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PRESIDENTIAL DECREES

MALACAÑANG
M a n i l a

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 281 August 28, 1973

CREATING A PASIG RIVER DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL TO OVERSEE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PASIG RIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND PROVIDING THE COUNCIL WITH THE POWER TO ADMINISTER THE PASIG RIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TRUST ACCOUNT

WHEREAS, it is the declared policy of the Government to protect and transform the human environment in order to bring about accelerated socio-economic development as well as the opportunity to enhance the quality of life of the greater number of Filipinos;

WHEREAS, the development plan takes into account the efficient management and optimum utilization of all the natural ecosystems such as the bodies of water that run through and across our lands;

WHEREAS, the Pasig River which is a major determinant of the complex of human activities in the country must be safeguarded for the benefit of the present and future generations of Filipinos through careful planning and management;

WHEREAS, the discharge of harmful substances and the release of heat into the river, the lack of control over the use of the water-ways and the continued presence of obstructions have adversely affected the Pasig River as a tool for development;

WHEREAS, it has become imperative to adopt an integrated and coordinated approach to the development planning and implementation of Pasig River requiring the exertion of effort of everyone, government and private sectors alike;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, as Development Council, with the Executive Secretary as the overall Coordinator, personally entrusted with the duty to integrate and oversee the functions and activities of both the government sector, as represented by the Council and the private sector who shall form a similar counterpart Council.

The abovementioned Council shall be composed of the following officials to represent the government sector:

The Council will provide continuing direction for the integrated development planning of the Pasig River, and for the sustained and coordinated implementation of the incentives and police powers as promulgated in Presidential Decree 274 and all projects that may be approved in connection with the beautification, improvement and gainful utilization of its facilities as promulgated in Presidential Decree 274.

The Council shall work in close association and coordination with the Chairman of the Environment Center of the Philippines in order to ensure the proper ordinal ranking of priorities in undertaking the integrated development of Pasig River.

Furthermore, the Council shall administer the Trust Fund Account created by the President and embodied in the aforementioned Presidential Decree 274 and deposited in the National Treasury to finance the Pasig River Development Program.

The Council shall establish a technical staff to assist it in the performance of its functions, and shall avail of the services, including personnel and other necessary resources, of all departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities and all government-owned and controlled corporations, that it may need.

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 28th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.