Article 17Supplement v1, p. 17

COMMERCIAL LAWS SUPPLEMENT

ARTICLE 70. Exemption From the Maximum Storage

Period Under the Tariff and Customs Code; Period of

Storage in the Regional Warehouse. — The provision of

the law in Section 1908 of the Tariff and Customs Code of

the

Philippines,

as

amended,

to

the

contrary

notwithstanding, articles duly entered for warehousing

may remain in the regional warehouses for a period of

two (2) years from the time of their transfer to the

regional warehouse, which period may be extended with

the approval of the Board of Investments for an additional

period of one (1) year upon payment of the corresponding

storage fee on the unexported articles, as provided for

under Article 68(4) for each extension until they are

reexported

in

accordance

with

the

guidelines

implementing

Book

IV

of

this

Code.

Any

articles

withdrawn,

released

or

removed

contrary

to

the

provisions of said guidelines shall be forfeited pursuant to

the provisions of Article 69, paragraph (b) hereof. (as

amended by RA No 8756)

ARTICLE 71. Rules and Regulations on the Jurisdiction,

Operation and Control Over Qualified Goods in the

Regional Warehouse. — The Board of Investments, the

PEZA, concerned ecozone authorities and the Bureau of

Customs shall jointly issue special rules and regulations

on the receiving, handling, custody, entry, examination,

classifications,

delivery,

storage,

warehousing,

manipulation and packaging, release for reexportation or

for importation and delivery to a Philippine distributor

and

for

the

safekeeping,

recording,

inventory

and

liquidation of said qualified goods, any existing law

notwithstanding. Such rules and regulations shall be

formulated in consultation with the applicants/operators

of regional warehouses. (as amended by RA No 8756)

ARTICLE 72. Cancellation of License or Registration . —

Any willful violation by the regional or area headquarters

or regional operating headquarters of a multinational

company which has established a regional warehouse or

warehouses contrary to or in violation of the provisions of

existing laws and the implementing guidelines of Book IV

of this Code shall constitute a sufficient cause for the

cancellation of its license or registration in addition to the

penalties hereinabove provided in Article 69, paragraph

(b) hereof.

The Board, the PEZA or concerned ecozone authorities, as

the case may be, shall have the authority to impose such

fines in amounts that are just and reasonable in cases of

late

submission

or

non-compliance

on

the

part

of

registered

enterprises,

with

reporting

and

other

requirements under this Code and its implementing rules

and regulations. (as amended by RA No 8756)

ARTICLE

73.

The

regional

or

area

headquarters

of

multinational

companies

establishing

regional

warehouses shall be exempt from the provisions of Book

II of this Code. (as repealed by RA No 8756)

ARTICLE 73. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — To

implement the provisions of Books III and IV of this Code,

the Department of Trade and Industry, in coordination

with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Board of

Investments, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the

ecozone authorities with special charters, the Securities

and

Exchange

Commission,

the

Bureau

of

Internal

Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas, Philippine Tourism Authority, and the Bureau of

Immigration shall jointly promulgate such rules and

regulations which shall take effect thirty (30) days after

their publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of

general circulation in the Philippines. (as created by RA

No 8756)

BOOK V Special Investors Resident Visa

ARTICLE 74. Qualifications . — Any alien who possesses

the following qualifications may be issued a Special

Investors Resident Visa.

1. He had not been convicted of a crime involving moral

turpitude;

2. He is not afflicted with any loathsome, dangerous or

contagious disease;

3. He has not been institutionalized for any mental

disorder or disability;

4. He is willing and able to invest the amount of at least

US$75,000.00

in

the

Philippines;

Provided,

That

the

foregoing

invested

amount

shall

be

lowered

to

US$50,000 for aliens availing of Executive Order No. 63

and Executive Order No. 1037 subject to the conditions

imposed by said legislations: Provided, further , That for

purposes of compliance with this particular condition, the

alien-applicant should prove that he has remitted such

amount in acceptable foreign currency to the Philippines.

ARTICLE 75. Reportorial Requirements . — As a holder of

the Special Investors Resident Visa, an alien shall be

entitled to reside in the Philippines while his investment

subsists. For this purpose, he should submit an annual

report, in the form duly prescribed for the purpose, to

prove that he has maintained his investment in the

country. Should said alien withdraw his said investment

from the Philippines, then the Special Investors Resident

Visa issued to him will automatically expire.

BOOK VI Incentives of Export Processing Zone

Enterprises

ARTICLE 76. Employment of Foreign Nationals . — The

provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, Export

Processing Zone Authority, hereinafter referred to as the

"Authority" may authorize an alien or an association,

partnership, corporation or any other form of business

organization formed, organized, chartered or existing

under any law other than those of the Philippines, or

which is not a Philippine national, or the working capital

of which is fully owned or controlled by aliens to do

business or engage in an industry inside the export

processing zone.

Subject to the provisions of Section 29 of Commonwealth

Act No. 613 , as amended, an enterprise, a zone registered

enterprise may employ foreign nationals in supervisory,

technical or advisory positions for a period not exceeding

five (5) years from its registration, extendible for limited

periods at the discretion of the Authority: Provided,

however, That when the majority of the capital stock of a

zone registered enterprise is owned by foreign nationals,

the

positions

of

president,

treasurer,

and

general

manager or their equivalents may be retained by foreign

nationals beyond the period set forth herein.

Foreign nationals employed within the purview of this

Book,

their

spouses,

and

unmarried

children

under

twenty-one years of age who are not excluded by Sec. 29

of C.A. No. 613 , as amended, shall be permitted to enter

and

reside

in

the

Philippines during the period of

employment of such foreign nationals. They shall be

issued a multiple entry visa, valid for a period of three

years, to enter and leave the Philippines without further

documentary requirements other than valid passports or

other travel documents in the nature of passports. The

validity

of

the

multiple

entry

special

visa

shall

be

extendible

yearly.

Foreign

nationals

who

have been

issued multiple entry special visas under this provision, as

well as their respective spouses and dependents, shall be

exempt from obtaining alien certificates and all types of

clearances required by any government department or

agency.

For

this

purpose,

the

Commission

on

Immigration and Deportation and the Authority shall

jointly

issue

the

necessary

implementing

rules

and

regulations.

A

registered

enterprise

shall

train

Filipinos

as

understudies

of

foreign

nationals

in

administrative,

supervisory and technical skills and shall submit annual

reports of such training to the Board.

ARTICLE 77. Tax Treatment of Merchandise in the Zone .

— (1) Except as otherwise provided in this Code, foreign

and

domestic

merchandise,

raw

materials,

supplies,

articles, equipment, machineries, spare parts and wares

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