Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 748)
The primary purpose of Presidential Decree No. 748 is to amend Presidential Decree No. 187 by extending the date for the use of the metric system as the sole standard of weights and measures in the Philippines, allowing more time for various sectors to adjust and comply.
Presidential Decree No. 187 prescribed the metric system as the sole standard of weights and measures to be used throughout the Philippines.
The Metric System Board is composed of the Secretary of Trade as Chairman, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Finance, Public Works, Transportation and Communications, Education and Culture, Justice, Industry, Health, Local Government and Community Development, Public Highways, National Defense, Public Information, the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority, and the Chairman of the National Science Development Board. Undersecretaries and vice-chairmen serve as alternates, and members may designate representatives.
Members, their alternates, or representatives are entitled to a per diem of two hundred pesos for every board meeting actually attended.
The Board is tasked to draw up a nationwide program for the use of the metric system and standard metric packaging, including setting starting and completion dates for different sectors, with full adoption targeted by January 1, 1977. It may grant extensions in meritorious cases and must consider necessary time for equipment modification and information dissemination.
The Board can promulgate rules and regulations for implementing the metric system, which must be approved by the President and widely disseminated to government offices and the public.
A Metrication Director is appointed by the Board upon the Chairman’s recommendation. The Director must be a Filipino citizen at least 35 years old, with recognized executive ability and broad experience. The Director receives an annual salary of 40,000 pesos and a monthly allowance of 1,000 pesos.
The Director of the Philippines Bureau of Product Standards serves as the Executive Secretary of the Metric System Board.
An amount of 500,000 pesos is appropriated out of any unallocated funds in the National Treasury for the expenses of the Board for fiscal year 1976.
The Metric System Board shall cease to exist on June 30, 1979.
Any laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations inconsistent with this decree are repealed or amended accordingly.
Extensions for metric system adoption may be granted for financial, technological, and other reasons, particularly considering the industrial, agricultural, trade, educational, and other economic, social, and cultural sectors needing more time to adjust.