PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES, CODES & ISSUANCES
PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES AND CODES
PRESIDENTIAL DECREES
|
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1936 -
FURTHER DEFINING THE AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ANTI-DOLLAR SALTING
TASK FORCE
|
| WHEREAS,
the foreign exchange problems now facing the country require, among
others, the adoption of effective emergency measures to immobilize or
stop those who undermine national efforts to solve them; WHEREAS, one of the measures taken is the creation of a Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry to identify and prosecute those engaged in the salting of foreign exchange, dollar blackmarketing and other acts in violation of foreign exchange regulations; and WHEREAS, the Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force needs to be provided with adequate authority to enable it to meaningfully and effectively perform the tasks for which it was created. NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and ordain: Section 1. Powers of the Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force. � The Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force, hereinafter referred to as Task Force, shall have the following powers and authority: a) Motu proprio or upon complaint, to investigate and prosecute all dollar salting activities, including the overvaluation of imports and the undervaluation of exports; b) To administer oaths, summon persons or issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of such books, papers, contracts, records, statements of accounts, agreements, and others as may be necessary in the conduct of investigation; c) To appoint or designate experts, consultants, state prosecutors or fiscals, investigators and hearing officers to assist the Task Force in the discharge of its duties and responsibilities; gather data, information or documents; conduct hearings, receive evidence, both oral and documentary, in all cases involving violation of foreign exchange laws or regulations; and submit reports containing findings and recommendations for consideration of appropriate authorities. d) To punish direct and indirect contempt with the appropriate penalties therefor under Rule 71 of the Rules of Court; and To adopt such measures and take such actions as may be necessary to implement this Decree. Sec. 2. Preventive measures pending formal investigation. � (1) As soon as a charge is instituted or filed with the Task Force and even prior to the commencement of a formal investigation, the Chairman of the Task Force, if in his judgment there exists a probable cause as shown by the reports, papers or documents accompanying said charge, may order one or more of the following for the purpose of preventing the disposition or tampering of evidence, the continuation of the acts being complained of, and the flight of the respondent, as the case may be: a) The padlocking of the business establishment, warehouse, building, shop or any other structure which might be used for the commission of the offense; b) The prevention of the departure from the Philippines of the respondent, regardless of citizenship, through the issuance of a hold-departure order which may not be lifted without the approval of the Chairman of the Task Force. The Chairman shall issue a copy of the order to the Aviation Security Command, Manila Internationalrport Authority, or the Commission on Immigration and Deportation, as the case may be, and the latter upon receipt thereof shall without delay implement the order and submit a report of compliance to the Chairman. (2) The Chairman of the Task Force shall refer the charge to a prosecutor for preliminary investigation. Sec. 3. Search warrant or warrant of arrest. � (1) A prosecutor designated by the Task Force is authorized, upon prior approval of the Chairman of the Task Force, to issue a search warrant or warrant of arrest, in connection with a dollar-salting or dollar blackmarketing charge, upon probable cause to be determined by him, after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized. (2) A person caught in a flagrante delicto or in the actual commission of a crime involving dollar-salting or dollar blackmarketing may be arrested even without a warrant of arrest, and the instruments of the crime seized or confiscated. Sec. 4. Period to deliver detained person to proper judicial authorities. � Dollar-salting or dollar blackmarketing as penalized under existing laws or under rules and regulations of the Central Bank being an economic sabotage that undermines or weakens the economic system or viability of the country, the sophistication of which may not warrant the early filing of the corresponding information in court, the person arrested or held under Sec. 3 above may be detained for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days without said person being delivered to, or formal information filed against him with, the proper court, as an exception to Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code. Sec. 5. Person arrested entitled to bail; exception. � (1) The person arrested pursuant to Sec. 3 above shall be entitled to bail for his provisional liberty in such amount as the prosecutor, or in proper cases a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction, may fix, taking into account the gravity of the offense and the amount involved. (2) This provision concerning bail shall not apply to any detained person against whom a Preventive Detention Action is issued by the President pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1877 as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1877-A in relation to Proclamation No. 2045-A. Sec. 6. Preliminary investigation of the case and disposition thereof . � After proper preliminary investigation of the charges to be conducted by a prosecutor or hearing officer designated by the Task Force and depending upon the evidence presented, the case may, upon prior approval of the Chairman of the Task Force, be dismissed or the corresponding information, signed by said prosecutor or hearing officer, filed in court. Sec. 7. Issuance of rules and regulations. � The Task Force shall issue rules and regulations for the proper implementation of this Decree, and such rules and regulations thus issued shall take effect on the day following their publication in a newspaper of general circulation. The fact that such rules and regulations have not been promulgated shall not preclude the immediate enforcement of this Decree. Sec. 8. Separability clause. � In the event any provision of this Decree or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid, the remainder of this Decree shall not be affected by such declaration. Sec. 9. Suspension clause. � All laws, decrees, instructions, executive orders or rules and regulations, to the extent that they are inconsistent herewith, are hereby temporarily suspended or amended accordingly during the effectivity of this Decree. Section 10. Effectivity. � This Decree shall take effect immediately and shall remain in force for a period of two (2) years, unless so extended by another Decree. Section 11. Saving clause. � Upon expiration of this Decree, cases pending investigation at the time shall be turned over to the city or provincial fiscal, as the case may be, for proper disposition in accordance with law. The expiration of this Decree shall not affect actions undertaken by the Task Force, its Chairman or its officers, cases already disposed of, and those pending prosecution. Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of June in the Year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-four. |
Back to Main
08.10.05.