AMENDING SECTION 4C OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBER 291 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ARMED FORCES OFFICER PERSONNEL ACT OF 1948.

WHEREAS, in consonance with the present campaign of the AFP
against insurgency and its thrusts towards civil-military operations, the Armed
Forces of the Philippines is in dire need of the services of additional lawyers,
doctors and chaplains.

WHEREAS, the highly competitive motivations provided by the
private sectors, have drastically limited the number of applicants for
commission in the Judge Advocate General’s Service, Medical Corps and Chaplain
Service due to the stringent requirement for commission in those services and
the comparatively low pay and rank (First Lieutenant) for initial appointment in
the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

WHEREAS, to expedite the procurement of such officers and to
attract the best qualified professionals mentioned to enter the military service
it is imperative that the law constituting the procurement of technical service
officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines be amended by raising their
initial entry grade by one rank and by doing away the two-year practice
prerequisite.

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 that:

SECTION 1. Section 4C of Republic Act Number 291 as amended
be further amended to read:

“SECTION 4. Procurement of additional officers.

(c) Except as hereinafter authorized or unless otherwise expressly provided
by law, all initial appointments of Regular officers shall be in grade of Second
Lieutenant. Priority in the filling vacancies in the grade of Second Lieutenant
will be given first, to graduate of Philippine Military Academy or the United
States Military Naval Academy, or Philippine Air Force or United States Air
Force Flying School; second, to honor graduates of senior military training
units in schools and colleges; third, to enlistedmen, who, at the time of
appointment shall have served for at least one full term of enlistment in the
Armed Forces of the Philippines and have such other qualifications as may be
prescribed by the MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE; and fourth, others who shall
such qualifications as the MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE shall prescribe.
PROVIDED, THAT ORIGINAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL’S SERVICE,
MEDICAL CORPS AND THE CHAPLAIN SERVICE SHALL BE IN THE GRADE OF CAPTAIN FROM
AMONG APPLICANTS WHO AT THE TUIE OF APPOINTMENT SHALL NOT BE LESS THAN
TWENTY-FIVE NOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS OF AGE AND SHALL HAVE BEEN ADMITTED TO THE
PRACTICE OF LAW IN THE PHILIPPINES. IF APPOINTMENT IS TO BE MADE IN THE JUDGE
ADVOCATE GENERAL’S SERVICE; SHALL HAVE BEEN ADMITTED TO THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE
IF APPOINTMENT IS TO BE MADE IN THE MEDICAL CORPS, AND SHALL HAVE BEEN ORDAINED
AND DULY INDORSED FOR CHAPLAINCY ACCORDING TO THE LAWS AND USAGES OF HIS CHURCH
IF APPOINTMENT IS TO BE MADE IN THE CHAPLAIN SERVICE. PROVIDED FURTHER THAT SUCH
OFFICERS IN THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL’S SERVICE, MEDICAL CORPS OR CHAPLAIN
SERVICE WHO ARE HOLDING THE GRADE OF FIRST LIEUTENANT SHALL BE READJUSTED TO THE
GRADE OF CAPTAIN UPON APPROVAL OF THIS DECREE. PROVIDED FINALLY, that the
President may appoint professors without military rank for the Military Academy,
with such compensation as he may determine, such professors, associate
professors and assistant professors, to be carried as separate roster and in
addition to the number of commissioned officers prescribed.

SEC. 2. Any law, decree, letter of instructions, executive
orders, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with this decree, are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 3. This decree shall take effect upon approval.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of March in the year of Our Lord,
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Four.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.)JUAN C. TUVERA
		Presidential Executive Assistant