Section 1
SECTION 1. No person, corporation, association, or entity whatsoever shall, without the approval of the President of the Philippines: (a) transfer to or place under any foreign registry or flag any vessel owned in whole or in part by a citizen of the Philippines or by a corporation organized under the laws of the Philippines; or (b) sell, mortgage, lease, charter, deliver, or in any manner transfer, directly or indirectly, to any person not a citizen of the United States or of the Philippines, (1) any such vessel or any interest therein, or (2) any vessel registered the laws of the Philippines or bearing a certificate t. Philippine registry, or any interest therein, or (3) any shipyard, drydock, shipbuilding or ship-repairing plant or facilities, or any interest therein; or (c) enter into any contract, agreement, or understanding, to construct a vessel within the Philippines for or to be delivered to any person not a citizen of the United States or of the Philippines or to be placed under any foreign registry or flag, without expressly stipulating that such construction shall not begin while this Act is in full force and effect; or (d) make any agreement or effect any understanding whereby there is vested in or for the benefit of any person not a citizen of the United States or of the Philippines, the controlling interest or the majority of the voting power in a corporation which is organized under the laws of the Philippines, and which owns any vessel, shipyard, drydock, or ship-building or ship-repairing plant or facilities; or (e) cause or procure any vessel constructed in whole or in part within the Philippines, which has never cleared for any foreign port, to depart from a port of the Philippines before it has been registered under the laws of the Philippines.