop ment plan of all city and provincial entities, including all municipalities with in their territorial jurisdiction. The Civil Service Commission shall extend technical assistance to the bu reaus and agencies in the setting up of career and personnel development plans and to the departments in integrating the plans of the agencies under them. The CSC, in its periodic audit of person nel management in the departments and agencies, shall evaluate the effectiveness of the plan. It shall integrate into a na tional plan the career and personnel de velopment plans of the departments, bureaus, and agencies which shall serve as the basis for all career and personnel development activities in the government. □ The Regions 16 May-15 June 1976 5 ling with the people’s will • dam sxibildrasn the resent t this it polit the Chico Dam: dealing with resettlement problems a was to be DevelI, the lepen; time gayan >f the [MW). ;an in tional irveys lainly who jvern1974, again who '5, all innecnt to lg the what placed which Benstakes being cause art of never. an anwith burial s with illages efore, a disojects l The d seviies of iment Develin: a) (100 ice; 2) I (360 ice; 3) no. 3 1) the iroject spare ion to its for : conseation :nt Reirough ultural reusing ark for :o dam ted by aeople. ten on ;nt re;a leade provficials, rtradileaders le dam ct was the af4 famaarrios, le dam, st, and ecided. nd the for the The thrust of government operations for dam no. 4 is the active implementa tion of the relocation program. The re location program named TIDAR for To tal Integrated Development and Reset tlement is based on a framework defin ed by the President thus: “.. .before the dam is built, the Kalingas to be dis placed are first properly resettled and contented with the land given them;... in all the steps affecting the selection, choice, and development of relocation sites, the people of those affected areas or their leaders should be made to par ticipate.” The framework has the follow ing proposed components: 1. Voluntary participation. The participation of the Kalinga people in the TIDAR program should be voluntary. No form of coercion or pressure should be exercised and every effort must be made to inform the people of the TIDAR program. 2. Participation in choosing reset tlement sites. The affected people should be allowed to participate in choosing resettlement sites. The govern ment should exert every effort to grant and expropriate if necessary the land areas required by the TIDAR program. A judicious choice of resettlement sites should be ensured by informing the people of sound and accepted principles of human settlements. 3. Participative planning. Participa tion of the Kalinga people should be sig nificant in every phase. The TIDAR pro gram should primarily consider the pri ority needs perceived by the people themselves. “The ultimate objective of the program, human wellbeing, should be construed in the light of their own presuppositions of human well-being. Development of the people should be pursued in the context of their own culture and tradition.” 4. Total development. The TIDAR program should be designed to bring about not only economic upliftment. Human development should be the fun damental concern of the program. The socio-cultural development of the peo ple should be pursued in line with the human settlement concept of habitat and environment. Moreover, “care should be taken to view development of the Kalinga people in the context of their capabilities, culture, values and percep tions of prosperity and well-being.” 5. Adequacy of land allocation. Land allocation must be equitable and compatible with the economic growth of the families in the years to come. Land should not be allocated based on subsistence levels. And to ensure growth and development on a sustained basis, the future needs of the people should be projected. 6. Self-reliance. The TIDAR program must be implemented based on selfreliance. The program should be de signed to allow the Kalingas to manage their own affairs. Technical assistance and other government resources are needed, however, to provide the initial impetus. 7. Total commitment. The govern ment must be committed to the com plete success of TIDAR. The relevant resources of different government agen cies should be brought to bear on the problem. The private sector including the church groups should also be en joined to contribute their share of work. To coordinate the different agen cies involved, a Chico Dam for Develop ment Council shall be formed. The council will consist of: PANAMIN as chairman; two Kalinga representatives from the resettlement sites; and repre sentatives of the Department of Public Highways, the National Irrigation Ad ministration, National Power Corpora tion, the Bureau of Lands, the private sedtor, and the church groups. The Council will be assisted by all government agencies in the implementa tion of the program and shall have the authority to call on such agencies to implement the TIDAR program. Both finandal and manpower resources of the cooperating government agencies shall be utilized to the necessary extent. The council shall formulate a de tailed five-year plan based on the TIDAR framework as approved. The plan will include the detailed plans of various component sectoral programs. To keep program implementation in harmony with the affected people’s needs, an intensive information cam paign will be launched to inform all 683 households of TIDAR’s develop ments. Feedback will be regularly monitored. THE first relocation site now being surveyed is for people from the municipality of Tanglag. The site is 30 ki lometers from Tanglag. Some 55 families will be relocated in this first site and 51, in nearby sites. The 35 remaining hold out families (12 opposed and 23 unde cided) are expected to soften when they see the developed relocation site. PANAMIN and NPC teams are de voting top priority to the acquisition and development of other relocation sites chosen by people’s committees of other affected areas. One indicator of people’s support for the dam project is that Kalinga people are now participating in the de velopment of relocation sites. Some are manufacturing concrete markers for the surveyors and others are serving as assistant surveyors. □ N The Economy G THE REPUBLIC ; a fair deal consumers j pricing promotes stable basic necessities, thus g the standard of living come families. )ricing include under price control detergents ct the and toilet (bath) soap'. The move was lan is taken following a nationwide survey argely conducted by KMPI and the National >roup. Pollution Control Commission which pward revealed that 13 brands of toilet soap jdities marketed locally are underweight from ocket- eight to ten grams per cake of toilet > brae- soap; overpricing ranged from ten to welfare 15 centavos. e who In order to prevent the shortweigh in the ing and overpricing of toilet soap, the consumers organization recommended :sts its the following: 1. Accurate observation icome by soap manufacturers of the net weight he in- label claims; 2. Standardization of the nufac- sizes of soap. police To further bolster the protection sees to given to consumers, the PSC Chairman ot un- is supporting a move to reconstitute the itoler- PSC composition by allowing a con sumer representative or any concerned s con- citizen to sit in the council and attend irotect the meetings. -Since the interest of conces of sumers is the main agenda of the PSC Long- meetings, it is just proper that consumers sad to be represented, so they say. The PSC ises as meetings will be open to the public. insuf- The Council is composed of Trade nment Secretary Quiazon as chairman, Direciduced tor General Gerardo Sicat of the NEDA, els by Secretary of Agriculture Arturo R. Tanco roving Jr., Secretary of Health Clemente Gatns the maitan, Maximo Belmonte, representing given government employees, and Antonio Policarpio, representing labor, as elbow members. nt has Under the law creating the PSC, __' jV1? -^uncil member should nbreua come from u women’s organization. (PSC), Since the creation of the PSC, no such the im- member has been appointed. So as to >1 law: , enable the PSC to perform its task more te basic efficiently and effectively, the seventh , sugar, member should now be appointed, the thing— PSC chairman’said. irosene In a bid to correct the damage 5—anti- done to the consumer-victims of the gs and massive shortselling, the PSC has exaundry pressed the desire to reduce the prices ement, of laundry soap. And as an offshoot d iron of this irregularity, the PSC has placed Is; and under review prices of evaporated and i and filled milk, detergents, cooking oil, pads, notebooks and other school supplies y finds with the view to reducing the prices modify of these basic commodities. y high With the relentless effort of governh com- ment and private sectors to protect the by the people against business malpractices, ational the consumers are assured of a fair deal, hority. In the long-run, however, the consumers shown themselves can prevent overpricing and in its other malpractices through judicious s from selection of goods. □ manuA selection of goods under price control (Maximum retail price applicable in Greater Manila only) Pork chops P9.20/kilo Cara beef lean meat P8.50/kilo Beef shank P8.50/kilo Bangus P7.50/kilo Canned salmon P7.20 (Del Monte) Poultry feed P52.00/40-kilo bag (Starter mash) Evaporated filled P1.46/14.-oz. can milk (supermarket) Coconut oil P2.25/pint Pure laundry bar soap P0.40/bar (T20 grams) Kerosene (sari-sari store) P20.04/19 liters Refined sugar for households P1.35/kilo (packed) Penicillin ointment P1.65/kg. Aspirin (United) P0.3/unit Blue denims P3.40/yard (28"-60x 50, 12ccx 16 cc) Grade l-IV writing pads P0.75/pad (100 leaves) Cement P14.70/bag adio T. tly the Procter uction, aundry and the ice disrweight man ng IKMPI). ve con'e been le fight lg and pressed underable resumers’ sumers’ nion of nth the ment to Control: fish and medicine Dr. Alfredo T. Morales and Dr. Lourdes S. Sumagaysay □ Innovations in education provide training schemes for out-of'school youth. Among those reported are the projects of the UP, Los Banos, Capiz Mobile School, Division of Quezon III, Morong Folk School, Mindoro Agricul1N 1972, the Filipino nation and its national educational program were like hopeless fishermen in a dark night drawing up empty nets. Now, in 1975, our educational system is a vigorous partner of government and society in saving the Filipino people from the peril of a bloody Jacobin revolution and a precarious democracy corrupted by an unjust economic or social system headed toward an oligarchy, from a disastrously plummeting economic retrogression, and from the annihilation of its national and cultural identity. In 1972, the( upsurge of violent events in Philippine schools and univer sities reached its apogee in the so-called “commune” exercise of power even briefly but ominously on the University of the Philippines campus. The Philip pines, like other developed and develop ing nations, has been swept into the “world educational crisis” of today, which was foreseen by the Williamsburg, Virginia international conference of world educational leaders, intellectuals, scientists, researchers, and adult educa tion specialists nearly ten years ago. The peril to national survival which was ex perienced by the Philippines in the crisis of 1972 is embraced in the felicitous, if innocent-sounding categorization by Dr. Philip H. Coombs of “fantastically swift environmental changes” responsible for the world educational crisis. Thus the challenge to a national educational system consists of the in exorable adjustment it has to make to accommodate these environmental changes. Herein lies the major near inevitable disadvantage from which any educational system suffers. In the face of such “fantastically swift” changes, there is a “consequent disparity” be tween them and the educational system. There is a compounding, moreover, of the burden on the system, for it must cope with its own inherent growth, wrdch may proceed at a headlong pace without reference to the new demands of societal relevance. It is no wonder that even in the more highly advanced, modernized, and affluent countries of this age, the problem of education is acknowledged unanimously by the coun tries’ heads and leaders, in the words of Jean Thomas, Inspector General of Pub lic Instruction in France, as the first problem of the state. Nations Biggest Industry THE magnitude of this problem of the state is partially indicated by education in the Philippines being the nation’s biggest industry. This is in addi tion to the complexity of the twofold aspects of growing and changing as one of the national sub-systems and in re sponse to a fast revolutionizing material and human environment. The size of this primate enterprise of nation build ing can be seen from the total enrol ment in all levels in 1974-75 having reached 11.1 million out of a total pop ulation of about 42 million, or more than one in school or college out of every four Filipinos. The teaching force in all levels in the same year is a little under half a million or about 450 thousand. The personnel complement of staff services for education in the general office and the regional offices is a total of 3,302. This vast national enterprise, how ever, while imposing in its sheer size and quantitative growth, must also be assessed for quality. The foundation of high quality education is to be sought first in the vision of a great society and the good life which the national leader ship, the educational leadership, and the people share. It is the goals set for national development in the New So ciety, the educational system’s restruc turing and redirection in relevance to those goals, and the dynamic flexibility of its management and performance Priority: teaching modern technology. that invests its size with value and leads to the attainment of the professional ideal of a good quality of education. The achievement of such an ideal is in its true sense the educational system’s contribution to society and