WHEREAS, the government recognizes the importance of developing competitive amateur sports in the country;

WHEREAS, the main thrusts of the national sports development program include the development of Filipino athletes of international caliber;

WHEREAS, the Palarong Bagong Lipunan, a national open sports competition, will be conducted annually to select the athletes to be intensively trained under the Gintong Alay Project before any athlete is sent to participate in international sports competitions such as the South East Asian Games;

WHEREAS, it is necessary that selected athletes shall come from the different regions of the country, and that all sectors in the region are represented;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 1b of LOI No. 662, the Regional Physical Fitness and Sports Development Council is the highest policy-making body for an integrated physical fitness and sports development program at the regional level;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order the following:

1. The Regional Physical Fitness and Sports Development Councils created under LOI No. 662 dated 11 June 1978, shall organize Regional Organizing Committees which will select and train their respective regional athletic delegations to the Palarong Bagong Lipunan.

2. All heads of regional government agencies, offices and instrumentalities, including local governments and government-owned or controlled corporations are hereby directed to actively participate and extend their fullest support to the Regional Councils in the selection and training of regional athletic delegations to the Palarong Bagong Lipunan.

3. This Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 18th day of April, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty.


By the President:

(SGD.) JACOBO C. CLAVE
Presidential Executive Assistant