Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1579)
The main purpose of Presidential Decree No. 1579 is to amend Presidential Decree No. 461 by creating ministry-wide regional offices in the Ministry of Agriculture to establish a more cohesive, integrated, and responsive administrative machinery for accelerated and successful implementation of agricultural development programs.
The Ministry of Agriculture is composed of the Ministry Proper, which includes the Office of the Minister, Planning Service, Financial and Management Service, Administrative Service, Computer Service Center, and Agrarian Reform Unit; bureaus such as Bureau of Soils, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bureau of Agricultural Extension, and Bureau of Agricultural Economics; and attached government-owned and controlled corporations and councils.
The bureaus are the Bureau of Soils, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bureau of Agricultural Extension, and Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
They are the National Grains Authority, Philippine Tobacco Administration, Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration, Coconut Investment Company, and Philippine Cotton Corporation.
The bureaus are primarily responsible for providing advice and assistance to the Office of the Minister, developing plans and programs, formulating operating policies and standards, providing technical supervision to regional offices, and performing other functions assigned by the Minister of Agriculture.
Section 14 provides that the Ministry of Agriculture shall establish regional offices ministry-wide. Each regional office shall be headed by a Regional Director assisted by two Assistant Regional Directors, one for livestock production and one for crop production.
The Bureau of Forest Development, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Bureau of Lands, and the Bureau of Mines have their regional offices established according to the Integrated Reorganization Plan and other relevant guidelines.
The Minister of Agriculture is authorized to promulgate implementing orders for the reorganization, including organizational structures and staffing patterns, and to assign existing personnel and reallocate stations and facilities to central, regional, and provincial offices with the concurrence of the Ministry of the Budget and in consultation with the Presidential Commission on Reorganization.
Presidential Decree No. 547 is repealed by PD No. 1579.