| The National Printing Office, formerly Bureau of Printing and later
renamed Government Printing Office sometime in 1972 was created as the Bureau of Public
Printing on November 7, 1901 by Philippine Commission Act No. 296. Placed under the
Department of Public Instruction, its main function was to undertake and execute all
printing requirements of the government. The Bureau went into actual operation on December
15, 1901 and the first book printed by the Bureau was the Economic Geography by Hugo A.
Miller. The head of the Bureau of Public Printing was called
Public Printer but on November 1, 1905, by the authority of the Philippine Commission Act
No. 1417, it was changed to Director of Printing. The first to hold this position was John
Sylvannus Leech who administered the Bureau by combining business with a training school
in the printing art.
The Bureau was to fall under several government offices: in 1918,
the Bureau of Printing was placed under the Department of Finance until its transfer in
1947 to the Office of the President. In 1958, the Bureau was placed under the Department
of General Services.
In the early part of 1921, the first Filipino craftsman trained by
Leech took over the administration of the Bureau. On July 18, 1921, Mr. Pablo Lucas was
appointed as the first Filipino Director.
Shortly after the war, the Bureau moved from Padre Burgos Avenue to
Port Area. During the war, on December 24, 1941, Japanese planes bombed and destroyed one
of its two buildings where eleven employees were killed and scores wounded.
When the American liberation forces came in 1945, 80 percent of the
Bureau’s equipment and supplies were destroyed. On May 9, 1948, a fire nearly
destroyed what was left of the machinery. Whatever was left were transferred to the
Bilibid Compound on Azcarraga Street. The Bureau’s operations were suspended and
later a new plant was constructed at Port Area, Manila.
On July 25, 1987, under the Revolutionary Constitution of then
President Corazon C. Aquino, the Government Printing Office was merged with the printing
unit of the Philippine Information Agency and was later placed under the Office of the
Press Secretary.
In 1990, a strong earthquake shook the already dilapidated building
of NPO which had been condemned by the Bureau of Public Works and the City of Manila.
Physically and administratively a vagabond, the Office was finally to settle on a
permanent location in the 1990’s. When former Director Lucita C. Sanchez came to the
Office, she brought the idea of searching for a government site for NPO. She extended her
best efforts to make a negotiation with the NHA and was successful to locate a 10,000 sq.
m. lot along the corner of EDSA and NIA Northside Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Likewise,
she also requested the funding for the total construction including the process of
pre-qualification bidding and awarding of construction.
With the approval of the Department of Budget and Management in
1993, the blueprint of the building came out and eventually a cornerstone was laid in June
1994, marking the start of the construction.
After a year, then Director Lucita C. Sanchez was transferred to NIB
and new Acting Director Ruben L. Tiangco was appointed by then President Fidel V. Ramos on
June 6, 1994. With his indefatigable and able leadership, he continued the completion of
said project. The actual concretization of this pump priming project is within the vision
of President Ramos’ Philippine 2000 which provides the needed infrastructure support
to all government offices in order to give efficient delivery of services to the people.
Through coordinated planning and execution of policies and proper
personal guidance, Director Tiangco had succeeded in tremendously boosting the
Bureau’s efficiency. He restored a sense of dignity in the employees and built up a
satisfying image of the Bureau through discipline, efficiency, and honesty among the
rank-and-file. His face-lifting program underscored cleanliness and sanitation in the
premises which resulted in improved working conditions and increased the efficiency of the
employees.
During the Estrada administration, a young and dynamic leader was
recommended by the outgoing Director to be promoted to the position of Director IV in the
National Printing Office. Melanio S. Torio, a former Assistant Director was finally
appointed Director IV with a rank of CESO III. A visionary man, full of vigor and
enthusiasm, Director Torio is hell bent on performing the legal mandate of the Office,
effectively and efficiently.
In the span of three (3) years, he was able to implement the second
phase of the Modernization Program by the acquisition of modern machineries and latest
computerized typesetting equipment in order to cope with the ever-increasing demands of
public as well as private requisitioners.
In terms of personnel discipline, he continuously restores a sense
of dignity in the employees by recognizing an outstanding performance of their
corresponding assigned tasks, through cash awards, citations and proper commendations.
The end result is consistently exceeding production output against
performance targets for three (3) consecutive years (1998-2001). |
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