EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 157 February 15, 1994

ESTABLISHING A CIVIL REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR MUSLIM FILIPINOS

WHEREAS, civil registration is the systematic recording of act and events concerning the civil status of persons;

WHEREAS, civil registration is meant for all Filipinos, regardless of political affiliation or religious belief, and hence an effective tool of attaining national solidarity and unity that can spur economic recovery and growth;

WHEREAS, Muslim Filipinos have yet to be assimilated into the system of civil registration established on 27 February 1931 by Act No. 3753 because of their district customs, practices and rites;

WHEREAS, this Administration has acknowledged with much concern the problems and inconveniences encountered and experienced by Muslim Filipinos whose civil status has remained undocumented;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the establishment of a system of civil registration that considers the distinct customs, practices and rites of Muslim Filipinos, and hereby order:

Sec. 1. The Civil Registrar General shall immediately implement the rules and regulations governing the registration of acts and events concerning civil status of Muslim Filipinos as provided in Administrative Order No. 2, Series of 1993;

Sec. 2. The Civil Registrar General shall collaborate with the officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, local government units, and other government agencies and instrumentalities in the conduct of information dissemination, trainings, conferences, and seminars for city/municipal civil registrars and other civil registration personnel.

Sec. 3. The Civil Registrar General is hereby authorized to exercise such powers and perform such functions as may be necessary for the proper and effective implementation and maintenance of the system of civil registration for Muslim Filipinos.

Sec. 4. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Order, the National Statistics Office is hereby authorized to use its savings from the 1993 appropriations, and, in case of insufficiency thereof, the necessary amount shall be taken from the savings of the Office of the President.

Sec. 5. This order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 15th day of February in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety-four.