Establishing the Overseas Offices of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas

March 2, 1984

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 938

ESTABLISHING THE OVERSEAS OFFICES OF THE COMMISSION ON FILIPINOS OVERSEAS PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 79

WHEREAS, it is a declared policy of the Philippine Government to maintain close ties with Filipinos overseas and to promote their welfare;

WHEREAS, Batas Pambansa Blg. 79 created the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) to render effective the policy of the state;

WHEREAS, the CFO is the only agency that serves Filipino emigrants as a distinct group;

WHEREAS, in order to augment the efforts of the foreign service abroad and to effectively and efficiently deliver its tasks as mandated by law, there is a need for visibility and accessibility of the Commission to its target clientele; casia

WHEREAS, Section 4 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 79 authorizes the Commission to establish offices in suitable places abroad, or to appoint service attaches in the Philippine Embassy or Consulate located thereat subject to the approval of the President;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and by Presidential Decree No. 830 and Presidential Decree No. 1416, as amended, do hereby order and ordain:

SECTION 1. The establishment of twelve (12) overseas offices of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is hereby approved in the following key areas in the United States, Canada and Australia in view of the concentration of Filipino communities thereat: cd

	POST	AREA COVERAGE
A.	USA
Honolulu	Hawaii
Los Angeles	Southern California
San Francisco	North California including Phoenix City
Chicago	Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan
New York City	New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts
New Orleans	Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Florida
Washington D.C.	Virginia, Maryland
B.	CANADA
Ottawa	Montreal, Quebec, Newfoundland
Vancouver	Alberta, British, Columbia
Toronto	Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
C.	AUSTRALIA
Sydney	N.S.W., Brisbane, Queensland
Canberra	Melbourne, Victoria, Tasmania, Adelaide

SECTION 2. Each post located in the capital city, namely: Washington D.C., U.S.A., Ottawa, Canada and Canberra, Australia, shall be manned by an Emigrant Service Attach√©. An Emigrant Service Staff Officer shall be assigned to the other 9 posts and Washington D.C. casia

SECTION 3. The proposed posts shall be housed at the embassy or consular office in the aforementioned areas in the interest of close coordination with the representatives of other government agencies abroad. asia dc

SECTION 4. All laws, orders, proclamations, rules, regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 5. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 2nd day of March, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Four.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 80 No. 19 page 2755 on May 7, 1984.