government in their goal of national development as the enhancement of the quality of human life. New Educational Policy TO the long-standing and familiarly recognized constitutional principles on a free, public, adequate, complete, and integrated system of education, there are added specific mandates ex pressive of the new aspirations of the people and of the times, such as: the strengthening of basic education and the raising of the provision of universal education up to the secondary level; the need for education to be relevant to na tional development goals; the expansion of academic freedom; the promotion and development of the national Fili pino language; the pursuit of a popula tion control policy conducive to nation al welfare; and the injunction for educa tion and the other fields of social ser vice to enhance the enjoyment by the people of a decent quality of life, in cluding the preservation and enrichment of their national, ethnic, and individual cultural dignity and identity. Among the most important presid ential decrees promulgated by President Marcos to implement these Constitu tional mandates are PD No. 1 on the re organization of the executive branch of the national government, PD No. 6-A on educational development projects, PD No. 78 on the population program, PD No. 146 on the national college en trance examination, and PD No. 170 on the Filipinization of alien schools. The National Board of Education policy declaration on bilingual educational pro gram is also a far-reaching decision. While most of these decrees express policies and guidelines for specific mat ters and individual major problems con fronting education, it is PD No. 6-A which clarifies for the entire province of education in relation to national de velopment goals the basic principles of policy, the major and urgent objectives, and the strategies and methodologies guiding the implementation of the tenyear educational program of the New Society. The Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education, which ren dered its report to President Marcos in 1970 had performed the authoritative groundwork for the new imperatives of direction for education in the New So ciety. The most important parts of PD No. 6-A are as follows: Section. 2. Declaration of Policy, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the government to ensure, within the context of a free and democratic system, maximum con tribution of the educational system to the attainment of the following national develop ment goals: (a) To achieve and maintain an accelerat ing rate of economic development and social progress; (b) To assure the maximum participation of all the people in the attainment and enjoy ment of the benefits of such growth; and (c) To strengthen national conscious ness and promote desirable cultural values in a changing world. Section. 3. Statement of Objectives. To this end, the educational system aims to: (a) Provide for a broad general educa tion that will assist each individual, in the peculiar ecology of his own society, to (1) attain his potential as a human being; (2) enhance the range and quality of individual and group participation in the basic functions of society; and (3) acquire the essential educational foundation for his development into a productive and versatile citizen; (b) Train the nation’s manpower in the middle level skills required for national de velopment; (c) Develop the high-level professions that will provide leadership for the nation, advance knowledge through research, and apply new knowledge for improving the qual ity of human life; and (d) Respond effectively to changing needs and conditions of the nation through a system of educational planning and evaluation. Section 4. Guiding Principles of the Ten-Year Program. In order to lay the founda tion and to advance the attainment of these objectives, a ten-year national education de velopment program shall be formulated based on the following: (a) Improvement of curriculum programs ' and quality of instruction of all levels by way of upgrading physical facilities, adoption of cost-saving, instructional technology, and training and re-training of teachers and ad ministrators; (b) Upgrading of academic standards through accreditation schemes, admissions test ing and guidance counseling; (c) Democratization of access to educa tional opportunities through the provision of financial assistance to deserving students, skills training programs for out-of-school youth and continuing education program for non-literate adults; (d) Restructuring of higher education to become more responsive to national devel opment needs through a planned system of incentives and assistance to both public and private colleges and universities and synchro nization of curricular programs, staffing pat tern and institutional development activities; (e) Expansion of existing programs and establishment of new ones designed to train middle-level technical and agricultural man power; and (f) Instituting reforms in the educa tional financing system to facilitate the shift of funding responsibility for ele mentary and secondary education from the national to the local government, thereby increasing government participation in higher education. Orientations and Structures THE survey revealed circumstances that led the proponents to propose their projects. Of the 30 representative ones in this category, 20 are related to socio-economic goals—work education, agricultural and vocational arts, popula tion education, applied nutrition and Green Revolution. It is apparent that a large percentage of these are suggested by and originated from the central level, the DEC Some projects cater to the needs of the cultural minorities and attempts to tural School, Mountain State Agricul tural College and the Bureau of Public Schools. It is very interesting to note that some of these projects have innovat ed new structures (Mobile School, itiner ant teachers) to achieve their ends. Community development and rural upliftment on a comprehensive scale and using systematic city-wide or even prov ince-wide planning is one emphasis. The Silliman University Extension Program (SUEP) is one outstanding example; Man ila Central University’s Lingap sa Nay on another example. The Cotabato Rural Uplift Movement (CORUM) of the South ern Christian College is also a compre hensive program. By comprehensive here is meant the inclusion of varied activities in line with development goals-population, nutrition, youth training, legal as sistance to indigents and economic pro duction projects among others. A notable comprehensive health program using the community as the context is undertaken at Bay 1 Laguna under the UP Compre hensive Community Health Program (CCHPX The In-School-Off-School Approach (ISOSA), although in the experimental stage, envisages the maximum utilization of facilities by the use of a new structure of scheduling where 80 pupils or 2 clas ses can make use of a classroom in a day. It is an attempt to solve the problem of inadequate classroom and facilities for the projected expanding school popula tion. Project IMPACT (International Man agement by Parents, Community and Teachers) now being experimented in Cebu is a more comprehensive structure. Work orientation is reflected in the Green Revolution Program of the DEC, practical arts programs of the Iloilo and Antique School of Arts and Trades, and the Bayanihan School Program of the Palawan National Agricultural College and the Worker's’ Education Program - the Urios College, Butuan City. The Urios College is unique in the sense that it includes training of household helps who are out of school youth desiring to engage in domestic occupations. A new orientation exposes the stud ents to actual work and experience in civic and community programs. Such is the Youth and Civic Action Program of the DEC; the scheme requires stud ents to work in the community for hours before graduation from college. Population Education, a new pro gram of the DEC, has encouraged some institutions to look at novel ways of motivating target couples. Such a unique project has been undertaken by the Con cordia College. Some Generalizations THE study of these representative innovations has given insights into the status of trends in educational changes. Some generalizations are worth enumerating here: 1. There is a growing interest in the upliftment of the community through extension program, demonstra tion effects of school projects and em phasis on community improvement 2. There are various degrees of attempts at effective basic education and a tearing down of the traditional walls between the school and the envi ronment or community. 3. Education tends to be personal ized hence individualized 4. Innovations provide incentives and opportunities for the disadvantaged. For those living in remote rural areas opportunities for professional advance ment are provided through distance learning techniques like lectures over the radio (University of the Air, UM). 5. Inadequate funding evolves ma- , ny other problems in teacher training, material production and research. □ Alfredo T. Morales and Lourdes S. Sumagaysay Special R social justice J for Philippine labor THE employment strategy of the government is basic: reordering priorities to insure the in creased absorption of the labor force into gainful economic activities. The thnist is to make employ ment one of the means by which the majority of the population can participate more substantially in the benefits of development. A corollary, although somewhat underemphasized, aspect of this strategy is to effectuate the wise deployment of the country’s single, most abundant resource-its labor force-so that it can help trigger off a much awaited economic take-off. Thus, employment is seen both as a natural distributive agent of the country’s wealth and well being and as a catalyst for more rapid growth. The current government thrust centers on the distributive/equalizing character of employment. This is quite understandable considering that the country has been experiencing a recurring, almost institutional unemployment/underemployment problem. The Feb ruary 1975 round of the NCSO Survey of House holds reveals, for example, that about 514,300 or 3.6 percent of the country’s 14.286-million labor force were openly unemployed during the period. This was an improvement over the yearly unemploy ment averages during the four-year period 1971-74. In 1971, the unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent, increasing to an all time high 6.3 percent in 1972, going down to 4.9 percent in 1973 and steadying at 4.0 percent in 1974. On the other hand, the same survey indicates that some 1.30 million employed workers (about 9.16 percent of the labor force) were working less than 40 hours a week and were openly looking for additional work. Again, this latest figure was an improvement over the underemployment average for the period 1971-74. Underemployment in 1971, for example, stood at 1.862 million or 14.4 percent of the labor force. This steadied at 11.9 percent in 1972 and 1973 and dropped to 9.8 percent in 1974. It is worth mentioning that aside from the burden of providing gainful employment to the yearly unemployed/underemployed carry-overs, the economy is likewise beset with the entrance annually of some 300,000-400,000 people into the labor market. Most of these are out-of-school youth at the age range of 10-19 years old. The measures, so far adopted to correct this unemployment/underemployment problem partake of a more active government intervention in the labor and capital markets. On the demand side, they call for increased investment on the part of the private sector in labor-intensive export-oriented activities and ex panded public expenditure in infrastructural projects to include industrial investments in the various sectors. On the supply side, these consist of measures to im prove the quality of the labor force, encourage geo graphical movements to equalize wage rat?s, not to mention efforts to moderate the growth of the labor force (through such programs as family planning). The aggressive marketing of excess manpower to take advantage of the expanding overseas job market has also been instituted as a stop-gap measure to reduce the labor surplus. Basic Measures Expansion of Demand. The employment strategy is two-pronged. To expand demand, the government allocates massive investments in irriga tion, road construction and electrification in the rural sector to support the government’s food pro duction program and the development of rural-based manufacturing industries. About P10 billion were spent in 1974 for infrastructure development. This public commitment is expected to increase over the five-year plan period 1976-1980. Hopefully, the cor responding employment generation of such invest mentswill alleviate unemployment/underemployment in the rural sector and enhance the area’s economic attractiveness. It is estimated, for instance, that the present four-year irrigation program will bring under more intensive cultivation some half a million hectares cf land, not to mention the additional jobs created for the construction works. On the other hand, the labor-intensification of the construction of programmed roads and highways would mean an additional 16 million man-days while the flood control program can account for about 15 million man-days more. With the expected completion of the roads/ highways package, there would be greater mobility of goods and men as new major arterial routes and secondary link roads span the islands. The hinterlands will be opened up to greater economic participation. Finally, it is noted that by 1980, about- 75 percent of the country shall have been energized thus affording the rural areas greater opportunities for increased industrial production. Complementing this infrastructure development are the government’s land-reform and “Masagana 99” programs which are geared to expand the capacity of the agricultural sector to create employment. The land reform program is an attempt to transfer 2.1 million hectares of agricultural lands (rice and corn) to over a million farmers. This program is an in tegrated service package which includes provision of credit and extension services, cooperatives and irrigation/road system. Coupled with this massive agricultural thrust, the government is also encouraging the establishment of labor-intensive small and medium industries by extending a package of services to entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in the rural areas. The gov ernment has set aside close to half a billion pesos under the management of the Development Bank of the Philippines for lending in the countryside. Fur thermore, a Central Bank of the Philippines ruling stipulates that at least 25 percent of the private bank’s loanable funds should be made available for the rural areas. These funds are in addition to the Industrial Guarantee Loan Fund (IGLF) which guarantees as much as 75 percent of the small entre preneurs’ borrowings from commercial, savings or rural banks. This accessibility to credit is now being com plemented with marketing and technical assistance by the Department of Industry through the Commis sion on Small and Medium Industries, MASICAP, and Small Business Advisory Centers (SBAC), and by the Department of Trade through its Trade Assis tance Centers (TACs). The government is also in the process of ex panding its network of industrial estates with the near completion of the PHIVIDEC estate in Misamis Oriental. The first such estate, the EPZA, located in Mariveles, Bataan, has absorbed some 15,000 workers in its first phase of operations. Similar projects in other regions, are in the drawing boards. Several integrated area development (IAD) pro jects are now underway, all designed to enhance the attractiveness of certain growth poles to induce in dustrial expansion and open up the hinterlands. Such projects as the Saba-Basin in Leyte, Bicol River Basin in Camarines, the Ilog-Hinobaan Project in Negros and the Candaba Swamps Rehabilitation are geared toward generating in place development in designated growth areas. The government is also in the process of ra tionalizing the growth of the modern sector to favor the use of la bor-intensive technologies and/or those projects with high growth/linkage potentials. Fiscal incentives and penalties are now being made to bear on the determination of priority projects. A clear manifestation of this policy is the BO I ruling to afford some tax incentives only to firms with imported fixed assets per worker ratio of $6000. Projects failing to meet this criterion can only be given tax incentives if they generate substantial export earnings or are necessary activities in a priority sector. The Board of Investments is also integrating sectoral activities to identify growth projects within sectorsand problem areas from without. An example of this is the sub-contracting undertaking in garment manufacturing and the recent rationalization of the textile industry. Another approach being undertaken is* * the generation of markets for unused industrial capacities and the redirecting of investments away from over crowded industries. A complementary measure is the presidential directive to locate all new manufacturing activities outside a 50-kilometer radius from the center of Metro Manila. This is designed to decongest the urban core and disperse industries and human settlements into new, environmentally desirable areas. We also note that there is renewed export pro motion and development thrust which may stimulate certain “lethargic” rural-based linked activities into action. An example of this is the remarkable showing of shellcraft and agri-based exports such as abaca and bananas which is attributable to aggressive marketing by the government and the private sectors. It is likewise expected that the effects of the ASEAN com plementation schemes will soon spill over the couru tryside through linkage activities. We also note that a guided foreign investments • policy is now in operation to insure that the country derives the maximum benefits from such investments. Finally, our skills trade is now being rationalized to maximize the benefits generated from the opening, up of overseas labor markets. The Overseas Employ ment Development Board and the National Seamen Board were organized last year and mandated with considerable powers to explore markets for Philippine labor overseas and look after the conditions of em ployment of Filipinos, working in foreign countries. The objective is not only to facilitate the discovery of job opportunities abroad but also to insure fair treatment for our fellowmen employed overseas. It goes without saying that our goal is to m’ake the economy capable of absorbing the entire Philippine labor force within the not-too-distant future. A Modern Rural Sector. The development of resource-based industries and the expansion of exist ing ones in the rural areas are expected to create direct employment and self-employment and should lead to the expansion of employment in the sectors. In fact, the multiplier effects of industrial investments on secondary and tertiary employment should be more significant than the direct employment that they will create. However, considerations on the selection of new industries to be set up will hinge on, first, the capacity of the industry to create new employment; and, second, the effects of a particular industry on employment in other industries whose output serve as input to the new industry. Adaptive Technology. Some basic considera tions may be observed in the use of adaptive and/or appropriate technology in the Philippines for increasing the demand for manpower. These are: (1) the appropriateness of this type of technology to the level of our country’s development; (2) the assumption that there is the availability of indigenous ■ technology in rural areas which may be improved to | suit quality control requirements through the use of j applied research; (3) the comparatively low cost of producing and maintaining the equipment and machinery of this type of technology; and (4) the comparative advantage of this type of technology over transfer of technology for the agricultural and small-scale industry sectors, doubtlessly having the largest potential capacity for employment. Being a pioneering concern, there is mucfe scope for improvement of policy areas and incentive schemes ‘ for promoting the development and the acceptance I of adaptive and/or appropriate technology as a i strategy for increasing the demand for manpower. Development of Agriculture. While diversified | farming plays an important role in increasing farm j productivity and in helping minimize unemployment I in the rural areas, there will be other traditional j activities that will help promote employment and i further reduce underemployment. These will include | the following: forestry, fishing, poultry raising, liveI stock production, dairy farming, and bee-keeping. The export ban on logs should encourag<5 greater ’ domestic processing and use of forest resources. ..Locally processed wood and other forest products for export and local consumption should hold un limited possibilities for opening up and expanding opportunities for the rural population. The fishing industry can likewise offer great opportunities for rural employment. Fishermen can be encouraged to j employ more efficient methods in fishing, both off shore and inland. It would be necessary, however, to lay down firmly the technical and infrastructural requirements of developing these activities. TechI nical assistance, financial and credit support and marketing assistance will have to be provided for ( the. purpose. Technical Services. The provision of technical assistance, training and consultancy services is a very . necessary factor in industrial dispersal and rural mobilization. Organized activities to provide such I services should be timed with the provision of infra. structural, financial, credit and other inputs. 3 As a side benefit for people with higher levels of academic and technical background, the developI ment of various technical services would offer a i number of employment opportunities for them. Con sultancies on development projects, feasibility studies, i and management of small business enterprises may prove to be a source of new employment. Recycling Investments. The expansion of in| vestment in the rural areas by the private sector by j reinvesting certain percentages of their profits before I tax should help accelerate the flow of investment to ! the areas. This scheme will complement the govern ment’s other incentive programs for the dispersal of j industries to the rural areas. Export Substitution. The high cost of necesI sary imported materials becomes a competing reason I for the Philippine government to intensify the pro duction of export-oriented products. More domestic processing will be called for to generate employment opportunities, curb inflationary forces and earn more foreign exchange to cover import costs. As a com plementary measure, the government is encouraging more foreign investment in priority areas and open up new frontiers for development. Regional Specialization. ASEAN regional comI piementation by way of specialization should be an added boost in the country’s drive to generate income and employment. Some regions should have some advantage over another in terms of available resources, manpower and even' in geographic location. Areas of specialization will have to be pinpointed and efforts to develop these will be warranted. Restructuring Labor Supply THE second prong of the employment strategy is the restructuring of the labor supply to in crease those skills in risirig demand and moderating those that are becoming redundant to the develop ment process. The scheme includes provision of em ployable skills to the unskilled and upgrading/redirecting the skills of those w.th insufficient training. This restructuring is being undertaken through the educational system and through the integrated training program of the government and the private sector. The educational system is being reoriented to contribute its fullest toward the achievement of na tional development goals. Training programs, on the other hand, are being strengthened and expanded to accommodate the needs of industry and the various regions. Corollary to this educational restructuring is the integrated human resources development program undertaken by government which includes, among others, the construction of prototype training schemes, training of instructors, setting up pilot training centers and provision of accelerated training schemes to marginal workers. The National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC), the principal govern ment agency for non-formal training, is now re gionalized to provide training and research assistance to small and medium industries in the rural areas. The NMYC is also in the process of organizing industry boards to systematically carry out manpower training programs within the various industry groups through the initiative and collaboration of member enterprises. To achieve the same objective, corporations arebeing induced to initiate and administer training programs through the provision of tax incentives for cooperating firms. The government has also established a network of public employment offices to facilitate the match ing of jobs and men. These employment offices shall serve as monitoring stations for needed employment information, i.e., trends of employment in the regions, the composition of manpower skills, prevailing wage rates, the needs for manpower training and such other important planning data. With such a centralized system of employment, information regarding availabilities, maximum man power utilization, facilitation of geographical mobil ity and reduction of recruitment/placement cost for workers and firms can be realized. Finally, we note that a sound labor-relations, system has been established to ensure industrial peace and expeditious labor justice thus enhancing production and indirectly inducing added investments. Manpower Planning. Manpower planning should be able to help ensure adequate numbers of com petent persons in particular occupations at given times, consistent with and related to the over-all development thrust. A careful assessment of the cur rent manpower and employment situation and the forecasting of required manpower in the future should aid in this activity. It is also highly desirable that the manpower plan should be prepared at the time that the output plan is being prepared as they affect e.ach other. A major component of this activity is a continuing inventory of our manpower resources by region and by skills, and the definition of the appro priate production models to gainfully employ them. Skills Incentives. Rationalization of the skills/ wage structure by giving some form of incentives to scarce and critical skills should be considered. The contribution of the scarce skilled worker to the value of production has not been fully appreciated or analyzed. A strategy may be called for to correct some misinformation and attitudes and reflect the true yalue of critically needed skills. Skills Dispersal. Deliberate dispersal of skills should be effected to discourage the concentration of skilled labor in certain regions/industrial sectors. This can be done by, among others: 1) establishing skills training centers in the regions; 2) instituting mobile training centers; 3) determining skills most needed by particular industrial sectors; 4) restructuring wages in specific regions/industries to attract skilled labor to work in these areas; and 5) accelerating the delivery of the needed physical/social services in frastructure in the countryside. Dispersal of Institutions. To improve the quality of labor in the regions, some form of incentives should be given to educational institutions located outside the Greater Manila Area. The strategy, likewise, calls for regulating the proliferation of schools and colleges in the metropolis and for regulating school offerings based on regional needs. Another would be to pro vide high salaries to attract competent personnel to teach in the regions. Accreditation Scheme. The implementation of accreditation schemes should be’hastened. Special tax treatment should be increasingly applied only to ac credited schools. Cooperative Training. A cooperative training program that will provide closer school-industry co ordination in undertaking vocational educational ac tivities should be instituted. This will also help ensure the immediate placement of trainees. Study-Now, Pay-Later. The scheme, which is competitive in nature, is conceived to help poor but deserving students to pursue technical or higher edu cation. This scheme subsidizes a student in training or in school, who in turn pays for the cost of training upon employment. The dispersal of educational insti tutions and the implementation of a cooperative train ing program providing for a closer school-industry co ordination should complement this effort. Besides be ing a scholarship program, the scheme seeks to in fluence the educational decisions of participants to direct them to needed professions. Development Impact A> has been said, this employment strategy has di rect implications to development strategy. In making possible the mobilization of a larger portion of the labor force in gainful activities by its stimula tion of investments and other components of demand, and in raising the productivity of a progressively ex panding portion of the labor force through manpower training schemes, in facilitating the matching of men and jobs through placement programs and, finally, in * establishing industrial peace through expeditious labor justice, this employment strategy not only achieves some of society’s pressing income distribution objec tives but also fulfills the goals of overall development strategy. The employment of more persons permits the acceleration of production, the more rapid increase of GNP, and the accrual to workers, who constitute the vast majority of our countrymen, of income with which they can enjoy the benefits of development. The strategy is producing desirable results. It can produce even more beneficial results in the future as it becomes more elaborate and more complete in res ponse to,, and in reflection of, positive suggestions and demands of our people. □ I 10 16 May - 15 June 1976 The Government THE REPUBLIC Commission on Audit □ Broad powers for new responsibilities IN keeping with its Constitutional man date, the Commission on Audit adopts the following primary objectives: □ Fiscal responsibility rests direct ly with the chief or head of the govern ment subdivision, agency, or instrument ality. The role of the Commission on Audit is to determine whether such fiscal responsibility has been properly and effectively discharged; . □ The Commission on Audit shall develop and implement a comprehensive audit program which shall encompass an examination of financial transactions, accounts, and reports, including evalua tion of compliance with applicable laws and regulations; a review of efficiency and economy in the use of resources; and a review to determine whether desired results have been effectively achieved; □ The COA shall institute control measures through the promulgation of rules and regulations governing the re ceipts, disbursements, and uses of funds and property, consistent with the total economic development effort of the government; □ It shall also promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate the keeping and enhance the information value of the accounts of the government; □ The Commission shall take mea sures to hasten the full professionaliza tion of its services, consistent with its expanded audit responsibility; □ In order to protect the inde pendence of its representatives, the Com mission shall institute measures to safe guard its appointing power, and rational ize and standardize the salaries of its personnel; and □ The COA shall take steps to bring its operations closer to the people by the delegation of authority through decentralization, consistent with the pro visions of the New Constitution and the laws. JUR'WICTION THE authority and powers of the Commission on Audit shall extend to and comprehend all matters relating to auditing and accounting procedures, systems, and controls, including inquiry into the utilization of resources and operating performance, the keeping of the general accounts of the government, the preservation of vouchers, the exam ination and inspection of the books, re cords, and papers relating to those ao counts; and the audit and settlement of the accounts of all persons with respect to funds or property received or held by them in an accountable capacity, as well as the examination, audit, and settle ment of all debts and claims of any sort due from or owing to the government or any of its subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities. The said jurisdiction extends to all government-owned or controled corporations and other selfgoverning boards, commissions, or agen cies of the government, and as herein prescribed, including nongovernmental entities subsidized by the government, those funded by donations through the government, those required to pay levies or government share, and those partly funded by the government. VISITORIAL POWERS THE Commission shall have visitorial authority over all books, papers and document? filed by individuals and cor porations with government offices in connection with government revenue collection operations, for the sole pur pose of ascertaining that all funds deter mined by the appropriate agencies as collectible and due the government, have actually been collected. This authority shall also extend to nongovernment en tities subsidized by the government, those which have received counterpart funds from the government, and those funded by donations through the gov ernment, the said authority however pertaining insofar only to the audit of those funds or subsidies coming from or through the government. ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENTS THE Commission on Audit, herein after referred to as the Commission, shall consist of the Commission Proper as constituted pursuant to Section 1, Article XII-D, of the new Constitution, and its central and regional offices. The Commission Proper shall sit as a body to promulgate policies, rules, and regulations; and prescribe standards governing the performance by the Com mission of its powers and functions in accordance with the new Constitution. It shall appoint all the officials and em ployees of the Commission in accordance with the Civil Service Law, pursuant to Section 4, Article XII-A of the new Constitution. The chairman of the Commission shall act as the presiding officer of the Commission Proper and the chief exec utive officer of the Commission. As chief executive officer, he shall be res ponsible for the general administration of the Commission. REORGANIZATION FOR the efficient and effective formu lation and implementation of the programs of the Commission, the follow ing central offices are created: 1) Ad ministrative Office; 2) Planning, Finan cial, and Management Office; 3) Legal Office; 4) Accountancy Office; 5) Na tional Government Audit Office; 6) Local Government Audit Office; 7) Corporate Audit Office; 8) Perform ance Audit Office; and 9) Manpower Development and Systems Office. These offices shall perform pri marily staff functions, exercise tech nical supervision over the regional offices in matters pertaining to their respective functional areas, and perform such other functions that the chairman may assign. In addition, the Commission shall keep and maintain such regional offices as the exigencies of the service so re quire. The regional offices shall be under the direct control and supervision of the chairman and will serve as the im mediate representatives of the Commis sion in the regions. AUDIT PERSONNEL THE Commission Proper is em powered to appoint its represent atives in any government-owned or con troled corporation as well as in any other self-governing board, commission, or agency. In addition, the Commission Proper has the power to fix the size and composition of, and to appoint the personnel to assist said representatives in their work. This appointing power of the Commission Proper shall be subject only to the Civil Service Law and shall not be subject to approval or review by any other official, corporation, board, commission, or agency concerned. The number of the representatives and support personnel of the Commis sion assigned to the different depart ments and agencies of the national gov ernment as well as in government-owned or controled corporations, self-govern ing boards, commissions, or agencies of the government and in provinces, cities and municipalities shall be determined and fixed by the Commission, any provi sion of the General Appropriations De cree, laws, decrees, executive orders, or regulations to the contrary not withstanding. All officials and employees of the Commission, including the Commission representatives and support personnel, shall be paid their salaries and allowances directly by the Commission out of its appropriations and contributions, as provided for in this decree. FEES FOR AUDIT SERVICES THE Commission shall fix and col lect reasonable fees for the dif ferent services rendered to nongovern ment entities that shall be audited in connection with their dealings with the government arising from subsidies, counterpart funding by government, or where audited records become the basis for a government levy or share. Whenever the Commission renders to any government entity audit and related services beyond the normal scope of such services, the Commission is em powered to fix and collect reason able fees. To enable the Commission to effec tively discharge its responsibilities un der the New Constitution, no govern ment subdivision, agency, or instrumen tality, including government-owned or controled corporation, and self-govern ing board, commission, or agency shall enter into any contract with any private person or firm for services to undertake studies relating to government account ing, auditing, and management systems and services, including services to con duct, for a fee, seminarJ or workshops, unless the proposed contract is first submitted to the Commission to enable the Commission to deter mine whether it has the resources to undertake such studies or services. The Commission may engage the services of experts from the private sector in the conduct of these studies and shall co ordinate its work with the Budget Com mission 'and CiviJ Service Commission. COLLECTION OF DEBT IN aid of its responsibility to see to it that government funds and prop erty are fully protected and conserved, as explicitly mandated by Presidential Decree No. Ill, dated January 26, 1973, the Commission shall, through proper channels, supervise and procure the collection and enforcement of all debts and claims, and the restitution of all funds and property, found to be due the government or any of its subdivi sions, agencies, or instrumentalities, or any government-owned or controled corporation or self-governing board, commission or agency of the govern ment, in its settlement and adjustment of its accounts. If any legal proceeding is necessary to that end, the Commission may institute it or request the Solicitor General, the Government Corporate Counsel, or the legal staff of the creditor government office or agency concerned to institute such legal proceeding. The Commission shall be entitled to collect and receive 20 percent of the amount of debts collected when such collection is made from a judgment in a case intended and handled by the Commission, as assistance in the profes sionalization of its services and the com puterization of its accounting and data gathering functions. These receipts shall be deposited with the National Treasury to the credit of the Commission. SOUND INTERNAL CONTROL IT shall be the direct responsibility of the chief or head of each govern ment subdivision, agency, or instrumen tality, including government-owned or controled corporation and other selfgoverning board, commission, or agency, to install, implement, and monitor a sound system of internal control. For this purpose, the chief or head of agency may seek the assistance of the Commis sion in the design and installation of the internal control system. □ The Government 16 May-15 June 1976 11 om a bureaucrat into a change agent n pressures of an accelerating f technological obsolescence idy increase in the scope and of governmental operations ^stematized in-service trainil necessity to the smooth of the civil service. As the onnel agency of the Philipnent, the Civil Service Comssponsible for the coordinategration of a service-wide program of career and emiopment for all levels of the esent Commission, the first ized under the New Constigiven career and employee particularly in-service t priority in the Commis<ear development plan. ed for Integration. The size ivil service-estimated at d the consequent magnitude ng effort necessary to keep socially relevant, politically and technologically up-toimperative the adoption of 1 training system under the f the Civil Service Commis1 integrated training system inalize and define clear-cut es to insure continuing and ention to all sectors of the ice to a minimum any dupaining effort; and nize the utilization of scarce trees. ; can cost a lot, but not to en be costlier. Continuing positive service attitudes, ind responsiveness in the ce can be economically ly by planned, organized igration of the total trainffers the only economical die problem of continually the entire civil service by efficiently large number of ;h a critical mass strategy, al Mass Strategy. For trainneaningful impact, transfer een learned to the job must loo often, however, such a cceedingly difficult because Lly small number of training in comparison with the g number of those who have id from similar training, ticipants who are immersed unaccepting home environ>se their verve as innovators gents. 