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WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the state to protect the young, enable them to survive and develop, and help them to assume their responsibilities as citizens, now and in the future, in order to achieve for themselves and the generations after them self-fulfillment and happiness;

WHEREAS, it is mandated by the Constitution and the provision of Presidential Decree No. 603 that operational services be installed by both public and private agencies to achieve this objective;

WHEREAS, there is a need to preserve and strengthen the family as a basic social institution in the delivery of services of children and youth;

WHEREAS, there are twenty million children and youth below 21 years of age, with special priority for those belonging to families earning less than the subsistence level; and

WHEREAS, in the recently concluded President's Conference for the Welfare of the Filipino Children and Youth the need to strengthen social services was clearly emphasized;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. Programs, services and strategies must be geared for the following purposes:

1. Strengthen the family as the basic social institution for the development of children and youth, particularly its unity and socio-economic stability.
2. Integrate religious and cultural values in all services for families, children and youth.
3. Maximize responsible participation by the youth in planning, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation.
4. Provide for linkages with the economic and industrial sectors so that the services will be part of the national economic development program.
5. Develop and make available substitute parental care for children and youth who can not be served in their own homes.
6. Establish on the regional level, detention centers for youth offenders and rehabilitation centers for children and youth with special needs.

SEC. 2. The Department of Social Services and Development shall establish a comprehensive operational network under its administrative machinery and a unified system which will not only ensure the child and youth service delivery system under Presidential Decree No. 603 but also foster coordination and collaboration among agencies as soon as possible for the proper delivery of services at all levels.

SEC. 3. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 11th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE
		Presidential Executive Assistant