FURTHER AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6173, AS AMENDED, BY PROVIDING THE BASIS FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE MECHANISM DESIGNED TO ENSURE THAT EXTRAORDINARY GAINS RESULTING FROM GOVERNMENT-APPROVED PRICE INCREASES REDOUND TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 389-A
• Sections: 6

Preamble

WHEREAS, in this period of rising prices, extraordinary

gains are realized from increases in inventory values due to

government-approved price increases;

WHEREAS, because of the magnitude of the recent increases

in crude cost, the offsetting price increase, even on the basis of cost

recovery, would be such that extraordinary appreciation in the value of

inventory acquired prior to such cost increase would result; and

WHEREAS, such extraordinary gains resulting from

government-approved price increases should be channeled for special

economic and social development projects;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as

Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and

pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General

Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and

order:

Section 1

SECTION 1. A new paragraph to be cited as paragraph (j) is

hereby added to Section 7 of Republic Act No. 6173, as amended, as

follows:

"SEC. 7 (j). Whenever an authorized increase in the

prices of petroleum products would result in an extraordinary gain from

existing inventories, the Commission is hereby empowered to take such

measures, including the payment by the companies benefited to a Special

Fund which is hereby created, to be determined by the Oil Industry

Commission in an appropriate directive of such inventory gain, as would

assure that said extraordinary gain shall redound to the public

interest.

Until otherwise provided, the Special Fund herein created shall be

utilized either directly, or in the form of loans thru financial

institutions of the Government, for projects relating to the consumption

or use of crude oil, gas and other petroleum products and other sources

of energy including exploration and development researches on

conservation, anti-pollution and other similar studies, and to subsidize

the importation of crude oil by any government-owned corporation to

assure adequate and continuous supply of petroleum products at

reasonable prices. The Special Fund shall be administered as the

President of the Philippines may direct."

Section 2

SEC. 2. Section

eleven of Republic Act No. 6173, as amended, is hereby amended as

follows:

"SEC. 11. Review of Commission's Order; Commission's

Authority to Grant Provisional Relief. — A party adversely affected

by a decision or any order of the Commission fixing or adjusting the

price or prices of petroleum product or products may, within a period of

seven (7) days from receipt of said decision or order, appeal in

writing, stating clearly and distinctly the grounds relied upon, to the

Office of the President, which shall have exclusive authority and

jurisdiction to review, reverse, modify or amend the same. The decision

or order of the Commission in such cases shall be final, unless

reversed, altered or modified, either on appeal or on review motu

proprio within the period hereinbelow stated.

The Office of the President shall likewise have the power to

review, motu proprio, any decision or order of the Oil Industry

Commission fixing the prices of petroleum products. For this purpose,

certified copies of such decisions or orders of the Commission shall be

forwarded to the Office of the President immediately upon promulgation

thereof.

"The decision of the Office of the President, on appeal or after

review motu proprio, shall be final. Unless the Office of the

President directs otherwise, appeal or motu proprio review

shall not stay execution or implementation of the decision or order of

the Oil Industry Commission, which shall be executory upon the

expiration of seven (7) days after their promulgation.

"The Commission may, upon the filing of an application, petition

or complaint or at any stage thereafter, and without prior hearing, on

the basis of supporting papers duly verified and authenticated, grant

provisional relief on motion of a party in the case or on its own

initiative, without prejudice to a final decision after hearing, should

the Commission find that the pleadings, together with such affidavits,

documents and other evidence which may be submitted in support of the

motion, substantially support the provisional order.

"This Section shall apply to all pending proceedings in the

Commission."

Section 3

SEC. 3. Section fifteen of Republic Act No. 6173, as

amended, is hereby amended as follows:

"SEC. 15. Additional Fee on Importations and Turn-over

of Collections. — Effective July one, nineteen hundred and

seventy-one, there shall be levied, assessed and collected, an

additional fee of one tenth of one percent of the CIF value of crude oil

and petroleum products imported into the Philippines. The fee imposed

herein shall be collected at the same time, in the same manner and

subject to the same penalties as the duties and taxes regularly imposed

on such products. This fee shall not be a basis for any increase in the

price of any petroleum product as of the approval of this Act.

"The Commissioner of Customs shall turn over the collections to

the Treasurer of the Philippines monthly within the first ten days of

the succeeding month."

Section 4

SEC. 4. All acts, executive orders, administrative orders,

rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent herewith

are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 5

SEC. 5. This Decree shall take effect upon approval.

Done in the City of Manila, this 14th day of February, in the

year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Executive Secretary