Preamble
WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 229, dated June 30, 1973 has provided for secret voting on Referendum Day of July 27, 1973 so that the collective views of the members of the Barangay may be ascertained with accuracy and their decisions on national and local issues be given effect; WHEREAS, Barangay members who are registered under the permanent system of registration pursuant to the Election Code of 1971 and also those registered under the validated list used in the January 1973 Referendum need not register under Presidential Decree No. 210; WHEREAS, it is possible that these barangay members mentioned in the preceding paragraph may have difficulty in locating their Barangay Centers or may not be able to locate their Barangay Centers on Referendum Day and thus would have difficulty in voting or would not be able to vote; WHEREAS, it is also possible that barangay members registered under Presidential Decree No, 210 may not also be able to easily locate their Barangay Centers; WHEREAS, Section 17, Paragraph j, of Presidential Decree No. 229 penalizes any person who, being a registered voter of the Barrio or Barangay, fails to cast his vote without justifiable excuse with imprisonment of not less that one month or more than six months; and WHEREAS, in order to achieve the desired goal of affording as much as possible the greatest number of the members of the barangay opportunity to express their views thru the secret ballot, they should, with some measure, of facility and certainty, be able to cast their vote on Referendum Day; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me 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, and General Order No. 1, dated September22, 1972, do hereby order and decree to be part of the laws of the land the following: