EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 400 - CLASSIFYING THE ENTRY OF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS INTO THE PHILIPPINES UNDER THE CATEGORY OF TEMPORARY VISITORS AS PROVIDED IN Sec. 9(a) OF THE PHILIPPINE IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1940, AS AMENDED

WHEREAS, foreign correspondents, and their families, are at present admitted into the Philippines, as non-immigrant aliens under various sub-sections of Sec. 9 of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 as amended;

WHEREAS, there is no definite category under Sec. 9 of the aforementioned Act by which foreign correspondents as such are allowed entry into the country, so that they are entered either as temporary visitors [Sec. 9 (a)], or as government officials [Sec. 9 (a)], or as prearranged employees [Sec. 9 (g)];

WHEREAS, the entry into the country of foreign correspondents under different categories of Sec. 9 of the said Act has resulted in diversity in their treatment while in the Philippines;

WHEREAS, foreign correspondents should be allowed entry only through a single category under Sec. 9 of the said Act to assure that they are uniformly treated during their stay in the country;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby classify, for the guidance of all government agencies concerned, the entry of foreign correspondents, and their families, into the Philippines as falling exclusively under the category of temporary visitors as provided for in Sec. 9 (a) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, as amended. 

The conditions and length of initial stay in the Philippines of foreign correspondents, as well as the extension and/or renewal of such stay, shall henceforth be governed by their classification as temporary visitors and by such regulations as the Commissioner of Immigration may promulgate.

For the purposes of this Order, the term “foreign correspondents” shall refer to a person who, being an alien, is an active practitioner in the mass media as a newspaperman, radio or television reporter or commentator, or a news movie reporter or producer stationed in the Philippines to gather and communicate information principally for dissemination abroad.

Done in the City of Manila, this 17th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.