WHEREAS, the United Nation Security Council adopted Resolution No, 697 (1991) holding Iraq liable under international law for any direct loss, damage, or injury to foreign Governments, nationals and corporations for its invasion of Kuwait, and authorized the creation of a fund to pay compensation claims;

WHEREAS, the Security Council further adopted Resolution No. 692 (1991) which formally established the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) to be administered by a Governing Council based in Geneva;

WHEREAS, in the light of the above developments, there is an urgent need for the Philippine Government to establish a body that shall undertake information dissemination; accept, verify and process all claims/ applications by any Filipino contract worker or company or agency; and submit the same to the said U.N. Compensation Commission;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. There is hereby constituted a Philippine Claims and Compensation Committee, hereinafter referred to as the Committee, composed of the following:

Secretary of Foreign Affairs	. . . . . . . . . . Chairman
Secretary of Labor and Employment	. . . . . . . . . . Vice-chairman
Secretary of Justice	. . . . . . . . . . Member
Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines	. . . . . . . . . . Member
Director General Philippine Information Agency	. . . . . . . . . . Member

SEC. 2. The Committee shall have the following functions and responsibilities for the reparation for damages, deaths, injuries and losses suffered by individuals, companies and government as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait:

1. Disseminate information on the guidelines, rules and regulations on the filing of claims for compensation;
   
   
2. Distribute United Nations Compensation Commission claim forms to Filipino nationals, corporations, and government agencies and assist in the preparation thereof;
   
   
3. Receive, verify, process and consolidate all claims;
   
   
4. Submit to and follow-up with the United Nations Compensation Commission all duly processed claims/ applications; and
   
   
5. Accept and receive on behalf of all Philippine claimants, all payments approved by the United Nations Compensation Commission and ensure immediate transmittal/distribution to claimants, their assignees or successors-in-interest.

The Committee shall be assisted by a Secretariat to be staffed, on a full-time basis, by personnel from the member agencies. The Committee shall determine the location of the Secretariat's office.

SEC. 3. The amount of Two Million Pesos (P2,000,000.00) for the operations of the Committee and its Secretariat shall be charged against the Contingency Fund or any other appropriate lump sum fund in the 1951 General Appropriations Act as may be determined by the Department of Budget and Management, subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations.

SEC. 4. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila this 21st day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.

By the President:

(Sgd.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON
Executive Secretary