952, when systematic servining activities were first nder the auspices of the ’ublic Administration (now Public Administration) of :y of the Philippines, trainave steadily increased. Cont aining reports submitted to "vice Commission shows an m 40,885 participants in 56,133 participants in FY figures, however, represent 111 percent of the total perilement of the government, h a sufficiently large numling participants—a critical h level of the civil service >ccupational groups, and at ne insure that training is of y high quality but at tolemutually complementing re tween centralized and decen•oaches becomes necessary, zed and Decentralized Train raining programs are necesilized because of the inter1 character of participation; re not enough agency perlstitute a class. Additionally, iw-how may not be widely centralized approach is rerenever a sufficient number THE CIVIL SERVICE TRAINING SYSTEM (CS-ITS) RETIREMENT APPOINTMENT Program. T"’" Approach Ropomibility CSC Role Policy t> | Den PRE RETIREMENT COUNSELING All 60 years o □ Dept/Agency EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT C. S. Level 3 O D.A.P. N.D.C.P. PEA, U P. LGC, CPA, U P. MIDDLE MANAGEMENT ’ ■ ■ . _ - - ■ , > DEVELOPMENT Division Chiefs end Equivalent 0 □ □ CSC CSC Dept/Agency • Introduction to Supervision SUPERVISORY DEVELOPMENT • Bowe Management * Other Specific Atom ouJfT . □ Q □ D * pL/A^ncy D^t/Aflencv DvlJAamcy Information System PROFESSIONAL. TECHNICAL, . A,„ SCIENTIFIC STAFF DEVELOPMENT • SpkNIhmI Ann EMVLDVEE DE VE LOPMENT ' TrNnin. • Skilh Dmlopmnt C.& Level 2 C.S. Level 1 ; □ '■ 'o, <■ Dep^Agency Budget Comm., CSC Gen. Serv. Adm. Others Dept./Agency Dept/Agency ORIENTATION/REORIENTATION Al. EH CSC O«pt./A^ney On - Centralized Den - Decentrolizodj of participants and instructional skills are available at departmental, agency or local government levels. Centralized Programs. Currently, there are centralized programs for ex ecutive development, specialized man agement areas and local government ad ministration. □ Executive Development is cur rently undertaken by the following: a. The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP)—conducts die Career Executive Service Development Program (CESDP), aten-week residential program at Tagaytay City for members of the Career Executive Service; b. The Philip pine Executive Academy (PEA) of the University of the Philippines-conducts a three-month residential program at Pines Hotel, Baguio City or Sulu Hotel, Que zon City for executives from both gov ernment and private sectors; c. The National Defense College of the Philip pines (NDCP) under the Department of National Defense—offers a ten-month non-residential training leading to a Master’s Degree in National Security Administration for both civilian and military officers; d. The Local Govern ment Center (LGC) of the College of Public Administration, University of the Philippines-conducts amonth-longtraining for local government executives as a joint project with the Department of Local Government and Community De velopment. □ Specialized Management Train ing. The central staff agencies conduct specialized trailing along their respec tive functional areas; a. All personnel management courses and other related training activities are undertaken by the Civil Service Commission for department/agency personelists; the CSC also monitors the public administration scho larship program; b. All budgeting, ac counting, organization and methods courses are conducted by the Budget Commission; c. All courses in auditing and other related areas are conducted by the Commission on Audit; d. All courses in records management, property and supplies management and other related areas are conducted by the General Services Administration through the Bu reau of Records Management and the Buieau of Supply Coordination; e. The GSIS occasionally conducts courses in pre-retirement counseling. Additionally, incumbents of posi tions in these specialized management areas belong to professional organiza tions. These organizations usually hold annual conferences, seminars, institutes, and workshops designed to upgrade the professionalism of members. □ Centralized local government training.lt is the responsibility of the De partment of Local Government and Com munity Development. □ Other centralized courses in var ious technical, scientific or professional fields. These are conducted by specialized agencies or institutes like: The National Computer Center-conducts training in computer technology; The Population Commission —undertakes nationwide pro grams on family planning; Training in security administration and techniques is given by the NISA, NBI; Courses in statistics are given by the U.P. Statistical Center and the National- Census and Statistics Office; The Asian Labor Edu cation Center—conducts training for la bor leaders. It may be mentioned that partici pation in these specialized technical, scientific or professional courses is not limited to the government sector. Some participants come from the private sec tors. Decentralized Training. Each de partment or big agency conducts de centralized training for their own per sonnel in: a. Supervisory development; b. Professional, technical, scientific areas; c. Office training; and d. Employee orientation and reorientation. Each department may further de centralize training programs to the re gional bureau or office level depending on the conditions mentioned earlier. To support this decentralized ap proach, the CSC has provided centralized training for trainors. Since 1960, we have conducted twenty-two such courses. CSC has also assisted in training trainors at the departmental levels for the De partments of Health, Local Government and Community Development and Ag rarian Reform where the number of trainors warrants decentralized handling. Decentralized training activities are reported to the CSC on prescribed forms. We gauge our progress in this activity b, the number of employees reached by these trainors, the variety of training programs and the quality of instruction. Training Information System. For reporting and evaluation purposes, train ing activities are classified into six major categories: a. Orientation/re-orientation; b. Employee development; c. Professional/technical/scientific; d. Supervisory development/executive development; e. Ex ecutive development; f. National/regional conferences, seminars and workshops usually undertaken by professional as sociations. Semi-annual and annual summaries are prepared by OCED to reflect break down of training activities by category, sponsoring agencies, .number of partici pants and total manhours of instruction. Inter-departmental Training Com mittee. To provide a means of coordina tion and clearing house services, CSC has organized the Inter-departmental Training Committee composed of the chief training officers of all executive departments of the national government. The Committee meets regularly every month. Special meetings are called as the need arises. The CSC Role. The Commission is responsible for leadership, coordination and integration of a service-wide con tinuing program for career and employee development for all levels of the civil service. Toward these ends, CSC: □ Provides general direction and stimulation; □ Promulgates policies; □ Establishes standards; □ Monitors a communication and information system; □ Conducts centralized training; □ Advices and assists departments/ agencies; □ Evaluates progress; and □ Establishes and maintains link ages with training and educational insti tutions, specialized agencies, professional organizations and other groups engaged in training and development activities. 12 16 May - 15 June 1976 Agriculture- THE REPUBLIC Land Reform □ Removing roadblocks A QUIET revolution is radically altering social and economic structures in the Philippine countryside. Land reform, which had been a paper dream in the past, is now being pushed with great vigor by a government unhampered by oligarchic politicians. Just three-and-ahalf years after proclamation of author itarian rule, some 210,054 tenants have received land transfer certificates. These certificates entitle farmers to have full ownership of the land after they have fully paid their obligations. Despite decades of pious intent by generations of national leaders, the Fili pino peasants have remained in bondage to the soil. The farmer contends not only with forces of nature-floods, droughts, typhoons—but also with ab sentee landlords, overbearing caciques and usurious middlemen. Not surprising ly, until the introduction of “miracle rice” in the early 1960s, the average yield per hectare of Philippine riceland was barely 30 cavanes, which was among the lowest in the world. Agrarian unrest has understandably found fertile ground in Central Luzon, the main rice-produc ing region. On September 26, 1972, just five days after he proclaimed martial law, President Marcos decreed the entire coun try a land-reform area. Covered by the decree were some 1.1 million rice and corn farmers. A month after, the Pres ident enacted the Tenant Emancipation Decree. Written in his own hand, it transferred to every tenant-farmer own ership of the land he tilled and provided the mechanism for its acquisition. The following is a progress report on the land reform program as of January 31, 1976: Operation Land Transfer. In Novem ber 1972, the President directed the De partment of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to start issuing certificates of land transfer (CLTs) to tenants. As of January 31, 1976, half or 53 percent of the target number of farmer beneficiaries have re ceived their CLTs The recipients total 210,054 farmers cultivating 369,054.633 hectares of rice and corn lands in 64 provinces. The Land Bank has also paid 706 payment claims from former land owners at a cost of P237.953 million. The speed of land transfer under martial law can be gauged by comparison with the accomplishments of previous administrations stretching back to the Commonwealth period. According to Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado F. Estrella, the number of beneficiaries of the land reform program from Septem ber 1972 to January 1976 is more than six times the total number of benefi ciaries from 1939 to 1972. In terms of Unprecedented progress in land reform. hectarage covered by the program, the New Society record in a little more than three years is four times as wide as that achieved in three decades before the proclamation of martial law. The goal of the agrarian reform program was to transfer 1,422,988 hec tares of rice and corn lands to 914,914 tenant-farmers. The priorities were land holdings of 100 hectares and above, then down to 50 hectares, then further down to 24 hectares and finally those below 24 hectares. According to Estrella, land transfer was relatively easy on the big landhold ings. But resistance grew as the program went downward to the smaller holdings. Many small landowners complained that the program was unfair, arguing that if the purpose of agrarian reform was to strengthen the middle class, then why dislodge those who are already there? Listening to the small landowner’s pleas, the President, on the basis of a cabinet committee report, temporarily excluded landholdings of seven hectares and less from operation land transfer. The land remains with the landowners. However, if there are tenants, they shall not be removed but continue tilling the land under leasehold arrangement. Land owners of less than 24 hectares were also given additional incentives in the form of higher cash payments for their lands and other benefits. The seven hectares and below cate gory comprises 663,973 hectares or 46.t percent, 521,136 tenant-farmers or 56.9 percent and 371,129 landowners oi 90.3 percent. By the exclusion of the seven hec tares and below, the new coverage stands as follows: land area-759,015 hectares: tenant-farmers-393,778; and landowners-39,550. There is great possibility, according to Estrella, that the new coverage may still increase because of indications that landowners of seven hectares and below may voluntarily transfer their lands to their tenants due to incentives offered by the government. A comparative analysis of the land tenure profile of tillers shows that as of October 21, 1972, only 1.8 percent of all tenanted rice and corn lands were in the hands of amortizing owners which totaled only 1.4 percent of all rice and corn farmers. DAR records show that since the launching of Operation Land Transfer in November, 1972, 29.6 per cent of the tenanted rice and com lands are being cultivated by amortizing owners. Programs of Support. Integrated with the land transfer program is the Samahang Nayons with a membership of around 784,219 and generating capital 000001 £anb ikgietration P’omntiesion If 8ISTIY Of SEES! FBI TH- .. . ~-----------------(Transfer (fcrtificatc of (Title j&o.OOWl Ml yW af W* M /«&>•» •REPl Bl IC OF HIE PHI1JPP1MS "DEPARTMENT OF AC.RARIANzRMAMtM , “EMANCIPATION PATENT No. UUl’U -«r» <*» /wrrr/ u/ afnmWa/ Wnrf bmof hal bm Migmall, mvr,M in ibr LanJ « Hu agin af Hu Knuttr ,.f IMi ot. Par.glrUan ....... The first LTC, given by Pres. Marcos on October 21, 1975. amounting to P35.12 million. This amount comprises the general fund, the barrio savings fund and the barrio guar antee fund. Resettlement of landless tillers is also one of the important aspects of the government’s agrarian reform program. There are 29 public agricultural set tlement for landless tenants with an aggregate area of 594,816 hectares; 354, 000 hectares or 60 percent of these are arable. More than 41,200 farm families are now in resettlement projects cul tivating a total area of 247,218 hectares. A settler-family on the average is al located six hectares. Only about 4,567 farm-families were resettled from 1966 to 1972, compared to 3,191 families resettled from 1972 to June 1975. In infrastructure (road, ir rigation, bridges, etc.), some Pl29 mil lion worth has been constructed during martial law, compared to P22 million constructed from 1966-1972, represent ing some 486 percent increase. Compact Farms. To achieve eco nomies of scale, the farmers are encour aged to