Letter of Instruction No. 4 (Marcos)

by Ferdinand Marcos

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MALACAÑANG
RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
MANILA

LETTER OF INSTRUCTION No. 4

The Secretary
Department of Foreign Affairs
Padre Faura, Manila

Pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated Sept. 21, 1972, and in my capacity as commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Philippines and in order to prevent the escape from the country of persons who are known to be actively engaged or suspected to be actively engaged in a criminal conspiracy to seize political and state power in the Philippines and to take over the Government by force and violence the extent of which has now assumed the proportion of an actual war against our people and their legitimate Government, you are hereby ordered not to issue travel papers of any kind such as passports and other like documents to any citizens of the Philippines who may wish to depart from the Philippines for any foreign country after the date of this order except only to those citizens of the Philippines who are being sent abroad in the service of the Government or to those citizens of the Philippines who are members of the crew of any inter-ocean going vessel or to those citizens of the Philippines who are members of the crew of any commercial aircraft engaged in the international carriage of persons or cargoes or both. In all such exceptional cases, care must be exercised to fully identify the individual in whose favor such travel documents or papers are to be issued.

This order shall remain effective for the duration of the present national emergency or until otherwise ordered by my or by my duly designated representative.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of September, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.