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TO:	The Executive Secretary All Department/Agency Heads

Concomitant with the organization of a corps of Presidential Regional Officers for Development (PROD) pursuant to Letters of Instructions Nos. 36 and 36-A, there is hereby established a complementary corps of Coordinating Officers for Program Execution (COPE) who shall asist the President in effecting, on a national scale, the speedy and coordinated implementation of major programs of reform particularly those included in the "PLEDGES" of Government.

The following officials and agencies are hereby designated Coordinating Officer for Program Execution (COPE) and Action Agency respectively, for each of the Major Programs indicated below:

Program		COPE	Action Agency
Peace and Other:
	Law and Order	The Chief, PC	DND
	Administration of Justice	Mr. Paciencio Magtibay, POCC	Dept. of Justice
	Public Information	The Chief, OCR, GHQ, AFP	DPI
Land Reform:		Mr. Jose Medina, Jr., DAR	DAR
Economic Development:
	Price Stabilization	Mr. Robert Abling, DMS	PCC
	Agriculture	Mr. Roberto Fronda, DANR/NFAC	DANR
	Exploration and Survey Operation	Mr. Luis Mirasol, Jr., DMS	DANR
	Infrastructure	Mr. Carlos Leaño, DPWTC/IOC	DPWTC
	Foriegn-Assisted Project	Mr. Ruben Ancheta, PES	NEDA
	Industry	Mr. Arnulfo Ramirez, DMS	BOI
	Trade & Tourism	Mr. Caser Templo, OP	DTT
	Gov't Financial & Fiscal Opns.	Mr. Victor Macalingcag, DF	Dept. of Finance
	Cooperatives	Mr. Cayetano Sarmago, DMS	DLGCD
	Power Development	Mr. Arthur Alvendia DMS	NPC
	Rural Electrification	Mr. Roberto de Ocampo, NEA	NEA
	Provincial and Community Development	Mr. Gregorio Vigilar, PDAP	DLGCD
	Development of Moral Values thru Educational Reforms	Mr. Felix Santos, DE	Dept. of Eduction
	Government Reorganization	Mr. Abelardo Samonte, CR	Reorg. Commission
	Employment and Manpower Development	Mr. Rony Diaz, NM-YC	Dept. of Labor
Social Services:
	Health	Dr. Jesus Almonte, DH	Dept. of Health
	Welfare	Mr. Abraham Campo, PES	DSW
	Housing and Resettlement	Mr. Jaime Venago, PAHRA	PAHRA
	Family Planning	Mr. Conrado Lorenzo. PopCom	Population Commission

Except for the Chief, PC, whose terms of reference shall be prescribed separately by me thru the Secretary of National Defense, the duties and responsibilities of the Coordinating Officers for Program Execution designated herein shall be governed by the general policy guidelines outlined in Letter of Instruction No. 36 as well as by the following specific terms of reference:

1. Each COPE shall be under the direct supervision of the Head of the Action Agency designated for his Program, provided such Agency Head is of Cabinet rank.  Otherwise, he shall be under the direct supervision of the Executive Secretary.  The Cabinet shall serve as the coordinating body for all operational activities of the COPEs.
2. Each COPE shall, on a continuing basis, monitor the conduct and/or progress of all projects and activities that fall directly under, or are indirectly related to, the national program assigned to him; identify major problem areas and their causes; and institute or recommend the necessary corrective measures to the Action Agency concerned.
   
   
   1. The COPE is hereby empowered to cut across normal decision-making channels to secure the coordinating action/decisions required, which he shall subsequently cause to be speedily effected throughout the total system of program execution.
   2. In no case shall the COPE establish himself as a separate or distinct layer of authority through which decisions affecting program implementation must pass.
   
   
3. The COPE shall completely familiarize himself with all the projects and activities that fall directly under, or are indirectly related, the national program assigned to him.  He shall check and ensure that the policy guidelines and program of implementation established at the national level are transmitted, understood, and complied with throughout the total system of program execution.
4. The COPE shall establish a close working relationship with key officials of the various local, regional, and national government agencies who are involved, directly or indirectly, in his program of responsibility.  In problem areas where inter-agency or inter-regional coordination is a crucial factor, he is hereby empowered to call upon such officials/agencies to constitute, on an ad hoc basis, action Coordinating Teams (ACT) as may be necessary to expedite overall program implementation.
5. Directives by the COPE shall be made in the name of the Action Agency Head concerned, in writing, in a standard quick disposition form (to be prescribed) that can be readily issued and acknowledged on the spot.  All such directives shall be recorded in a log book which the COPE shall maintain for ready reference, follow-up, and periodic review by the Action Agency Head concerned, as well as by the Cabinet.

Whereas, the primary concern of the PROD designated under Letter of Instruction No. 36-A is the speedy and coordinated implementation of all priority programs on a regional basis, the primary concern of the COPS designated herein shall be the speedy and coordinated implementation of each priority program on a national scale.  Likewise whereas the PROD shall primarily be output-oriented in his approach to problems at the execution level, the COPE shall primarily be input-oriented in his approach to such problems.

There is therefore an inherent necessity, as it is hereby made a mandatory requirement, that a close-knit operational interlink be established between and among each and every COPE and PROD.  The following common and complementary terms of reference are hereby prescribed to avoid overlapping or conflicting actions.

1. In no case should either a COPE or a PROD institute or recommend corrective action without first having verified whether an identified problem area/bottleneck has already been acted upon.
2. In all cases, a COPE or a PROD shall immediately advise all officials concerned, particularly the Action Agency Head concerned, of any action taken on problem areas within his sphere of responsibility.

The terms of reference prescribed for the Executive Secretary in Letter of Instruction No. 36-A relative to the establishment of the operational system for the PROD are hereby made applicable to the COPE.  The Executive Secretary shall accordingly amend the tasks assigned to the Development Management Staff to include the compilation of Program Manuals containing a complete and up-to-date inventory of all projects and activities that fall directly under, or are indirectly related to, each of the Major Programs comprising the "PLEDGES" of Government.

The duties and responsibilities attendant to the designations made herein shall be concurrent and additional to the regular duties and responsibilities of COPEs in their respective organic assignments.  The Cabinet, thru the Executive Secretary, shall continuously monitor their workload and performance and shall submit to the President recommendations for changes in COPE---designates when the situation so warrants.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of November, m the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.