General Order No. 55

The military tribunals created under General Order No

SECTION 1. The military tribunals created under General Order No. 8 dated September 27, 1972, in relation to Presidential Decree No. 39 dated November 7, 1972, shall exercise exclusive jurisdiction over cases filed against a member of the United States Armed forces or civilian component thereof or their dependents involving subversion, rebellion, sedition, or any other crime committed in furtherance or on the occasion of, or incident to, or in connection with said crimes and over which the Philippines has jurisdiction pursuant to the existing RP-US Military Bases Agreement.

SEC. 2. Cases other than those enumerated in the preceding section against a member of the U.S. Armed Forces or civilian component thereof or their dependents over which the Philippines has jurisdiction pursuant to the existing RP-US Military Bases Agreement shall be triable by the proper civil courts.  Such cases already filed and pending in military tribunals at the time of the effectivity of this Order shall immediately be transferred to the corresponding civil courts for trial and disposition.

SEC. 3. The military tribunal or the proper civil court shall exercise jurisdiction as hereinabove conferred subject to the provisions of the aforementioned RP-US Military Bases Agreement.

SEC. 4. All orders, instructions, rules regulations and directives which are inconsistent herewith are hereby superseded, modified and/or repealed accordingly.

This Order shall take effect immediately

SEC. 5. This Order shall take effect immediately. DONE in the City of Manila, this 10th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and       (Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS       President       Republic of the Philippines                   By the President:               (Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE         Presidential Executive Assistant