AUTHORIZING THE POSTMASTER GENERAL TO SUPERVISE, REGULATE AND CONTROL THE OPERATIONS OF PRIVATE EXPRESS AND/OR MESSENGER DELIVERY SERVICE FIRMS AND TO ISSUE, GRANT, EXTEND, SUSP…

WHEREAS, it is necessary to systematize the supervision and
control over the carriage and dissemination of mailable matter for the good of
the public and in the interest of national security;

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
September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. No express and/or messenger delivery service firm
shall operate in the Philippines without possessing “Authority to Operate
Express and/or Messenger Delivery Service” to be issued by the Postmaster
General.

SEC. 2. All express and/or messenger delivery service firms
now operating under any franchise or other authority granted either by the
former Congress of the Philippines or the defunct Public Service Commission or
any government office, shall, within thirty (30) days from the date of approval
of this Decree, secure the necessary “Authority to Operate an Express and/or
Messenger Delivery Service” from the Postmaster General otherwise their present
franchises and/or authority to operate such service shall be considered
cancelled and of no effect after the lapse of said thirty (30) days.

SEC. 3. For the purpose of this Decree, the term “express
and/or messenger delivery service firm” includes every individual,
co-partnership, joint-stock company or corporation, their leases, trustees or
receivers, that now or hereafter may own, operate, manage, or control in the
Philippines, for hire or compensation, with general or limited clientele,
whether permanent, occasional or accidental, and done for general business
purposes, any service for the personal delivery for other persons of oral or
written messages and any mailable matter, except telegrams. A person or his
employee delivering any article owned by him is not conducting an express and/or
messenger delivery service within the context of this Decree.

SEC. 4. In addition to his existing powers under present
laws, the Postmaster General or his duly authorized representative, in order to
prevent dissemination thru private express and/or messenger delivery service
firm of articles which are harmful to national security, public welfare and
interest; to insure safe and proper handling of articles sent thru private
express and/or messenger delivery service firm and in order to prevent ruinous
competition among private express and/or messenger delivery firms, shall have
the following powers:

1. Exercise jurisdiction, supervision, and control over any express and/or
   messenger delivery service firm, its authority to operate, equipment and other
   properties, and in the exercise of this power it shall have the aid of the
   public police force;
2. To grant or issue certificates which shall be known as “Authority to Operate
   Express and/or Messenger Delivery Service” whenever he finds that the operation
   of the express and/or messenger delivery service will promote the public
   interest in a proper and suitable manner: Provided, That no such
   authority shall be issued for a period of more than 15 years;
3. To extend, suspend, or cancel as the case may be, at any time any “Authority
   to Operate Express and/or Messenger Delivery Service” when public interest so
   requires or whenever the holder thereof has violated any order, rule or
   regulation of the Bureau of Posts or as may be prescribed by the Postmaster
   General;
4. To promulgate such reasonable rules, regulations, and practices as will
   enable it to effectively exercise its powers or to safeguard public interest;
5. To fix and determine rates and charges of any express and/or messenger
   delivery service;
6. To exclude from being carried by express and/or messenger delivery service
   any article which the Postmaster General considers harmful to public welfare,
   national security, public morals and decency, and to confiscate and dispose such
   articles in the manner he may prescribe;
7. To compel an express and/or messenger delivery service firm to maintain
   adequate and specific records of transactions and operations, and to exhibit the
   same to the Postmaster General, or his duly authorized representative upon
   demand.

SEC. 5. All mailable articles accepted from any client for
delivery by an express and/or messenger delivery service firm shall be
considered mail matter insofar as fidelity in the handling and treatment thereof
is concerned, and criminal liability under existing laws shall accrue to any
person who violates said mail matter.

SEC. 6. Any provision of law in conflict herewith is revoked
or amended accordingly.

SEC. 7. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 9th 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