WHEREAS, rural workers especially the landless, belong to the forgotten species of the labor force which have not been sufficiently covered by the industrial benefit package and agricultural support mechanisms espoused by government agencies;
WHEREAS, rural workers urgently need special assistance to raise their capability for self-development and to link them up vitally with the mainstream of progress and growth; and
WHEREAS, it is essential to establish an Office designed especially for such purposes;
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. There is hereby created in the Department of Labor a Rural Workers Office, hereinafter referred to as the "Office", which shall be under the direct supervision and control of the Secretary of Labor and shall be headed by an Executive Director assisted by a Deputy Executive Director.
SEC. 2. The Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Labor.
SEC. 3. The Office shall have the following powers and functions:
SEC. 4. The Secretary of Labor shall establish offices in the regions and such other extension offices as may be deemed appropriate.
SEC. 5. The technical staff and other personnel of the Office shall be appointed by the Secretary of Labor upon recommendation of the Executive Director; Provided, That civil service eligibility requirements and OCPC positions and salary schedules shall not apply to personnel and positions of the Office declared highly technical.
SEC. 6. There shall be constituted a Special Project Fund (SPF) in the name of the Secretary of Labor which shall come from the P0.10 per picul of sugar produced as originally decreed by Presidential Decree 788 and all fees and charges levied and collected by the Office in accordance with the social amelioration program as provided for in Section 3 par. (b) of this Decree. The Special Project Fund shall be used to finance socio-economic projects for the benefit of the rural workers. When deemed appropriate, a portion of the Special Project Fund as determined by the Secretary of Labor maybe set aside for lending purposes to qualified rural workers borrowers. The Commission on Audit is hereby authorized to audit periodically the expenditure charged against the Fund.
SEC. 7. The Office shall adopt an annual budget of expenditures for its personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay which is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury that are not otherwise appropriated.
SEC. 8. The Secretary of Labor shall issue rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Decree.
SEC. 9. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President: (Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA Presidential Assistant