WHEREAS, in recent years there have been rampant and unabated smuggling and illicit trading in smuggled products of all kinds, not limited to foreign cigarettes;

WHEREAS, the campaign against smuggling has been and will continue to be intensified by this Administration through a series of bold and energetic measures;

WHEREAS, the smuggling and traffic in smuggled goods can not long endure if our citizenry voluntarily desist from buying, possessing or using smuggled products;

WHEREAS, the smuggling and traffic in smuggled goods is a form of subversion which erodes our economic gains, promotes syndicated crimes, encourages lawlessness, and have resulted in the deterioration of the normal character of our people;

WHEREAS, under existing laws, smuggling and traffic in, including mere possession of, smuggled goods are penal offenses, and in the case of public officers and employees constitute administrative offenses as well;

WHEREAS, it is our people ™s patriotic duty to help the Government stamp out this pernicious practice;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MAROCS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby enjoin all officers and employees of the Government and all inhabitants of the Philippines to cooperate to the fullest extent in the current drive against smuggling and traffic in smuggled products and to abide by and comply with the existing laws and orders on smuggling, under pain of being subjected to civil, penal and administrative sanctions, as the case may be.

Any violation of this Order by any such officer or employee shall be a ground for the taking of administrative action against him and the imposition of severe penalty, including dismissal from the service whenever appreciate. All heads of departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations, are enjoined to file the corresponding administrative charges against any officer or employee found violating this Order.

Prosecuting officers are likewise directed to file the corresponding criminal actions and to prosecute to the limit violators of the laws on smuggling.

This supersedes Executive Order No. 146 dated March 20, 1965.

Done in the City of Manila, this 9th day of January in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and sixty-six.


By the President:
(SGD.) RAFAEL M. SALAS
Executive Secretary