WHEREAS, there is a pressing need for the Government to
establish a system of positive identification of all Filipino citizens and
foreign nationals in the Philippines, a system essential to insuring national
security and affording convenience in the transaction of official business with
Government and private offices and agencies;
WHEREAS, the various identification systems currently in
existence are generally agency-oriented, specific in purpose and
non-complementary; and
WHEREAS, among the objectives of such a National Reference
Card System would be the replacement of all existing identification systems
currently prescribed by government agencies to afford convenience to the general
public;
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 all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to
Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, Proclamation No. 1104, dated
January 1 7, 1973, and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, in order
to achieve the aforestated objectives, do hereby decree that:
All citizens of the Republic of the Philippines shall be assigned a
Reference Number and issued a National Reference Card in a manner prescribed by
the National Registration Coordinating Committee;
Citizens or nationals of foreign countries resident in the Philippines shall
likewise be assigned a Reference Number and issued a National Reference Card in
the manner prescribed by the National Registration Coordinating Committee;
The National Reference Card shall serve as the official identification of
the person to whom it is issued;
The penalty of imprisonment from five to ten years shall be imposed upon any
offender found guilty of any of the following acts or omissions:
The willful submission of or causing to be submitted a fictitious name and
other false data in the application form for a National Reference Card by any
person;
The unauthorized printing, preparation or issuance of a National Reference
Card by any person;
Willful falsification, mutilation, alteration of or tampering with a
National Reference Card by any person;
The use or unauthorized possession of a National Reference Card by any
person other than the one to whom it was issued or the possession of a fake,
falsified or altered National Reference Card; and
Willful failure to apply for and secure National Reference Card as
prescribed by the National Registration Coordinating
Committee.
There is hereby created a National Registration Coordinating Committee
composed of the following or their respective representatives:
The Secretary
Department of Local Governments and Community
Development
Chairman
The Secretary
Department of National Defense
Co-Chairman
The Secretary
Department of Education and Culture
Member
The Chairman
Commission on Elections
Member
The Director
Bureau of the Census and Statistics
Member
The Commissioner
Bureau of Internal Revenue
Member
The Commissioner
Commission on Immigration and
Deportation
Member
The Managing Director
National Computer Center
Member
The National Registration Coordinating Committee is hereby designated and
authorized to prescribe rules and regulations for the effective implementation
of this Decree.
Repealing Clause. — All laws, executive orders, rules or regulations or
parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed and/or
modified accordingly.
Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of August, 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