CREATING THE PHILIPPINE CENTER IN NEW YORK AND THE PHILIPPINE CENTER MANAGEMENT BOARD

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 188
• Sections: 9

Preamble

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to consolidate, integrate

and coordinate all the activities in the New York Area of all Philippine

Government offices and agencies which have hitherto been dispersed and

separate from each other, thereby entailing unnecessary expense and

duplication of functions; and

WHEREAS, consistent with the human and material resources

of the Philippines, it is the objective of the New Society, among other

things, to nurture and promote Philippine Culture, to encourage foreign

tourists to visit the Philippines, to expand the foreign market for

Philippine products, to provide efficient and comprehensive public

service domestically and abroad, and, in general, to enhance the image

of the Philippines;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant

to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order

No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and order

as follows:

Section 1

SECTION 1. There shall be incorporated in New York City a

Philippine Center Management Board, hereinafter called the Board, which

shall, on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, acquire by purchase

or by any other appropriate means a building on Fifth Avenue, New York

City, New York, U.S.A., which shall house within its premises all the

offices and agencies in New York of the Philippine Government. Such

building shall be called "The Philippine Center in New York,"

hereinafter called the "Center," and shall serve the purposes stated in

the second preambular paragraph.

Section 2

SEC. 2. The Board shall have the following composition and

functions:

A. Composition —

(1) Chairman — The Philippine Consul General In New York

(2) Vice Chairman — The Vice President and Manager, Philippine

National Bank, New York Branch, who shall also be Treasurer of the

Board.

Members:

(3) A representative, not below the rank of Foreign Service

Officer, Class II, from the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United

Nations

(4) The Philippine Commercial or Trade Promotion Representative

in New York

(5) The head of the Philippine Airlines in New York

{6) The representative in New York of the Commission on Tourism

(7) The representative in New York of the Auditor General

(8) The Legal Counsel of the Philippine National Bank, New York

Branch

(9) The Philippine Center Business Manager who shall also be

Secretary of the Board.

B. Functions —

(1) The Board shall be responsible to the President of the

Philippines for the overall operation, maintenance and management of the

Center in accordance with this Decree and sound business practices.

(2) The Board shall meet at least once a year to prepare and

submit to the President of the Philippines, not later than the 31st day

of December of each year, its annual report on the operations,

financial position and achievements of the Center.

(3) The Board shall, in accordance with its procedures, decide

and implement policies dealing with the operations of the Center, It may

incur relevant expenditures not exceeding ten thousand dollars

($10,000.00), provided that any single expenditure exceeding one

thousand dollars ($1,000.00) shall have the prior approval of the Board.

All expenditures in excess of $10,000.00 shall have the prior approval

of the President of the Philippines. "Approval of the Board" means a

simple majority of the entire composition of the Board.

(4) The Board shall recommend to the President of the

Philippines, for his approval, the hiring of the services of a

professional firm in New York specializing in building maintenance and

janitorial services.

(5) The Board shall approve lease contracts for the rentals

stipulated in Section 5 All lease contracts shall be signed by the

Chairman of the Board. All lease payments shall be payable to the

"Philippine Center Management Board" and such payments shall be promptly

deposited in the Philippine National Bank for credit to the tuna

provided in section 3.

(6) The Board shall adopt the most practical and effective

arrangements for the security or personnel and the premises.

(7) The Board shall have such other functions consistent with the

objectives of this Decree.

Section 3

SEC. 3. The funds for the purchase, renovation, maintenance

and administration of the Center shall be advanced by the Philippine

National Bank from its own resources or from such other financing

arrangements as its Board of Directors may approve. Such advance(s)

shall be liquidated from the income of the Center. This fund shall be

called “The Center Fund.”

Section 4

SEC. 4. All real properties in New York owned by the

Philippine Government shall be sold by the Philippine Consul General New

York, with the Vice President and Manager of the Philippine National

Bank, New York Branch, at the most advantageous prices and all the

proceeds thereof shall be transferred to and become part of the Center

Fund.

Section 5

SEC. 5. All Philippine Government offices or agencies

and private firms using the Center, except the Philippine Consulate

General and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations,

shall pay rent to the Philippine Center Management Board, the rate of

which rent shall be based primarily on the prevailing monthly or annual

rate per square foot in other buildings with comparable facilities

within a two-block radius of the Center.

Section 6

SEC. 6. The Board shall appoint a Philippine Center

Business Manager, hereinafter called “the Manager,” who shall be

responsible to the Board for the effective and prompt implementation of

its policies and decisions.

A. The following emoluments shall be paid the Manager by

the Board from the Center Fund:

(1) Salary — The Manager shall have an annual salary of

twelve thousand dollars ($12,000.00), with increments proportionate to

any increase in rental rates.

(2) Benefits —

(a) Health and hospitalization insurance equivalent to coverage

of the employees of the Philippine National Bank, New York Branch. (b)

Social Security under U.S. law.

B. Functions:

(1) The Manager shall also be Secretary of the Board and

prepare the agenda for and minutes of Board meetings.

(2) He shall be the Board's direct liaison with the New York

firm stipulated in Section 2(4).

(3) He shall be responsible for the safety, cleanliness and

orderly operation of the building.

Section 7

SEC. 7. The following shall be the floor assignments in the

building:

Basement — storage area for Philippine products, cultural

materials, props and miscellaneous equipment.

Ground floor — display center for Philippine products and cultural

materials.

First floor mezzanine — Philippine National Bank and Philippine

Airlines.

Second floor and second floor mezzanine —

auditorium/theater/community room, library, party room.

Third and fourth floors — Commercial/Trade Representative,

Representative of the Commission on Tourism, private business firms.

Fifth floor — Philippine Consulate General

Sixth floor — Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations

Seventh floor — storage space.

Section 8

SEC. 8. The Board shall recommend to the President of

the Philippines the appointment of a Filipino architectural consultant

for the Center. Such consultant shall proceed to New York as soon as a

building is purchased and shall advise the Board and American architects

and/or building contractors on the exterior and interior renovation

work that must be undertaken in order that the Center may project an

image which is representative of the best in Philippine life and

culture.

Done in the City of Manila, this 10th day of May, in the year

of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. REYES

Assistant Executive Secretary