WHEREAS, the largest group of foreign tourists ever to visit the Philippines at any time-1,200 men and women -will arrive in Manila in the afternoon of October 2, 1957, aboard the SS. Oreades of the Orient Lines;

WHEREAS, the great majority of these tourists come from Australia, symbolic ambassadors of goodwill from that great neighboring Commonwealth in the South Pacific, eager to see and learn as much as possible about our country and people;

WHEREAS, this visit of such a large number of Australians should prove to be memorable milestone in the efforts of both Filipinos and Australians to promote more intimate and more mutually profitable relations;

WHEREAS, the visitors, after seeing our country and knowing us better, can be expected to contribute more effectively in enhancing Philippine-Australian cultural, economic, and political cooperation for mutual advancement and security;

WHEREAS, the Filipino people are eager to make friends with our Australian neighbors, to assist in strengthening the ties that bind us to them and to render Philippine-Australian relations more fruitful and lasting; and

WHEREAS, it is the desire of our nation and government that our Australian guests fully enjoy courtesy, friendly attention and Philippine hospitality at its best during their sojourn in our capital city and its environs;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Carlos P. Garcia, President of the Philippines, do hereby declare October 3, 1957, as Philippine-Australian Day, during which Filipinos and Australians shall get together to mark the dawning era of closer association and unity between our two nations. I call upon, our people and all Australians residing within Philippine territory together with their common friends, particularly those in the City of Manila, to help render observance of this date memorable through appropriate means of welcoming our Australian visitors and making them feel at home on our soil. I especially call on all business, civic, and service organizations, as well as schools, both public and private, to do whatever may be within their means to bring about mutual understanding and to enhance the practical significance of increased and more intimate intercourse between the nationals of our two countries and of greater mutual helpfulness between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Commonwealth of Australia. It would be most fitting that our educational institutions devote this day to exercises calculated to advance knowledge and wider appreciation of the value of Philippine-Australian relations and of the benefits that may be derived from them.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 23rd day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-seven, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the twelfth.


By the President:

FORTUNATO DE LEON
Executive Secretary