EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 229, April 07, 2000

AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 490, SERIES OF 1998, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "ESTABLISHING THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE IN MANILA OF THE MANILA ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE AND TRANSFERRING THE SUPERVISION OVER ITS OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS"

WHEREAS, on 17 July 1998, Executive Order No. 4 was issued, amending among other provisions, Section 4 of Executive Order No. 490, series of 1998, thereby transferring to the Office of the President the operational supervision and control over the principal office in Manila of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and its branch offices in Taiwan;

WHEREAS, public interest and security considerations and the imperatives of the One-China Policy require that the administrative relationship of the Office of the President and MECO be redefined;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the law do hereby order:

Section 1. Section 4 of Executive Order No. 490, as amended by Executive Order No. 4, series of 1998, otherwise known as "ESTABLISHING THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE IN MANILA OF THE MANILA ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE AND TRANSFERRING THE SUPERVISION OVER THE OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS", is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4. OPERATIONAL SUPERVISION. Supervision over the principal office in MANILA of the MECO and its branch offices in Taiwan is hereby placed under the Office of the President. The Office of the Executive Secretary shall exercise supervision over the MECO. To ensure the proper implementation of this administrative arrangement, the Senior Deputy Executive Secretary shall sit in the MECO Board as Director."

Section 2. All orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 3. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 7th day of April, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand.

(Sgd.) JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA

By the President:

RONALDO B. ZAMORA

Executive Secretary