Executive Order No. 59

WHEREAS, five years after the Labor Code introduced institutional innovations in the Ministry of Labor, it has now become necessary to examine its present structure as a result of new and urgent demands upon its services;

WHEREAS, in the light of objective appraisal, there is need to institute certain structural-functional changes in the Ministry of Labor to enable it to respond to its increasingly complex role in the management of social conflict, including the promotion of industrial peace, dispensation of speedy labor justice, and the provisions of just and humane labor standards as well as meaningful and gainful employment opportunities, both locally and overseas; and

WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 1416, the President is empowered to undertake such organizational and related improvements as may be appropriate in the light of changing circumstances and new developments;

The Ministry of Labor, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry, is hereby renamed the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

The responsibility and authority for the exercise of the powers and the discharge of the functions of the Ministry shall be vested in a Minister who shall be assisted by one Deputy Minister, unless otherwise provided for by law or directed by the President.

Unless otherwise herein provided, the existing services in the Ministry are retained.

A Legal Service is hereby created in the Ministry Proper which shall be primarily responsible for providing the Ministry with consultative and advisory legal service, including the interpretation of laws affecting operations of the Ministry, labor rules and regulations, assistance to the Solicitor-General in suits involving the Ministry, and the conduct of administrative investigations.

The Legal Division in the Administrative Service and the Labor Appeals Review Staff are abolished and their functions together with applicable appropriations, records, equipment, property and such personnel as may be necessary are transferred to the Legal Service.

The Rural Workers' Office, the Free Legal Assistance Office and the Population/Family Planning Office shall be under the Minister's direct supervision in the formulation and evaluation of policies and programs pertaining to the social amelioration of rural workers, the extension of free legal assistance to indigent workers and population/family planning for covered industrial establishments, respectively. Their line functions are transferred to the regional offices of the Ministry which shall likewise absorb their existing field units.

The Institute of Occupational Health and Safety is hereby abolished.

The Minister of Labor and Employment shall administer the Special Project Fund created under Presidential Decree No. 788, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1365, subject to the provisions of Section 40 of Presidential Decree No. 1177.

The Labor Standards Commission which is attached to the Bureau of Labor Standards is hereby abolished and its pertinent records, equipment, appropriation and such personnel as may be necessary are transferred to the Bureau of Labor Standards.

The Regional Employment Offices of the Bureau of Employment Services and the Regional Manning Offices of the National Seamen Board are hereby abolished and their functions together with applicable appropriations, records, equipment, and such personnel as may be necessary are transferred to the regional offices of the Ministry.

The Bureau of Employment Services shall exercise technical and functional supervision over pertinent employment services undertaken by the regional offices.

The Minister of Labor and Employment is hereby authorized to create such district offices as may be necessary under the appropriate Ministry regional offices, subject to the approval of the President.

The Arbitration Branches, the Field Services Divisions and the Labor Relations Divisions in the regional offices are hereby abolished and their appropriations, records, equipment, and such personnel as may be necessary are transferred to the appropriate units to be created. The Minister is also authorized to reorganized organizational units in the Bureau of Employment Services, Overseas Employment Development Board and National Seamen Board performing licensing, recruitment, placement and adjudicatory functions as well as the internal structure of the Institute of Labor and Manpower Studies.

All labor attaches who have reached 60 years of age and have rendered a minimum of 15 years of service as of the date of this Executive Order are considered retired three months after effectivity of this Executive Order with full benefits under existing laws.

The Minister of Labor and Employment shall promulgate the necessary implementing orders to carry out the provisions of this Executive Order, subject to the concurrence of the Ministry of the Budget and whenever necessary, of the Presidential Commission on Reorganization.

Pending the effectivity of these implementing measures, the bureaus, offices, services and other units of the Ministry shall continue to exist and function under the pertinent laws and issuances governing their creations and operations.

Consistent with economy, efficiency and effectiveness, the Minister of Labor and Employment may authorized any bureau or office of the Ministry to assume, on a temporary basis, certain functions of the regional office of the Ministry in the National Capital Region as provided for under this Executive Order, Presidential Decree No. 1691 and other pertinent laws: Provided, that previously the undertaking of such functions had been limited to or at the very least primarily concentrated in the National Capital Region. This reallocation of functions and authorities shall be subject to the concurrence of the Ministry of the Budget and, whenever necessary, of the Presidential Commission on Reorganization.

The Ministry of the Budget shall make available such funds as may be adequate to meet the operational requirements of the reorganized set-up of the Ministry of Labor and Employment carried out pursuant to this Executive Order.

This Executive Order shall be effective immediately.