By virtue of the powers vested in me by law, I, Elpidio Quirino, President of the Philippines, do hereby create and constitute an interdepartmental committee, to be known as the Philippine Maritime Committee, composed of the following:

A representative of the Department of Commerce and Industry

Chairman

A representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs

Member

A representative of the Department of Finance

Member

A representative of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Member

A representative of the Department of Justice

Member

A representative of the Office of Economic Coordination

Member

A representative of the Central Bank of the Philippines

Member

The powers and functions of the Committee shall be:

(a) To serve as advisory body on maritime matters and allied activities;

(b) To study and recommend the necessary legislation for the creation of the Philippine Maritime Commission;

(c) To investigate and report on all understandings, conferences and other arrangements of and among ocean shipping lines trading in Philippine ports and/or carrying Philippine cargoes and to recommend appropriate steps for the effective enforcement of Philippine laws applicable thereto;

(d) To investigate any and all discriminatory or excessive rates, charges, classifications and practices prejudicial to Philippine interests and/or the interest of local importers, exporters and shippers of cargoes originating from, or destined for, the Philippines and to recommend appropriate measures by which such discriminatory or excessive rates, charges, classifications and practices may be corrected;

(e) To serve as liaison between the Government and any entity or organization that may be established by shippers or any other private parties for the purpose of carrying on the business either as carriers or shippers of merchandise in the domestic and foreign commerce of the Philippines;

(f) To make surveys of the bottom requirements of the Philippine export trade and to make appropriate arrangements with shipping companies to cover any deficiency;

(g) To assist Philippine producers and/or shippers in making arrangements for the shipment of their products or export.

In order to enable it to carry out its functions, the Committee or any of its members and its duly authorized representatives or agents are hereby granted all the powers of an investigating committee within the purview of section seventy-one of the Revised Administrative Code. It is also authorized to call directly upon any Department, bureau or office in the executive branch of the Government or upon any government-owned or controlled entity or agency for such assistance as the Committee may need and subject to the approval of the President of the Philippines, to requisition for, utilize and make use of, the services of their personnel.

Done in the City of Manila, this 4th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-two, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the sixth.


By the President:
(SGD.) MARCIANO ROQUE
Acting Assistant Executive Secretary