Providing for Necessary Measures in the Institutionalization of Reform Programs

January 16, 1981

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1791

PROVIDING FOR MEASURES NECESSARY IN THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE REFORM PROGRAMS UNDER PROCLAMATION NO. 1081

WHEREAS, upon the lifting of martial law, the reform programs initiated under Proclamation No. 1081 should continue to be institutionalized and made permanent and lasting; casia

WHEREAS, Article XVII, Section 3(2) of the Constitution provides for the validity of all proclamations, orders, decrees, instructions, and acts of the incumbent President under Proclamation No. 1081 and their effectivity until expressly and explicitly modified or repealed by the incumbent President or the regular National Assembly;

WHEREAS, in the continuing implementation of these proclamations, orders, decrees, instructions, and acts in the institutionalization of reform programs, it is essential that all public officials and employees be encouraged to perform their functions efficiently and expeditiously, free from vexations and time-consuming delays and litigations. acd

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

SECTION 1. All official acts, decisions or orders performed, executed or issued by the Minister of National Defense or any other Cabinet member or by any other public officer of the civilian government or member of the Armed Forces in carrying out orders or regulations issued by me pursuant to Presidential Proclamations Nos. 1081 and 1104 are and shall be deemed to have been authorized by me and considered for all intents and purposes as the official acts, decisions, and orders of the incumbent President. Evidence of any act done in obedience to or in implementation of an order, rule, regulation, decree or instructions issued or promulgated by me or any Cabinet member authorized by me shall not be admissible in any criminal or civil case against the officer or employee of the civil government or the military or defense establishment concerned. Neither shall it constitute a cause of action in any civil case for wrongdoing or damages or a basis for criminal liability in any court of law. casia

SECTION 2. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

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 16th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-One.

            Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 77 No. 19, 2451-100 Supp., on May 11, 1981.