WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 193 issued on 02 August 1994, established under the Office of the President, the WTO/AFTA Advisory Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Commission for brevity, to undertake, among others, the identification and the recommendation of the appropriate strategies and measures for advancing, promoting, and/or defending the interests of the Philippines in the new rule-based international and regional trading arrangements under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the ASEAN FREE TRADE AREA (AFTA), respectively;

WHEREAS, the Commission has been providing the venue where the private sector representatives in the Commission can discuss and recommend the courses of action that the government should undertake in order to make the policies relevant to the needs of the private sector;

WHEREAS, the Philippines is actively involved in the activities of the fast-emerging regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, now known as the ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION or APEC;

WHEREAS, the WTO, AFTA, and APEC have the common objective of improving the lives of the peoples of the participating countries through the continued liberalization of trade in the agricultural, the industrial, and the services sectors;

WHEREAS, it is to the highest interest of the Philippines that activities of all the various government agencies and the private sector are coordinated as well as integrated in order to attain at the soonest, the enhancement of the Philippines ™ competitiveness in the agricultural, industrial and the service sectors;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. INCLUSION OF APEC. The Commission shall, in addition to addressing the concerns of the Philippines in the WTO and the AFTA pursuant to Sec. 3 of E.O. 193, s. 1994, include the concerns relative to our participation in APEC.

SEC. 2. COMPOSITION. The members of the Commission, on the part of the government as provided for in Sec. 2 of the E.O. 193, s. 1994, shall be the same.

SEC. 3. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. The provisions of this Order are hereby declared to be separable, and in the event of any provision or part thereof is declared to be unconstitutional, the other provisions or parts thereof which are not affected shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 4. REPEALING CLAUSE. Any Order, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof, inconsistent with this Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE. This Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 10th day of April in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary