Preamble
WHEREAS, in the referendum held on February 27, 1975, the residents of the Greater Manila Area authorized the President to restructure the local governments of the four cities and 13 municipalities thereof into an integrated unit of the manager or commission form of government, under such terms and conditions as the President may decide; WHEREAS, the rapid growth of population and the corresponding increase of social and economic requirements in the contiguous communities referred to above has brought into being a large area that calls for simultaneous and unified development; WHEREAS, many public services now rendered by local governments separately for themselves may and should be administered more efficiently and more economically, to the common benefit of the cities and municipalities in the area, if they are integrated and harmonized, under a system of central planning which would take separate municipal needs into account as a common problem; WHEREAS, it is vital to the survival and growth of the aforementioned Greater Manila Area that a workable and effective system be established for the coordination, integration and unified management of such local government services or functions within the metropolitan community; WHEREAS, it is necessary that the unified metropolitan services or functions be planned, administered, and operated in accordance with the highest professional technical standards; and WHEREAS, such coordination, integration, and unified management especially in the maintenance of peace and order and the eradication of social and economic ills that fan the flames of discontent and rebellion are part of reform measures under Martial Law essential to the safety and security of the State; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order: