I, Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Philippines, under authority conferred upon me by the Constitution and the existing laws, do hereby prescribe the following regulations for controlling seniority among officers commissioned in the active elements of the military forces now or hereafter to be authorized by law in the Commonwealth of the Philippines and for governing promotion of all officers below the grade of colonel therein.


1. Regular officers shall take precedence over reserve officers of like grade.

2. As soon as practicable after the initial establishment of a Regular Officer Corps in the Philippine Army, the Chief of Staff shall prepare an initial seniority list, on which shall appear the names of all officers then commissioned in the Army. When approved by the President this list shall establish permanently the relative seniority of such officers. Subject to specific exceptions occasioned by original appointments directed by the President, officers of the Philippine Constabulary and of the Philippine Army shall occupy the same relative standing among themselves in each of these categories as that obtaining at the time of transfer. Officers thereafter appointed or promoted to any grade to which appointed or promoted and seniority in such grade shall be established according to total length of service therein, except that any officer of the Army may suffer loss of seniority at any time as the result of an approved sentence of a court martial.

3. The Chief of Staff shall cause all changes occasioned by separations, appointments, loss of rank by action of court martial, and all other changes due to the operation of law or regulations to be entered on the approved seniority list, and, as corrected, this list shall be published to the Army at least once each year.


1. The number of officers to be maintained in each grade above first lieutenant in the Regular Force is regulated by law. Promotion to any of these grades may be made only when the number of officers commissioned therein shall become less than that legally authorized.

2. (a) Promotion shall not operate to change the arm or service in which an officer may be commissioned.

(b) Third lieutenants shall be promoted to the grade of second lieutenant and second lieutenant shall be promoted to the grade of first lieutenant upon the completion of two (2) and five (5) years commissioned service, respectively, but at any time that a third or second lieutenant fails, in the opinion of the Chief of Staff, to demonstrate satisfactory qualifications as an officer of the Army his name and record shall be presented to the Promotion Eligibility Board, hereinafter prescribed, for consideration as to his suitability for retention in the service. If the Board deems the officer ™s service or qualifications to be unsatisfactory, it shall so report to the President, and upon his approval of the Board ™s findings the officer concerned shall be discharged.

(c) Whenever a vacancy may occur in a grade between that of captain and colonel, inclusive, it shall be filled by promotion of the senior officer in the grade next below, except that no officer may be promoted whose name is not then borne on the promotion eligible list, hereinafter described.

Any officer whose name is not borne on the eligible list for promotion at the time that he may become due for advancement by reason of seniority shall be passed over and the next senior officer whose name is so borne on the eligible list shall be promoted. Any officer so passed over shall, upon expiration of such accrued leave as may then be due him, be separated from the active list, and, if he so requests, transferred in grade, and in the same branch or service, to the Reserve Force. He shall thereafter be eligible for promotion in the Reserve Force subject to the same examination, tests and conditions as may be prescribed by regulations or law for promotion of other reserve officers.

3. Officers separated from the active list under the provisions of paragraph two, above, shall be entitled, unless the Board shall find that the reason for such separation is due to the officer ™s own misconduct or willful failure, to a cash bonus or to retired compensation as follows:

(a) If he shall have served a total of less than ten years as a commissioned officer in the active elements of the Constabulary or the Army of the Philippines, or both, he shall receive a bonus of one month ™s base and longevity pay, as received by him at the time of his separation, for each complete year of such service.

(b) If the length of his commissioned service, as above described, shall total ten years or more, he shall be entitled, as he may elect, either to a cash bonus on the same basis as provided above for officers of less than ten years service, or to a retired pay of one and one-half per centum of his base and longevity pay, as received by him at the time of his separation from the active list, multiplied by the number of complete years he shall have served as a commissioned officer.


1. A Promotion Eligibility Board shall be appointed annually by the President.

2. Composition of the Board.-(a) The Promotion Eligibility Board shall consist of five members, of whom not less than four shall be from among the active officers of the Army not below the grade of colonel. One member may be a retired officer, not below the grade of colonel, or a civilian holding no government position of any kind, either elective or appointive.

(b) No civilian may serve on a Promotion Eligibility Board more than once.

(c) Not more than one military member may serve on two successive Boards, and any member serving on two successive Boards may not serve on another Board within three years.

(d) Neither the Chief of Staff nor the Deputy Chief of Staff may be a member of any Board.

3. Information and assistance furnished to Board.-

(a) The Chief of Staff shall cause to be furnished to the Board the seniority list of the Army, completely corrected to date, together with an estimate of the number of vacancies likely to occur in each grade during the ensuing year. He shall provide such office supplies and clerical assistance as may be required by the Board and an officer to serve, without vote, as its secretary. He shall make available to the Board the complete official records of all officers on the active list of the Army, except that no document or record that has, during an officer ™s service, emanated from any source other than his properly constituted military or civil superiors shall be submitted to, or considered by, the Board.

4. Duties and procedure of the Board.-(a) The Chairman of the Board shall be designated by the President. All decisions shall be designated by the President. All decisions shall be reached by majority vote.

(b) The Board shall consider recommendations of the Chief of Staff pertaining to the discharge of third and second lieutenants.

(c) It shall determine annually the eligibility for promotion of officers between the grades of first lieutenant and lieutenant colonel, inclusive. It shall consider first the suitability for promotion of the senior officer in each grade, and shall proceed progressively to consideration of the name of the next senior until the number of individuals it shall have listed as eligible for promotion shall be double the number of vacancies estimated by the Chief of Staff as likely to occur in the next higher grade during the ensuing calendar year.

(d) Should the Board omit from the eligible list the name of any officer who has been found by the preceding Eligibility Board to be qualified for promotion to the next higher grade, it shall submit to the President a special report setting forth clearly the reasons for this omission. It shall promptly forward a copy of this special report, through the Chief of Staff, to the officer concerned, who shall have the right to appeal, in writing, to the President. Such appeals shall be submitted through the Chief of Staff, and may be accompanied by documentary supporting evidence. The President ™s decision shall be final.

(e) In determining eligibility there shall be weighed by the Board the individual ™s professional efficiency, experience, accomplishments, attitude, and ability; and his character and general value to the Government. No weight shall attach to any political, social, financial or any other factor not military in nature. Whenever an officer ™s physical qualifications are called into question, the case shall be referred, through the Adjutant General, to a Board for determination of physical fitness.

(f) The decisions and proceedings of Eligibility Boards shall be confidential. Complete reports shall be submitted to the President at the earliest practicable date after their completion. Subject to such modifications as may be made by the President under the provisions of subparagraph (d) of this paragraph, the names of officers reported by the Board as eligible for promotion shall constitute for the several grades the promotion eligibility lists. These shall be published to the service and remain unchanged during the calendar year to which they apply.

Done at the City of Manila, this eleventh day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the first.


By the President:

TEOFILO SISON
Secretary of the Interior