till their lands in consortia, or as “compact farms.” Under this scheme, each farmer will continue to work his holdings individually, but government extension workers will draw up a farm plan to cover neighboring lots. Some 314 compact farms were organized in 1974, covering about 19,000 hectares. As of June 1975, the Agricultural Credit Administration (ACA) has granted some Pl 5.7 million to compact farms. The DAR, in coordination with other govern ment agencies, will soon provide irriga tion facilities to members of this scheme. The DAR is currently undertaking three land consolidation projects: 587 hectares comprising the Hacienda Leet in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; 1,581 hec tares of Hacienda Yulo in Barrio Pabanlag, Florida Blanca, Pampanga; and three estates in Bala and Binalabag, Camarines Sur totaling 2,500 hectares. Problems. The magnitude of cover age and the radicalness of reform have set up bottlenecks in the implementation of the program, Estrella reported. He said it needs technicians, more surveyors to hasten the pace of parcellary map ping, more lawyers to handle legal cases, more information materials beamed not just to media, but most importantly to landlords and tenants, and more money to open up new lands to resettle the landless and provide infrastructure for farmers. But more than anything else, according to the DAR Secretary, “We are worried by the traditional enemies of land reform-the ill-informed land lords, the powerholders, the unmotivated elite.” Many of theip, he said, are apprehen sive about this program. They feel that it is a sword of Damocles over thenheads and that the terms and conditions of the land transfer are confiscatory. “This is not so. The land being trans ferred to the tenant tillers is paid for by the government,” Estrella said. To give the landowners better privil eges, the President has expanded the mode of payment from its original con cept of straight amortization by the tenant-tillers in 15 annual equal install ments. In addition, former landowners can now utilize as collateral for investment projectsup to 50 percent of their bonds’ face value. The landowners of less than 24 hec tares are given additional incentives by increasing the cash payment of 20 per cent and granting them additional bene fits such as insurance for their children’s education and housing. All these are in tended to encourage the landowners to transfer their lands to the tenant-tillers and at the same time reinvest the pro ceeds that they get in industrial and nonagricultural enterprises. □ THE REPUBLIC Health 16 May-15 June 1976 13 PART II □ Workmen's Compensation Commission Help when you really need it What are the employee’s obliga tions to the System while he is receiving PTD income benefit? An employee receiving income be nefit for Permanent Total Disability has the following obligations to the System: a. He must submit a quarterly med ical report certified by his attending physician. b. He must present himself for ex amination, upon being notified by the System, at least once a year. Under what conditions can PTD in come benefit be suspended? The monthly income benefit for Permanent Total Disability can be sus pended: a. If the employee fails to submit his quarterly medical report; b. If he fails to present himself for the annual examination; c. Upon recovery from his Perma nent Total Disability; or, d. Upon being gainfully employed. What is Permanent Partial Dis ability? A disability which causes the harm ful loss, permanently, of the use of any part of an employee’s body. How much income benefit is an employee entitled to receive for Per manent Partial Disability? An employee under PPD shall be paid a monthly income benefit equal to the monthly income benefit paid for Permanent Total Disability according to the schedule of payment—beginning with the first month of disability and shall continue for a period-as follows: Complete and Permanent Number of Loss of the use of Months One thumb................................... 8 One index finger.................................... 6 One middle finger......................... 5 One ring finger............................'. 4 One little finger.................................... 2 One big toe ........ 5 Any toe............................................. 2 One hand............................................ 31 One arm........................................40 One foot............................................ 25 One leg.................................................37 One ear............................................. 8 Both ears............................................ 16 Hearing of one ear......................... 8 Hearing of both ears........................ 40 Sight of one eye . 20 If an employee loses more than one member or part of his body at the same time, how much income benefit is he en titled to receive? He shall be paid the same amount of monthly income benefit for a period equivalent to the SUM TOTAL of the periods established for the loss of the in dividual members. Thus, if an employee, for example, whose monthly income benefit is Pl 50, loses his thumb (8 months) and his little finger (2 months) at the same time, he shall continue to receive an income benefit of Pl50 a month but for a per iod of 10 months. Does an employee who is receiving PPD income benefit lose his right to receive such income benefit if he becomes-or remains to be-gainfully em ployed? No. He shall continue to receive his monthly income benefit for as long as he is entitled to it, even if he is gainfully employed. In case an employee dies, who shall receive the income benefit to which he is entitled? His beneficiaries. Who are the employee’s benefi ciaries? Beneficiaries are classified into: a. Primary beneficiaries, and b. Secon dary beneficiaries. The status of the beneficiaries shall be determined at the time of the em ployee’s death. Who are the primary beneficiaries? The following are the primary be neficiaries: a. The legitimate husband or wife who was living with the employee at the time of death, until he or she remarries; and b. The legitimate, legitimated or legally adopted children who are un married, not gainfully employed and not over 21 years of age. To be considered a primary bene ficiary, a legitimate, legitimated or legally adopted child who is over 21 years of age must have been incapacitated and incapable of self-support due to a phy sical or mental defect which is con genital or acquired during minority. When is injury, sickness, disability or death not compensable? When these are due to the em ployee’s: a. Intoxication or drunkenness; b. willful intention to injure or kill him self or another; or c. notorious negli gence. Can an employee avail himself of benefits under the Employees’ Com pensation Program and benefits under another law for the same contingency at the same time ? No. When benefits for the same contingency are provided for under other laws, the qualified employee shall choose under which law shall benefits be paid to him. If the benefits provided by the law chosen are less than the benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Program, the System shall pay only the difference in benefits. What are medical or related bene fits? Medical benefits means all payments made to the providers of medical care, rehabilitation services and hospital care which are extended to, employees for work-connected injury, sickness or dis ability. Related benefit means all payments for appliances and supplies provided the employees who contract work-connected sickness, or sustain work-connected in jury or disability. What medical or related services is an employee entitled to receive? An employee who sustains workconnected injury or contracts workconnected sickness shall be entitled to: a. ward services during confinement in an accredited hospital; b. subsequent domiciliary care by an accredited phy sician; and c. medicines. How is an employee registered with the System? An employee does not by himself register with the System. He is registered with the System thru his employer by accomplishing the prescribed forms. Where does an employer register his employees? a. With the GSIS — for employees in the national government, its political subdivisions or instrumentalities, and in government-owned or controlled cor duration of the violation or non-com pliance, at the court’s discretion. If a compensable contingency oc curs before an employee is reported for coverage to the System, is he entitled to any benefit? From whom? Yes. He is entitled to receive the due benefits from the System. However, the employer shall be liable to the System for the lump sum equivalent of the benefits due him or his dependents. How much is the employee’s con porations. b. With the SSS - for employees in the private sector. When should employees be re gistered? Employees who are covered by the GSIS shall be registered within one month from the date of employment. Employees who are covered by the SSS shall be registered according to the following guidelines: a. Every employee already registered with the SSS need not be registered again, for he is automatically registered, b. Every em ployee not yet registered with the SSS shall be registered not later than the first day of employment. Is an employee registered separate ly for coverage under the GSIS/SSS, Medicare and Employees’ Compensation Program? No. Only one registration is needed for coverage under the GSIS/SSS, Med icare and Employees’ Compensation Program. Do employers need to register for coverage under the Employees’ Com pensation Program? Yes, employers covered by the GSIS and the SSS shall register with the Em ployees’ Compensation Program. When shall employers register un der the Employees’ Compensation Pro gram? Employers shall register under the Employees’ Compensation Program ac cording to the following guidelines: a. For employers covered by the GSIS — 1) Every employer operating BE FORE January 1, 1975 should have re gistered not later than March 31, 1975. 2) Every employer operating on or after January 1, 1975 shall register with in one month from the first day of operation. b. For employers covered by the SSS - 1) Every employer already register ed with the SSS need not register again for he is automatically registered. 2) Every employer not yet register ed with the SSS shall register not later than the first day of operation. Is an employer penalized by law if he fails or refuses to register his em ployees with the System? Yes. The official responsible for such violation shall be fined from Pl,000 to Pl0.000 and/or imprisoned for the tribution to the Employees’ Compensa tion Program? None. The employee does not con tribute any amount to the Employees’ Compensation Program. Any contract or device for the de duction of any portion of the contribu tion from the wages or salaries of the employee shall be null and void. How much is the employer’s con tribution to the Employees’ Compensa tion Program? The employer pays to the System an amount corresponding to the em ployee’s salary of monthly salary credit according to the following schedule: a. For employees covered by the GSIS: One per cent (1%) of the actual wage or salary an employee receives at the end of the month but not to exceed P10 for every employee. b. For employees covered by the SSS: One per cent (1%) of an employee’s monthly salary credit in accordance with the tabulation below: Salary Bracket Monthly Salary Credit Employer’s Contribution I P 25 P 0.25 II P 75 P 0.75 III P 125 P 1.25 IV P 175 P.1.75 V P 225 P 2.25 VI P 300 P 3.00 VII P 425 P 4.25 VIII P 600 P 6.00 IX P 800 P 8.00 X Pl,000 P10.00 What are the advantages of the new Employees’ Compensation Program over the defunct Workmen’s Compensation System? The advantages of the new Em ployees’ Compensation Program over the defunct Workmen’s Compensation System are: a. Integration of Benefits Compensation benefits for workconnected injury, sickness, disability and death have been integrated with those of the SSS/GSIS and Medicare, the'eby facilitating the processing of claims. b. Increase in Benefits Allowable income benefit has been increased to a maximum of P12.000 from P6,000 and the period of entitle ment to 5 years from 4 years. Burial expenses have also been increased from P200 to P75O. c. Prompt Payment of Benefits The new Employees’ Compensation Program does away with the adversary type of proceedings obtaining under the old system so that controversion by the employer or by the insurance-company of the claim is eliminated. In other words, the claimant does not even have to go to court to establish his claim. In fact, his own employer will even file the claim in his behalf. This new system re sults in the early settlement of claims and the prompt payment of income be nefits. Generally, it now takes only TEN days to process and determine the compensability of a claim. d. Less Expense to claimants Legal services are dispensed with in the processing of claims in the System, thereby eliminating the payment of at torney’s fees. In the old system, a sizable portion of the income benefit—when the claim did get to be awarded—was paid out to third parties. e. Wider Coverage More employees are now covered with the inclusion into the System of employers with at least one employee and regardless of the capitalization and the type or nature of their businesses. f. Rehabilitation A more balanced rehabilitation pro gram, with a wider coverage, enables permanently disabled employees to avail themselves of rehabilitation services un der the new Employees’ Compensation Program which can help them regain, as early as possible, their physical capacity to the maximum level. In this manner, disabled workers can remain to be useful members of society and regain their self confidence and their self-respect. □ PHILIPPINE cultural minorities enjoy the right of being different. While . welcoming into the mainstream of Philip pine society certain ethnic groups who seek full integration into the large com, munity, the government is also preserv ing the original lifeways of those who prefer to remain what they are beside that larger community. Thus, the pro tection of their right of choice involves the preservation of their environment and original lifeways which have taken thousands of years to develop. The Philippine government’s policy of preserving the epoch-evolved environ ment of life is based on the belief that there is a wisdom of the past to which primitive man is close, and from which modern man can learn requisites of his survival. The value of this wisdom was very well put by Charles A. Lindbergh in his foreword to John Nance’s The Gentle Tasadays: “During decades of civil and military flying, I had watched tremen dous changes take place on the surface of the earth. Slowly at first, rapidly later, forests disappeared, hills eroded, smoke polluted air, and wastes polluted water. Plants and animals that nature spent aeons in perfecting vanished, and men began crowding themselves into megapolized cities that spread like scabs over the countryside... “Before the impact of the human mind, life developed in beauty, variety and fluctuating balance. One sees that in the few virgin wilderness remaining-the perfection of their animals, the mag nificence of their trees, plants, and flowers. In them, life and its environ ment interweave a pattern to which j man has ascribed the term ‘divine.’ “Only thereafter did the breakdown of heredity and environment begin, and only in our present generation has that breakdown assumed catastrophic form,” wrote Lindbergh. In the Philippines, one of the major concerns of the government has to do with the preservation of what the nation has, in terms of what the Filipinos pos ses of their Asian past. And this means not only preserving but also developing, giving new dimensions to the creative spirit that produced the past, so that it may continue to enrich the present Enjoying this protection are some five million Filipinos classified into 60 ethno-linguistic “national minority groups.” The most unique of these are the Tasadays, an ethnic group in the highlands of Southern Cotabato in the Philippines, that had eluded modem man for a thousand years before first con tact in 1971. The coming of the first outsiders to the Tasadays’ cave home marked the end of centuries of isola tion for this unique people. The largest minority groups are the Muslims—the Taosug, Samal, Maranao and Maguindanao—who number around three million. These groups, while be longing to the minority, actually consti tute the dominant society in their areas of habitation and are represented in the national government. They elect their own provincial governors, town mayors and village chiefs. The rest of the minority groups are nonChristian, nonMuslim peoples who are equally extended medical, material, advisory or developmental assistance. In order to allow the Filipino eth nic groups to lead a life of their own choice, President Ferdinand E. Marcos decreed the ownership of ancestral lands by the cultural minorities. President Marcos has decreed that lands of the public domain occupied and cultivated by members of national cultural communities, either by them selves or their predecessors or ancestors for a minimum of 30 years before March 11, 1974, shall be granted to such minorities. Aside from this, the President proclaimed the reservation of. lands for settlement purposes of the na tional cultural minorities. On April 7, 1972, President Marcos signed a proclamation reserving 19,249 hectares in which the Tasaday and their next-door neighbor, the Manubo Blit, may live as they choose. In this natural habitat, the Tasadays remind the modem man of the need for a balance in his life style which should be his apertura toward survival and security. The late Lindbergh made this quite clear when he wrote: “At the end, it leaves you pondering the future for both cave and twentieth century man. For the market of human life, the Tasaday challenges modern man with his cave against the lean-tos of slumsand his beautiful positive emotions against modem man’s asphalt jungle and con tinual wars of hatred and greed.” The government’s policy of encour aging the minorities to develop their own cultures, and at the same time to fuse with the mainstream of Philippine society, is reflected in the educational program for cultural minorities. The PANAMIN, the government agency with cabinet rank for cultural minorities, has sponsored an educational program which emphasizes the indigenous cultural conterit in the curriculum. There are now ten PANAMIN-operated schools in minor ity areas inhabited by T’bolis, Blaans, Maguindanaos, Mansakas, Higaonons, Atis, Bataks and Hununoos. The educational program for the minorities meets the real needs of their environment and, because their ancient values and cultures are given importance, deepens their appreciation of the more valuable aspects of their own rich culture. At the same time, the State Schol arship Council of the Department of Education and Culture has taken a sec ond look at the scholarship grants to members of the cultural tribes. The coun cil has increased the number of grants that will be more beneficial to the min orities themselves and the community in which they live. Grants of the State Scholarship Council have been expanded to include graduate programs. All in all, the educational program is part of the government effort to enhance appreciation for the ancient val ues of the nation, both among the tribes men and the public at large. While aiming to preserve the natural environment of the ethnic groups, the Philippine government has been extend ing assistance programs to the cultural tribes. Medical missions have been con ducted in 105 towns all over the Philip pines bringing medical help to the min orities. The government operates 15 pro jects, 14 of which are socio-economic and one, a research project. The socio economic development projects are situuated in Negros (Ati), Palawan (Batak) and Mindanao (Samal, Higaonon, Mansaka, Tboli, Ubo, and Blaan). The Ma nubo Blit-Tasaday Reservation is prim arily a research project geared toward protecting the unique Thsaday people. In these projects, the government insures that the minorities themselves retain the option of preserving their traditional ways of life, or if they so desire, chang ing these at the pace they choose. The Philippine governments policy of protecting the right of its minorities to maintain their cultural integrity was lauded recently by Dr. Irenaues EiblEibesfeldt, noted German scientist of the famed Max Planck Institute. In a communication to fellow scien tists, Dr. Eibl-Eibesfeldt said the Philip pines’ official acknowledgment of “the right to be different” constitutes a “pro gressive breakthrough and that this pol icy has laid the foundation for continu ed cultural evolution.” Dr. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, who heads the research group for Human Ethnology at Max Planck, said after his visit to the Philippines: “In many parts of the world, the beauty of cultural diversity is not yet seen and cultures which have taken thousands of years to develop are vanish ing within decades.” He continued: “In a pioneering way that will provide a precedent, the Rep ublic of the Philippines, sponsored by the personal interest of President Marcos and Madame Imelda R. Marcos, the First Lady of the state, has laid the foundation which will allow the minori ties to continue their way of cultural evolution and thus contribute to the particular richness of the Philippines.’.’ □ The right to be different. Cultural minorities: protecting the beauty of cultural diversity. Viewpoints 16 May - 15 June 1976 15 Nagbibigay Buhay MANANATILING isang moog ng inspirasyon ng mga kabataan ang National Arts Center sa bundokMakiling sa Laguna Lake. Pinasinayaan na at dinakila ng mga nakasaksi ang proyektong ito ni First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos na magiging instrumentong magpapasigla pang lalo sa pagpapaunlad ng kulturang Pilipino. Sa mga pagsisikap ng First Lady ay binibigyan niya ng diin ang pagsuporta sa pagpapatibay sa tanikala ng pakikipagkaibigang panlabas na unang layunin ni Presidente Marcos sa pa nahon ng kanyang administrasyon, at nang maitanghal pati sa buong daigdig ang yaman ng sining at kultura ng Republika ng Pilipinas. Sa pamamagitan ng NAC ay mabibigyan ng buhay ng mga kabataan ang likas nilang pagpapahalaga sa katutubong awit, literatura, musika at iba pang mga kauri nito. Sa pagkakaroon ng gusali ng sining ng RP ay matitiyak na marami pang talino ang matutuklasan sa mga hinaharap na panahon. Salamat sa First Lady. PANAHON na ng patalaan sa mga kolehiyo at pamantasan sa bansa. Nakapili at nakapagpasiya na ang mga nagtapos sa sekundarya ng mga karunungang tutuklasing pampropesyon. Gayunman, hindi pa huli ang panawagan ka ma kail an ni Mahistrado Pacifico P. de Castro na mag-isip at magbago ng landas sa pagtuklas ng propesyon. Sa kanyang panawagan ay ipinamamanhik niya na huwag nang kumuha ng mga degree na marami na ang may hawak at halos ay hindi pinakikinabangan o walang mapaglagyan sa mga may taglay na karunungan. Sa ngayon ay marami ng propesyonal ang naka-empleo sa mga tungkuling hindi naaayon sa taglay nilang kakayahan. Kung magpapatuloy ang ganitong kinagawian ng mga kabataan, ayon na rin sa kanya, ay lalong darami ang problema sa desempleo THE REPUBLIC Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa Board of Editors Chairman: Francisco S. Tatad Members: Lorenzo J. Cruz, Florentino S. Dauz Managing Editor: Luis V. Ople; Editorial Staff: Juanita G. Trinidad, Marcos D. Agayo, Gloria Jane Bayion, Rosalinda G. Roxas, Jake Espino Art Director: Micaelita C. Almendral; Art Con sultant: Larry Z. Alcala; Photo Editor: Wilfredo G. Avila; Production Manager: Marcelino N. Palisoc;Production Assistant: Cesar B. Tablason THE REPUBLIC is published fortnightly by the Department of Public Information, Malacanang, Manila, for government managers. The Editors welcome contributions of manuscripts and photographs which should be sent to THE REPUBLIC, BNF1, UPL Building, Intramuros, Manila. While they will take reasonable care, the Editors assume no responsibility for the re turn of unsolicited manuscripts. Entered as a second-class mail matter on March 5, 1973 at the Manila Central Post Office. sa bansa at masasayang la ma ng ang kanilang mga napag-aralan. Hara pin ang pagtuklas sa mga propesyong nakaugnay sa patakaran at programs ng gobyerno sa pagpapaunlad ng ekonomiyang pambansa. Talikuran ang mga “white-collar” na tungkulin, na ayon na rin kay Mahistrado de Castro ay libu-libo na ang hindi nakikinabang sa napag-aralan. Ang payo ng mahistra do ay isang malusog na “pagkain ng isip” sa mga magaaraL ITO’Y ISANG babala sa madia, laluna sa mga mamamayang malayo sa kalunsuran at kabayanan. Kung sasayad sa kamay ninyo ang pipisuhin, laluna’t galing sa kamay ng indibiduwal (maliban sa mga banko) ay kilatisin muna bago tanggapin. Baka ito ay tingga. Isang mahalagang pahayag ang pinalabas ng Banko Senfral ukol sa ‘pipisuhing huwad’ at pinag-iingat nga ang madia. May P5 milyong huwad na pipisuhin at treasury warrants ang kumakalat sa mga pook na rural at maramina umano ang nagiging biktima nito, sa mga palengke, tindahang sarisari at sa mga bilihan. Ang huwad na coins, ayon sa banko sentral, ay makapal, mabigat at maputi ang kulay kaysa pipisuhing genu ine. At pagak ang kalansing. Uulitin ko, mag-ingat kayo sa mga huwad na pipisuhin! Masakit ang maging biktima. Si NEAH ALANO, 22 ay isang masahista sa isang establisimyento ng sauna bath, may tatlong taon na ngayon. Umaasa sa kanyang kita ang kanyang 11 kapatid na lalaki at babae. Masahista kung gabi at kolehiyala kung araw. Nasa ikaapat na taon na siya sa business administration at nagme-major sa econom ics sa National College of Business and Arts sa Le panto, Maynila nang kumalat ang tsismis at pintas laban sa kanya buhat sa kanyang mga kamag-aral at propesor. Na is ng mga kaeskuwela niya ay mapaalis siya sa kanilang kolehiyo. Waring ikinahihiya siya. Hinusgahan na siya agad. Pinandirihan. Salamat sa presidente ng kolehiyo, kay Doroteo Pasion, na siyang nagligtas sa kanya sa mga pangit na palagay ng iba. Sa harap ng mga estudyante at propesor ay sinabi niya na ikinararangal niya si Alano, pagkat ito’y nag-iibayo ng pagsasakit sa pagtatrabaho upang makapag-aral. Pati si Ginang Ludna Aid ay ng Bureau of Women and Minors ng Department of Labor ay napaluha nang mabatid niya ang papuring iyon kay Ala no ng puno ng kanilang kolehiyo. Si Alano ang presi dente ng Makati Sauna Bath Attendants Association na itinatag ng kawanihan ni Ginang Alday noong nagdaang Pebrero. NASAKSIHAN ni Pangalawang Ministro Yang Li Kung ng Agrikultura ng People’s Republic of China (PRC) ang mabilis na kaunlaran ng agrikultura sa Nueva Ecija. Ang kaunlarang nasaksihan niya na inukulan ng ibayong papuri ay siyang resulta nang pagkakayari ng. multi-million peso dam sa Pantabangan, N. E. Bihira ang ganitong papuri na tinatanggap ng Pili pinas buhat sa isang representante ng isang bansang komunista. Ang papuri ni Ginoong Kung ay dinugtungan pa ng sabing sa loob ng limang taon, mula sa taong ito, ay matatamo na ng Pilipinas ang self-suffi ciency sa bigas at iba pang produkto ng agrikultura rito. Ipinasyal si Ministro Kung sa sakahan sa Nueva Ecija nina Agriculture Secretary Arturo Tanco Jr. at NGA Administrator Jess Tanchanco. lisa ang kuro ng panauhing ministro sa pagkakataong iyaaj: “Pambihira ang nagawa ninyong kaunlaran.” NALALAPn NA SA tagumpay ang sinasakit na “Isang bansa, Isang Diwa” ni Presidente Marcos. Ito ay batay sa paparaming Muslim na nagbabalik loob sa gobyerno, sa maraming lider at kabataang dating rebelde na pinagkakalooban ng mga pananagutan at tungkulin sa bayan at sa kanilang purok. Kamakailan lama ng ay isang grupo ang nagsipagtapos sa kurso sa rural electrification na pinangasiwaan ng Office for Qvil Relations (OCR) sa Marawi Qty. Sila ay naka-empleo na sa maraming pagawaan ng gobyerno, kabilang ang National Power Corporation. □ ^1 Dear Sir : By force of circumstance, I was able to read a recent issue of The Republic that a friend brought along to my office. I find the articles very