EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 251, July 31, 1970

CREATING A PRESIDENTIAL ACTION COMMITTEE ON LAND PROBLEMS

WHEREAS, among the most serious problems that confront the country today are the disputes over land between small settlers and big landowners;

WHEREAS, it is a basic policy that the government should provide greater protection and assistance to small settlers, small landholders and members of the cultural minorities;

WHEREAS, land disputes create tension between small settlers, members of the cultural minorities, and other claimants and result in social unrest;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to coordinate the activities of many different agencies involved in the implementation of land and forestry laws, as well as agencies attending to the needs of small settlers and cultural minorities, in order to obtain immediate settlement of land problems and to protect and ensure justice for small settlers and members of minority groups.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, hereby create a Presidential Action Committee on Land Problems (PACLAP) to expedite and coordinate the investigation and resolution of land disputes, streamline and shorten administrative procedures, adopt bold and decisive measures to solve land problems, and/or recommend other solutions.

The Committee shall be composed of the following:

Secretary of the Agriculture and Natural Resources	Chairman
Undersecretary for Natural Resources	Action Officer
Undersecretary for Agriculture	Action Officer
Justice Undersecretary Guillermo Santos	Member
Defense Undersecretary Efren Plana	Member
PANAMIN Chairman Manuel Elizalde, Jr.	Member
PC Chief General Eduardo Garcia	Member
CNI Chairman Datu Mama Sinsuat	Member
SFC Chairman Raoul Beloso	Member
LA Deputy Governor Ernesto Valdez	Member
Agrarian Counsel Felix Diaz	Member
Lands Director Vicente A. Valdellon	Member
Forestry Director Jose Viado	Member
Mines Director Fernando Busuego, Jr.	Member
Fisheries Commissioner Andres Mane	Member

The Committee is hereby authorized to subpoena witnesses; produce records and other documents through subpoena duces tecum; and call for assistance from any Department, Office, Agency or instrumentality of the National Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations and local government instrumentalities, in connection with the performance of its functions, and such assistance shall forthwith be extended whenever the same is sought by the Committee.

Special releases of funds in connection with the Committee’s functions that cannot be funded by regular appropriations are hereby authorized.

Done in the City of Manila, this 31st day of July, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy.

(SGD.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the Philippines

By the President:

(SGD.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Executive Secretary