Preamble
WHEREAS, it is a declared objective of the New Society to effect social, economic, and political reforms attuned to the establishment of a secure national community and to an improving quality of life for all citizens and for all others who may sojourn upon our shores; WHEREAS, the quality of human life in our times is inescapably determined by the relationships amongst human populations, resources, the environment, and intelligent policies; WHEREAS, human settlements is an integrative concept embracing the interdependence of man’s environment, human shelters and structures, and the design and organization of human communities consistently with a national framework plan, all for the people’s security and well-being; WHEREAS, the New Society’s reform programs now call for the organization of a body that is adequate and responsive to the manifold tasks of formulating intelligent long-term human settlements perspectives and policies, designing operational programs for the control of all forms of environment blight or deterioration, and adopting and implementing measures for ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of life in our communities with due regard to considerations of space, efficient land use, equity in resource distribution, and rational relationships amongst our communities. 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, General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, and in order to effect the desired changes and reforms in the social, economic, and political structure of our society, do hereby order and decree and make as part of the law of the land the following: