Creation of a Culion Committee

January 24, 1979

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 796

CREATING A CULION COMMITTEE

WHEREAS, the Culion Leper Colony is an island community constituting a microcosm of the problems and possibilities of national development;

WHEREAS, with some planning and resource assistance, the human and natural resources of Culion can be galvanized as an example of development in the New Society; cd

WHEREAS, the national government has adopted a Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services (BLISS) program covering all municipalities of the Philippines;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby Order and instruct:

1. A Culion Committee is hereby constituted, with the responsibility of planning and overseeing the orderly development of Culion as a model island community, including the preparation of a physical framework plan, a job creation program, identification of measures to improve the welfare of patients and their dependents, minorities, new settlers, and other inhabitants of Culion, and proposing measures for the conservation and controlled use of the island's natural resources.

2. The Committee shall consist of the following officials or their respective representatives: aisa dc

Minister of Human Settlements - Chairman

Minister of Health - Member

Minister of Labor - Member

Minister of the Budget - Member

Governor of Palawan - Member

NEDA Executive Director,

The Ministry of Human Settlements shall act as Secretariat of the Culion Committee.

3. The Committee shall work with and enlist the assistance of private sector groups and foundations already working or interested in Culion, particularly the Culion Foundation, the Soriano Foundation, the Philippine Business for Social Progress, the Sisters of St. Paul, Asian Institute of Management, and other agencies.

4. The Committee may call upon other agencies of the Government, particularly the National Electrification Administration, the Farm Systems Development Corporation, and the National Manpower and Youth Council, to assist in the work.

5. The sum of P500 thousand is hereby authorized to be drawn from the Special Activities and/or BLISS Funds, to cover the operating requirements of the Committee and initial projects undertaken as a result of these instructions.

6. The Committee shall submit quarterly progress reports on its work.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 24th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Nine.