Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Queson City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 1769

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The bill proposes the creation of the Philippine Seaweed Development Authority
(PSDA) tasked to formulate and adopt a Seaweed Industry Development
Masterplan. The Masterplans aims to promote the rapid and integrated growth
and development of the seaweed industry in all its aspects, and to ensure that the
seaweed farmers become direct participants in, and beneficiaries of such
progress.

The Philippines has always been a major exporter of seaweed products. In fact,
we used to be the largest exporter of raw seaweed in the world until Indonesia
surpassed our production 10 years ago. The Seaweed Industry Association of the
Philippines (SIAP) reported that while the price and demand for seaweed products
have remained high, the country's production has been in steady decline. In 2004,
the industry generated about $158 million in exports. Aside from this, the country
was also exporting other seaweed products, mucilage and other algae valued at
US$410 million. Come 2016, the revenues went down to only $57 million.
Additionally, while it used to command manpower of 250,000, the workforce has
now gone down to 120,000 seaweed farmers.

Last year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) expressed its commitment to
reignite the seaweed industry in the Philippines by crafting the country's seaweed


roadmap. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) now targets to
increase seaweed production by at least five percent annually from 2017-2022. In
light of these recent developments, this Representation believes that an
institutionalized body such as the Philippine Seaweed Development Authority is
needed to jumpstart this initiative, and ensure the fruition of our targets.

In light of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is humbly sought

LUIS UND. Y” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Queson City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bit wo._1780

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT
CREATING THE PHILIPPINE SEAWEED DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND
DEFINING ITS OBJECTIVES, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Seaweed
Development Authority Act of 2018."

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared to be the policy of the
State to promote the rapid, integrated development and growth of the seaweed
industry in all its aspects and to ensure that the seaweed farmers become direct
participants in, and beneficiaries of, such development and growth.

Consonant to this policy, the State shall ensure the development of the seaweed
industry in accordance with the following principles:

A. Protection from Unfair Competition. - The State shall protect small farmers
from unfair competition such as monopolistic and oligopolistic practices by
promoting a policy environment that provides them priority access to credit and
strengthened cooperative-based marketing system. Any joint venture with foreign
Investors shall be consistent with the constitutional provision that at least sixty per
centum of the investment shall be owned by Filipinos.

B. Global Competitiveness. - The State shall enhance the competitiveness of the
seaweed industry sector in both domestic and foreign markets.


C. Sustainable Development. —- The State shall promote development that is
compatible with the conservation of the ecosystems in areas where seaweed
production activities are carried out. Judicious use of the country’s natural
resources shall be exercised in order to attain long-term sustainability.

D. Poverty Alleviation and Social Equity. - The State shall ensure that the poor
sectors of society have equitable access to resources, income opportunities,
basic and support services and infrastructure, especially in areas where
productivity is low, as a means of improving their quality of life.

E. Rational Use of Resources. — The State shall adopt a rational approach in the
allocation of public investments in the seaweed industry in order to ensure
efficiency and effectiveness in the use of scarce resources, and thus obtain
optimal returns on its investments.

F. People empowerment. - The State shall promote people empowerment by

jabling all citizens through direct participation or through their duty elected,
chosen or designated representatives, the opportunity to participate in policy
formulation and decision-making by establishing the appropriate mechanisms and
by giving them access to information.

SECTION 3. Creation of the Philippine Seaweed Development Authority - To
implement and attain the declared state policy and consistent with the principles
enumerated above, there is hereby created the Philippine Seaweed Development
Authority, hereinafter referred to as Authority, directly reporting to, and supervised
by, the Department of Agriculture.

SECTION 4. Principal Office - The Authority shall maintain its administrative
principal office in Zamboanga City and shall establish its main research and
development center in the Province of Sulu. It may establish branches and other
research or marketing centers in other parts of the country as may be necessary
for the proper conduct of operations.

SECTION 5. Statement of Objectives. - The Authority shall have the following
objectives:

A. To ensure profits and incomes in the seaweed farming, by ensuring equitable
access to assets, resources and services, and promoting value-added
processing;

B. To encourage and promote people empowerment by strengthening people's
organizations, cooperatives and non-government organizations of seaweed
farmers and by establishing and improving mechanisms and resources for their
participation in government decision-making and implementations;

©. To pursue a market driven approach to enhance the comparative advantage of


our seaweed industry in the world market;

D. To encourage the seaweed farming sector to continuously develop new
value-added or processed seaweed products in order to minimize the marketing
of raw, unfinished or unprocessed products; and

E. To

provide social and economic adjustment measures that increase

productivity and improve market efficiency while ensuring the protection and
preservation of the environment and equity for small farmers and fisherfolk.

SECTION 6, Power and Function. — To carry out its objectives, the Authority
shall have the following powers and functions:

A
B.

Prescribe, repeal, and ainend ils own by-laws,

Formulate and adopt a Seaweed Industry Development Masterplan
overcoming a 5-year term at a time, subject to yearly monitoring, evaluation
and review;

Establish, operate and maintain one central seaweed industrial processing
plant and other support services within the premises of its main research
and development center. Whenever necessary and practicable, it shall
establish seaweed industrial processing plants in other major producing
provinces geared toward the development of the seaweed industry
Furthermore, farmers shall be encouraged to partly own the processing
plant in to encourage them to increase seaweed production;

. Encourage and promote the exportation of seaweed and its value-added

products by establishing and undertaking measures to enforce standards
for domestic trade and export of seaweed and seaweed products within
globally acceptable practices and market price;

. Review, revise, align, and thereafter, integrate into the Seaweed Industry

Development Masterplan, the existing policies, projects and activities of all
other government agencies contributing to attainment of the objectives of
the Authority;

