WHEREAS, it is necessary that the movements of non-tactical aircraft (civil and military) be coordinated and regulated during a military emergency in order to insure complete control of all air traffic over the Philippines;

WHEREAS, all agencies operating over our air space should learn to function smoothly under this control in time of peace so that local air defense forces will be able to operate immediately and effectively in time of war;

WHEREAS, immediate identification of hostile aircraft is of paramount importance for an effective air defense and is made possible through current knowledge of the movements of friendly aircraft; and

WHEREAS, the initial step in the organization of an effective air defense system for the Philippines is the designation of an Identification Zone wherein aircraft in flight shall be subject to identification, location and control;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Elpidio Quirino, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby direct:

1. The Civil Aeronautics Administrator shall immediately establish the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone, hereinafter referred to as PADIZ.

2. The Civil Aeronautics Administrator shall, in coordination with the representatives of the Philippine Air Force and in consultation with representatives of the Armed Forces of the United States, fix and publish the metes and bounds of the PADIZ, prescribe rules and regulations governing air traffic control and aircraft identification procedures within PADIZ, both for normal and military emergency conditions, which shall become operative upon approval by the Secretary of Commerce and Industry and the Secretary of National Defense.

Done in the City of Manila, this 21st day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the eighth.


By the President:

(Sgd.) MARCIANO ROQUE
Acting Executive Secretary