Whereas Clauses. WHEREAS, under Republic Act No. 6234, it is a declared national policy of the state that the establishment, operation and maintenance of waterworks systems must be supervised and controlled by the State, because the proper operation and maintenance of waterworks systems to insure an uninterrupted and adequate supply and distribution of potable water for domestic and other purposes and the proper operation and maintenance of sewerage systems are essential public services which are vital to public health and safety;

WHEREAS, in the attainment of the aforementioned objectives, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System has implemented an interim program of construction and improvement in order to provide stop-gap measures in the interim to insure continuous and adequate supply of potable water to the inhabitants of the Manila metropolitan area up to 1973;

WHEREAS, in view of the increasing water demand of a growing and expanding population in the service area, including the industries, factories, commercial establishments, etc., all of which will require uninterrupted and adequate supply of potable water, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System is now ready to undertake the first phase of a long-range program of construction, development and improvement of the water system to be able to meet the increased water demand beginning the year 1974;

WHEREAS, equally vital, if not more critical, is the maintenance of an adequate sewage disposal system in the serviced areas which should allow the management of the System a wider latitude of fiscal projections than it is allowed in its present charter; and

WHEREAS, to achieve the foregoing objectives the System needs reliable and definite capitalization of its programs and projects through the conversion of the System into a stock corporation with a definite equity base.

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 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 amend Republic Act Numbered Sixty-Two Hundred Thirty-Four, otherwise known as the Charter of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, to wit: