AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3099, CREATING THE BUREAU OF FIBER INSPECTION SERVICE, APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE PURPOSE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 652
• Sections: 14

Preamble

WHEREAS, rapid changes in technology the world over have

made it imperative to update the provisions of Republic Act No. 3099,

creating the Bureau of Fiber Inspection Service, so as to maximize the

returns of fiber producer's investments, establish a more equitable

distribution of income and wealth; and impose stricter qualitative and

quantitative control by the government of fibers both for export and for

local consumption; and

WHEREAS, in view of the expanding social amelioration and

economic development programs being undertaken by the government, there

is a pressing need for increasing government revenues through

income-earning agencies and the expansion and rationalization of abaca

and other fiber industries of the country;

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

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

do hereby order and decree that Republic Act No. 3099 be so amended as

to read as follows:

Section 1

SECTION 1. The Bureau of Fiber Inspection Service is hereby

reconstituted and named, "BUREAU OF FIBER DEVELOPMENT AND INSPECTION

SERVICE" and shall under the direct supervision of the Department of

Trade.

Section 2

SEC. 2. Upon the issuance of this decree, the Secretary of

Trade shall organize the Bureau of Fiber Development and Inspection

Service hereinafter referred to as "Bureau," in accordance with the

reorganization plan to be submitted for approval by the President. Said

Bureau shall have a Director as its head and an Assistant Director to be

appointed by the President, with the corresponding salaries of Bureau

Directors and Assistant Directors.

Section 3

SEC. 3. The Bureau shall have its main office in Manila or

suburbs and shall have regional offices within and appropriate

representative offices outside the Philippines as may be necessary.

Section 4

SEC. 4. The Bureau shall have the following powers and

functions:

(a) To maintain and enforce a uniform and standard

classification of abaca, and other Philippine commercial fibers

intended for export and for local consumption;

To determine the official standards for the

various commercial fibers that are or may hereafter be

produced in the Philippines for local consumption and for

exports;

To classify grading establishments based on the

number of bales pressed per annum;

To issue grading permits to persons or entities

engaged in the grading and baling of fibers intended

for local consumption or for export, after they shall

have proven that they possess the necessary qualifications

to carry on the work. Such entities shall pay in

advance to the Bureau of Fiber Development and

Inspection Service an annual fee as follows:

First Class

P5,000.00

Second Class

4,000.00

Third Class

3,000.00

Fourth Class

1,000.00

Those engaged in buying and selling of Philippine commercial

fibers, sorting classifying and bundling of loose Philippine commercial

fibers below the category of fourth class establishments shall pay an

annual fee of P200.00, payable semi-annually. The said classification

shall include planters who buy the share of the tenants from the produce

of their plantations. Cooperatives falling under Presidential Decree

175 and Letter of Implementation 23 are exempt

from payment of such fee for 10 years from the date

of their organization.

Classifiers in duly licensed grading-baling establishments

and/or trading establishments, as well as industrial firms engaged in

the processing of such fibers into semi-finished or finished products

shall pay a minimal fee of Ten Pesos per annum, payable in advance, to

the Bureau.

To maintain adequate equipment and facilities

for the accurate determination of color values in

fibers, breaking strength through pull, doubling,

abrasion, knotting and other forms of wear and tear;

and to uses for fiber for local manufacturers and

home industry as a means to stabilize the market and

insure more adequate returns for fiber producers;

To regulate and control grading and baling establishments;

To gather and collate data on fiber balings

and shipments by grade, district of production, port

of destination and price to guide producers as to the

grades in high demand in the local and foreign markets;

to observe fiber trading and traffic of loose

commercial fibers in the different fiber-producing regions

of the country and prevent misdeclaration of origin of

production of the different kinds of fibers;

To conduct systematic and intensive campaigns towards the

improvement of the quality of fibers produced and the methods of

production;

To make foreign market surveys for the possible establishment

or expansion of export markets;

To conduct scientific, industrial and economic research on

abaca and other fibers with a view to expanding the utilization of those

fibers for local and foreign uses;

To undertake other activities necessary or incidental to the

attainment of the purposes and objectives of the Bureau; and

To formulate, subject to the approval of the Secretary of

Trade, rules and regulations in order to carry out its functions

in accordance with this Decree.

Section 5 Grueling, Baling and Inspection of Fibers.

