MALACAÑANG

MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROCLAMATION NO. 979

DECLARING THE PERIOD FROM APRIL 12 TO APRIL 18, 1997 AS NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS WEEK OF THE IMPERATIVE FOR PUNCTUALITY AND RESPECT FOR THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS

WHEREAS,

there is a clamor from many sectors of society to promote and foster the virtue of punctuality and to put behind us the so called “Filipino time” which has been unfairly identified with tardiness;

WHEREAS,

there is also the concomitant need to promote due respect for the rights of others as an indispensable component of a peaceful, prosperous and orderly society;

WHEREAS,

there was a very positive response to the nationwide drive for punctuality, launched in 1996 by the Organized Movement for the Advancement of Society Inc. (O.R.A.S. Movement);

WHEREAS,

our aspirations for the Philippines 2000 can be effectively attained only if our people realize the great value of time and of the collective good, which consequently calls for a corresponding change of heart and habit.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS,

President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the period from April 12 to April 18, 1997 as National Consciousness Week of the Imperative for Punctuality and Respect for the Rights of Others (Linggo ng Pagpapahalaga sa Oras at sa Karapatan ng Kapwa).

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 10

^th

day of March in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Seven.

(Sgd.)

FIDEL V. RAMOS

By the President:

(Sgd.)

RUBEN D. TORRES