Professional Documents
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Warehouse and Trust Receipt Law
Warehouse and Trust Receipt Law
2137
THE WAREHOUSE RECEIPTS LAW
In case the warehouseman refuses or fails to deliver the goods in compliance with a demand by the holder or depositor so
accompanied, the burden shall be upon the warehouseman to establish the existence of a lawful excuse for such refusal.
SECTION 9. Justification of warehouseman in delivering. - A warehouseman is justified in delivering the goods, subject to the
provisions of the three following sections, to one who is:
(a) The person lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods, or his agent;
(b) A person who is either himself entitled to delivery by the terms of a non-negotiable receipt issued for the goods, or who has
written authority from the person so entitled either indorsed upon the receipt or written upon another paper; or
(c) A person in possession of a negotiable receipt by the terms of which the goods are deliverable to him or order, or to bearer, or
which has been indorsed to him or in blank by the person to whom delivery was promised by the terms of the receipt or by his
mediate or immediate indorser.
SECTION 10. Warehouseman's liability for misdelivery. - Where a warehouseman delivers the goods to one who is not in fact
lawfully entitled to the possession of them, the warehouseman shall be liable as for conversion to all having a right of property or
possession in the goods if he delivered the goods otherwise than as authorized by subdivisions (b) and (c) of the preceding section,
and though he delivered the goods as authorized by said subdivisions, he shall be so liable, if prior to such delivery he had either:
(a) Been requested, by or on behalf of the person lawfully entitled to a right of property or possession in the goods, not to make
such deliver; or
(b) Had information that the delivery about to be made was to one not lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods.
SECTION 11. Negotiable receipt must be cancelled when goods delivered. - Except as provided in section thirty-six, where a
warehouseman delivers goods for which he had issued a negotiable receipt, the negotiation of which would transfer the right to the
possession of the goods, and fails to take up and cancel the receipt, he shall be liable to any one who purchases for value in good
faith such receipt, for failure to deliver the goods to him, whether such purchaser acquired title to the receipt before or after the
delivery of the goods by the warehouseman.
SECTION 12. Negotiable receipts must be cancelled or marked when part of goods delivered. - Except as provided in section thirtysix, where a warehouseman delivers part of the goods for which he had issued a negotiable receipt and fails either to take up and
cancel such receipt or to place plainly upon it a statement of what goods or packages have been delivered, he shall be liable to any
one who purchases for value in good faith such receipt, for failure to deliver all the goods specified in the receipt, whether such
purchaser acquired title to the receipt before or after the delivery of any portion of the goods by the warehouseman.
SECTION 13. Altered receipts. - The alteration of a receipt shall not excuse the warehouseman who issued it from any liability if
such alteration was:
(a) Immaterial,
(b) Authorized, or
(c) Made without fraudulent intent.
If the alteration was authorized, the warehouseman shall be liable according to the terms of the receipt as altered. If the alteration
was unauthorized but made without fraudulent intent, the warehouseman shall be liable according to the terms of the receipt as
they were before alteration.
Material and fraudulent alteration of a receipt shall not excuse the warehouseman who issued it from liability to deliver according to
the terms of the receipt as originally issued, the goods for which it was issued but shall excuse him from any other liability to the
person who made the alteration and to any person who took with notice of the alteration. Any purchaser of the receipt for value
without notice of the alteration shall acquire the same rights against the warehouseman which such purchaser would have acquired
if the receipt had not been altered at the time of purchase.
SECTION 14. Lost or destroyed receipts. - Where a negotiable receipt has been lost or destroyed, a court of competent jurisdiction
may order the delivery of the goods upon satisfactory proof of such loss or destruction and upon the giving of a bond with sufficient
sureties to be approved by the court to protect the warehouseman from any liability or expense, which he or any person injured by
such delivery may incur by reason of the original receipt remaining outstanding. The court may also in its discretion order the
payment of the warehouseman's reasonable costs and counsel fees.
The delivery of the goods under an order of the court as provided in this section, shall not relieve the warehouseman from liability to
a person to whom the negotiable receipt has been or shall be negotiated for value without notice of the proceedings or of the
delivery of the goods.
SECTION 15. Effect of duplicate receipts. - A receipt upon the face of which the word "duplicate" is plainly placed is a
representation and warranty by the warehouseman that such receipt is an accurate copy of an original receipt properly issued and
uncanceled at the date of the issue of the duplicate, but shall impose upon him no other liability.
SECTION 16. Warehouseman cannot set up title in himself. - No title or right to the possession of the goods, on the part of the
warehouseman, unless such title or right is derived directly or indirectly from a transfer made by the depositor at the time of or
subsequent to the deposit for storage, or from the warehouseman's lien, shall excuse the warehouseman from liability for refusing
to deliver the goods according to the terms of the receipt.
SECTION 17. Interpleader of adverse claimants. - If more than one person claims the title or possession of the goods, the
warehouseman may, either as a defense to an action brought against him for non-delivery of the goods or as an original suit,
whichever is appropriate, require all known claimants to interplead.
SECTION 18. Warehouseman has reasonable time to determine validity of claims. - If someone other than the depositor or person
claiming under him has a claim to the title or possession of goods, and the warehouseman has information of such claim, the
warehouseman shall be excused from liability for refusing to deliver the goods, either to the depositor or person claiming under him
or to the adverse claimant until the warehouseman has had a reasonable time to ascertain the validity of the adverse claim or to
bring legal proceedings to compel claimants to interplead.
SECTION 19. Adverse title is no defense except as above provided. - Except as provided in the two preceding sections and in
sections nine and thirty-six, no right or title of a third person shall be a defense to an action brought by the depositor or person
claiming under him against the warehouseman for failure to deliver the goods according to the terms of the receipt.
SECTION 20. Liability for non-existence or misdescription of goods. - A warehouseman shall be liable to the holder of a receipt for
damages caused by the non-existence of the goods or by the failure of the goods to correspond with the description thereof in the
receipt at the time of its issue. If, however, the goods are described in a receipt merely by a statement of marks or labels upon them
or upon packages containing them or by a statement that the goods are said to be goods of a certain kind or that the packages
containing the goods are said to contain goods of a certain kind or by words of like purport, such statements, if true, shall not make
liable the warehouseman issuing the receipt, although the goods are not of the kind which the marks or labels upon them indicate
or of the kind they were said to be by the depositor.
SECTION 21. Liability for care of goods. - A warehouseman shall be liable for any loss or injury to the goods caused by his failure
to exercise such care in regard to them as reasonably careful owner of similar goods would exercise, but he shall not be liable, in
the absence of an agreement to the contrary, for any loss or injury to the goods which could not have been avoided by the exercise
of such care.
SECTION 22. Goods must be kept separate. - Except as provided in the following section, a warehouseman shall keep the goods
so far separate from goods of other depositors and from other goods of the same depositor for which a separate receipt has been
issued, as to permit at all times the identification and redelivery of the goods deposited.
SECTION 23. Fungible goods may be commingled if warehouseman authorized. - If authorized by agreement or by custom, a
warehouseman may mingle fungible goods with other goods of the same kind and grade. In such case, the various depositors of
the mingled goods shall own the entire mass in common and each depositor shall be entitled to such portion thereof as the amount
deposited by him bears to the whole.
SECTION 24. Liability of warehouseman to depositors of commingled goods. - The warehouseman shall be severally liable to each
depositor for the care and redelivery of his share of such mass to the same extent and under the same circumstances as if the
goods had been kept separate.
SECTION 25. Attachment or levy upon goods for which a negotiable receipt has been issued. - If goods are delivered to a
warehouseman by the owner or by a person whose act in conveying the title to them to a purchaser in good faith for value would
bind the owner, and a negotiable receipt is issued for them, they can not thereafter, while in the possession of the warehouseman,
be attached by garnishment or otherwise, or be levied upon under an execution unless the receipt be first surrendered to the
warehouseman or its negotiation enjoined. The warehouseman shall in no case be compelled to deliver up the actual possession of
the goods until the receipt is surrendered to him or impounded by the court.
SECTION 26. Creditor's remedies to reach negotiable receipts. - A creditor whose debtor is the owner of a negotiable receipt shall
be entitled to such aid from courts of appropriate jurisdiction, by injunction and otherwise, in attaching such receipt or in satisfying
the claim by means thereof as is allowed at law or in equity in these islands in regard to property which can not readily be attached
or levied upon by ordinary legal process.
SECTION 27. What claims are included in the warehouseman's lien. - Subject to the provisions of section thirty, a warehouseman
shall have a lien on goods deposited or on the proceeds thereof in his hands, for all lawful charges for storage and preservation of
the goods; also for all lawful claims for money advanced, interest, insurance, transportation, labor, weighing, coopering and other
charges and expenses in relation to such goods, also for all reasonable charges and expenses for notice, and advertisements of
sale, and for sale of the goods where default had been made in satisfying the warehouseman's lien.
SECTION 28. Against what property the lien may be enforced. - Subject to the provisions of section thirty, a warehouseman's lien
may be enforced:
(a) Against all goods, whenever deposited, belonging to the person who is liable as debtor for the claims in regard to which the lien
is asserted, and
(b) Against all goods belonging to others which have been deposited at any time by the person who is liable as debtor for the
claims in regard to which the lien is asserted if such person had been so entrusted with the possession of goods that a pledge of
the same by him at the time of the deposit to one who took the goods in good faith for value would have been valid.
SECTION 29. How the lien may be lost. - A warehouseman loses his lien upon goods:
(a) By surrendering possession thereof, or
(b) By refusing to deliver the goods when a demand is made with which he is bound to comply under the provisions of this Act.
SECTION 30. Negotiable receipt must state charges for which the lien is claimed. - If a negotiable receipt is issued for goods, the
warehouseman shall have no lien thereon except for charges for storage of goods subsequent to the date of the receipt unless the
receipt expressly enumerated other charges for which a lien is claimed. In such case, there shall be a lien for the charges
enumerated so far as they are within the terms of section twenty-seven although the amount of the charges so enumerated is not
stated in the receipt.
SECTION 31. Warehouseman need not deliver until lien is satisfied. - A warehouseman having a lien valid against the person
demanding the goods may refuse to deliver the goods to him until the lien is satisfied.
SECTION 32. Warehouseman's lien does not preclude other remedies. - Whether a warehouseman has or has not a lien upon the
goods, he is entitled to all remedies allowed by law to a creditor against a debtor for the collection from the depositor of all charges
and advances which the depositor has expressly or impliedly contracted with the warehouseman to pay.
SECTION 33. Satisfaction of lien by sale. - A warehouseman's lien for a claim which has become due may be satisfied as follows:
(a) An itemized statement of the warehouseman's claim, showing the sum due at the time of the notice and the date or dates when
it becomes due,
(b) A brief description of the goods against which the lien exists,
(c) A demand that the amount of the claim as stated in the notice of such further claim as shall accrue, shall be paid on or before a
day mentioned, not less than ten days from the delivery of the notice if it is personally delivered, or from the time when the notice
shall reach its destination, according to the due course of post, if the notice is sent by mail,
(d) A statement that unless the claim is paid within the time specified, the goods will be advertised for sale and sold by auction at a
specified time and place.
In accordance with the terms of a notice so given, a sale of the goods by auction may be had to satisfy any valid claim of the
warehouseman for which he has a lien on the goods. The sale shall be had in the place where the lien was acquired, or, if such
place is manifestly unsuitable for the purpose of the claim specified in the notice to the depositor has elapsed, and advertisement of
the sale, describing the goods to be sold, and stating the name of the owner or person on whose account the goods are held, and
the time and place of the sale, shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the place
where such sale is to be held. The sale shall not be held less than fifteen days from the time of the first publication. If there is no
newspaper published in such place, the advertisement shall be posted at least ten days before such sale in not less than six
conspicuous places therein.
From the proceeds of such sale, the warehouseman shall satisfy his lien including the reasonable charges of notice, advertise ment
and sale. The balance, if any, of such proceeds shall be held by the warehouseman and delivered on demand to the person to
whom he would have been bound to deliver or justified in delivering goods.
At any time before the goods are so sold, any person claiming a right of property or possession therein may pay the warehouseman
the amount necessary to satisfy his lien and to pay the reasonable expenses and liabilities incurred in serving notices and
advertising and preparing for the sale up to the time of such payment. The warehouseman shall deliver the goods to the person
making payment if he is a person entitled, under the provision of this Act, to the possession of the goods on payment of charges
thereon. Otherwise, the warehouseman shall retain the possession of the goods according to the terms of the original contract of
deposit.
SECTION 34. Perishable and hazardous goods. - If goods are of a perishable nature, or by keeping will deteriorate greatly in value,
or, by their order, leakage, inflammability, or explosive nature, will be liable to injure other property , the warehouseman may give
such notice to the owner or to the person in whose names the goods are stored, as is reasonable and possible under the
circumstances, to satisfy the lien upon such goods and to remove them from the warehouse and in the event of the failure of such
person to satisfy the lien and to receive the goods within the time so specified, the warehouseman may sell the goods at public or
private sale without advertising. If the warehouseman, after a reasonable effort, is unable to sell such goods, he may dispose of
them in any lawful manner and shall incur no liability by reason thereof.
The proceeds of any sale made under the terms of this section shall be disposed of in the same way as the proceeds of sales
made under the terms of the preceding section.
SECTION 35. Other methods of enforcing lien. - The remedy for enforcing a lien herein provided does not preclude any other
remedies allowed by law for the enforcement of a lien against personal property nor bar the right to recover so much of the
warehouseman's claim as shall not be paid by the proceeds of the sale of the property.
SECTION 36. Effect of sale. - After goods have been lawfully sold to satisfy a warehouseman's lien, or have been lawfully sold or
disposed of because of their perishable or hazardous nature, the warehouseman shall not thereafter be liable for failure to deliver
the goods to the depositor or owner of the goods or to a holder of the receipt given for the goods when they were deposited, even if
such receipt be negotiable.
IV - CRIMINAL OFFENSES
SECTION 50. Issue of receipt for goods not received. - A warehouseman, or an officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman who
issues or aids in issuing a receipt knowing that the goods for which such receipt is issued have not been actually received by such
warehouseman, or are not under his actual control at the time of issuing such receipt, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon
conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand
pesos, or both.
SECTION 51. Issue of receipt containing false statement. - A warehouseman, or any officer, agent or servant of a warehouseman
who fraudulently issues or aids in fraudulently issuing a receipt for goods knowing that it contains any false statement, shall be
guilty of a crime, and upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by a fine not
exceeding two thousand pesos, or by both.
SECTION 52. Issue of duplicate receipt not so marked. - A warehouse, or any officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman who
issues or aids in issuing a duplicate or additional negotiable receipt for goods knowing that a former negotiable receipt for the same
goods or any part of them is outstanding and uncanceled, without plainly placing upon the face thereof the word "duplicate" except
in the case of a lost or destroyed receipt after proceedings are provided for in section fourteen, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon
conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand
pesos, or by both.
SECTION 53. Issue for warehouseman's goods or receipts which do not state that fact. - Where they are deposited with or held by
a warehouseman goods of which he is owner, either solely or jointly or in common with others, such warehouseman, or any of his
officers, agents, or servants who, knowing this ownership, issues or aids in issuing a negotiable receipt for such goods which does
not state such ownership, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not
exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand pesos, or by both.
SECTION 54. Delivery of goods without obtaining negotiable receipt. - A warehouseman, or any officer, agent, or servant of a
warehouseman, who delivers goods out of the possession of such warehouseman, knowing that a negotiable receipt the
negotiation of which would transfer the right to the possession of such goods is outstanding and uncanceled, without obtaining the
possession of such receipt at or before the time of such delivery, shall, except in the cases provided for in sections fourteen and
thirty-six, be found guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one
year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand pesos, or by both.
SECTION 55. Negotiation of receipt for mortgaged goods. - Any person who deposits goods to which he has no title, or upon which
there is a lien or mortgage, and who takes for such goods a negotiable receipt which he afterwards negotiates for value with intent
to deceive and without disclosing his want of title or the existence of the lien or mortgage, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon
conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand
pesos, or by both.
V - INTERPRETATION
SECTION 56. Case not provided for in Act. - Any case not provided for in this Act shall be governed by the provisions of existing
legislation, or in default thereof, by the rule of the law merchant.
SECTION 57. Name of Act. - This Act may be cited as the Warehouse Receipts Act.
SECTION 58. Definitions. - (a) In this Act, unless the content or subject matter otherwise requires:
"Action" includes counterclaim, set-off, and suits in equity as provided by law in these islands.
"Delivery" means voluntary transfer of possession from one person to another.
"Fungible goods" means goods of which any unit is, from its nature by mercantile custom, treated as the equivalent of any other
unit.
"Goods" means chattels or merchandise in storage or which has been or is about to be stored.
"Holder" of a receipt means a person who has both actual possession of such receipt and a right of property therein.
"Order" means an order by indorsement on the receipt.
"Owner" does not include mortgagee.
"Person" includes a corporation or partnership or two or more persons having a joint or common interest.
To "purchase" includes to take as mortgagee or as pledgee.
"Receipt" means a warehouse receipt.
"Value" is any consideration sufficient to support a simple contract. An antecedent or pre-existing obligation, whether for money or
not, constitutes value where a receipt is taken either in satisfaction thereof or as security therefor.
"Warehouseman" means a person lawfully engaged in the business of storing goods for profit.
(b) A thing is done "in good faith" within the meaning of this Act when it is in fact done honestly, whether it be done negligently or
not.
SECTION 59. Application of Act. - The provisions of this Act do not apply to receipts made and delivered prior to the taking effect
hereof.
SECTION 60. Repeals. - All acts and laws and parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.
SECTION 61. Time when Act takes effect. - This Act shall take effect ninety days after its publication in the Official Gazette of the
Philippines shall have been completed.
MALACAANG
Manila
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 115 January 29, 1973
PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF TRUST RECEIPTS TRANSACTIONS
WHEREAS, the utilization of trust receipts, as a convenient business device to assist importers and merchants solve their financing
problems, had gained popular acceptance in international and domestic business practices, particularly in commercial banking
transactions;
WHEREAS, there is no specific law in the Philippines that governs trust receipt transactions, especially the rights and obligations of
the parties involved therein and the enforcement of the said rights in case of default or violation of the terms of the trust receipt
agreement;
WHEREAS, the recommendations contained in the report on the financial system which have been accepted, with certain
modifications by the monetary authorities included, among others, the enactment of a law regulating the trust receipt transactions;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me 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, and in order to effect the desired changes
and reforms in the social, economic, and political structure of our society, do hereby order and decree and make as part of the law
of the land the following:
Section 1. Short Title. This Decree shall be known as the Trust Receipts Law.
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state (a) to encourage and promote the use of trust
receipts as an additional and convenient aid to commerce and trade; (b) to provide for the regulation of trust receipts transactions in
order to assure the protection of the rights and enforcement of obligations of the parties involved therein; and (c) to declare the
misuse and/or misappropriation of goods or proceeds realized from the sale of goods, documents or instruments released under
trust receipts as a criminal offense punishable under Article Three hundred and fifteen of the Revised Penal Code.
Section 3. Definition of terms. As used in this Decree, unless the context otherwise requires, the term
(a) "Document" shall mean written or printed evidence of title to goods.
(b) "Entrustee" shall refer to the person having or taking possession of goods, documents or instruments under a trust
receipt transaction, and any successor in interest of such person for the purpose or purposes specified in the trust receipt
agreement.
(c) "Entruster" shall refer to the person holding title over the goods, documents, or instruments subject of a trust receipt
transaction, and any successor in interest of such person.
(d) "Goods" shall include chattels and personal property other than: money, things in action, or things so affixed to land as
to become a part thereof.
(e) "Instrument" means any negotiable instrument as defined in the Negotiable Instrument Law; any certificate of stock, or
bond or debenture for the payment of money issued by a public or private corporation, or any certificate of deposit,
participation certificate or receipt, any credit or investment instrument of a sort marketed in the ordinary course of business
or finance, whereby the entrustee, after the issuance of the trust receipt, appears by virtue of possession and the face of
the instrument to be the owner. "Instrument" shall not include a document as defined in this Decree.
(f) "Purchase" means taking by sale, conditional sale, lease, mortgage, or pledge, legal or equitable.
(g) "Purchaser" means any person taking by purchase.
(h) "Security Interest" means a property interest in goods, documents or instruments to secure performance of some
obligations of the entrustee or of some third persons to the entruster and includes title, whether or not expressed to be
absolute, whenever such title is in substance taken or retained for security only.
(i) "Person" means, as the case may be, an individual, trustee, receiver, or other fiduciary, partnership, corporation,
business trust or other association, and two more persons having a joint or common interest.
(j) "Trust Receipt" shall refer to the written or printed document signed by the entrustee in favor of the entruster containing
terms and conditions substantially complying with the provisions of this Decree. No further formality of execution or
authentication shall be necessary to the validity of a trust receipt.
Section 8. Entruster not responsible on sale by entrustee. The entruster holding a security interest shall not, merely by virtue of
such interest or having given the entrustee liberty of sale or other disposition of the goods, documents or instruments under the
terms of the trust receipt transaction be responsible as principal or as vendor under any sale or contract to sell made by the
entrustee.
Section 9. Obligations of the entrustee. The entrustee shall (1) hold the goods, documents or instruments in trust for the entruster
and shall dispose of them strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the trust receipt; (2) receive the proceeds in trust
for the entruster and turn over the same to the entruster to the extent of the amount owing to the entruster or as appears on the
trust receipt; (3) insure the goods for their total value against loss from fire, theft, pilferage or other casualties; (4) keep said goods
or proceeds thereof whether in money or whatever form, separate and capable of identification as property of the entruster; (5)
return the goods, documents or instruments in the event of non-sale or upon demand of the entruster; and (6) observe all other
terms and conditions of the trust receipt not contrary to the provisions of this Decree.
Section 10. Liability of entrustee for loss. The risk of loss shall be borne by the entrustee. Loss of goods, documents or instruments
which are the subject of a trust receipt, pending their disposition, irrespective of whether or not it was due to the fault or negligence
of the entrustee, shall not extinguish his obligation to the entruster for the value thereof.
Section 11. Rights of purchaser for value and in good faith. Any purchaser of goods from an entrustee with right to sell, or of
documents or instruments through their customary form of transfer, who buys the goods, documents, or instruments for value and
in good faith from the entrustee, acquires said goods, documents or instruments free from the entruster's security interest.
Section 12. Validity of entruster's security interest as against creditors. The entruster's security interest in goods, documents, or
instruments pursuant to the written terms of a trust receipt shall be valid as against all creditors of the entrustee for the duration of
the trust receipt agreement.
Section 13. Penalty clause. The failure of an entrustee to turn over the proceeds of the sale of the goods, documents or
instruments covered by a trust receipt to the extent of the amount owing to the entruster or as appears in the trust receipt or to
return said goods, documents or instruments if they were not sold or disposed of in accordance with the terms of the trust receipt
shall constitute the crime of estafa, punishable under the provisions of Article Three hundred and fifteen, paragraph one (b) of Act
Numbered Three thousand eight hundred and fifteen, as amended, otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code. If the violation or
offense is committed by a corporation, partnership, association or other juridical entities, the penalty provided for in this Decree
shall be imposed upon the directors, officers, employees or other officials or persons therein responsible for the offense, without
prejudice to the civil liabilities arising from the criminal offense.
Section 14. Cases not covered by this Decree. Cases not provided for in this Decree shall be governed by the applicable
provisions of existing laws.
Section 15. Separability clause. If any provision or section of this Decree or the application thereof to any person or circumstance
is held invalid, the other provisions or sections hereof and the application of such provisions or sections to other persons or
circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Section 16. Repealing clause. All Acts inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed.
Section 17. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 29th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.