. Institutionalize seaweed research and development devoted to

improvement of the quality of seaweed, its adaptation to climate and
environmental changes, and its various ~— applications, by
designating/establishing seaweed research and experiment stations, and
sub-stations in strategic locations nationwide, as deemed necessary;

The Authority shall ensure that sufficient budgetary allocation is available
for the operations of the seaweed research and experimental stations and


sub-stations enabling them to conduct all researches, tests and
experiments needed for the development of the industry;

Ensure that seaweed farmers’ organizations have direct access to markets;

Facilitate the access of farmers to credit by encouraging private lending
institutions to provide loans at affordable interest rate;

. Receive grants from any source, domestic or foreign, public or private, in

accordance with existing laws;

. Adopt and use a corporate seal;

. Sue and be sued;

Have continuous succession until dissolved by law; and

N. Exercise all the general powers conferred by law upon corporations as and

incidental or conducive to the attainment of the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 7. Board of Directors of the Authority. - The corporate powers of the
Authority shall be vested in and exercised by a Board of Directors herein after
referred to as the Boards, to be composed of the following:

A

B.

mn

Secretary of the Department of Agriculture as Chairman,
Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry as Vice-Chairman;

Director, University of the Philippines-Diliman Marine Science Institute as
Member;

National President, League of Cities as Member;

. National President, League of Municipalities as Member;

. President, Land Bank of the Philippines (and/or other government financing

institution/s as Member/s);

Two (2) representatives of seaweed farmers’ organization/s — one (1)
fepresenting Luzon; one (1) representing Visayas; and one (1)
representing Mindanao, as Members;

Two (2) representatives of the national organization of the seaweed
processing and exporting sector as Members.

The representatives of the private sector shall be appointed by the


President of the Republic; upon recommendation of the sector they
represent, and shall serve for a term of four (4) years.

. Only citizens of the Philippines shall be appointed Board Members of the

Authority. In case of vacancy, the appointed successor shalll serve only the
unexpired portion of the term of his predecessor.

. The Board Directors that belong to the Government Sector may appoint

their respective regular representatives to the Board provided these
representatives belong to the top three (3) ranks in their respective
agencies.

. The Board Directors shall meet regularly at least once every quarter or as

often as it deems necessary. At least six (6) members shall constitute a
quorum. The Board may be convoked by the Chairperson or Vice
Chairperson. The Board of Directors shall each receive a per diem of Ten
Thousand Pesos (P10, 000.00) for every session attended, but in no case
shall be the total thereof exceed Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20, 000.00)
per month.

SECTION 8. Powers and Duties of the Board — The Board shall have the
following powers and duties:

A.

Formulate and adopt policies, plans and programs and prescribe or
promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement
the intent and provisions of this Act.

Enter into, make and execute contracts of any kind as may be necessary or
incidental to the attainment of the purposes of this Act.

. Approve the budget of the Authority and to determine the reasonable

compensation of its personnel consistent with the provisions of R.A. 6758
"The Salary Standardization Law’;

Establish policies and guidelines for employment on the basis of merit,
technical competence and moral character, and approve a staffing pattern
of personnel defining their powers and duties subject to Civil Service laws,
rules and regulations;

. Review and approve the appointment of personnel! of the Authority from the

rank of division chief or higher;

. Exercise final authority where the penalty imposed is suspension of thirty

(30) days or more;

Exercise such other powers as may be necessary and proper for the


effective enforcement of this Act and its implementing rules and
regulations.

SECTION 9. Management - The Management of the Authority and the general
conduct of its operations shall be vested in the General Manager who shall serve
as the Chief Executive Officer. The General Manager shall be a natural-born
Filipino citizen, at least thirly (30) years old, and a person of known integrity and

competence in technical and administrative fields related to the purposes of this
Act.

He shall be appointed by the President of the Republic for a term of four (4) years
and may be re-appointed once for another term.

He shall receive a salary to be determined by the Board in accordance with the
Salary Standardization Law.

He shall have the following powers and duties:

A.) Execute and administer the policies, plans, programs and rules and
regulations approved and/or promulgated by the Board;

B.) Submit for the consideration of the Board such policies, plans and programs
as he/she deems necessary to carry out this Act;

C.) Direct and supervise the operation and internal administration of the Authority,
including imposition of disciplinary actions among the Authority's personnel;

D.) Appoint or promote employees of the Authority subject to the confirmation of
the Board;

E,) Transfer, assign, re-assign employees of the Authority as the exigencies of the
service may require and approve penalties in administrative cases involving
suspension of thirty (30) days or more;

F.) Exercise final authority on administrative cases involving personnel of the
Authority where the penalty imposed is suspension of thirty (30) days or more;

G) Exercise such other powers as may be necessary and proper for the effective
enforcement of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.

SECTION 10. Assistance from Other Government Entities. - The Local
Government Units (LGUs), the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and
all other government agencies concerned shall extend the necessary assistance
and support to the Authority, particularly by including the development of the


seaweed industry in their coastal resource management plans and programs.

SECTION 11. Rules and Regulations. — The Department of Agriculture shall,
within ninety (90) days from the approval of this Act, formulate the necessary rules
and regulations for the implementation of this Act.

SECTION 12. Funding Requirement. — The initial funding requirement of the
Authority shall be determined by the Department of Agriculture and shall be
lodged against the Department's budget for the year following the approval of this
Act. Thereafter, the Authority shall submit, through the Department of Agriculture,
its yearly funding requirement for inclusion in the National Expenditure Program of
the government in accordance with government policies, rules and regulations.

SECTION 43. Separability Ciause. — if any part or provision of this Act shali be
held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected
thereby shall remain in full force and effect,

SECTION 14. Repeating Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders,
proclamation, rules and regulations, and other issuances, or parts thereof which
are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SECTION 15. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
Publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of
general circulation.

Approved,