Section 3June 1, 1999, Sec./Art. 3

Chapter II, Section 16 of Republic Act No. 7916 is likewise amended to read as follows:

"Section 16. Personnel. The PEZA Board of Directors shall provide for an organization and staff of officers and employees of the PEZA, and upon recommendation of the director general with the approval of the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, appoint and fix the remunerations and other emoluments: provided, that the Board shall have exclusive and final authority to promote, transfer, assign or reassign officers of the PEZA, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding: provided, further, that the director general may carry out removal of such officers and employees.

"All positions in the PEZA shall be governed by a compensation, position classification system and qualification standards approved by the director general with the concurrence of the Board of Directors based on a comprehensive job analysis and audit of actual duties and responsibilities. The compensation plan shall be comparable with the prevailing compensation plans in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the private sector and shall be subject to periodic review by the Board no more than once every two (2) years without prejudice to yearly merit reviews or increases based on productivity and profitability.

The PEZA shall thereforee be exempt from existing laws, rules and regulations on compensation, position classification and qualification standards. It shall however endeavor to make its system conform as closely as possible with the principles under Republic Act No. 6758.

"The PEZA officers and employees including all Members of the Board shall not engage directly or indirectly in partisan activities or take part in any election, except to vote.

"No officer or employee of the PEZA subject to Civil Service laws and regulations shall be removed or suspended except for cause, as provided by law."