WHEREAS, Republic Act (RA) 8179, which amends RA 7042 also known as the Foreign Investments Act (FIA) of 1991, provides that the Regular Foreign Investment Negative List (RFINL) shall consist only of Lists A and B;

WHEREAS, Section 5, Rule VIII of the amended Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the FIA as amended, provides that each RFINL shall remain in force only for two years;

WHEREAS, the first RFINL which took effect on 24 October 1994 shall expire on 23 October 1996;

WHEREAS, there is a need to formulate a second RFINL to reflect amendments made by RA 8179 and changes to Lists A and B as recommended by concerned government agencies;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the FIA of 1991 as amended, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Only investment areas/activities listed in œAnnex A  hereof, also known as the second Regular Foreign Investment Negative List, shall be reserved to Philippine Nationals. The extent of foreign equity participation in these areas shall be limited to the percentages indicated in the List.

SECTION 2. Any amendment to List A may be made at any time to reflect changes instituted in specific laws while amendments to List B shall not be made more often than once every two years, pursuant to Section 8 of the FIA as amended and Rule VIII of its amended IRR.

SECTION 3. All orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.

SECTION 4. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately after the end of the effectivity of the first RFINL on 24 October 1996.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 20th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary