WHEREAS, tinplate manufacturing operations, particularly for milk cans, have been found to have become grossly unprofitable because of existing price ceilings thereon which have been imposed for the benefit of the general public;

WHEREAS, socio-economic considerations make it inadvisable at present to adjust to a sufficient extent to enable tinplate manufacturing operations to be conducted on a profitable basis without additional government assistance;

WHEREAS, refunds of tariff duties on imports of hot rolled coils for rerolling, and of tin ingots directly used in tinplate processing, are feasible and adequate means for extending such required government assistance to tinplate manufacturing operations;

NOW, THEREFORE , I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS , President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order a supplemental appropriation to Presidential Decree No. 12.50, the Appropriation Act for Year 1978, as follows:

1) "Supplemental appropriation for reimbursement of duties paid on importations of hot-rolled coils for rerolling under heading 73.08, Schedule XV, Chapter 73 of the Tariff and Customs Code, as amended, by the government-owned National Steel Corporation and Pasig Steel Corporation. . . . P65,000,000: Provided, that this appropriation will be released to the Iron and Steel Authority who shall authorize payments therefrom under guidelines which it, upon consultation with the Department of Finance, may deem appropriate for this purpose: Provided, further, That the total duty refunds granted to the only authorized importers thereof having cold rolling mill operating facilities, National Steel Corporation and Pasig Steel Corporation, shall not exceed the total amount of special rebates which they as one, have given on their sales of locally produced blackplates to tinplate manufacturing operations: Provided, finally, That any or all outstanding overdue obligations which National Steel Corporation or Pasig Steel Corporation may owe the National Government and/or its agencies or instrumentalities including Government-owned or controlled corporations, shall have a prior lien on the duty refunds which are payable under this Decree.

2) "Supplemental appropriation for reimbursement of duties paid on importations of tin ingots directly for use in tinplate processing under heading 80.01, Schedule XV, Chapter 80 of the Tariff & Customs Code as amended by tinplate manufacturing operations. P10,000,000: Provided, that this appropriation will be released to the Iron and Steel Authority who shall authorize payment therefrom under guidelines which it, upon consultation with the Department of Finance, may deem appropriate for this purpose: Provided, further, That the total duty refunds shall not exceed P10,000,000 or the amounts of actual importations of tin ingots: Provided, finally, That any or all outstanding overdue obligations which such tinplate manufacturing operation may owe the National Government and/or its agencies or instrumentalities including Government-owned and controlled corporations, shall have a prior lien on the duty refunds which are payable under this Decree."

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 11th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

(SGD.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(SGD.) JUAN C. TU VERA
Presidential Assistant