Amending P.D. No. 1694 Re: Creation of a Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers

January 16, 1981

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1809

AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE 1694, CREATING THE "WELFARE FUND FOR OVERSEAS WORKERS"

WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 1694 was promulgated on 1 May 1980 creating the "Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers";

WHEREAS, certain provisions of said Decree must be amended to carry out the objectives and purposes for which the Welfund was created;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree the following:

 Section 2 of P.D. 1694 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 2. Fund Source. — All contributions to the Welfare and Training Fund collected pursuant to Letter of Instructions No. 537 issued on May 1, 1977 shall be transferred to the Welfund and deposited for the account of the Welfund in a government depository bank. Fees and other charges to be imposed, subject to the approval of the Minister of Labor and Employment, by the Overseas Employment Development Board, the Bureau of Employment Services, and the National Seamen Board shall accrue to the Welfund."

 Section 3 of the same Decree is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 3. Administration. — The Welfund shall be administered by a Board of Trustees through a Secretariat. The Board of Trustees shall consist of the Minister of Labor and Employment as Chairman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Budget, one Deputy Minister of Labor and Employment, the Executive Director of the Overseas Employment Development Board, the Executive Director of the National Seamen Board, the Director of the Bureau of Employment Services, the Administrator of the Welfund as Vice-Chairman, and one representative each from the management and labor sectors.

"The Administrator and the representatives of the management and labor sectors shall be appointed by the President, upon recommendation of the Minister of Labor and Employment.

"The Administrator, who shall be the chief executive officer of the Welfund, shall have the qualifications, rank and compensation of a Bureau Director. He shall be assisted by a Deputy Administrator with the rank and compensation of a deputy director and who shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the Chairman. acd

"The Welfund secretariat shall be attached to the Office of the Minister of Labor and Employment, whose personnel shall be appointed by the Chairman, upon recommendation of the Administrator. The compensation of the personnel and the operating expenses of the secretariat shall be charged to the Welfund."

 Sec. 5 is also hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 5. Fund Management. — Transactions in the Welfund shall be subject to such rules and regulations as may be formulated by its Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall fix the yearly appropriation of the Secretariat." cd i

4. Repealing Clause. — All provisions of Presidential Decree 1694 and Letter of Instructions 537 not otherwise repealed or amended in this Decree shall remain in full force.

5. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 16th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-One.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 77 No. 19, 2451-121 Supp., on May 11, 1981.