Preamble
WHEREAS, Presidential Decrees Nos. 421, 482, 531, 585 and 641 have provided for the integration of municipal/city police and fire departments and jails into law-enforcement units known as the Metropolitan Police Force in the Greater Manila Area and provincial integrated police forces in the provinces, in order that they may be cohesively organized, better coordinated and effectively directed; WHEREAS, these integrated police forces have been placed under the operational control of the Philippine Constabulary, and the administrative control over them shall also be vested in the latter after a transition period as provided for in the aforementioned Decrees; WHEREAS, the Philippine Constabulary is the existing and organized national police force of the country pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 343. dated June 23, 1938 and Executive Order No. 389 dated December 23, 1950; and the Philippine Constabulary has integrated the said police forces into its operational and organizational setup in consonance with the abovecited Decrees; WHEREAS, Section 12, Article XV of the Constitution provides that the state shall establish and maintain an integrated national police force whose organization, administration and operation shall be provided by law; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree as part of the laws of the land the following: