WHEREAS, the Housing and Urban Development Team created under Memorandum Order No. 643, in cooperation with other government agencies such as the DAP and the PPDO and in consultation with the World Bank, has identified the Dagat-dagatan lagoon and its adjacent areas as a permanent relocation site for families affected by the Tondo Foreshore Urban Renewal Program;

WHEREAS, the Dagat-dagatan lagoon and the adjacent areas are planned to be developed into a residential area and an industrial/commercial complex to guarantee the economic upliftment of the residents in these areas and to provide socio-economic support to other government plans along its periphery;

WHEREAS, an initial amount of P30 million has been released to the Bureau of Public Works to start reclamation of the area;

WHEREAS, a large percentage of the areas in Dagat-dagatan lagoon is owned by private individuals;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution do hereby decree and order the creation of a Committee to Expropriate the Dagat-dagatan lagoon and its adjacent areas;

The Committee shall be composed of the following:

1.		Representative		—Chairman
			Office of the Solicitor General
2.		Gen. Gaudencio V. Tobias		—Vice-Chairman
			National Housing Corporation
3.		Representative		—Member
			Department of National Defense
4.		Representative		—Member
			Bureau of Lands
5.		Representative		—Member
			Department of Agrarian Reform
6.		Representative		—Member
			Land Registration Commission
7.		Representative		—Member
			Bureau of Public Works
8.		Representative		—Member
			Provincial Assessor's Office, Rizal
9.		Representative		—Member
			Assessor's Office, Caloocan City
10.		Representative		—Member
			Register of Deeds, Rizal and Caloocan City

The Committee shall have the following functions:

1. To conduct negotiations with the Dagat-dagatan property owners.
2. To secure offers from the owners for the properties involved and deliberate upon such offers.
3. To recommend to the Executive Secretary the manners of payment for the properties whose owners are willing to negotiate.
4. To initiate and institute necessary steps to expropriate certain private properties in the Dagat-dagatan lagoon not amenable to negotiation, according to the approved plans as denned by the Tondo Foreshore Urban Renewal Project Team.
5. To subpoena owners or their representatives to appear before the Committee whenever necessary.
6. To request any representative of any government agency to its instrumentalities to attend the Committee hearings or secure any relevant materials from them for the furtherance of the Committee's objectives.

The Committee shall submit its report to the Executive Secretary within forty-five (45) days upon effectivity of this order.

Done in the City of Manila, this 30th day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.