Section 12
SECTION 12. Foreign Loans - The Administration is hereby authorized to contract loans, credit and indebtedness, in any convertible foreign currency or capital goods from time to time from foreign governments or any international financial institutions or fund sources, the total outstanding amount of which, exclusive of interest charges, shall not exceed two hundred million US dollars or the equivalent thereof in other currencies at any one time on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon. The President of the Philippines, by himself, or through the Secretary of Finance or the Governor of the Central Bank, is hereby authorized to negotiate and contract with foreign governments or any international financial institutions, in the name and on behalf of the Administration, one or several loans, for the purpose of assisting in the reconstruction, or promoting the development, of the economy of the Mindanao, Sulu archipelago and Palawan region. The President of the Philippines, by himself or through the Secretary of Finance or the Governor of the Central Bank, is hereby further authorized to guarantee, absolutely and unconditionally, as primary obligor and not as surety merely, in the name and on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, the payment of the loan or loans herein authorized, as well as the performance of all or any of the obligations undertaken by the Administration in the territory of the Republic of the Philippines, pursuant to loan agreements entered into with foreign governments or any international financial institutions. In the negotiation and contracting of any loan, credit or indebtedness under this section, the provision of Section Four of Republic Act Numbered Four Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty, as provided in Section Five of Republic Act Numbered Six Thousand One Hundred Forty-Two, as amended, shall apply. The loans, credits and indebtedness contracted under this subsection and the payment of the principal, interest and other charges thereon, as well as the importation of machinery, equipment, materials and supplies by the Administration, paid from the proceeds of any loan, credit or indebtedness incurred under this Decree, shall also be exempt from all taxes, fees, imposts, other charges and restrictions, including import restrictions imposed by the Republic of the Philippines, or any of its agencies and political subdivisions.