Pursuant to the authority vested in me under Commonwealth Act No. 498 and upon recommendation of the Emergency Control Board, created under Administrative Order No. 107 dated October 2, 1939, I, Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Philippines, do hereby determine and fix the maximrum selling prices of the following articles of prime necessity:

1. The basic maximum prices set forth in the attached schedules for milk, sardines, corned beef, vegetable lard, sugar, wheat flour, galvanized iron sheets, plain galvanized wire, steel bars, nails, motor fuel alcohol, gasoline, petroleum, cement, mongo, meat, corn, and rice shall apply in Manila and in the various provincial capitals and distributing centers set forth in said schedules.

2. The maximum prices at the various towns and places in each province outside of the provincial capital shall be the basic maximum prices set forth in the attached schedules, plus the usual cost of transportation from the provincial capital or other distributing, centers to the place of sale as determined by the committee created under paragraph four hereof.

3. The maximum price for any brand or class of milk, sardines, corned beef, vegetable lard, sugar, wheat flour, galvanized iron sheets, plain galvanized wire, steel bars, nails, motor fuel alcohol, gasoline, petroleum, cement, mongo, meat, corn, and rice not included in the attached schedules shall be the maximum basic price fixed therein for the lowest-priced brand or class of the same article, plus the usual cost of transportation as mentioned in paragraph two hereof in case the place of sale is outside the distributing center.

4. A committee is hereby created in every province, to be composed of the Governor as Chairman, and the Provincial Treasurer and the District Engineer as members, whose duty shall be to determine the usual cost of transportation between the provincial capital or other distributing center and the various municipalities of the province for the purposes of paragraph two hereof. The determination of this Committee on this matter shall be given the same publicity as required for this Executive Order.

5. Any person who shall sell any article included in the attached schedules at prices in excess of the maximum prices therein fixed shall be punished as provided in section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 498. In the case of corporations or associations, the manager, or the administrator or the person who has charge of the management or administration of the business shall be criminally responsible therefor.

6. This Executive Order shall take effect in any locality forty-eight hours after its publication therein by the posting thereof and its schedules In a conspicuous place in the corresponding provincial and municipal buildings and in the public market or markets. Governors and City and Municipal Mayors are hereby instructed to give this Order and its attached schedules of prices the widest possible publicity through œbandillos  or public criers and otherwise.

In addition to publication in full in the Official Gazette., this Executive Order and the portions of the attached schedules of prices corresponding to each province or city shall likewise be published in a daily newspaper of general circulation therein.

7. All complaints regarding the non-observance of this Order or the manner of its observance shall be reported to the Emergency Control Board,

8. The prices fixed in the schedules attached to this Executive Order shall remain in force until revoked, altered, or modified by the Emergency Control Board and such revocation, alteration, or modification duly published as provided in paragraph six hereof.

Done at the City of Manila, this eighth day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the fourth.


By the President:

JORGE B. VARGAS
Secretary to the President