AMENDING SECTION 4C OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBER 291 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ARMED FORCES OFFICER PERSONNEL ACT OF 1948.

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 1908
• Sections: 4

Preamble

WHEREAS, in consonance with the present campaign of the AFP

against insurgency and its thrusts towards civil-military operations, the Armed

Forces of the Philippines is in dire need of the services of additional lawyers,

doctors and chaplains.

WHEREAS, the highly competitive motivations provided by the

private sectors, have drastically limited the number of applicants for

commission in the Judge Advocate General's Service, Medical Corps and Chaplain

Service due to the stringent requirement for commission in those services and

the comparatively low pay and rank (First Lieutenant) for initial appointment in

the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

WHEREAS, to expedite the procurement of such officers and to

attract the best qualified professionals mentioned to enter the military service

it is imperative that the law constituting the procurement of technical service

officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines be amended by raising their

initial entry grade by one rank and by doing away the two-year practice

prerequisite.

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 that:

Section 1

SECTION 1. Section 4C of Republic Act Number 291 as amended

be further amended to read:

"SECTION 4. Procurement of additional officers.

(c) Except as hereinafter authorized or unless otherwise expressly provided

by law, all initial appointments of Regular officers shall be in grade of Second

Lieutenant. Priority in the filling vacancies in the grade of Second Lieutenant

will be given first, to graduate of Philippine Military Academy or the United

States Military Naval Academy, or Philippine Air Force or United States Air

Force Flying School; second, to honor graduates of senior military training

units in schools and colleges; third, to enlistedmen, who, at the time of

appointment shall have served for at least one full term of enlistment in the

Armed Forces of the Philippines and have such other qualifications as may be

prescribed by the MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE; and fourth, others who shall

such qualifications as the MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE shall prescribe.

PROVIDED, THAT ORIGINAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SERVICE,

MEDICAL CORPS AND THE CHAPLAIN SERVICE SHALL BE IN THE GRADE OF CAPTAIN FROM

AMONG APPLICANTS WHO AT THE TUIE OF APPOINTMENT SHALL NOT BE LESS THAN

TWENTY-FIVE NOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS OF AGE AND SHALL HAVE BEEN ADMITTED TO THE

PRACTICE OF LAW IN THE PHILIPPINES. IF APPOINTMENT IS TO BE MADE IN THE JUDGE

ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SERVICE; SHALL HAVE BEEN ADMITTED TO THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE

IF APPOINTMENT IS TO BE MADE IN THE MEDICAL CORPS, AND SHALL HAVE BEEN ORDAINED

AND DULY INDORSED FOR CHAPLAINCY ACCORDING TO THE LAWS AND USAGES OF HIS CHURCH

IF APPOINTMENT IS TO BE MADE IN THE CHAPLAIN SERVICE. PROVIDED FURTHER THAT SUCH

OFFICERS IN THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SERVICE, MEDICAL CORPS OR CHAPLAIN

SERVICE WHO ARE HOLDING THE GRADE OF FIRST LIEUTENANT SHALL BE READJUSTED TO THE

GRADE OF CAPTAIN UPON APPROVAL OF THIS DECREE. PROVIDED FINALLY, that the

President may appoint professors without military rank for the Military Academy,

with such compensation as he may determine, such professors, associate

professors and assistant professors, to be carried as separate roster and in

addition to the number of commissioned officers prescribed.

Section 2

SEC. 2. Any law, decree, letter of instructions, executive

orders, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with this decree, are

hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 3

SEC. 3. This decree shall take effect upon approval.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of March in the year of Our Lord,

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Four.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.)JUAN C. TUVERA

Presidential Executive Assistant