EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 711 July 28, 1981

RECLASSIFYING CERTAIN AGENCIES OF THE GOVERNMENT

WHEREAS, it is desirable to minimize the number of ministries in order to simplify the management of government;

WHEREAS, it is desirable to limit the conferment of ministry status to those agencies which are performing substantive line functions;

WHEREAS, it is therefore necessary to modify the status of certain agencies of the government which had previously been formally classified as ministries; and

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

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, and the authority vested in me by Presidential Decree No. 1416 as amended, do hereby order and ordain:

Sec. 1. The following agencies shall no longer be classified as ministries:

(1) Ministry of the Budget, which is renamed Office of Budget and Management, and which shall be headed by a Director General;

(2) Ministry of Muslim Affairs, which is renamed Office of Muslim Affairs, and which shall be headed by a Director General;

(3) Ministry of Public Information, which is renamed Officer of Media Affairs, and which shall be headed by a Director General;

(4) Office of the President

(5) Office of the Solicitor General

(6) National Science Development Board

Sec. 2. The heads of ministries are ex-officio Ministers and members with portfolio of the Cabinet. At the discretion of the President, however, other government officials may be conferred the personal rank of Minister and/or appointed members without portfolio of the Cabinet.

Sec. 3. The President may, at his discretion, confer the personal rank of Minister upon, and/or appoint as member without portfolio of the Cabinet, the head of any of the agencies listed in Section 1. The President may also confer the personal rank of Deputy Minister on any of the deputy heads of the said agencies.

Sec. 4. The agencies shall be directly under the President. Their heads shall continue to exercise the same authority over their agencies as before, including the power to appoint and dismiss personnel. Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to mean a reduction in the rank or salary of the other personnel in the agencies solely as a result of this reclassification.

Sec. 5. Only the head of the staff of the National Economic and Development Authority and the heads of the agencies listed under Section 1 hereof may carry the title of Director General, unless the title is conferred hereinafter specifically by the President. The Office of Budget and Management in consultation with the Presidential Commission on Reorganization is authorized to provide other suitable titles for current officials with the title of Director General;

Sec. 6. All laws, decrees, orders, proclamations, rules, regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Sec. 7. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 28th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-one.