Planning and Development of Los Baños and Mount Makiling as a Special University Zone

June 15, 1979

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 883

WHEREAS, the Municipality of Los Baños has always been known for its hot springs, its natural forest reserve, its beautiful scenery and healthful environment;

WHEREAS, with the presence of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and of other government agencies such as the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research (PCARR), the Forest Research Institute (FORI), the Forest Products Research and Industries Development Commission (FORPRIDECOME), and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), Los Baños has established itself as an international academic and scientific community;

WHEREAS, with the establishment of the National Arts Center, it is likewise gaining a reputation as a center for the arts;

WHEREAS, in spite of the above, the municipality had not had the benefit of an integrated, comprehensive and forward looking development plan as befitting a community which has attained the status of a national and international center for higher education, the sciences, the arts and natural resource conservation and utilization;

WHEREAS, the dispersal of industry and commerce from the national capital region is steadily encroaching on the Los Baños and Mount Makiling environment, thereby threatening the beauty and wholesome nature of this special human settlement for education, the sciences, the arts and natural resource conservation and utilization;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President and Prime Minister of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby authorized, order and direct: acd

A. The Minister of Human Settlements

1. To designate the municipality of Los Baños and Mount Makiling as a Special University Zone;

2. To organize a special task force to develop an integrated, comprehensive master plan for the development of the abovementioned Special University Zone consistent with its roles as a national and international center for higher education, the sciences, the arts and natural resource conservation and utilization, which report should be submitted to the Office of the President and Prime Minister within a period of four months;

B. The Minister of the Budget acd

1. To allocate and release immediately the amount of two million pesos as the initial annual national contribution to the administration and operations of the aforementioned Special University Zone.

This Letter of Instruction shall be effective immediately. acd

DONE in the City of Manila, this 15th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Nine.