Section 4. Section 22 of Executive Order No. 126 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SECTION 22. National Conciliation and Mediation Board. — A National Conciliation and Mediation Board, herein referred to as the "Board", is hereby created and which shall absorb the conciliation, mediation and voluntary arbitration functions of the Bureau of Labor Relations in accordance with Section 29 (c) hereof. The Board shall be composed of an Administrator and two (2) Deputy Administrators. It shall be an attached agency under the administrative supervision of the Secretary of Labor and Employment.
The Administrators and the Deputy Administrators shall be appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Secretary of Labor and Employment. There shall be as many Conciliators-Mediators as the needs of the public service require, who shall have at least three (3) years of experience in handling labor relations and who shall be appointed by the Secretary.
The Board shall have its main office in Metropolitan Manila and its Administrators shall exercise supervision over Conciliators-Mediators and all its personnel. It shall establish as many branches as there are administrative regions in the country, with as many Conciliator-Mediators as shall be necessary for its effective operation. Each branch of the Board shall be headed by an Executive Conciliator-Mediator.
The Board shall have the following functions:
Formulate policies, programs, standards, procedures, manuals of operation and guidelines pertaining to effective mediation and conciliation of labor disputes;
Perform preventive mediation and conciliation functions;
Coordinate and maintain linkages with other sectors of institutions, and other government authorities concerned with matters relative to the prevention and settlement of labor disputes;
formulate policies, plans, programs, standards, procedures, manuals of operation and guidelines pertaining to the promotion of cooperative and nonadversarial schemes, grievance handling, voluntary arbitration and other voluntary modes of dispute settlements;
Administer the voluntary arbitration program; maintain/update a list of voluntary arbitrations; compile arbitration awards and decisions;
Provide counselling and preventive mediation assistance particularly in the administration of collective agreement; awards and decisions;
Monitor and exercise technical supervision over the Board programs being implemented in the regional offices; and
Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the Secretary.
A Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council is hereby created and attached to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board. The Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council shall advise the National Conciliation Board on matters pertaining to the promotion of voluntary arbitration as the preferred mode of dispute settlement.
The Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council shall consist of the Administrator of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board as Chairman, one other member from the government, two members representing labor, and two other members representing management. The members shall be appointed by the President to serve for a term of three (3) years. The Chairman and Members thereof shall serve without compensation."