Executive Order No. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987, is the basic law governing the organization and structure of the national government. It is divided into the following books:
(a) Book I – sovereignty and general provisions;
(b) Book II – the distribution of powers of government;
(c) Book III- the Office of the President;
(d) Book IV – the executive branch of government;
(e) Book V – the Constitutional Commissions;
(f) Book VI – national government budgeting; and
(g) Book VII – administrative procedure.
The Administrative Code of 1987 replaced the 1917 Administrative Code, which was promulgated when the Philippines was still a colony of the United States. Efforts were made in the 1970s to overhaul the 1917 Administrative Code, which efforts resulted in the drafting of the Administrative Code of 1978. However, the Administrative Code of 1978 was never published and was later expressly repealed.