WHEREAS, among the most serious problems that confront the country today are the disputes over land between small settlers and big land owners;

WHEREAS, it is a basic policy that the government should provide greater protection and assistance to small settlers, small landholders and members of the cultural minorities;

WHEREAS, land disputes create tension between small settlers, members of the cultural minorities and other claimants and result in social unrest;

WHEREAS, there is urgent need to coordinate the activities of many different agencies involved in the implementation of land and forestry laws, as well as agencies attending to the needs of small settlers and cultural minorities, in order to obtain immediate settlement of land problems and to protect and insure justice for small settlers and members of minority groups.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, hereby create a Presidential Action Committee on Land Problems (PACLAP) to expedite and coordinate the investigation and resolution of land disputes, streamline and shorten administrative procedures, adopt bold and decisive measures to solve land problems, and/or recommend other solutions.

The Committee shall be composed of the following:

Secretary of the Agriculture and Natural Resources

Chairman

Undersecretary for Natural Resources

Action Officer

Undersecretary for Agriculture

Action Officer

Justice Undersecretary Guillermo Santos

Member

Defense Undersecretary Efren Plana

Member

PANAMIN Chairman Manuel Elizalde, Jr.

Member

PC Chief General Eduardo Garcia

Member

CNI Chairman Datu Mama Sinsuat

Member

SFC Chairman Raoul Beloso

Member

LA Deputy Governor Ernesto Valdez

Member

Agrarian Counsel Felix Diaz

Member

Lands Director Vicente A. Valdellon

Member

Forestry Director Jose Viado

Member

Mines Director Fernando Busuego, Jr.

Member

Fisheries Commissioner Andres Mane

Member

The Committee is hereby authorized to subpoena witnesses; produce records and other documents thru subpoena duces tecum; and to call for assistance from any Department, Office, Agency or instrumentality of the National Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations and local government instrumentalities, in connection with the performance of its functions, and such assistance shall forthwith be extended whenever the same is sought by the Committee.

Special releases of funds in connection with the Committee ™s functions which cannot be funded by regular appropriations is hereby authorized.

Done in the City of Manila, this 31st day of July, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy.


By the President:
(SGD.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR
Executive Secretary