CREATING THE PHILIPPINE CENTER IN NEW YORK AND THE PHILIPPINE CENTER MANAGEMENT BOARD

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to consolidate, integrate
and coordinate all the activities in the New York Area of all Philippine
Government offices and agencies which have hitherto been dispersed and
separate from each other, thereby entailing unnecessary expense and
duplication of functions; and

WHEREAS, consistent with the human and material resources
of the Philippines, it is the objective of the New Society, among other
things, to nurture and promote Philippine Culture, to encourage foreign
tourists to visit the Philippines, to expand the foreign market for
Philippine products, to provide efficient and comprehensive public
service domestically and abroad, and, in general, to enhance the image
of the Philippines;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant
to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order
No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and order
as follows:

SECTION 1. There shall be incorporated in New York City a
Philippine Center Management Board, hereinafter called the Board, which
shall, on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, acquire by purchase
or by any other appropriate means a building on Fifth Avenue, New York
City, New York, U.S.A., which shall house within its premises all the
offices and agencies in New York of the Philippine Government. Such
building shall be called “The Philippine Center in New York,”
hereinafter called the “Center,” and shall serve the purposes stated in
the second preambular paragraph.

SEC. 2. The Board shall have the following composition and
functions:

A. Composition —

(1) Chairman — The Philippine Consul General In New York
(2) Vice Chairman — The Vice President and Manager, Philippine
National Bank, New York Branch, who shall also be Treasurer of the
Board.

Members:

(3) A representative, not below the rank of Foreign Service
Officer, Class II, from the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United
Nations

(4) The Philippine Commercial or Trade Promotion Representative
in New York
(5) The head of the Philippine Airlines in New York

{6) The representative in New York of the Commission on Tourism
(7) The representative in New York of the Auditor General

(8) The Legal Counsel of the Philippine National Bank, New York
Branch

(9) The Philippine Center Business Manager who shall also be
Secretary of the Board.

B. Functions —

(1) The Board shall be responsible to the President of the
Philippines for the overall operation, maintenance and management of the
Center in accordance with this Decree and sound business practices.
(2) The Board shall meet at least once a year to prepare and
submit to the President of the Philippines, not later than the 31st day
of December of each year, its annual report on the operations,
financial position and achievements of the Center.

(3) The Board shall, in accordance with its procedures, decide
and implement policies dealing with the operations of the Center, It may
incur relevant expenditures not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000.00), provided that any single expenditure exceeding one
thousand dollars ($1,000.00) shall have the prior approval of the Board.
All expenditures in excess of $10,000.00 shall have the prior approval
of the President of the Philippines. “Approval of the Board” means a
simple majority of the entire composition of the Board.
(4) The Board shall recommend to the President of the
Philippines, for his approval, the hiring of the services of a
professional firm in New York specializing in building maintenance and
janitorial services.

(5) The Board shall approve lease contracts for the rentals
stipulated in Section 5 All lease contracts shall be signed by the
Chairman of the Board. All lease payments shall be payable to the
“Philippine Center Management Board” and such payments shall be promptly
deposited in the Philippine National Bank for credit to the tuna
provided in section 3.

(6) The Board shall adopt the most practical and effective
arrangements for the security or personnel and the premises.

(7) The Board shall have such other functions consistent with the
objectives of this Decree.

SEC. 3. The funds for the purchase, renovation, maintenance
and administration of the Center shall be advanced by the Philippine
National Bank from its own resources or from such other financing
arrangements as its Board of Directors may approve. Such advance(s)
shall be liquidated from the income of the Center. This fund shall be
called “The Center Fund.”

SEC. 4. All real properties in New York owned by the
Philippine Government shall be sold by the Philippine Consul General New
York, with the Vice President and Manager of the Philippine National
Bank, New York Branch, at the most advantageous prices and all the
proceeds thereof shall be transferred to and become part of the Center
Fund.

SEC. 5. All Philippine Government offices or agencies
and private firms using the Center, except the Philippine Consulate
General and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations,
shall pay rent to the Philippine Center Management Board, the rate of
which rent shall be based primarily on the prevailing monthly or annual
rate per square foot in other buildings with comparable facilities
within a two-block radius of the Center.

SEC. 6. The Board shall appoint a Philippine Center
Business Manager, hereinafter called “the Manager,” who shall be
responsible to the Board for the effective and prompt implementation of
its policies and decisions.

A. The following emoluments shall be paid the Manager by
the Board from the Center Fund:

(1) Salary — The Manager shall have an annual salary of
twelve thousand dollars ($12,000.00), with increments proportionate to
any increase in rental rates.

(2) Benefits —
(a) Health and hospitalization insurance equivalent to coverage
of the employees of the Philippine National Bank, New York Branch. (b)
Social Security under U.S. law.

B. Functions:

(1) The Manager shall also be Secretary of the Board and
prepare the agenda for and minutes of Board meetings.
(2) He shall be the Board’s direct liaison with the New York
firm stipulated in Section 2(4).

(3) He shall be responsible for the safety, cleanliness and
orderly operation of the building.

SEC. 7. The following shall be the floor assignments in the
building:

Basement — storage area for Philippine products, cultural
materials, props and miscellaneous equipment.
Ground floor — display center for Philippine products and cultural
materials.
First floor mezzanine — Philippine National Bank and Philippine
Airlines.
Second floor and second floor mezzanine —
auditorium/theater/community room, library, party room.
Third and fourth floors — Commercial/Trade Representative,
Representative of the Commission on Tourism, private business firms.
Fifth floor — Philippine Consulate General
Sixth floor — Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations
Seventh floor — storage space.

SEC. 8. The Board shall recommend to the President of
the Philippines the appointment of a Filipino architectural consultant
for the Center. Such consultant shall proceed to New York as soon as a
building is purchased and shall advise the Board and American architects
and/or building contractors on the exterior and interior renovation
work that must be undertaken in order that the Center may project an
image which is representative of the best in Philippine life and
culture.

Done in the City of Manila, this 10th day of May, in the year
of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.