By virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and the authority granted by Republic Act No. 422, I, Elpidio Quirino, President of the Philippines, do hereby direct:

SECTION 1. Under the administrative supervision of the Secretary of National Defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall be divided into five major commands as follows:

(a) Philippine Constabulary
(b) Philippine Ground Force
(c) Philippine Naval Patrol
(d) Philippine Air Force
(e) Philippine Service Command

SEC. 2. All the five major commands shall be under the direct command of the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The Philippine Constabulary shall continue to perform its present duties as a national police force, under the operational control of the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 3. The commander of each major command shall have the powers generally conferred upon the chiefs of bureaus and offices,

SEC. 4. The Office of the Commanding General, Armed Forces of the Philippines, shall consist of the Commanding General, the Deputy Commanding General, and such assistants as may be necessary with the approval of the President. Any mention of the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, in any existing law, rule or regulation shall hereafter be understood to refer to the Commanding General and Deputy Commanding General, Armed Forces of the Philippines, respectively.

SEC. 5. The Philippine Service Command shall be responsible for the following:

(1) The procurement, custody, shipment, warehousing, issue, sale of, and accounting for, all supplies including food, fuel, clothing medicines, general stores and other property and services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines;

(2) The coordination of the operation of the Armed Forces supply system and the performance of supply functions within that system, with the advice of the Commanders of the major commands;

(3) The keeping of money and property accounts of the Armed Forces to include appropriation and cost accounting of all military activities and cost inspection under all other types of cost contracts including audits of books and records of contractors;

(4) Authorizing and controlling the transportation of the Armed Forces property and of authorized baggage of armed forces personnel ;

(5) Chartering merchant vessels for transportation purposes and procuring, operating and administering cargo terminal facilities to include the procuring and assigning of stevedores;

(6) The design, development, procurement, manufacture, distribution, maintenance, repair, alteration and material effectiveness of all ordnance equipment, the research therein and all pertinent functions relating thereto including the control, storage and terminal facilities for, and the storage and issue of ammunition, and ammunition details;

(7) The procurement, custody, warehousing and issue of signal equipment and supplies and the coordination of signal communications between major commands;

(8) The safeguarding of the health of personnel in the Armed Forces, providing care for the sick and injured, providing medical and dental attendance to retired Armed Forces personnel, to dependents of persons in the Armed Forces and to civilian employees who suffer injury and become sick while at work, and all pertinent matters relating thereto;

(9) The design, planning, development, procurement, construction, alteration, cost estimates and inspection of all construction projects and public utilities in the Armed Forces including the repair thereof;

(10) The acquisition and disposal of real estate and he maintenance of records thereof, and the custody of real property no longer required for the use to which assigned;

(11) Making an annual survey and estimating the funds required for the maintenance of buildings and other structures, public utilities, construction, transportation submitting appropriate recommendations in connection therewith to the responsible Commander having management and control;

(12) Coordinating the procurement of utility services required by the various installations of the Armed Forces;

(13) Maintaining a record of the location of all vehicles of the Armed Forces.

SEC. 6. A General Military Council is hereby created to be composed of the Commanding General, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and all the Commanders of the major commands to advise the Secretary of National Defense on the administrative and operational functions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

SEC.7. The current appropriations for the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall be adjusted by the Secretary of National Defense with the approval of the President.

This Order shall take effect upon its promulgation.

Done in the City of Baguio, this 30th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the fourth.


By the President:
(SGD.) TEODORO EVANGELISTA
Executive Secretary