WHEREAS, the Office of the President is where policies and decisions affecting the country emanate;

WHEREAS, the Office of the President is committed to the rapid implementation of the government's reform program directed at reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of the Filipino people;

WHEREAS, consistent with State policies as enunciated under Section 24, Article II of the Constitution, which states that: "The State recognizes the vital role of communications and information in nation building", the Office of President has directed the appropriate use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a priority initiative of the bureaucracy in support of the fight against poverty, the ethic of effective implementation by the bureaucracy, and the strengthening of the Republic;

WHEREAS, in view of the critical nature of the Office of the President, there is a need to ensure the timely availability of knowledge and information resources from all government agencies and instrumentalities, including all local government units, through the integration and networking of all Government-owned and/or-managed knowledge repositories, information resources and electronic databases;

WHEREAS, there is a need to quickly and effectively coordinate the integration of collective knowledge and information resources of all government entities;

WHEREAS, the Government envisions an electronic bureaucracy or e-governance;

WHEREAS, THE Government is committed to build on the country's strengths in ICT as a growth sector of the future;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law and the Constitution, do hereby order the following:

SECTION 1. Establishment of the Office of the President Executive Information System (OPEIS). The Head of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) is hereby directed to immediately establish and maintain the Office of the President Executive Information System.

SECTION. 2. Road Map for Establishing the OPEIS. The process of establishing the OPEIS shall align to the following road map:

PHASE ONE: INFRASTRUCTURAL EVALUATION


PHASE TWO: SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT


PHASE THREE: SYSTEMS DEPLOYMENT


PHASE FOUR: PROJECT EVALUATION


SECTION. 3. Cooperation and assistance of all government agencies and instrumentalities, including local government units. The PMS head or his duly-designated representative may call upon any agency of the Government for such cooperation and assistance as may be necessary in the performance of the tasks to establish and maintain the OPEIS. All heads of departments, agencies, bureaus, offices, government-owned or controlled corporations, and other government instrumentalities, including local government units, are hereby instructed to render full assistance and cooperation, and/or to nominate their chief information officer who shall be directly responsible for rendering such assistance and cooperation in their behalf, and provide such access to information and data as may be required by the Presidential Management Staff in the performance of its tasks to establish and maintain the OPEIS.

Section 4. Funding Support. The funds to support the establishment of the OPEIS shall be sourced from the existing budgets of the Office of the President and the Presidential Management Staff. Fund requirements for the maintenance of the OPEIS for the succeeding years shall be incorporated in the budget proposals of the Presidential Management Staff for congressional action.

Section 5. Repealing Clause. All issuances, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Administrative Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 6. Effectivity. This Administrative Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, 3 November 2003.


By the President:

(Sgd) ALBERTO G. ROMULO
Executive Secretary