WHEREAS,
the current worldwide shortage of sugar has brought about an increased
speculative interest in that essential commodity and has induced
rampant illegal trading and illegal exportation of Philippine sugar;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, it is imperative, in order to stabilize the prices of
Philippine sugar exported abroad, and to safeguard our supply of sugar
for domestic consumption, that the Government should put an immediate
stop to this illegal trading and exportation of Philippine sugar; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, there is no law at present specifically penalizing the illegal
trading and the illegal exportation of Philippine sugar and it is
essential and in the public interest that adequate deterrents and/or
penalties be provided therefor;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
decree and order:cralaw:red
Section 1. Coverage of the Decree. — This Decree
shall apply to sugar in any form produced within the territorial
jurisdiction of the Republic of the Philippines.
Section 2. Acts Punishable. — The following acts
shall constitute illegal trading in or illegal exportation of
Philippine sugar, as the case may be:cralaw:red
a) The sale, transfer, or assignment of sugar by any
planter, producer, miller, central or refinery or any other person or
entity engaged in the production of sugar in the Philippines to any
person or entity other than the Philippine Exchange, Inc. and/or the
Philippine National Bank. In this case, each of the parties to the
transaction shall be liable and subject to the penalties herein
provided.
b) Loading or unloading sugar on board any vessel
orrcraft at points other than ports of entry or sub-ports of entry
designated in or pursuant to the Tariff and Customs Code of the
Philippines. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
c) Loading sugar on board any vessel orrcraft for
shipment to any point outside the jurisdiction of the Republic of the
Philippines without an authority to load from the Bureau of Customs,
after securing the corresponding export permits therefor from the Sugar
Quota Administration and the Central Bank of the Philippines.
d) Loading sugar on board any vessel orrcraft for
shipment to any point within the jurisdiction of the Republic of the
Philippines without first furnishing the customs authorities at the
port of departure a Notification duly executed under oath and
containing the names and addresses of the shippers and the name, if
any, type and registry number of the vessel orrcraft, the exact
quantity of sugar to be shipped, and the port of destination: Provided,
that it shall be the ministerial duty of the customs authorities to
stamp and acknowledge receipt of such Notification, if duly
accomplished, upon presentation of the same; Provided, that: a copy of
such Notification, duly stamped as received by the customs authorities
shall be kept and produced by the shipper or carrier of such sugar upon
inspection by proper authorities in the course of shipment; and upon
arrival at the port of destination, such copy of the Notification must
have to be presented to the customs authorities thereat for inspection
of the shipment; Provided, further, that: Loading sugar in excess by
more than two hundred fifty kilos over the quantity stated in the
Notification shall, to the extent of such excess, likewise be
punishable under this paragraph. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Failure of the sugar shipment to arrive at the port of destination
within a reasonable time shall be considered prima facie evidence of
the illegal trading or illegal exportation of such sugar. A disparity
of more than two hundred fifty kilos between the quantity of sugar
stated in the Notification and the actual quantity of sugar reaching
the port of destination shall likewise be prima facie evidence of the
illegal trading in or the illegal exportation of sugar to the extent of
such disparity in quantity.
In the cases of the offenses described in paragraph (b), (c) and (d)
above, both the shipper of the sugar if he loads more than two hundred
fifty kilos and the captain or patron or pilot of the vessel orrcraft
on which more than two hundred fifty kilos of sugar is loaded shall be
liable and be subject to the penalties herein provided.
If the offense is committed by a judicial person or entity the officers
thereof who knowingly participated in the acts herein described shall
be liable and be subject to the penalties herein provided. If the
offender is an alien, he shall be deported after serving his sentence,
without further proceedings.
Section 3. Penalties. — Persons found guilty of
violating the provisions of this Decree shall be punished as follows:cralaw:red
a) Imprisonment of not less than six months nor more
than two years if the quantity of sugar involved is more than two
hundred fifty kilos but not more than ten thousand kilos.
b) Imprisonment of not less than two years nor more
than five years if the sugar involved is more than ten thousand kilos
but not more than fifty thousand kilos.
c) Imprisonment of not less than five years nor more
than ten years if the sugar involved is more than fifty thousand kilos.
Section 4. Exceptions. — The loading of sugar on a
vessel orrcraft in an amount not exceeding two hundred fifty kilos for
any one vessel orrcraft without any of the permits, notifications or
other requirements mentioned in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of Section
2 hereof, shall not constitute an offense and shall not be punishable
hereunder. Likewise, the trading of sugar in violation of Sec. 2(a) of
this Decree, if done by small planters and/or millers producing less
than one thousand kilos of sugar per month, and provided the total
quantity traded by them each month does not exceed their actual
production for that month, shall not be punishable under this Decree.
In case of islands wherein there are no customs authorities or which
are not sub-ports of entry, loading or unloading sugar thereon in
excess of two hundred fifty kilos may be allowed, but with proper
Notification, as provided in Sec. 2 (d) of this Decree, submitted to
the Commander of the Philippine Constabulary in said area or his duly
authorized representative thereat.
Section 5. Confiscation of Sugar, Vessel orrcraft. —
The sugar traded or loaded in violation of this Decree shall be
confiscated and surrendered to the nearest PNB or Philippine Exchange,
Inc. office for reallocation, without prejudice to the rights of the
parties involved, who shall be entitled to the return of sugar of the
same kind and quantity, should they be found later on by the proper
authorities to be innocent of the offenses herein defined. The vessel
orrcraft used in violation of the provisions hereof shall after, final
judgment by the court, be confiscated in favor of the Government,
thereafter to be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the
Tariff and Customs Code. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 6. All laws, executive orders, instructions,
rules and regulations inconsistent with these provisions are hereby
repealed or amended accordingly.
Section 7. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 21st day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and seventy-five.
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