CALLING UPON ALL YOUNG MEN, CITIZENS OF THE PHILIPPINES, WHO SHALL ATTAIN THE AGE OF 20 YEARS IN A CALENDAR YEAR TO REGISTER FOR MILITARY INSTRUCTION

By virtue of the powers conferred upon me by
sections 54 and 55 of Commonwealth Act No. 1, entitled “The National Defense
Act,” I, Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines, do hereby call upon all
young men, citizens of the Philippines, who shall attain the age of twenty
years in a calendar year, to register for military instruction in the city,
municipality, or municipal district in which they reside.

The following rules and regulations shall be
followed in the registration and selection of trainees for military service:

1. All male citizens of the Philippines who have
attained or shall attain the age of twenty years in a calendar year shall
register for military service.

2. Registration shall take place in suitable
registration places to be prescribed by the Mayor of the city, municipality, or
municipal district government in which the registrants reside, during regular
office hours, between eight o’clock a.m., April first, and eight o’clock p.m.,
on April seventh.

3. Those unable to visit registration places
because of illness, or for any other reason, shall be registered by their parents
or legal guardians.

4. No person convicted of a crime against the
Government or of an offense involving moral turpitude shall be permitted to
register for military service unless he shall have been previously pardoned by
the President.

5. The following persons are exempted from
registration :

(a) Members of the Army of the United
States, the Philippine Constabulary, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

(b) Young men, citizens of the
Philippines, who are residing abroad. These persons shall register within five
days after their return to the Philippines: in order to determine their
obligation for military training.

If under thirty years of age on their return they
shall be liable for military instruction, and shall submit thereto if drawn at
the next national drawing following their return.

(c) Persons who, because of incarceration
awaiting trial or undergoing sentence of a court of law, are prevented from
registering. They shall, upon their release from custody, register for military
instruction with the mayor of the municipality or township in which they
reside. If under thirty years of age at the time of release, they shall be
liable for trainee instruction; if over that age, they shall „ be exempted.

6. Any government official or employee who is the
official custodian of records pertaining to births shall furnish the
registering or deputy registering officers a list of citizens who will attain
twenty years of age for such calendar year within thirty days from January 1st
of such year.

7. In municipalities and municipal districts, the
municipal secretaries and in their absence or disability, the respective
treasurers, acting under the immediate supervision of the respective mayors,
are hereby designated as registering officers. The municipal councils may
designate government officers or employees who shall act as deputy registering
officers in outlying barrios. In chartered cities, the Chiefs of Police thereof
shall designate responsible officers of the police department to act as
registering officers and deputy registering officers.

It shall be the duty of the officers or employees
who may be designated as registering or deputy registering officers under this
paragraph to notify in person or through their duly authorized representatives
each and every individual who will attain the age of twenty years within that
calendar year of their obligation to register for military instruction. The
latter should acknowledge by signature the receipt of such notification. A
coppy of the acknowledgment of the notification by the persons concerned should
be immediately forwarded to the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the
Philippines.

8. In each city, municipality, or municipal
district, the municipal secretary, or other official designated as registering
officer, shall keep a military register as part of the permanent record of his
office, subject to the inspection by the Provincial commander of the Province,
or such other officer who may be authorized to conduct such inspection by the
Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines.

9. The name of registrants shall be entered
serially in the military register in the order that they report.

10. Each registrant shall be required to furnish
the following information:

(a) Name.
(b) Address.
(c) Date and place of birth.
(d) Civil Status (single, married or widower).
(e) Name of each dependent and degree dependency.
(f) Employment, nature of the same, and the name of the employer.
(g) Educational attainment, special aptitude or qualification.
(h) Preference for branch of service, that is, Infantry, Cavalry,
Artillery, Engineers, Air Corps, Medical Service, Quartermaster Service,
Ordnance Service, etc.

11. On completion of registration formalities
each registrant shall be issued a registration card bearing a serial number
corresponding to his number in the military register of the city, municipality,
or municipal district in which he resides.

12. Any change of address of a registrant
subsequent to registration shall be promptly reported to the registering
officer who shall make appropriate notation in the military register and on the
registration card, and if the change of address involves a domicile in another
city, municipality or municipal district, the registering officer shall
immediately report the facts to the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the
Philippines.

13. Upon termination of the registration period
in each calendar year, the registering officer shall immediately prepare copies
in triplicate from the military register, the number and description of the
registrants for that year, one copy of which shall be forwarded to the
corresponding acceptance board as prescribed in Military Service Regulations,
one copy to the provincial governor or city mayor and another copy to the Chief
of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines. The registering officer shall also
prepare the cards for drawing by lot and submit same to the provincial governor
or city mayor at the same time as the military register.

14. The provincial governors and city mayors, or
their duly appointed assistants, shall supervise the recruitment of manpower in
their respective provinces or cities. They shall have access at all times to
the records pertaining to registration and selection of trainess. They shall
give necessary instructions as to the proper manner of making entries in the
military register, and shall report all irregularities coming to their
attention to the Secretary of National Defense.

15. Detailed instructions governing the method
and procedure of registration, examination, classification, and the selection
of trainees for military service are prescribed in Military Service
Regulations.

16. Registration cards shall be carefully
preserved by the registrants. Each card shall constitute a certificate that the
holder has carried out his first military obligation to the State.

17. All provisions of Proclamation No. 23, dated
January 11, 1936, and Proclamation No. 48, dated December 30, 1947,
inconsistent herewith are hereby revoked, or amended accordingly.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 28th day of
November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-five, and of the
Independence of the Philippines, the tenth.

RAMON MAGSAYSAY
President of the Philippines

By the President:

MARIANO YENKO, JR.
Assistant Executive Secretary