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-…

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. 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.”

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.”

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.”

SEC. 4. All acts, executive orders, administrative orders,
rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent herewith
are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

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.