Article 8Supplement v1, p. 8

COMMERCIAL LAWS SUPPLEMENT

ARTICLE 29. Approval of the Investment Priorities Plan . —

The President shall proclaim the whole or part of such

plan as in effect; or alternatively, return the whole or part

of the plan to the Board of Investments for revision.

Upon the effectivity of the plan or portions thereof, the

President

shall

issue

all

necessary

directives

to

all

departments, bureaus, agencies or instrumentalities of

the government to ensure the implementation of the

plan by the agencies concerned in a synchronized and

integrated manner. No government body shall adopt any

policy

or

take

any

course

of

action contrary to or

inconsistent with the plan.

ARTICLE 30. Amendments . — Subject to publication

requirements and the criteria for investment priority

determination, the Board of Investments may, at any

time, add additional areas in the plan, alter any of the

terms of the declaration of an investment area or the

designation of measured capacities, or terminate the

status of preference. In no case, however, shall any

amendment of the plan impair whatever rights may have

already been legally vested in qualified enterprises which

shall continue to enjoy such rights to the full extent

allowed under this Code. The Board shall not accept

applications in an area of investment prior to the approval

of the same as a preferred area nor after approval of its

deletion as a preferred area of investment.

ARTICLE 31. Publication . — Upon approval of the plan, in

whole or in part, or upon approval of an amendment

thereof, the plan or the amendment, specifying and

declaring the preferred areas of investment and their

corresponding measured capacity shall be published in at

least one (1) newspaper of general circulation and all such

areas shall be open for application until publication of an

amendment

or

deletion

thereof, or until the Board

approves

registration

of

enterprises

which

fill

the

measured capacity.

CHAPTER III Registration of Enterprises

ARTICLE 32. Qualifications of a Registered Enterprise . —

To be entitled to registration under the Investment

Priorities Plan, an applicant must satisfy the Board that:

(1) He is a citizen of the Philippines, in case the applicant

is a natural person, or in case of a partnership or any other

association, it is organized under Philippine laws and that

at least sixty percent (60%) of its capital is owned and

controlled by citizens of the Philippines; or in case of a

corporation

or

a

cooperative,

it

is

organized

under

Philippine laws and that at least sixty per cent (60%) of

the capital stock outstanding and entitled to vote is

owned and held by Philippine nationals as defined under

Article 15 of this Code, and at least sixty per cent (60%) of

the members of the Board of Directors are citizens of the

Philippines. If it does not possess the required degree of

ownership as mentioned above by Philippine nationals,

the

following

circumstances

must

be

satisfactorily

established:

(a) That it proposes to engage in a pioneer project as

defined in Article 17 of this Code, which, considering the

nature and extent of capital requirements, processes,

technical skills and relative business risks involved, is in

the opinion of the Board of such a nature that the

available measured capacity thereof cannot be readily

and adequately filled by Philippine nationals; or, if the

applicant is exporting at least seventy per cent (70%) of is

total production, the export requirement herein provided

may

be

reduced

in

meritorious

cases

under

such

conditions and/or limited incentives as the Board may

determine;

(b) That it obligates itself to attain the status of a

Philippine national, as defined in Article 15, within thirty

(30) years from the date of registration or within such

longer period as the Board may require taking into

account the export potential of the project: Provided , That

a

registered

enterprise

which

exports

one

hundred

percent (100%) of its total production need not comply

with this requirement;

(c) That the pioneer area it will engage in is one that is not

within the activities reserved by the Constitution or other

laws

of

the

Philippines

to

Philippine

citizens

or

corporations owned and controlled by Philippine citizens;

(2) The applicant is proposing to engage in a preferred

project listed or authorized in the current Investment

Priorities Plan within a reasonable time to be fixed by the

Board or, if not so listed, at least fifty percent (50%) of its

total production is for export or it is an existing producer

which

will

export

part

of

production

under

such

conditions and/or limited incentives as the Board may

determine; or that the enterprise is engaged or proposing

to engage in the sale abroad of export products bought

by it from one or more export producers; or the enterprise

is

engaged

or

proposing

to

engage

in

rendering

technical, professional or other services or in exporting

television and motion pictures and musical recordings

made or produced in the Philippines, either directly or

through a registered trader.

(3) The applicant is capable of operating on a sound and

efficient

basis

and

of

contributing

to

the

national

development of the preferred area in particular and of the

national economy in general; and

(4) If the applicant is engaged or proposes to engage in

undertakings or activities other than preferred projects, it

has installed or undertakes to install an accounting

system adequate to identify the investments, revenues,

costs, and profits or losses of each preferred project

undertaken

by

the

enterprise

separately

from

the

aggregate investment, revenues, costs and profits or

losses of the whole enterprise or to establish a separate

corporation for each preferred project if the Board should

so require to facilitate proper implementation of this

Code.

ARTICLE 33. Application . — Applications shall be filed

with the Board, recorded in a registration book and the

date appearing therein and stamped on the application

shall be considered the date of official acceptance.

Whenever necessary, the Board, through the People's

Economic

Councils,

shall

consult

the

communities

affected on the acceptability of locating the registered

enterprise within their community.

ARTICLE 34. Approval and Registration Procedures . —

The Board is authorized to adopt rules and regulations to

facilitate action on applications filed with it; prescribe

criteria for the evaluation of several applications filed in

one preferred area; devise standard forms for the use of

applicants and delegate to the regional offices of the

Department

of

Trade and Industry the authority to

receive and process applications for enterprises to be

located in their respective regions.

Applications

filed

shall

be

considered

automatically

approved if not acted upon by the Board within twenty

(20) working days from official acceptance thereof.

ARTICLE 35. Criteria for Evaluation of Applications . — The

following criteria will be considered in the evaluation of

applications for registration under a preferred area:

(a) The extent of ownership and control by Philippine

citizens of the enterprises;

(b) The economic rates of return;

(c) The measured capacity: Provided, That estimates of

measured capacities shall be regularly reviewed and

updated to reflect changes in market supply and demand

conditions; Provided, Further , That measured capacity

shall not result in a monopoly in any preferred area of

investment which would unduly restrict trade and fair

competition nor shall it be used to deny the entry of any

enterprise in any field of endeavor or activity;

(d) The amount of foreign exchange earned, used or

saved in their operations;

(e)

The

extent

to

which

labor, materials and other

resources obtained from indigenous sources are utilized;

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