interesting and inspiring. I hope they could be sources of motivation for govern ment employees who are really eager to demonstrate active participation in the development of the New Society. The articles are indeed development-oriented and could stir up even the seemingly incorrigible deadwoods in the bureaucracy. For this reason, I most sincerely suggest that the publication be made avail able to all government offices to enable many public servants to read their very own newspaper. Manuel Ouano Acting PIO Southern Islands Hospital Cebu City Thank you for your kind compliments. The Republic is really meant to help the government ma nager do a better job. We are therefore requesting all government managers (with the rank of division chief up) to write us for a free subscription. -The Editors Dear Sir : Please send us, without obligation whatsoever, a regular supply of The Republic for free distribution to our customers who keep clamoring for copies. M. C. Cabaluna Narvacan Newsmag Agency Narvacan, Ilocos Sur We are sorry to disappoint your “clamorous” customers but The Republic is exclusively for the use of government managers. It is not for sale. -The Editors Dear Sir : We are putting out a newsletter, jointly with the Department of Public Information, to disseminate information on our activities and those of the DAPDavao Regional Office, as well as provide a vehicle for citizen participation in the integration area de velopment project We wish we could have it laid out like the Republic, interspersing text and pictures to achieve maximum readability and, at the same time, assume some aesthetic form. Our consultants and I are very much impressed with the photos and layout of The Republic. Maybe you can advise us along this line. Nelia Custodio Development Academy of the Philippines Davao City Save gas Not So Funny — Larry Alcala 16 16 May-15 June 1976 The Nation THE REPUBLIC A heart for the poor REACHING out to the greatest num. ber of people, even to the re motest areas of the country, has always been a goal of the New Society govem/ ment. In the words of the First Lady, Mrs. Tmelda Romualdez Marcos: “We find love not in ourselves but in others. This is so obvious yet so often forgot ten. One will find it among our people, in their poverty and misery. During trav els to seek out people, I always tried to absorb every little thing that could be of value for our fellowmen, for it is by knowing others that we gain more selfknowledge. And I have but one con clusion: that for many of us, the begin ning of hope, the keystone of progress, is a Compassionate Society.” Compassion should indeed be felt by all—only a small percentage of the pop ulation enjoys the comforts of life while many are still deprived of even the basic necessities. This is particularly true in the rural areas where 70 percent of the country’s population reside; it is this 70 percent that is plagued by malnutrition, disease, poverty and poor environmental • conditions. Of course, there are prog rams to combat these, but the inaccess ibility of services in the rural areas have hampered the success of these programs. To remedy this, Project Compas sion was launched in November last year. A brainchild of the First Lady, it is a rural family development prog ramintegrating four major projects—nu trition, green revolution, family planning and environmental management—with the barangay network acting as organiza tional channel. It was planned by Mrs. Marcos’ four foundations: the Nutrition Center of the Philippines, the Green Revolution, the Population Center Foun dation and the Environmental Center of the Philippines. Continue conserving THE search for oil in the Philippines has a long history. The recent Pa lawan oil strike was the culmination of more than 80 years of exploration which began in the last decade of the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. From 1890 to 1964, 245 wells with a combined length of 559,833 feet were drilled. Of these wells, 189 having a combined length of 423,000 feet were drilled during the period 1959-1964. Eighty million pesos were spent for ex ploration and drilling during the 195964 period. After 1964, there was a drop in exploration due to lack of money and lack of attention by the government In 1970, Senate Bill 531 tried to accelerate the exploration for petroleum by granting incentives to foreign busi nessmen. President Marcos certified the bill as urgent. But the extreme proteotionist position held by local business and the efforts of political and leftist oppositionists to portray government po licy-makers as tools of foreign business hampered the bill’s enactment On October 8, 1972, PD 8 made Senate Bill 531 a law. This marked the active participation of the government in oil exploration and exploitation. The following December, PD 8 was amended by PD 87 which defined under a more meaningful system the incentives to oil resource explorers and developers. Un der this system, called a service contract system, contractors provide services and technology for a fee. To allow service contractors to recover their costs, the government’s share of the production increases gradually from a relatively mi nimal amount. t The service contract system out■ lined by PD 8 actually satisfies local protectionism and at the same time al lows the entry of mUch-needed foreign * capital and technology. It asserts govern ment sovereignty over its own resources, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos The first area to benefit from the project was Pagbilao, a quiet, little town in Quezon province 140 kilometers from Manila. Previously, on ordinary days, the tenor of life in this palmfringed town bordered on the humdrum. But with Project Compassion, Pagbilao nowadays hums with activity. A com mon sight around are children clearing the roads of dirt and weeds, women busying themselves with improvised greenhouses, men sprucing up their homes and babies being brought to the “Operation Timbang” clinic for the reg ular check-up. Project Compassion seeks: □ To increase the production of vegetables, fruits, livestock, poultry and fishery products and elevate consump tion to recommended nutritional levels. □ To improve the nutritional sta tus of the family and prevent the occurence of malnutrition. □ To motivate eligible couples to have only that number of children they lodges part of the production with the country, and grants some incentives directly proportionate to Filipino par ticipation in a contract. Besides granting incentives to local and foreign investors to accelerate the search for oil, the government also created the Philippine National Oil Com pany in 1973 to foster exploration operations conducive to a sustainable economy. The government’s efforts have paid off not only because of the oil strike but also because of the number of commit ments in the search for oil. Some 240 wells have been drilled on and off-shore since 1973. At present, there are about 50 service contracts covering a total of about 7 million hectares. The number of service contracts will increase this year because all concession-holders under the Petroleum Act of 1949 have been given until Augus't this year to convert to service contracts under the terms of PD 87. There are, under the Petroleum Act, about 250 concessions covering some 11,800,000 hectares. The move requiring concession holders to convert to service contracts was done because most of the promising areas are in the hands of concessionaires who have failed to develop their own financial and technical resources and to get the expertise and support of the multinationals. The discovery of crude oil in Pala wan should not mean a relaxation of present energy conservation and energy substitution efforts. There are several reasons for this. First, it is much top early to be sure that Philippine oil deposits can produce in quantities sufficient to meet all our oil needs. The significance of the Pala wan oil find, as reported by Husky Oil, one of the service contractors, “is the establishment of hydrocarbon presence can properly rear, educate and support, and to provide family planning informa tion and other services. □ To develop environmental aware ness by providing information on en vironmental management and to moti vate the family toward the improvement of its surroundings and environment Specifically, the project aims to de velop the family by assisting its members in acquiring and applying the knowledge and skills needed to produce a consider able amount of their own food, practice proper nutrition, improve their physical environment and plan their size. This is done by encouraging the families to identify and utilize available re sources and providing them with min imum external assistance. How it works. In delivering its four-program package of services on a door-to-door basis through unit leaders, Project Compassion utilizes the barangay network to reach the family. The ba rangay is divided into puroks, each purok headed by a teacher-coordinator and a purok leader. The purok, in turn, is divided into units of about 20 families led by unit leaders. This vertical net work enables the unit leaders to reach each individual family in their areas of operation. As each barangay is under the juris diction of a barrio captain, a municipal family development officer under a ma yor, and a provincial family develop ment officer under a governor, the pro ject’s directions and materials come through these appointed heads. Project Compassion then fits into the existing hierarchy of local governments to as sume the ultimate task of the integrated program. The governor, mayor and barangay head are responsible, as chairmen of the Palawan oil strike: energy conservation continues. in the area.” In other words, while there is definitely oil in the Palawan area, its exact amount is yet undetermined. The Nido well is, of course, not the first oil find in the country but it is the first one with significant potential A sign of this potential is the extent of the seismic survey (800 linear miles) being done to evaluate the size of the oil deposit Another is the recommendation of Pertamina experts that the Nido structure can be placed in immediate commercial production, although the Petroleum Board has opted for the more cautious move to first evaluate the area. Second, our only significant oil find, if placed on commercial produc tion, will start producing only two or three years from now and so, we do not have any oil riches yet. Third, oil resources, no matter how large, are not unlimited. Australia, for instance, is producing 70 percent of its petroleum needs but if it does not find new oil sources or new energy sources, it will be importing all of its petroleum needs by 1990. Fourth, we have a balance of pay ments deficit of $500 million. Until we reap the benefits from our oil resources, we will continue to incur huge oil bills. This year, our oil bill is projected at $980 million. Fifth, oil is generally becoming harder to find. Material costs are soaring because of inflation. And operating costs are increasing because of the need to go various family development committees (FDC) organized by Project Compassion, for the overall implementation of the program within their respective areas. Technical representatives of the various government departments, whose duties include activities decided upon by the FDC, sit as members of the committee and help in the planning of the local programs. Once the program is decided upon by the group, such technical repre sentatives are expected to contribute their technical expertise and carry out their share in the total effort by utiliz ing resources of their various offices. Representatives from the private sector, including the academic community, do their share by mobilizing the skills and resources that are available in the com munity. On the other hand, assistance given by Project Compassion to the imple mentors of the program in the rural areas is two-fold: the dissemination of information materials and commodities coming from each cooperating agency, and the training and orientation of members of the family development committees, including invited partici pants at the provincial, municipal and barangay levels to develop skills nec essary for the planning and implementa tion of their own family development programs. Now on its Phase I of operation, Project Compassion covers eight prov inces, two cities, 82 municipalities and 2,650 barangays. Some 17,920 unit lead ers are being trained to service 358,400 households. The sum of 5.9 million pesos has been allocated to fund the project’s first 18 months of operation. In the long run, the First Lady envisions Project Compassion covering all towns and municipalities of the country. □ offshore and to dig deeper. Most of the wells in the North Sea in Northern Europe for example, cost at least $1.5 million each with a success rate of nine to one. So, before enjoying any net benefits, there are huge costs to make up for. Sixth, as President Marcos said last year, 94 percent of our energy is pro duced by fossil fuel-fired generators. And while the government is moving as fast as possible into the generation of electricity from hydroelectric and geo thermal sources (which are cheaper than petroleum sources), a complete con version will be possible only after more than ten years. Financially, it is possible only to reduce fossil-fired generators from 94 percent to 75 percent by 1985. The search for alternate energy sources has not, therefore, slackened be cause of the Palawan strike. President Marcos recently ordered the acceleration of coal exploration and development; this he did only a few days after the Palawan oil discovery. He directed the Bureau of Mines to actively look for new coal deposits in selected areas and gov ernment reservations. To rationalize the Philippines’ con tinuing search for energy sources, Pres ident Marcos created the Energy De velopment Board which shall intensify and consolidate government efforts re lating to the exploration, exploitation, and development of indigenous energy resources vital to economic growth. □