WHEREAS, the public interest requires that the Foreign Service of the Republic be staffed by qualified personnel of established competence and integrity;

WHEREAS, in order to achieve this objective and to provide guarantees for the security of their tenure of office, it is necessary to insure that appointments of said personnel are based on merit;

WHEREAS, to preserve efficiency and maintain morale of said personnel, it is necessary that appointments, promotions and assignments in the service be based on demonstrated ability which shall be ascertained in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations;

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 708, otherwise known as the "Foreign Service Act of the Philippines" was enacted to carry out the foregoing objectives, and requires, among other things, that appointments of Foreign Affairs Officers shall be made after competitive examinations conducted by the Board of Foreign Service Examiners (Section 1(c), Part B, Title III).

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RAMON MAGSAYSAY, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby direct the Department of Foreign Affairs, the General Auditing Office, and the Bureau of Civil Service, to be hereafter guided closely by Republic Act No. 708, in conjunction with applicable civil, service rules, in the administration of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Service, particularly in the selection, promotion and assignment of its personnel and to strictly enforce the provisions of said Act.

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs is also directed to proceed as soon as possible with the organization of the Board of Foreign Service Examiners which shall enter into the immediate performance of its duties prescribed in Section 2, Part B, Title II, of the aforementioned Act.

Done in the City of Manila, this 26th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the ninth.

(Sgd.) RAMON MAGSAYSAY
President of the Philippines

By the President:
(Sgd.) FRED RUIZ CASTRO
Executive Secretary