Preamble
WHEREAS, Section 16(d) of Presidential Decree No. 97, otherwise known as the Philippine Merchants Marine Officers Law requires an applicant for Third Mate examination to undergo eighteen months of practical apprenticeship on board merchant vessels of not less than two hundred fifty gross tons, four months of which will be on overseas and at least four months on a coastwise registered vessel; and WHEREAS, the aforementioned requirement may be undertaken after passing the examinations as a prerequisite for the registration and issuance of a license or certificate; 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: