[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 362, August 15, 1941 ]
PRESCRIBING RULES AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE CONDUCT OF PERSONS DURING OBSCURATION OF LIGHTS (BLACKOUTS) AND DURING AIR RAIDS
Pursuant to the powers vested in me under Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred, as amended by Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred and twenty, and upon recommendation of the National Emergency Commission, I, MANUEL L. QUEZON, President of the Philippines, do hereby order that:
1. When the National Emergency Commission created under the provisions of Executive Order Numbered Three hundred and thirty-five, dated April 1, 1941, shall have given notice that there shall be obscuration of lights (blackout) for protection against air raid, ever person within the area designated by said Commission shall comply with the following requirements between sunset and sunrise during the duration of such obscuration of lights shall have been terminated:
(a) All exterior lights, except from lighthouse and lighted aids to navigation, such as lights coming from street lamps, automobiles, tracks, railroad locomotives, and other vehicles on the highways or on rails, and traffic signals except those authorized by competent authority, as well as those burning of lighted outside of buildings, houses and structures of all kinds, or upon billboards and electric signs and in, upon of around show windows shall be extinguished. Vehicles of all kinds may be allowed to be or continue in motion as long as their lights are covered with thick masks or shields which prevent the upward glare of light from them.
(b) All interior lights, such as lights within buildings, houses, and structures of all kinds, privately owned or of public ownership, shall likewise be extinguished: Provided, That where light is needed inside said buildings, houses or structures, such light shall be screened from view so that only a downward ray would be obtained or the said light shall be shaded by appropriate blinds, curtains or dark painting upon the windows, doors and other apertures of the said building, house or other structure.
(c) Lighthouses and lighted aids to navigation shall be extinguished upon order of the proper local authority under general regulations of the Chief of the Lighthouse Service, waving due regard to the safety of vessels underway.
(d) No person shall kindle day fire out-of-doors or flash any kind of light, artificial or otherwise, or do anything that will produce flame, sparks or glare.
(e) No person shall spread false alarms or commit any act which may create confusion, disorder or panic.
2. (a) Upon the sounding of the air-raid alarm by Air Raid Warning Service to broadcast the coming of any enemy air raid, the provisions of paragraph 1 hereof shall immediately become affective, if not already in effect, and shall so continue until otherwise expressly ordered; and all vehicles, whether motor or electrically driven or animal drawn, shall immediately be put up to and stop at, the sides of streets, alleys, and thoroughfares, as the case may be, and shall be placed at a standstill, until the all clear signal is sounded, after which such vehicles may resume normal movement under the obscured lighting (blackout) provision: Provided, That automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles belonging to, or operated by, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Army or Navy, the Constabulary, or any emergency unit of the Government, as well as those belonging to, or operated by, electronic, telephone, telegraph, and water services, hospitals and physicians responding to emergency calls may continue running on the highways, streets, and thoroughfares all their lights are screened to avoid upward glare.
(b) Upon the sounding of the air-raid alarm , water craft of all types shall immediately extinguish all lights except the red and green side lights of craft which are underway, which shall immediately be shielded so as to avoid upward glare. All water craft underway shall immediately anchor or moor in the nearest available location and, as soon as safety permits, shall turn off the red and green side lights.
(c) All persons, not officially connected with the operations of war or of civilian relied, shall stay away from open spaces, streets, alleys and thoroughfares and shall keep under cover from the moment of the sending of the air-raid alarm up to the moment of this sounding of the all clear signal, after which the populace can resume the normal course of their activities under the obscured lighting (blackout) provisions.
3. The National Air Raid Warden shall, from time to time, issue the necessary instructions so as to make effective the purposes of this Order.
4. The provisions of this Executive Order shall apply, in the interest of preparation for an emergency, to all obscuration of lights (blackouts) ordered by the National Emergency Commission for the purpose of training the population in respect of air-raid precautions or for testing devices for enabling movement of traffic to continue in unlighted streets, alleys and thoroughfares.
5. The provisions of this Executive Order shall not apply to operations of the armed forces of the United States and of the Philippines or to acts done pursuant to orders of competent officers of such forces.
6. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.
Done at the City of Manila, this 15th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-one, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the sixth.
By the President:
(Sgd.) JORGE B. VARGAS
Secretary to the President
1. When the National Emergency Commission created under the provisions of Executive Order Numbered Three hundred and thirty-five, dated April 1, 1941, shall have given notice that there shall be obscuration of lights (blackout) for protection against air raid, ever person within the area designated by said Commission shall comply with the following requirements between sunset and sunrise during the duration of such obscuration of lights shall have been terminated:
(a) All exterior lights, except from lighthouse and lighted aids to navigation, such as lights coming from street lamps, automobiles, tracks, railroad locomotives, and other vehicles on the highways or on rails, and traffic signals except those authorized by competent authority, as well as those burning of lighted outside of buildings, houses and structures of all kinds, or upon billboards and electric signs and in, upon of around show windows shall be extinguished. Vehicles of all kinds may be allowed to be or continue in motion as long as their lights are covered with thick masks or shields which prevent the upward glare of light from them.
(b) All interior lights, such as lights within buildings, houses, and structures of all kinds, privately owned or of public ownership, shall likewise be extinguished: Provided, That where light is needed inside said buildings, houses or structures, such light shall be screened from view so that only a downward ray would be obtained or the said light shall be shaded by appropriate blinds, curtains or dark painting upon the windows, doors and other apertures of the said building, house or other structure.
(c) Lighthouses and lighted aids to navigation shall be extinguished upon order of the proper local authority under general regulations of the Chief of the Lighthouse Service, waving due regard to the safety of vessels underway.
(d) No person shall kindle day fire out-of-doors or flash any kind of light, artificial or otherwise, or do anything that will produce flame, sparks or glare.
(e) No person shall spread false alarms or commit any act which may create confusion, disorder or panic.
2. (a) Upon the sounding of the air-raid alarm by Air Raid Warning Service to broadcast the coming of any enemy air raid, the provisions of paragraph 1 hereof shall immediately become affective, if not already in effect, and shall so continue until otherwise expressly ordered; and all vehicles, whether motor or electrically driven or animal drawn, shall immediately be put up to and stop at, the sides of streets, alleys, and thoroughfares, as the case may be, and shall be placed at a standstill, until the all clear signal is sounded, after which such vehicles may resume normal movement under the obscured lighting (blackout) provision: Provided, That automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles belonging to, or operated by, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Army or Navy, the Constabulary, or any emergency unit of the Government, as well as those belonging to, or operated by, electronic, telephone, telegraph, and water services, hospitals and physicians responding to emergency calls may continue running on the highways, streets, and thoroughfares all their lights are screened to avoid upward glare.
(b) Upon the sounding of the air-raid alarm , water craft of all types shall immediately extinguish all lights except the red and green side lights of craft which are underway, which shall immediately be shielded so as to avoid upward glare. All water craft underway shall immediately anchor or moor in the nearest available location and, as soon as safety permits, shall turn off the red and green side lights.
(c) All persons, not officially connected with the operations of war or of civilian relied, shall stay away from open spaces, streets, alleys and thoroughfares and shall keep under cover from the moment of the sending of the air-raid alarm up to the moment of this sounding of the all clear signal, after which the populace can resume the normal course of their activities under the obscured lighting (blackout) provisions.
3. The National Air Raid Warden shall, from time to time, issue the necessary instructions so as to make effective the purposes of this Order.
4. The provisions of this Executive Order shall apply, in the interest of preparation for an emergency, to all obscuration of lights (blackouts) ordered by the National Emergency Commission for the purpose of training the population in respect of air-raid precautions or for testing devices for enabling movement of traffic to continue in unlighted streets, alleys and thoroughfares.
5. The provisions of this Executive Order shall not apply to operations of the armed forces of the United States and of the Philippines or to acts done pursuant to orders of competent officers of such forces.
6. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.
Done at the City of Manila, this 15th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-one, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the sixth.
(Sgd.) MANUEL L. QUEZON
President of the Philippines
President of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.) JORGE B. VARGAS
Secretary to the President