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WHEREAS, the Philippines, which is in the process of diversifying its exports and building its competitive strength based on skill and technology intensiveness, needs to formulate national strategies for productivity improvement to prepare it for competition in the 21st century;

WHEREAS, labor productivity alone has been inadequate to explain the competitive advantage of countries and that total factor productivity, which refers to the efficient utilization of the economy’s productive inputs - capital, labor, energy and materials, also needs to be examined;

WHEREAS, to ensure consistency of policies, it is important to coordinate the efforts of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) which was created by Republic Act No. 6727 and the National Productivity Organization of the Philippines (NPOP) based at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 205 in the promotion of productivity awareness and improvement in key sectors of the economy;

WHEREAS, productivity-enhancing measures at the short-, medium- and long-term, which will be critical in the pursuit of sustained economic growth, have to be incorporated in the Updated Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan covering the period 1996-98 and the Long-Term Philippine Development Plan for the period 1997-2025;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order the formulation of a National Action Agenda for Productivity.

SECTION 1. Creation of a National Multi-Sectoral Committee on Productivity. A National Multi-Sectoral Committee on Productivity to formulate a National Action Agenda for Productivity, hereinafter referred to as the Multi-Sectoral Committee, is hereby created.

SEC. 2. Composition. The Multi-Sectoral Committee, to be chaired by the Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning of the National Economic and Development Authority with the President of the Development Academy of the Philippines and the Chairperson of the National Wages and Productivity Commission as Vice-Chairpersons, shall have as members, representatives from the following agencies/sectors:

a. Department of Science and Technology;
b. Department of Trade and Industry;
c. Department of Agriculture;
d. Department of Budget and Management;
e. Department of Education, Culture and Sports;
f. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority;
g. Commission on Higher Education;
h. Civil Service Commission; and
i. Private Sector (2 representatives each from labor, employer/ business, farmers/fisherfolks and the academe).

All government agencies herein represented shall have their permanent representative to the Multi-Sectoral Committee an official with a rank not lower than Assistant Secretary or its equivalent. Their permanent alternates, on the other hand, shall be with ranks not lower than Director or its equivalent.

In the performance of its duties and responsibilities, the Multi-Sectoral Committee shall consult with appropriate Committees of both the Senate of the Philippines and the House of the Representatives and with all other government agencies.

SEC. 3. Functions. The Multi-Sectoral Committee shall have the following responsibilities:

a.	coordinate the formulation of a National Action Agenda for Productivity that would provide the framework and direction to the productivity efforts in the country, including the timetable of activities;
b.	coordinate the preparation of relevant studies which can serve as inputs in the preparation for the Action Agenda for Productivity;
c.	recommend the performance measures/indicators of productivity for both the public and private sectors at the national, local and sectoral levels which will be used to monitor and assess annual performances; and
d.	organize consultation workshops to validate the policies, programs and targets in the National Action Agenda.

The Multi-Sectoral Committee shall be supported by a Coordinating Committee and three Technical Working Groups to take charge of productivity measures for the agriculture, industry and services and the public sectors. The Multi-Sectoral Committee may, in addition to these three working groups, create other working groups as may be necessary.

SEC. 4. Secretariat Support. The Development Academy of the Philippines shall take the lead in providing technical and administrative support to the Multi-Sectoral Committee in cooperation with the National Economic and Development Authority and the Secretariat of the National Wages and Productivity Commission based at the Department of Labor and Employment. The Departments of Agriculture, Trade and Industry and the Budget and Management, on the other hand, shall chair and act as the Secretariat to the Technical Working Groups on Agriculture Productivity, Industry and Services Productivity and Public Sector Productivity, respectively.

SEC. 5. Timetable. The National Action Agenda for Productivity shall be completed by the end of September 1996, and shall be presented for consultation in a workshop on a National Strategy for Productivity Improvement in the Philippines to be held on October 1996.

SEC. 6. Funding. Funds necessary for the attainment of the objectives of this Order shall be provided jointly by the member agencies of the Multi-Sectoral Committee.

SEC. 7. Effectivity. This Administrative Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 19th day of April, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:
(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary