PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 129 February 15, 1973

GOVERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION AND REGULATION OF

INVESTMENT HOUSES

Section 1. Title.  "The Investment Houses Law".

Section 2. Scope. Any enterprise which engages in the underwriting of securities of other corporations shall be considered an "Investment House" and shall be subject to the provisions of this Decree and of other pertinent laws.

Section 3. Definitions.  the following definition of terms are hereby adopted:

(a)"Underwriting" is the act or process of guaranteeing the distribution and sale of securities of any kind issued by another corporation.

(b) "Securities" are written evidences of ownership, interest, or participation, in an enterprise, or written evidences of indebtedness of a person or enterprise.

Section 4. Organization and registration. Investment Houses shall be organized in the form of stock corporations. The Securities and Exchange Commission shall not register the articles of incorporation of any Investment House, or any amendment thereto, unless it is satisfied from the evidence.

Section 5. Citizenship requirements. The majority of the voting stock of any Investment House shall be owned by citizens of the Philippines.

Section 6. Prohibitions. No director or officer of an Investment House shall concurrently be a director or officer of a bank, as defined in Section 2 of the Republic Act No. 337, as amended.

Section 7. Powers. In addition to the powers granted to corporations in general, an Investment House is authorized to do the following:

a.) Arrange to distribute on a guaranteed basis securities of other corporations and of the Government or its instrumentalities;

b.) Participate in a syndicate undertaking to purchase and sell, distribute or arrange to distribute on a guaranteed basis securities of other corporations and of the Government or its instrumentalities;

c.) Arrange to distribute or participate in a syndicate undertaking to purchase and sell on a best-efforts basis securities of other corporations and of the Government or its instrumentalities;

d.) Participate as soliciting dealer or selling group member in tender offers, block sales, or exchange offering or securities; deal in options, rights or warrants relating to securities and such other powers which a dealer may exercise under the Securities Act (Act No. 83, as amended);

e.) Promote, sponsor, or otherwise assist and implement ventures, projects and programs that contribute to the economy's development;

f.) Act as financial consultant, investment adviser, or broker;

g.) Act as financial consultant, investment adviser, or broker;

h.) Act as porfolio manager, and/or financial agent, but not as trustee of a trust fund or trust property as provided for in Chapter VII of Republic Act No. 337, as amended;

i.) Encourage companies to go public, and initiate and/or promote, whenever warranted, the formation, merger, consolidation, reorganization, or recapitalization of productive enterprises, by providing assistance or participation in the form of debt or equity financing or through the extension of financial or technical advice or service;

j.) Undertake or contract for researches, studies and surveys on such matters as business and economic conditions of various countries, the structure of financial markets, the institutional arrangements for mobilizing investments;

k.) Acquire, own, hold, lease or obtain an interest in real and/or personal property as may be necessary or appropriate to carry on its objectives and purposes;

l.) Design pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefits plans; and

m.) Such other activities or business ventures as are directly or indirectly related to the dealing in securities and other commercial papers, unless otherwise governed or prohibited by special laws, in which case the special law shall apply.

Section 8. Capital. The minimum initial paid-in-capital of any Investment House shall be twenty million (P20,000,000) pesos.

Section 9. Credit policies. Investment Houses shall coordinate their credit policies with the general credit policies of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank.

Section 10. Reports. Investment Houses shall submit to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to the Central Bank a semi-annual report of operations and financial condition, signed under oath by its chief accountant and verified by its president.

Section 11. Regulations. The Securities and Exchange Commission, in coordination with the Central Bank, shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Decree.

Section 12. Central Bank regulatory powers.  The regulations which may include, but need not be limited to (a) minimum size of fund acceptance or receipt, (b) methods of marketing and distribution, (c) terms of placement and maturities, and (d) uses of funds may be modified by the Monetary Board insofar as they apply to Investment House.

Section 13. Applicability of Securities Act. An Investment House may engage in the business of a dealer or a broker under the Securities Act without obtaining a separate license for the purpose as required in Section 14 of the Securities Act.

Section 14. Applicability of Corporation Law. The provisions of the Corporation Law (Act No. 1459, as amended) insofar as they are not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree shall apply to Investment Houses.

Section 15. Transitory provisions. Existing enterprises which are operating as Investment Houses shall, within one year following the approval of this Decree, comply with the requirements hereof, except with respect to the filing of an information sheet which shall be complied with within six months as provided in the last paragraph of Section 4 of this Decree.

Section 16. Penalties for violation. Upon proof that an Investment House is violating or not complying with the provisions of this Decree, of other pertinent laws, of the terms or conditions of its certificate of registration or charter, or of orders, decisions, rulings or regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission or by the Central Bank of the Philippines, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall impose upon the Investment House and collect a fine not exceeding two hundred (P200) pesos per day for every day during which such violation or non-compliance continues, and/or suspend its certificate of registration.

Section 17. Separability clause. The provisions of this Decree are hereby declared separable, and if any clause, sentence, provision or section hereof, or its application to any person or circumstance should be declared invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this Decree which can be given force and effect without the provisions which have been declared invalid.

Section 18. Repeal. All Acts and existing laws inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed.

Section 19. Effectivity. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 687 April 22, 1975

FURTHER AMENDING THE TEXTBOOK LAW, ACT 2957 AS AMENDED,

PROVIDING THE GUIDELINES IN THE SELECTION, APPROVAL, PRICING AND

DISTRIBUTION OF SUITABLE TEXTBOOKS FOR USE IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

SCHOOLS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Section 1. The Board of Textbooks created under the provision of Act 2957 as amended is hereby renamed the Textbook Board. The Board shall be composed of seven (7) members. No person shall be appointed to the Board unless he is a citizen of the Philippines, with at least a master's degree or its equivalent in terms of professional experience, status and achievements.

Section 2. The Textbook Board shall have a Secretariat composed of personnel as are now provided under the Integrated Reorganization Plan.

Section 3. The Board may avail itself, at any given time, of such number of qualified personnel from the public or private sector to perform the function of appraisal of manuscripts submitted for evaluation and selection by authors or by duly registered book publishers.

Section 4. The Board shall determine and adopt its own guidelines or rules and regulations for their operational procedure. It shall adopt such policies as will insure a fair and objective appraisal of manuscripts submitted to it for evaluation, the criteria for the final selection and approval as textbooks and a policy on continuing evaluation of those approved and adopted by the Board.

Section 5. The policy of free enterprise on the matter of allowing the submission of manuscripts by writers or duly registered publishers for possible selection and adoption as textbooks shall be without prejudice to the automatic adoption by the Board of any treatise, textbook or manual on the same subject prepared by agencies authorized by the government.

Section 6. The manuscript thus selected and approved by the Board, in accordance with Sec. 5 hereof, shall be printed in such number of copies and under such guidelines as the Board may direct, such copies to be used for determining the reasonable price at which the book shall be purchased by the government, provisions of existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

Section 7. It shall be unlawful for the Board to consider for adoption any treatise textbook or manuscript in whose authorship, editorship or preparation a member of the Board may have direct or indirect interest.

Section 8. Except in exceptional case as may be determined by the Board, the textbooks selected and approved shall be used for a period of at least six (6) years from the date of their adoption. Private schools recognized or authorized by the Government shall, as much as possible, use textbooks approved by the Board. The Board shall have the power to prohibit the use of any textbook in private schools other than those approved by the Board.

Section 9. The Board shall, as a matter of policy encourage the writing of textbooks for Philippine schools by Filipino authors using such Philippine sources of subject material as will develop in pupils and students a deeper sense of nationalism, respect for Philippine institutions and appreciation of our cultural heritage.

Section 10. For administrative purposes, the Textbook Board shall be directly under the Office of the Secretary of Education and Culture. The Chairman of the Board shall have authority, with the approval of the Department Head, to obtain the technical assistance of such personnel from any department, bureau or office of the government which may be considered necessary for the proper performance of its duties, with compensation for their services as may be determined by the Board.

Section 11. Members of the Board shall be entitled to an allowance of One Hundred (P100.00) Pesos per meeting actually attended but not exceeding Four Hundred (P400.00) Pesos a month, exclusive or reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses incurred in attendance of meetings and other official business authorized by resolution of the Board.

Section 12. The sum of One Hundred Thousand (P100,000.00) Pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary shall, in addition to the regular annual appropriations for the operation and maintenance of the Textbook Board, be appropriated annually from funds of the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated to carry out the provisions of this Decree.

Section 13. All laws, decrees, executive orders or existing rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 14. The Decree shall take effect immediately.

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 285

AUTHORIZING THE COMPULSORY LICENSING OR REPRINTING OF EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC OR

CULTURAL BOOKS AND MATERIALS AS A TEMPORARY OR EMERGENCY

MEASURE WHENEVER THE PRICES THEREOF BECOME SO EXORBITANT AS TO BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE NATIONAL

INTEREST

The spiraling of prices of educational,

scientific or cultural books and materials

has reached very serious proportion; it is in

the national interest that such books and

materials be made available to everybody

at the least cost.

Section 1. Scientific or cultural book, pamphlet and other written materials, whether of domestic or foreign origin, has become so exorbitant as to be detrimental to the national interest.

Section 2. The reprinted books, pamphlets and materials shall bear proper acknowledgment of the source, authorship, copyright proprietors and past printers, if known, as well as the names and addresses of the reprinter or reprinters.

Section 3. The reprinting of the above books, pamphlets and materials shall be subject to the condition that the reprinter shall pay, in local currency, a royalty of three per centum (3%) of the gross selling price, if so demanded by the authors, publishers or copyright proprietors concerned.

Section 4. Any person, natural or judicial, who shall violate the provisions of this Decree shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment of not less than Five Thousand Pesos nor more than two Ten Thousand Pesos. If the violation is committed by a firm, company or corporation, the manager or person in charge of the management of the business thereof shall be responsible thereof.

Section 5. The Committee herein named shall promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation of this Degree.

Section 6. This Decree shall take effect immediately, the provisions of any law, decree, executive order, treaty or executive agreement to the contrary notwithstanding.

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 400 March 1, 1974

AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 285

"Sec. 1. Whenever the price of any educational, scientific or cultural book, pamphlet and other written materials, whether of domestic or foreign origin, has become so exhorbitant as to be detrimental to the national interest, as determined and declared by a committee composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture, the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, the Chairman of the Textbook Board and of the Director of the National Library, such book, pamphlet or other written material may be reprinted by the Government or by a private printer.’’

  "Sec. 3. The reprinting of the above-

mentioned books, pamphlets or other materials shall be subject to the condition that the reprinter shall pay a royalty of at least seven per centum (7%) of the list price in the Philippines, in case of books published in the country, or at least two per centum (2%) of the foreign list price in the case of books published in other countries, the same to be paid within a reasonable period.

"Sec. 4. Any conflict or claim arising out of the provisions of this Decree shall be decided by the Committee mentioned in Section 1 hereof. An order or decision of said Committee shall become final after fifteen (15) days following the receipt by the party concerned of such order or decision, unless in the meantime an appeal therefrom to the Office of the President has been taken by the aggrieved party.

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1203

FURTHER AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 285 AS AMENDED BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 400

There is a necessity to provide effective controls or safeguards against any abuses of the rights of foreign or domestic authors

and publishers and so as not to deprive them of the returns of their works or

investments.

Section 1. Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 285 as amended by Presidential Decree No. 400 is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 1. (1) Whenever the price of any textbook or reference book duly prescribed by the curriculum and certified by the registrar of the school or university or college, whether of domestic or foreign origin, has become so exorbitant as to be detrimental to the national interest, as determined and declared by a Reprint Committee composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture as Chairman, and the Director General of the National Economic Development Authority, the Chairman of the Textbook Board and of the Director of the National Library as members, such book or other written material may be reprinted by the government or by a printer under the following conditions:

"(a) That a particular title may be reprinted by only one private publisher or printer authorized by the Reprint Committee;

"(b) That anyone wishing to undertake the reprinting shall file an application with the National Library.

"(c) That the successful applicant shall accomplish the reprinting within sixty days from the date of approval of the application.

"(2) Exorbitant price shall mean not less than Thirty-Five Pesos (P35.00), until otherwise increased by the Reprint Committee.

"(3) Each copy of each title reprinted under this Decree shall be numbered consecutively on the copyright page.

"(4) All titles reprinted prior to these amendments shall be registered.

Section 2. Section 2 of the same Decree as amended is hereby further amended to read as follows:

Reprinted books as defined in Section 1 shall bear proper acknowledgment of the source, authorship, copyright proprietors and past printers, if known, as well as the names and addresses of the publishers and printers. If abbreviated or edited in any manner, such fact shall be stated. The following inscription shall also appear on the covers thereof: "Export of this Book or material is punishable by law."

Section 3. Section 3 of the same Decree as amended is hereby further amended to read as follows:

The reprinting of the above-mentioned books shall be subject to the condition that the awardee shall pay a royalty of at least seven per centum (7%) of the list price in the Philippines in case of books published in the country, or at least two per centum (2%) of the foreign list price in the case of books published in other countries.

Section 4. Section 4 of the same Decree as amended is hereby further amended to read as follows:

(1) Any conflict or claim arising out of the provisions of this Decree shall be decided by the Committee mentioned in Section 1 hereof.

(2) The Reprint Committee shall adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective implementation of this Decree."

Section 5. Section 4 of the same Decree is hereby renumbered section 5 and amended to read as follows:

Any person, natural or juridical, who shall violate the provisions of this Decree or its implementing rules shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment of not less than six (6) months nor more than three (3) years or a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Pesos nor more than Fifty Thousand Pesos, or both at the discretion of the court. If the violation is committed by a firm, company or corporation, the directors or the manger or person in charge of the management of the business thereof shall be responsible therefor, in any case the corporation shall also pay the fine herein provided. Books and materials printed or published or exported in violation of this Decree shall be immediately confiscated and the establishment that printed or published or exported them shall forthwith be closed and its operation discontinued."

Section 6. These amendments shall take effect immediately.

 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 812 October

16, 1975

DECREE ON LEGAL AND CULTURAL DEPOSIT

Section 1. "Decree on Legal and Cultural Deposit".

Section 2.

(a) Within one month from the date any printed book, as this term is defined herein, is first delivered out of the press, the publisher of such book shall furnish.

(b) The heads of the various departments, bureaus, offices, and branches of the government, including the provinces and municipalities, and government-owned and government-controlled corporations are likewise required to furnish the National Library two free copies of any printed book published by them, and a copy each to the aforementioned libraries, within the period specified in paragraph (A) of this Section.

Section 3. For purposes of this Decree, the following shall be taken in the sense herein below indicated:

(a) Book

(b) Printed

(c) Printer

(d) Publisher

Section 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of existing laws to the contrary, departments, bureaus, offices, and branches of the government including the provinces and municipalities, and government-owned or government-controlled corporations ordering the printing of any publication are directed to furnish, without charge to the National Library, at least fifty (50) copies of all printed reports or documents of any kind to serve as the mainstay of the exchange commitments of the National Library, both national and international.

Section 5. The Director of the National Library is hereby empowered to make use of, allocate or distribute in the manner he deems fit, and in the interest of educational or cultural advancement, scholarship, or research, the materials on legal deposit in the National Library.

Section 6. The Director of the National Library shall keep a record of all materials received under Section 3 of this Decree, which record shall contain, as far as practicable.

Section 7. The records to be kept by the Director of the National Library, pursuant to the immediately preceding section, shall be published in the Official Gazette at the end of each quarter, counted from the beginning of each calendar year, or not less than one month after the end of such quarter.

Section 8. In case of a copyrighted work, the provisions of Section 2 of this Decree shall not apply.

Section 9. In case of total or partial non-fulfillment of the deposit required under Section 2 (A) of this Decree, the publisher shall upon conviction be liable to a fine of not less than fifty (P50.00) Pesos nor more than five hundred (P500.00) Pesos and shall, likewise, be obliged to deliver the materials published or printed.

Section 10. All laws, executive orders and/or administrative regulations which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 11. This Decree shall take effect three (3) months after its approval.

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1381

Relative to the promotion of the development and growth of Computer Technology in the

Philippines.

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1384

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1384 - DIRECTING THE IMPROVEMENT OF

SUPPLY AND QUALITY OF TEXTBOOKS AND TEACHING AIDS.

1.    Priority in the use of national, local and special education fund resources (including those authorized for the purchase of books and teaching aids) shall be given to the procurement of the most current textbooks approved by the Ministry under the Textbook Production Project, in order to augment those provided through the Project, with the aim of reaching a textbook-pupil ratio of 1:1;

2.    Textbooks for elementary grades and high schools may be purchased by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, by local government units, or by local school boards without need for further special approvals beyond normal budgetary authorizations.

3.    The purchase of reference works shall be limited to the minimum library needs of a school.

4.    The purchase of supplementary readers, reference works not included in the list prepared under no. 3 above, commercially produced posters, flip charts, flashcards, workbooks and other teaching aids shall be suspended until further notice;

5.    A special program for the development of low cost and indigenous teaching aids shall be launched in accordance with the following guidelines:

a.    Teachers shall be trained to produce teaching aids and shall be provided tools and materials for the purpose, utilizing part of the maintenance and operating or regular equipment funds of the Ministry;

b.    The Ministry shall conduct an annual contest for the best teaching aids produced by teachers and the schools equipped with the most effective teacher-produced teaching aids. Cash prizes shall be awarded the winners as may be approved by the Minister; and

c.    The winning teaching aids may be produced in mass for distribution to teachers as part of the Textbook Project;

7.    Savings in the budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports may be utilized to cover the prizes and other expenses incurred as a consequence of this Letter.

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 347

1.    The inclusion of the Secretary of Economic Planning in the Standing Committee on the Procurement of School Books presently consisting of the Secretary of Education and the Budget Commissioner, with purpose of annually developing and recommending to the President a comprehensive program of school book procurement as may be funded from (a) national government funds, (b) foreign and domestic borrowing, including the World Bank loan for book production, and (c) international aid sources. 

2.    The creation of a Standing Committee on the Procurement of Drugs and Medicines, consisting of the Secretary of Health, the Secretary of Economic Planning, and the Budget Commissioner, with the purpose of annually developing and recommending to the President a comprehensive program of government procurement of drugs and medicines as may be funded from (a) national government funds, (b) foreign and domestic borrowings, and (c) international aid sources.   

3.    The Budget Commissioner to incorporate as part of the budget process, the preparation of an annual equipment procurement program for each agency in order to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of agency equipment needs in the light of government financial capability.

4.    All agencies concerned, including the Commission on Audit, the Textbook Board, the Education Projects and Implementation Task Force, the U.P. Science Education Center, and Government Hospitals, to extend maximum assistance and cooperation as may be required in the preparation of annual procurement programs for school books, drugs and medicines, and equipment. 

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1490

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1490 - DIRECTING THE INSTITUTION OF REMEDIAL SECONDARY SCHOOL

COURSES

1.    The MECS shall organize remedial courses at the post-secondary level, intended for high school graduates wishing to feel a need for catching up and thus competing on even footing with graduates of the better high schools;   

2.    The classes shall be offered by the high standard secondary schools that have the staff and facilities to offer such post secondary courses.

3.    The classes may be for a summer to one year and for more than one subject, depending on the needs of the high school graduates seeking entry to the courses.

 4.    Schools may charge such student fees as

may be necessary to cover the costs of the courses that they offer. The fees shall be recorded as Trust Receipts and disbursed for personal services costs and maintenance and operating costs incurred.

5.    Classes may be opened for students numbering not less than thirty (30) nor more than forty (40);

6.    Initial classes may be offered beginning the Summer of 1986; 

7.    The Minister of the Budget shall study and recommend to the President on the possibility of national government assistance to schools offering the courses described in this Letter in order to keep to a minimum the student fees collected from enrolling students; 

8.    The special courses may be offered until such time as the development of the school system shall have enabled the schools in a given region to provide comparable quality of secondary education; 

9.    Rules and regulations to implement this Letter shall be issued by the MECS (through the Bureaus of Secondary Education, of Vocational and Technical Education and of Continuing Education) in coordination with the Office of Budget and Management. 

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1373

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1373 - DIRECTING THE IMPROVEMENT OF

ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

 

1.    The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports shall mount an effort to improve the quality of economics teaching and awareness of economic developments, in the educational system, with the aim of enabling students to understand international and national events affecting the Philippine economy and where possible, to bring this knowledge to hear on their community and family thinking;

2.    Particular attention shall be placed to improving existing curricula and teaching material and to increasing economic awareness among schoolteachers through the dissemination of information on such matters as economic, monetary and fiscal policies, income, employment and prices, and balance of payments; 

3.    The Heads of Office to whom this Letter is addressed shall assist the Ministry in the preparation and production of the material suitable to meet the objective herein outlined;  

4.    The Minister of the Budget shall release the funds needed to implement this Letter, charged to the Special Activities Fund.

THANKYOU!

MAGRACIA, MARK LOUIS M.