WHEREAS,
the foreign exchange problems now facing the country require, among
others, the adoption of effective emergency measures to immobilize or
stop those who undermine national efforts to solve them;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, one of the measures taken is the creation of a Presidential
Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force headed by the Minister of Trade and
Industry to identify and prosecute those engaged in the salting of
foreign exchange, dollar blackmarketing and other acts in violation of
foreign exchange regulations; and
WHEREAS, the Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force needs to be
provided with adequate authority to enable it to meaningfully and
effectively perform the tasks for which it was created.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
order and ordain: chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 1. Powers of the Presidential
Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force. — The Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting
Task Force, hereinafter referred to as Task Force, shall have the
following powers and authority:cralaw:red
a) Motu proprio or upon complaint, to investigate and
prosecute all dollar salting activities, including the overvaluation of
imports and the undervaluation of exports;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
b) To administer oaths, summon persons or issue
subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the
production of such books, papers, contracts, records, statements of
accounts, agreements, and others as may be necessary in the conduct of
investigation;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
c) To appoint or designate experts, consultants,
state prosecutors or fiscals, investigators and hearing officers to
assist the Task Force in the discharge of its duties and
responsibilities; gather data, information or documents; conduct
hearings, receive evidence, both oral and documentary, in all cases
involving violation of foreign exchange laws or regulations; and submit
reports containing findings and recommendations for consideration of
appropriate authorities. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
d) To punish direct and indirect contempt with the
appropriate penalties therefor under Rule 71 of the Rules of Court; and
To adopt such measures and take such actions as may be necessary to
implement this Decree.
Section 2. Preventive measures pending formal
investigation. — (1) As soon as a charge is instituted or filed with
the Task Force and even prior to the commencement of a formal
investigation, the Chairman of the Task Force, if in his judgment there
exists a probable cause as shown by the reports, papers or documents
accompanying said charge, may order one or more of the following for
the purpose of preventing the disposition or tampering of evidence, the
continuation of the acts being complained of, and the flight of the
respondent, as the case may be:cralaw:red
a) The padlocking of the business establishment,
warehouse, building, shop or any other structure which might be used
for the commission of the offense;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
b) The prevention of the departure from the
Philippines of the respondent, regardless of citizenship, through the
issuance of a hold-departure order which may not be lifted without the
approval of the Chairman of the Task Force. The Chairman shall issue a
copy of the order to the Aviation Security Command, Manila
Internationalrport Authority, or the Commission on Immigration and
Deportation, as the case may be, and the latter upon receipt thereof
shall without delay implement the order and submit a report of
compliance to the Chairman. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(2) The Chairman of the Task Force shall refer the
charge to a prosecutor for preliminary investigation.
Section 3. Search warrant or warrant of arrest. —
(1) A prosecutor designated by the Task Force is authorized, upon prior
approval of the Chairman of the Task Force, to issue a search warrant
or warrant of arrest, in connection with a dollar-salting or dollar
blackmarketing charge, upon probable cause to be determined by him,
after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the
witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be
searched and the person or things to be seized. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(2) A person caught in a flagrante delicto or in the
actual commission of a crime involving dollar-salting or dollar
blackmarketing may be arrested even without a warrant of arrest, and
the instruments of the crime seized or confiscated.
Section 4. Period to deliver detained person to
proper judicial authorities. — Dollar-salting or dollar blackmarketing
as penalized under existing laws or under rules and regulations of the
Central Bank being an economic sabotage that undermines or weakens the
economic system or viability of the country, the sophistication of
which may not warrant the early filing of the corresponding information
in court, the person arrested or held under Section 3 above may be
detained for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days without said
person being delivered to, or formal information filed against him
with, the proper court, as an exception to Article 125 of the Revised
Penal Code.
Section 5. Person arrested entitled to bail;
exception. — (1) The person arrested pursuant to Section 3 above shall
be entitled to bail for his provisional liberty in such amount as the
prosecutor, or in proper cases a judge of a court of competent
jurisdiction, may fix, taking into account the gravity of the offense
and the amount involved.
(2) This provision concerning bail shall not apply to
any detained person against whom a Preventive Detention Action is
issued by the President pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1877 as
amended by Presidential Decree No. 1877-A in relation to Proclamation
No. 2045-A.
Section 6. Preliminary investigation of the case and
disposition thereof— After proper preliminary investigation of the
charges to be conducted by a prosecutor or hearing officer designated
by the Task Force and depending upon the evidence presented, the case
may, upon prior approval of the Chairman of the Task Force, be
dismissed or the corresponding information, signed by said prosecutor
or hearing officer, filed in court. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 7. Issuance of rules and regulations. — The
Task Force shall issue rules and regulations for the proper
implementation of this Decree, and such rules and regulations thus
issued shall take effect on the day following their publication in a
newspaper of general circulation. The fact that such rules and
regulations have not been promulgated shall not preclude the immediate
enforcement of this Decree.
Section 8. Separability clause. — In the event any
provision of this Decree or the application of such provision to any
person or circumstance is declared invalid, the remainder of this
Decree shall not be affected by such declaration.
Section 9. Suspension clause. — All laws, decrees,
instructions, executive orders or rules and regulations, to the extent
that they are inconsistent herewith, are hereby temporarily suspended
or amended accordingly during the effectivity of this Decree.
Section 10. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take
effect immediately and shall remain in force for a period of two (2)
years, unless so extended by another Decree.
Section 11. Saving clause. — Upon expiration of this
Decree, cases pending investigation at the time shall be turned over to
the city or provincial fiscal, as the case may be, for proper
disposition in accordance with law. The expiration of this Decree shall
not affect actions undertaken by the Task Force, its Chairman or its
officers, cases already disposed of, and those pending prosecution.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 22nd day of June in the Year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
eighty-four.
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