WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 6649, "The Regional Consultative Commission Act of 1988 for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao", provides that the Office of the President shall take charge of all arrangements for the convening of the said Regional Consultative Commission;

WHEREAS, the same law states that the Commission shall be convened by the President or her duly authorized representative within fifteen (15) days after the approval of the Act and that the opening session shall be held in the City of Zamboanga at 10:00 o'clock in the morning, or at such other date and place as may be fixed by the President;

WHEREAS, the law further provides that the President or her duly authorized representative shall preside at its opening session until a presiding officer is elected by the Commission;

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

SECTION 1. The Peace Commission, Office of the President, is designated to take charge of all arrangements for the convening of the Regional Consultative Commission for Muslim Mindanao;

SECTION 2. Peace Commissioner Alfredo R.A. Bengzon is duly authorized to be the representative of the President to convene the Commission and to preside at its opening session until a presiding officer is elected by the Commission.

SECTION 3. The opening session of the Commission shall be held in the City of Cotabato on March 26, 1988 at 10:00 o'clock in the morning.

SECTION 4. The Secretary of Budget and Management is directed to release to the Regional Consultative Commission, as soon as it convenes, such funds as are necessary for its operations.

SECTION 5. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of March in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight.


By the President:

(Sgd.) CATALINO MACARAIG, JR.
Executive Secretary