WHEREAS, the seat of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines is now reestablished in the City of Manila and it is necessary that the executive departments as they existed before the Japanese invasion be restored with such modifications as the exigencies of the present situation require; now

THEREFORE, I, SERGIO OSME A, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the Philippines, do hereby ordain and promulgate the following:

SECTION 1. There shall be nine executive departments, to wit: The Department of the Interior, the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, the Department of Public Works and Communications, the Department of Instruction and Information, the Department of Labor, the Department of National Defense, and the Department of Health and Public Welfare, which shall be under the direct control of the respective secretaries of department, exercising their functions subject to the general supervision and control of the President of the Philippines.

SEC. 2. The Department of the Interior shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of the Interior; the Department of Finance shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Finance; the Department of Justice shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Justice; the Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce; the Department of Public Works and Communications shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications; the Department of Instruction and Information shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Instruction and Information; the Department of Labor shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Labor; the Department of National Defense shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of National Defense; and the Department of Health and Public Welfare shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Secretary of Health and Public Welfare.

SEC. 3. The Department of Information and Public Relations, created under Executive Order No. 8-W, series of 1943, is hereby abolished and, subject to the approval of the President and if the needs of the service so require, officials and employees of this department may be transferred either to the Department of Instruction and Information in the Philippines or the Division of Information which may be created in the Office of the Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States.

SEC. 4. The provisions of Executive Order No. 15-W, series of 1944, and of any other executive order inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Done at the City of Manila, this 27th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-five, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the tenth.


By the President:
(Sgd.) JOSE S. REYES
Secretary to the President