Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 58)
All battlefield areas in Corregidor Island and Bataan province are declared National Shrines under Executive Order No. 58.
Yes. Except for portions needed temporarily for ammunition storage or national security, these National Shrines are opened to the public as tourist resorts, scenes of pilgrimages, and recreational centers.
The purpose is to glorify the memory and scenes of Philippine-American resistance to aggression and to inspire defense of democracy and freedom.
The Corregidor-Bataan National Shrines Commission is created to oversee the conservation and development of the National Shrines.
The commission includes the Secretary of National Defense (Chairman), Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Secretary of Commerce and Industry (Vice-Chairmen), Secretary of Public Works and Communications, Chief of Staff of AFP, Civil Aeronautics Administrator, President of the Philippine Association, President of the Philippine Tourist and Travel Association, President of the USAFFE Veterans Supreme Councilor, the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, and Chairman of the Historical Markers Committee.
The commission will determine historic areas to be preserved and developed, mark boundaries, prepare development programs, recommend memorials or monuments, and oversee construction of facilities including air-strips and rest-houses.
The Commission must recondition the air-strip in Corregidor, construct an air-strip in Bataan, and build suitable rest-houses for tourists, preferably restoring historical buildings related to World War II.
Within 30 days of the order, the Chief of Staff shall mark out areas reserved for temporary military use and remove military stores and dangerous unexploded ordinances in the battlefields.
They are directed to prioritize improvements for the National Shrines and make available funds from their current appropriations for such projects.
Yes, they may cooperate with the U.S. Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Commission and work to integrate plans into a common project.
The Commission can call on any government department, bureau, office, agency, or instrumentality for assistance in preparing and executing plans and maintaining services.
All executive orders, administrative orders, and proclamations or parts thereof inconsistent with this order are repealed or modified accordingly.
The order took effect immediately upon signing on August 16, 1954.