PROCLAIMING THE EXISTENCE OF PUBLIC CALAMITY IN THE CITY OF BACOLOD AND DECLARING IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT THEREIN THE PROVISIONS OF ACT NO. 4164

WHEREAS, a fire of great magnitude recently
destroyed a considerable portion of the City of Bacolod and the catastrophe has
caused not only death and destruction but also lawless violence, looting, and
sufferings among the populace due to scarcity of articles of prime necessities
of life; and

WHEREAS, such a state of things demands that
effective measures be taken immediately to cope with the resulting emergency;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ramon Magsaysay, President of
the Philippines, by virtue of the powers conferred upon me by Act No. 4164 of
the former Philippine Legislature, entitled “An Act to prevent the excessive
increase in the prices of certain prime necessities of life on the occasion of
a public calamity, penalizing the violation thereof, and for other purposes,”
do hereby proclaim that a public calamity Resulting from destruction by fire exists
in the City of Bacolod and declare in full force and effect therein the
Provisions of said Act No. 4164, which prohibits and penalizes the hoarding of
palay, rice, corn, building or construction materials, and the other prime
necessities of life specified in the list accompanying this proclamation and
folding them out for sale or selling them at prices higher by twenty-five per
cent or more over and above the average current local price of such commodities
one month previous co occurrence of the disaster above mentioned.

The public order in the City of Bacolod so
requiring, I hereby order the Provincial Commander of the Philippine
Constabulary of Negros Occidental, or his duly authorized representatives, to
seize any stock of palay, rice, corn, building or construction materials, and
articles of prime necessities of life specified in the list accompanying this
proclamation when they are concealed or hoarded for purposes of speculation or
profiteering by any owner or dealer thereof in excess of his reasonable needs
for business or for subsistence.

The articles so seized shall be delivered to the
representatives of the Price Stabilization Corporation (PRISCO) in the City of
Bacolod, to be sold and disposed of to the public in accordance with law and
the proceeds of the sale at legal price shall be reimbursed to the respective
owners thereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 16th day of
April, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-five, and of the
Independence of the Philippines, the ninth.

RAMON MAGSAYSAY
President of the Philippines

By the President:
MARIANO YENKO, JR.
Assistant Executive Secretary