Executive Order 9818—Establishing the Philippine Alien Property Administration and Defining Its Functions

By virtue of the authority VESTED IN ME BY THE Constitution and statues including the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, 40 Stat. 411, as amended, the Philippine Property Act of 1946, 60 Stat, 418, the First War Powers Act, 1941, 55 Stat. 838, as amended, section 1753 of the Revised Statutes, and the Civil Service Act, 22 Stat. 403, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered, in the interest of the internal management of the Government, as follows: 1. There is established in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President the Philippine Alien Property Administration, at the head of which shall be a Philippine Alien Property Administrator appointed by the President, without regard to the civil service laws. The Philippine Alien Property Administrator shall receive compensation at such rate as the President shall approve and in addition shall be entitled to actual and necessary transportation, housing, subsistence, and other expenses incidental to the performance of his duties. Within the limitation of such funds as may be made available for that purpose, and without regard to the civil service laws, the Philippine Alien Property Administrator may appoint assistants and other personnel and delegate to them such functions as he may deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this order. Such personnel of the Office of Alien Property, Department of Justice, as are engaged in the exercise of the functions transferred hereunder, may be transferred to the Philippine Alien Property Administration without loss of such civil-service status or eligibility therefor as they may possess. Any employee of a department or agency of the Federal Government who possesses special qualifications or experience of particular use to the Philippine Alien Property Administrator may, upon request by the Philippine Alien Property Administrator, be transferred with his consent and that of the department or agency in which he is employed, without loss of such civilian-service status or eligibility therefor as such person may possess, to a position under the Philippine Alien Property Administrator. Upon application for re-employment made to the original employing department or agency within ninety days after termination of the service of the employee in the position to which he is transferred under the provisions of this section, and upon presentation of a statement by the Philippine Alien Property Administrator or his authorized representatives, reciting the date of termination of such service, that the services of such employee have been satisfactory and that such termination was not the result of delinquency or misconduct on the part of the employee, such employee shall, if qualified to perform the duties of his position, be reemployed in his original position or in a position of like seniority, status and pay, so long as the position the employee left, or one of like seniority, status, and pay is occupied by an employee with lower retention preference. 2. The Philippine Alien Property Administrator is hereby designated to exercise and perform, and there are hereby transferred to him, such rights, privileges, powers, authority, duties and functions, with respect to property located within the Philippines and property transferred pursuant to section 3 hereof, as were vested in or transferred or delegated to the Alien Property Custodian by the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, the Philippine Property Act of 1946, Executive Order 9095 of March 11, 1942, as amended, Executive Order 9141 of April 21, 1942, and Executive Order 9725 of May 16, 1946 3. The Attorney General, or such officer or agency of the Department of Justice as he may designate, is authorized and directed to transfer to the Philippine Alien Property Administrator all property or interests vested in or transferred to him which were located in the Philippines at the time of such vesting or transfer, or by the proceeds thereof, subject, however, to such expenses as the Attorney General is authorized to charged against such property or proceeds. Such property or proceeds shall be administered and disposed of under the direction and control of the Philippine Alien Property Administrator in accordance with law. 4. The Philippine Alien Property Administrator shall, except as otherwise agreed to by the Secretary of State, consult with the Secretary of State before vesting any property or interest pursuant to this Executive order. 5. The Attorney General or such officer or agency of the Department of Justice as he may designate, is authorized and directed to transfer to the Philippine Alien Property Administrator such personnel, records, files, furniture, equipment, and supplies as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may determine to be necessary for the performance of the functions hereby transferred, but the Administrator shall reimburse the Attorney General for the furniture, equipment, and supplies so transferred. 6. The Philippine Alien Property Administrator, to the extent permitted by law, is authorized to pay of out of any funds or property or interested vested in him or transferred to him all necessary expense of the Philippine Alien Property Administration in the performance of the functions hereby transferred: Provided, however, that the Philippine Alien Property Administrator shall submit to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget at such time or times and in such form as the Director shall require, an estimate of general administrative expenses for the remainder of the current fiscal year, and no general administrative expenses authorized to be paid pursuant to this order shall be incurred or paid by the Philippine Alien Property Administrator in excess of the amounts approved by the Bureau of the Budget upon submissions as herein required. All expenses for the current fiscal year shall, in addition, be reported to the Congress as early as practicable, with a request for ratification thereof; and no general administrative expense shall be incurred or paid by the Philippine Alien Property Administrator after the fiscal year ending June 30, 1947, except pursuant to a further annual authorization by the Congress. 7. Paragraph 5 of Executive Order 9141 (7F.R. 2985) is amended to the extent that it requires that litigation under the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, as amended, and the Philippine Property Act of 1946, instituted in the courts of the Philippine Islands prior to July 4, 1946, be conducted under the supervision f the Attorney General. In any such litigation the Philippine Alien Property Administrator may appear personally or though attorneys appointed by him. 8. No action taken by or on behalf of the Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General as his successor under Executive Order 9747 of July 3, 1946, shall be challenged on the ground that it was within the jurisdiction of the Philippine Alien Property Administrator. 9. This order supersedes Executive Order 9789 of October 14, 1946, entitled "Establishing the Philippine Alien Property Administration and defining its functions." HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, January 7, 1947