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WHEREAS, Letter of Instructions No. 896 has laid down the new thrust and direction of the Southern Philippines Development Administration by providing that it shall undertake essentially developmental and economically viable ventures, including effective support of the policy and program priorities of the Autonomous Regions;

WHEREAS, complementary to this new thrust, Letter of Instructions No. 896 also provided that the social development functions and non-corporate projects of the Southern Philippines Development Administration shall be transferred to the appropriate agencies of the government to be determined jointly by the Southern Philippines Development Administration, the Presidential Commission on Reorganization and the agencies concerned;

WHEREAS, in compliance with, the mandate of LOI 896, the abovenamed agencies have, on the basis of studies conducted, submitted their recommendations affecting the transfer of these social development functions.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby direct as follows:

1. The following functions and activities presently undertaken by the Southern Philippines Development Administration are hereby transferred to the following government agencies and entities:

(a) The Ministry of Social Services and Development shall take over the functions relating to the rehabilitation of evacuees, refugees and rebel-returnees, the extension to them of transportation assistance and emergency food and clothing assistance, and provisions for emergency shelters and bunkhouses;

(b) The Ministry of Human Settlements shall take over the functions involving life systems support in resettlement relocation sites;   

(c) The Office of the Commissioner for Islamic Affairs shall take over the functions relating to the construction repair and renovation of madrasahs and Muslim cultural centers, the issuance of certification to members of the Muslin cultural communities and the publication of Island’ literature;   

(d) The National Cottage Industries Development Authority (NACIDA) shall take over the cottage industry projects established by Southern Philippines Development Administration .outside of Regions IX, X, XI, and XII;

(e) The Lupong Tagapagpaganap ng Pook for Regions IX and XII shall take over the functions relating to the approval of conveyances and encumbrances involving members of Muslim cultural communities and the settlement of their land conflicts; provided that these functions shall be exercised by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development for members of Muslin cultural communities outside of Autonomous Regions IX and XII; and

(f) The Ministry of Education and Culture through its National Integration Scholarship Program shall take over the activities relating to educational assistance to members of the Muslim cultural communities

2.  With the exception of the functions concerning the approval of conveyances and encumbrances and the issuance of certification, the other functions and activities are being transferred by a non-exclusive basis that is, with the exception ,of the Southern Philippines Development Administration itself other agencies ore not necessarily inhibited from performing similar tasks.

3. The abovementioned transfers of functions shall include the transfer to the agencies concerned of applicable records, property, equipment and balances of the obligated allotment of Southern Philippines Development Administration for its Muslim Assistance Program (MAP) and the Special Program of Assistance for the Rehabilitation of Evacuees (SPARE) for CY 1979 and such personnel as may be necessary: Provided, That all qualified civil service employees of the Muslim Assistance Program and Special Program of Assistance for the Rehabilitation of Evacuees shall be given preferential consideration for such vacant positions in the obsorbing agencies as may exist in connection with the transferred functions.

4. The Southern Philippines Development Administration shall provide, out of the savings from its Muslim Assistance Program and Special Program of Assistance for the Rehabilitation of Evacuees operations for CY 1979, the necessary amount for the payment of the retirement gratuities, separation pay, accrued earned leaves, and other monetary benefits available under existing laws  and regulations to employees or officers not absorbed by the agencies involved in the specific transfer.

5. In consultation with the Ministry of the Budget, the agencies involved may reprogram their budgets for consistency with the provisions of this Letter of Implementation.

6. The Southern Philippines Development Administration shall coordinate with the agencies concerned to effect an orderly and smooth transfer of the functions, funds, records, property and personnel as herein provided not later than the last working day of December 1979.

7. This Letter of Implementation shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 31st day of December, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Nine.

(SGD.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(SGD.) JUAN C. TUVERA
Presidential Assistant