AUTHORIZING BARANGAY MEMBERS TO CAST THEIR VOTES IN THE BARANGAY CENTERS NEAREST THEIR RESIDENCE.

WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 229, dated June 30, 1973
has provided for secret voting on Referendum Day of July 27, 1973 so
that the collective views of the members of the Barangay may be ascertained with
accuracy and their decisions on national and local issues be given effect;

WHEREAS, Barangay members who are registered under the
permanent system of registration pursuant to the Election Code of 1971 and also
those registered under the validated list used in the January 1973 Referendum
need not register under Presidential Decree No. 210;

WHEREAS, it is possible that these barangay members
mentioned in the preceding paragraph may have difficulty in locating their
Barangay Centers or may not be able to locate their Barangay Centers on
Referendum Day and thus would have difficulty in voting or would not be able to
vote;

WHEREAS, it is also possible that barangay members
registered under Presidential Decree No, 210 may not also be able to easily
locate their Barangay Centers;

WHEREAS, Section 17, Paragraph j, of Presidential Decree No.
229 penalizes any person who, being a registered voter of the Barrio or
Barangay, fails to cast his vote without justifiable excuse with imprisonment of
not less that one month or more than six months; and

WHEREAS, in order to achieve the desired goal of affording
as much as possible the greatest number of the members of the barangay
opportunity to express their views thru the secret ballot, they should, with
some measure, of facility and certainty, be able to cast their vote on
Referendum Day;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to
Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated
September22, 1972, do hereby order and decree to be part of the laws of the land
the following:

SECTION 1. Any barangay member who, on Referendum Day, in
spite of diligent efforts and through no fault of his own could not locate his
Barangay Center shall be allowed to vote in the Barangay Center nearest his
residence.

SEC. 2. Any registered barangay member of a
city/municipality/municipal district, who on Referendum Day is staying for any
reason in another city/municipality/municipal district outside the province
where he is registered, may cast his vote in the Barangay Center nearest the
place where he is temporarily staying.

SEC. 3. Any barangay referendum committee which on account
of the additional transient voters mentioned above, runs short of ballots at any
time on Referendum Day shall be authorized to borrow from the nearest Barangay
Referendum Committee under proper receipt sufficient number of ballots for their
Barangay Center.

SEC. 4. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of July, in the year of Our Lord,
nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. REYES
		Assistant Executive Secretary