Republic Act No. 5555

Section 1

The first paragraph of Section fifteen, Article, eight of Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred and thirty-five, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Twenty-two hundred and thirty-three and Republic Act Numbered Forty-one hundred and fourteen, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 15. Capitalization. To carry out the purpose of this Act, there is created a special fund to be known as the "Tobacco Industry Promotion Fund" which shall be taken from the taxes derived from the tobacco industry to be made available as follows: ten million pesos, which is hereby appropriated for the fiscal year nineteen hundred sixty-four and nineteen hundred sixty-five, and thereafter, an annual appropriation of ten million pesos is authorized for a period of five years. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall segregate and credit to the Philippine Tobacco Administration ten million pesos every year from specific taxes collected on tobacco until the unreleased appropriations accruing to the Philippine Tobacco Administration are fully funded. The annual appropriation of ten million pesos herein provided shall be released and turned over by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to the Philippine Tobacco Administration in four equal installments within twenty days after the end of every quarter of each fiscal year. There shall be allocated, out of such fund, for trading and marketing operations, the following: four million five hundred thousand pesos for the Cagayan Valley, five hundred fifty thousand pesos for the Ilocos region, four hundred fifty thousand pesos for Central Luzon, fifty thousand pesos for Southern Luzon, one million pesos for Eastern Visayas, one million pesos for Western Visayas, six hundred thousand pesos for Northern Mindanao and nine hundred thousand pesos for Southern Mindanao, and one million pesos for the operating expenses of the Philippine Tobacco Administration: Provided, That if necessary to pay the amortization of outstanding loans and interests of the Administration, and/or of retirement benefits of officials and employees a portion, not exceeding five percent of the above allocations may be set aside annually for these two purposes: Provided, further, That no less than ninety percent of each regional allocation shall be used for cigar (native) filler leaf tobacco trading and not more than ten percent thereof for researches to improve the tobacco industry in all its phases: Provided, furthermore, That each allocation shall constitute a revolving fund for the respective region: Provided, finally, That the Chairman-General Manager shall have the power to transfer office and/or field personnel whenever the exigencies of the trading operations require."

Section 2

A new section is hereby inserted between Section fifteen and Section sixteen of said Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred and thirty-five, as amended, to be designated as Section fifteen-A, which shall read as follows:

"Sec. 15-A. Penal Provision. Any person who fails or refuses to turn over collections of the specific taxes mentioned in the preceding section within the period herein fixed, or who delays, obstructs, fails or refuses to effect the release of the funds or any portion thereof within the time herein prescribed or who orders, causes, or effects the transfer or diversion of funds contrary to the allocation distribution provided herein, or who causes or effects disbursements from the funds in excess of the maximum percentages fixed herein, shall upon conviction, be punished with a fine of not less than five thousand pesos nor more than ten thousand pesos; or imprisonment of not less than six months and one day, nor more than six years, or both, in the discretion of the court. In addition, he shall also suffer the accessory penalty of temporary special disqualification from public office."

Section 3

This Act shall take effect on January 1, 1970.

Approved: June 21, 1969.