Administrative Order No. 55

MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

[ ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 55, May 07, 1948 ]

CREATING A TECHNICAL COMMITTEE FOR THE DELIMITATION OF UNITED STATES MILITARY BASES IN THE PHILIPPINES

A committee is hereby created to give technical advice in the negotiations for the delimitation of the boundaries of United States military bases in the Philippines, in accordance with section 4, Article I, of the Military Base Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, which shall be composed of the following:

(a) A representative of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chairman

(b) Two other officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Members

(c) A representative of the Bureau of Lands Member

(d) A representative of the Bureau of Mines Member

(e) A representative of the Bureau of Forestry Member

(f) The Provincial Forester of the Province where the base is located Member

The members of the Committee shall be designated by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs upon recommendation of the Department Heads concerned.

The Committee shall undertake its work under the supervision of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To meet and confer with officials of the United States Army assigned to the same work for the purpose of ascertaining, jointly with them, the boundaries of the military bases in the Philippines which the United States Army proposes;

(b) To determine the adverse effect which the proposed boundaries of the bases will have upon Philippine interests, particularly upon the rights of private individuals and of government entities and on the overall military, land, forest, and mineral policies of the Philippines;

(c) To communicate the information gathered to their respective Department Heads and to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs;

(d) To ascertain the views and recommendations of their respective Department Heads on the matter and transmit the same to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, or his representative in the negotiations;

(e) To submit a counter proposal with appropriate reasons which will serve as basis for action on the part of the Philippine diplomatic representatives during the negotiations; and

(f) To undertake any work which the Secretary of Foreign Affairs may assign them to do in connection with the delimitation of United States military bases in the Philippines.ᇈWᑭHIL

The traveling expenses, subsistence allowances and other authorized expenses of the Committee shall be borne by the Office of the President.

Officials and employees of all departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the Government are hereby enjoined to cooperate with the Committee in the discharge of its task and to furnish to the Committee such data and information as it may need.

Done in the City of Manila, this 7th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-eight, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the second.

(Sgd.) ELPIDIO QUIRINO
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) EMILIO ABELLO
Executive Secretary

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