SEC. 5. Grueling, Baling and Inspection of Fibers.—All

fibers of which the official standards shall have been established as

hereinabove contemplated, shall be graded, baled, inspected, approved

and certified as provided in this Decree. No fiber shall be consumed

locally or exported from the Philippines in any quantity without first

being graded, baled, inspected and certified as already stated above.

However, in the case of fiber for domestic utilization, baling may be

optional.

Section 6 Inspection of Premises of Grading Establishment.

SEC. 6. Inspection of Premises of Grading

Establishment.—The fiber inspector or other persons acting under his

authority shall have free access to the grading and baling sheds and to

the warehouses of any grading establishment where the bales are stored

within his jurisdiction to conduct inspection for the purpose of

satisfying himself as to the propriety of the methods used therein. He

shall also see to it that the approved standards are maintained and

renewed within a specified period.

Section 7 Inspection Fees.

SEC. 7. Inspection Fees.—There shall be levied

and collected, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Trade,

inspection fees by the Bureau or by its authorized agents, an amount not

less than P6 nor more than P50 for each bale of fiber inspected and

stamped, whether approved or rejected. Different rates of inspection

fees may be fixed for other Philippine commercial fibers. Subject to the

approval by the Secretary of Trade, inspection fees may be adjusted or

modified at any time by the Director of the Bureau within the limits

fixed in this Section.

Section 8 Special Fund.

SEC. 8. Special Fund.—Inspection fees which the

Bureau is authorized to collect and such other income which may accrue

to it shall constitute a special fund to be called "Fiber Development

and Inspection Fund" which can only be spent pursuant to a special

budget approved by the President as required by Section 7-1(4) of

Commonwealth Act No. 246, as amended: Provided, however, That

not more than forty percent of the appropriation in any fiscal year

shall be spent for personal services, operational expenses, including

furniture and equipment: and Provided, further, That unexpended

balances shall not revert to the General Fund but shall continue to form

part of the special fund available for reappropriation in the

ensuing fiscal year.

Section 9 Penalties.

SEC. 9. Penalties.—The Bureau of Fiber

Development and Inspection Service may cause the cancellation of the

grading permit issued to a grading-baling establishment if it has been

found that such establishment has not conducted its grading and baling

operations in accordance with this Decree and the rules and regulations

of the Bureau. The individual responsible for the violation of any of

the provisions of this Decree, or any rules or regulations of the

Bureau, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than six years

nor more than ten years or by a line of not less than Five Thousand

Pesos nor more than Fifteen Thousand Pesos, or by both fine and

imprisonment, at the discretion of the Court.

Whenever the violation is committed by a corporation,

association, partnership or firms, the penalty shall be imposed on the

president, partner, manager of principal officer thereof.

If the offender is a naturalized citizen, he shall, in addition

to the penalty prescribed herein, suffer the penalty of cancellation of

his naturalization certificate and such registration in the civil

registry and immediate deportation after serving completely his

sentence.

If the offender is an alien he shall, after serving completely

his sentence, suffer an additional penalty of immediate deportation.

If the offender is a public officer or employee, he shall in

addition to the penalty of imprisonment and fine prescribed herein, be

dismissed from office and perpetually disqualified from holding a public

office.

Section 10 Appropriation.

SEC. 10. Appropriation.—The sum of two million pesos

or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any funds

in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry out the

purpose of this Decree. Unexpended appropriations as may be available

for transfer from the current appropriation of the Philippine Bureau of

Standards are transferred to the Bureau of Fiber Development and

inspection Service to carry out likewise the purposes of this Decree.

Thereafter, the sum necessary for said purposes shall be included in the

annual general appropriations Decree.

Section 11

SEC. 11. Only such personnel of the Bureau of Fiber

Inspection Service as may be necessary, including all its pertinent

properties, records, assets and liabilities, are hereby transferred to

the Bureau. Personnel who may not be absorbed by the new agency may

retire under existing retirement laws, if qualified; otherwise, they

shall be granted separation pay based on the highest salary received at

the rate of one month's salary for every year of service rendered, but

not to exceed twelve months.

Section 12 Repealing Clause.

SEC. 12. Repealing Clause.—All acts, decrees,

executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations and

proclamation or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed

or modified accordingly.

Section 13 Effectivity.

SEC. 13. Effectivity.—This Decree shall take

effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of February, in the

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

(Sgd.)

FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.)

ROBERTO V. REYES

Acting Executive Secretary