Section 9March 28, 1996, Sec./Art. 9

Prohibited Acts. - To ensure fair competition and prevent cartels and monopolies in the downstream oil industry, the following acts are hereby prohibited.

a) Cartelization which means any agreement, combination or concerted action by refiners and/or importers or their representatives to fix prices, restrict outputs or divide markets, either by products or by areas, or allocating markets, either by products or by areas, in restrain of trade or free competition; and

b) Predatory pricing which means selling or offering to sell any product at a price unreasonably below the industry average cost so as to attract customers to the detriment of competitors.

Any person, including but not limited to the chief operating officer or chief executive officer of the corporation involved, who is found guilty of any of the said prohibited acts shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment for three (3) years and fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) to One million pesos (P1,000,000)