WHEREAS, the country has embarked on a beef cattle program to increase the cattle population for food consumption;

WHEREAS, for the program to be successful various breeds of cattle should be brought in from abroad to improve present stock;

WHEREAS, circumstances may make it necessary to import cattle other than for breeding purposes;

WHEREAS, the present law is not only a constraint to the successful implementation of the program but does not give flexibility to the government to act in the public interest in times of scarcity of slaughtered cattle;

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 decree the following:

SECTION 1. Section 1762 of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 1762. Bringing of animals imported from foreign countries into the Philippines.—It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to import, bring or introduce live cattle into the Philippines from any foreign countries without the prior approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, upon recommendation of the Director of Animal Industry. Such imported cattle shall not exceed two thousand heads per annum, which number may be increased upon certification by the Director of Animal Industry to the head of the Department that there is urgent need to import more; Provided, however, That the Director of Animal Industry shall in all cases permit the importation, bringing or introduction of draft cattle and bovine cattle for the manufacture of serum: Provided further, That all live cattle from foreign countries the importation, bringing or introduction of which into the Philippines is authorized in this Act, shall be subject to regulations issued by the Director of Animal Industry, with the approval of the Head of the Department.

SEC. 2. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-five.