Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 5700)
The main purpose of Republic Act No. 5700 is to amend certain sections of Republic Act No. 623 to include containers of compressed gases within the scope of the Act, specifically regulating the marking, registration, and unauthorized use of such containers.
Persons engaged or licensed to engage in the manufacture, bottling, or selling of beverages in various containers, as well as those involved in the manufacture, compressing, or selling of gases contained in steel cylinders or similar containers, may register with the Philippine Patent Office the names or marks of ownership and the purpose of the containers.
The law covers gases such as oxygen, acetylene, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, chloride, helium, sulphur dioxide, butane, propane, freon, methyl chloride, and similar gases contained in steel cylinders or comparable containers.
It is unlawful for any person, without the written consent of the registered manufacturer, bottler, or seller, to fill, sell, dispose of, buy, traffic in, or destroy containers marked with ownership marks, or to use them for purposes other than those registered by the owner.
Violators may be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand pesos, imprisonment of not more than one year, or both.
Possession without written permission of the registered manufacturer of such marked containers by junk dealers or similar dealers creates a prima facie presumption that such use or possession is unlawful.
It means that the possession or use of the marked containers without permission is presumed unlawful on its face, and the burden of proof is on the possessor to prove otherwise.
Containers such as bottles, boxes, casks, kegs, barrels, steel cylinders, tanks, flasks, accumulators, or other similar containers are covered under the Act.
No, the use of these containers is restricted to the purpose registered by the manufacturer, bottler or seller, and using them for other purposes without written consent is prohibited.
The Act took effect upon its approval on June 21, 1969.