EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 343 - ADOPTING THE "PANUNUMPA NG KATAPATAN SA WATAWAT" AS THE OFFICIAL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE FOR ALL FILIPINOS

[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 343, June 12, 1996 ]

ADOPTING THE "PANUNUMPA NG KATAPATAN SA WATAWAT" AS THE OFFICIAL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE FOR ALL FILIPINOS

WHEREAS, we, as a nation, will commemorate the centennial of the proclamation of Philippine Independence on 12 June 1998 which celebration becomes more meaningful to the citizenry if their sense of history and nationhood is properly evoked;

WHEREAS, the "Panunumpa ng Katapatan sa Watawat" finalized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts from a draft prepared by the Commission on the Filipino Language is a soul stirring pledge that we can all truly ours, evincing as it does, a sense of nationhood and the values that every freedom-loving and nationalistic Filipino ought to possess;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by the powers vested in me by law, do hereby adopt and institutionalize the "Panunumpa ng Katapatan sa Watawat" as the official oath of allegiance for all Filipinos. I hereby direct each and every citizen to learn the "Panunumpa ng Katapatan sa "Watawat", reflect upon its words and take to heart the dedication to nationhood that the pledge contains:

Ako ay Pilipino Buong katapatang nanunumpa Sa watawat ng Pilipinas At sa bansang kanyang sinasagisag Na may dangal, katarungan at kalayaan Na pinakikilos ng sambayanang Maka-Diyos, Maka-tao, at Makabansa.

This Executive Order takes effect immediately.

Adopted: 12 June 1996

(SGD.) FIDEL V. RAMOS President of the Philippines

(SGD.) RUBEN D. TORRES Executive Secretary