WHEREAS, under Proclamation No. 263, dated September 23, 2002, the month of October was declared as COPD Awareness Month to initiate and carry on an intensified campaign against chronic lung diseases which is among the top ten causes of mortality in our country;

WHEREAS, there is continuing need for national awareness of the growing prevalence of lung diseases among our people which should be attended with urgency; and

WHEREAS, the international celebration of the "COPD Day" is every third Wednesday of November.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the third Wednesday of November of every year as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) Awareness Day.

I call upon the Department of Health, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians and its allied organizations, other government agencies/instrumentalities and concerned organizations, both in government and private, to extend full support to the programs and activities planned for the day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

By the president:

(Sgd.) ALBERTO G. ROMULO