WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9187 has declared the 30th of June each year as Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day, to commemorate the cultural and historical ties, friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and Spain,

WHEREAS, the event has been declared a national special working holiday and a non-working holiday in Aurora Province;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 3 of said Act, the National Historical Institute (NHI) shall be responsible for the formulation of the implementing rules and regulations necessary for the proper execution thereof;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 4 of said Act, an Inter-Agency Committee shall be tasked to organize activities in commemoration of this day.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Implementation. The National Historical Institute (NHI), shall be responsible for the implementation of this Administrative Order.

SEC. 2. Inter-Agency Committee. The Inter-Agency Committee as provided for in Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9187 is composed of the following:ammy

Secretary of Foreign Affairs	-	Chairman
Executive Director of the National Historical Institute	-	Co-Vice Chair
Mayor, Baler, Aurora	-	Co-Vice Chair
Undersecretary, DOT for Tourism Promotions	-	Member
Undersecretary, DepEd	-	Member
Chairperson, NCCA	-	Member
Chairperson, Department of History University of the Philippines, Diliman	-	Member
Phil. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain	-	Ex-officio member
Spanish Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines	-	Ex-officio member

SEC. 3. Functions of the Committee. The functions of the Committee are the following:

1. The Chairman, through the Secretariat, may issue all corresponding orders and instructions to ensure proper planning and implementation of commemorative activities.
2. The Committee may organize sub-committees, as may be necessary, to form working groups to properly implement proposed activities.
3. The Committee can call upon other private and public agencies to provide technical and logistic support for the success of the activities.
4. The Committee can create an Advisory Board for the planning of work programs and approval of projects for this purpose. The Committee may invite prominent personages to sit in the said board.

SEC. 4. Meeting of the Committee. The Committee shall meet once every quarter. The Committee, however, may meet as often as may be required by the Chairman with a regular quorum of five (5) members. With less than five (5) members, the Committee may meet as an Executive Committee.

SEC. 5. Secretariat. The National Historical Institute (NHI), pursuant to Section 3 of R. A. 9187, shall serve as the Secretariat for the Inter-Agency Committee and shall provide the technical and administrative support. The Department of Foreign Affairs staff shall be assigned as members of the Secretariat. The NHI Executive Director is authorized to convene meetings of the Secretariat on regular basis.

SEC. 6. Funding. The Committee, through the Secretariat, shall prepare the annual budget of FIFTEEN MILLION PESOS (15,000,000) for the celebration of the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day. The fund shall be provided under the annual budget of the National Historical Institute in the General Appropriations Act. Thirty percent (30%) of the fund shall be earmarked for research and development.

SEC 7. Effectivity. This Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 30th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Three.

By the President:

(Sgd.) ALBERTO G. ROMULO
Executive Secretary