1.	The AGRICOM Report upon which the AFMA was promulgated, prescribed urgent measures, one of which is the establishment of research institutes and centers, designed to modernize RDE and to hasten the delivery of services of the Department of Agriculture.
2.	In order to attain the above basic objective, the DA and its bureaus and attached agencies were restructured along functional lines through the Agricultural Bureaucracy Restructuring Plan (ABRP) created by virtue of Executive Order No. 162 and implemented by virtue of Executive Order No. 338.
3.	The PhilFruits shall be organized and managed as a semi-autonomous unit under Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agiculture (DA).
4.	The PhilFruits shall be established out of BPI's Davao National Crops Research and Development Center (Davao NCRDC), a multi-commodity center, to focus only on fruits as its main function.
5.	All facilities, experimental areas, and personnel of the BPI-Davao NCRDC are hereby transferred to the PhilFruits.
6.	The purposes and objectives of the PhilCorn shall include but not limited to the following:
	6.1  To develop, in coordination with the different DA regional research centers, State Colleges and Universities (SCUs), and the private sectors, a viable and dynamic national fruit research and development program that will strengthen, further improve or otherwise modernize a national fruit industry into a highly productive and profitable business, and that will also sustain the gains already made in tropical fruit production;   6.2   To develop and adopt cost effective and environment friendly technologies; 6.3   To improve the income and economic conditions of the industry's stakeholders, particularly the small scale fruit growers; and 6.4   To expand employment opportunities in the rural areas and ultimately promote the general welfare of the people through high productivity, commercial processing and competitive domestic and export marketing of a wide variety of high quality tropical fruits and fruit-based products.
7.	In order to pursue with the establishment and effective development of PhilFruits, an Advisory Board (AB) is hereby created composed of: Director, Bureau of Agricultural Research, as Chairman; Director of the Bureau of Plant and Industry, as Co-Chairman, and the following as members - Director of PhilFruits, DA-BART-ERT Chairman, DA-Region XI RTD for Research, farmer organization representative, corporate fruit growers representative, fruit processors/exports representative, and National Team Leader of the Fruit RDE Network.
8.	The Advisory Board shall exercise the following powers and functions, subject to review and approval of the Secretary of Agriculture:
	8.1  To define and formulate the program plans, policies, procedures and guidelines for the Institute in accordance with its purposes and objectives;  8.2   To define and prescribe the Institute's organizational structure, RDE Network and branch stations, staffing pattern and corresponding qualification standards that will be attractive to young, intelligent, dynamic, and highly committed scientists and staff; 8.3   To prepare the Institute's financial requirements consisting of capital expenditures and operational budget; 8.4   To create such committee or committees and appoint members thereof as maybe necessary or proper for the establishment and management of the Institute or for the attainment of its purposes and objectives; and 8.5  To organize a Search Committee that shall screen qualified nominees for positions of Director, Deputy Directors, and other top officials of PhilFruits, the result of which shall be submitted for approval by the Secretary of Agriculture.
9.	An initial budget of Php 45 million shall be allocated by the BAR from R & D Grants, DA's Makamasa HVCC funds of the DA as well as from other sources such as PL480 that may be deemed necessary to support the immediate establishment and operationalization of PhilFruits.
10.	All personnel of the DA as well as its bureaus and attached agencies are mandated to extend full cooperation and assistance to the PhilFruits in the performance of its functions.

Compliance herewith by all concerned is strictly enjoined.

This order shall take effect immediately.

           

(Signed) DOMINGO F. PANGANIBAN Secretary