General Order No. 16




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ GENERAL ORDER NO. 16, November 16, 1972 ] WHEREAS, pursuant to Proclamation No. 10B1 dated September 21, 1972, martial law is in effect throughout the Philippines; WHEREAS, under General Order No. 2 dated September 22, 1972, as amended, I have ordered the Secretary of National Defense to forthwith arrest or cause the arrest and take into custody individuals who are known to have committed crimes therein defined and enumerated, or who may have committed acts inimical and injurious to our people, the Government and our national interest, and to hold then until otherwise ordered by me or by my duly authorized representative; WHEREAS, an a result of the implementation of the General Orders, a number of persons are now confined and/or detained in various camps, stockades, jails and other detention centers all over the country; WHEREAS, for n more orderly administration of the persons arrested arid detained under proclamation and General Orders, there is a need for a national organization which shall be charged with the responsibility of administering the detainees from the time of their arrest until the final disposition of their cases; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, do hereby order the Secretary of National Defense, in his capacity as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, to immediately organize by utilizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines as the nucleus of the structure, a national command that shall be responsible for the administration of detainees from, the time of their arrest to the final disposition of their cases, and in the prosecution thereof, the Secretary of National Defense is hereby authorized to utilize the existing facilities and resources of the Government and to promulgate rules and regulations pertaining thereto.ℒαwρhi৷ Done in the City of Manila, this 16th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two. (Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA Acting Executive Secretary The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation