MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
[ Proclamation No. 750, September 2, 1970 ]
DECLARING THE EXISTENCE OF A STATE OF PUBLIC CALAMITY IN CENTRAL LUZON, THE ENTIRE GREATER MANILA AREA AND SOUTHERN LUZON.
WHEREAS, continuous heavy and torrential rains and overflowing rivers and streams have resulted in the inundation of large portions of Central Luzon, the Greater Manila Area and Southern Luzon, causing loss of lives, widespread destruction of public and private property, loss of homes to a great number of families and posing imminent danger to the health of the people in the areas affected;
WHEREAS, because of the havoc caused by this unusual natural phenomenon, a state of public calamity undoubtedly exists;
WHEREAS, to prevent the excessive increase in the prices of essential commodities due to profiteering and hoarding by those who control the supply thereof and also to enable government and civic, relief and welfare agencies to carry out their objectives effectively, it is imperative that a state of calamity be proclaimed in the aforesaid areas;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by existing laws, particularly Act No. 4164 and Section 105 (V) of Republic Act No. 1937, do hereby proclaim and certify that a state of public calamity exists in Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Greater Manila. During the existence of such a calamity, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation in said areas (1) to sell or offer for sale palay, rice, corn, cloth, milk, canned goods, sugar and other foodstuffs, building and construction materials and other prime necessities in life at prices exceeding those fixed or may be fixed by the authorities concerned pursuant to existing laws, namely, Act No. 4164 and Republic Act No. 6124, and regulations issued thereunder, and (2) to aggravate the crisis by refusing, for the purpose of profiteering, to sell at the legal price, or by hiding, concealing or hoarding such goods or commodities for the same purpose.
All government agencies are hereby directed to implement and execute rescue and relief operations in accordance with existing operational plans.1aшphi1 A government rescue and relief coordinating center is hereby established at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, whose responsibility it shall be to oversee, coordinate and direct rescue and relief operations, utilizing for the purpose all available and necessary material resources, equipment and manpower of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), those of other government agencies and those that can be generated from the private sector.
The government coordinating center is authorized to call upon all departments, bureaus, agencies or instrumentalities of the government, including government owned or controlled corporations, as well as the private sector, to give the necessary cooperation and assistance for the successful prosecution of this proclamation.
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 2nd day of September, in the Year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR
Executive Secretary
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
