Preamble
WHEREAS, Section 1066 of the Revised Administrative Code, which vested in the Secretary of Health administrative control, including authority to make, promulgate and enforce in and for said reservation and in or upon the waters thereof such rules and regulations consistent with law as may be necessary for the efficient control, protection, and management of the Culion Leper Colony, was repealed by virtue of Section 2 of Republic Act No. 4073; WHEREAS, such repeal has resulted in the loss by the Department of Health of its jurisdiction over the Culion Reservation and concomitantly in the indiscriminate issuance of permits for the cutting, gathering and removing of bakawan and nipa leaves, as well as, for fishing by outsiders, with the consequent depletion of these natural resources which heretofore have been properly conserved and intended for the exclusive use and welfare of the leprosy patients in the Colony; and WHEREAS, it is imperative that immediate appropriate measures be taken so that such resources could be properly administered, conserved and utilized for the efficient operations of the Culion Sanitarium and thereby facilitate the implementation of projects for the socioeconomic rehabilitation of leprosy patients and ex-patients; 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, and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, do hereby order and decree that: