Republic Act No. 3099 | Senate of the Philippines Legislative Reference Bureau

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Source: Supreme Court E-Library

	First Class	P5,000.00
	Second Class	4,000.00
	Third Class	3,000.00
	Fourth Class	1,000.00