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 improved quality of life for all citizens and for all other who may sojourn upon our shores; WHEREAS, the quality of human life in our times is inescapably determined by the relationship 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, our programs of reform now call for the organization of a body that is adequate and responsive to the manifold tasks of formulating human settlements perspectives and policies, designing operational programs for the control of all forms of environmental 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 relationship amongst our communities. NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree and make as. part of the laws of the land the following: