Sagot :
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1396
CREATING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND THE HUMAN SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, APPROPRIATION FUNDS THEREFOR, AND ACCORDINGLY AMENDING CERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL DECREES.
WHEREAS, man and his community require the fulfillment of the following basic needs and requirements such as water, power, food, clothing, shelter, medical services, education, sports and recreation, economic base (livelihood), mobility and ecological balance embodied in a humanistic ideology for the realization of a New Society;
WHEREAS, it is the national policy to attain the fruits of social and economic development in our communities within the integrative framework of human settlements;
WHEREAS, it is imperative that our development activities promote and enhance a wholesome relationship between beings and their civic and physical environment;
WHEREAS, while the government has already addressed the problems of rural poverty and stagnation by adopting and implementing a massive countryside development program, a proper development perspective requires equal concern for the management of urban development;
WHEREAS, it is necessary to organize the government’s policies and programs along these new areas of concern by establishing an appropriate department and delineating its relationships with the various agencies involved with its functions;
WHEREAS, it is also national policy to promote innovative land development and community development controls as a technology for building communities and estates in new areas, or renewing communities in depressed or blighted areas; and
WHEREAS, the physical planning, development and management of new communities and estates, or of old communities and blighted areas can best be accomplished through the creation and operation of an adequate corporate arm for the new Department.
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 the following as part of the law of the land.
Section 1. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the government to foster the growth, and renewal of our communities, both rural and urban, in an integrative manner that promotes optimum land use, adequate shelter, environment protection, utilization of appropriate technology and rational interdependence amongst self-reliant communities, all these towards the fullest development of man as a civic person and as a human being, involving in this process the coordinated contribution of the public and private sectors.
Section 2. Creation of the Department of Human Settlements. In order to carry out the above stated policy, there is hereby established the Department of Human Settlements, hereinafter referred to as the Department.
The Department shall be headed by a Secretary. For purposes of coordination, the Secretary shall serve ex-officio as Chairman of each of the governing boards of the corporation, commissions, and authorities which are placed under the supervision of the Department.
The Secretary shall be assisted by one Undersecretary, unless otherwise determined by the President.
Section 3. Establishment of the National Capital Region. In view of the critical importance of the Metropolitan Manila Region in human settlements development, it is hereby declared and established as the National Capital Region of the Republic of the Philippines, and its administration as such is hereby vested in the Secretary of Human Settlements. The pertinent provisions of Presidential Decree No. 824, creating the Metropolitan Manila Commission, are hereby accordingly amended.
Section 4. Powers and Functions of the Department. The Department shall have the following powers and functions which it shall undertake by itself or through the corporations, commissions and authorities which are placed under its supervision.