QuestionsQuestions (Act No. 2584.)
Except as provided in the Act, it is unlawful to fish, collect, or gather sponges from the sea bottom or reefs within a radius of three marine leagues from any land within the territorial limits of the Philippine Islands.
Concessions may be granted to: (a) citizens of the United States or Philippine Islands; (b) honorably discharged U.S. Army or Navy soldiers or sailors; (c) corporations duly organized under Philippine laws; and (d) persons who acquired the political rights of natives of the Philippine Islands under the Treaty of Paris.
The application must include a description with latitude and longitude indicated on a chart, using the latest published U.S. Geodetic Survey charts as the basis for plotting, and must also include an oath that the area does not conflict with any already granted or occupied concession.
The Secretary of the Interior must be satisfied as to the applicant’s financial responsibility.
Concessions must be marked at each corner with properly anchored buoys; in shallow water, boundary mark descriptions must be submitted.
They must at all times carry a copy of the concession or permit ready to exhibit upon demand by any peace officer or other persons designated to enforce the Act.
The annual concession fee is twenty-five pesos per square kilometer.
A concession may run for a period not to exceed ten years and grants the sponging privilege exclusively (i.e., it does not prevent unrestricted fishing by others for marine forms other than sponges).
No. Concessions must not interfere with the free passage over the concession area of boats or vessels.
The Director of Education (or authorized representatives) may select adequate areas of foreshore and waters from any concession, without charge, for cultivation of sponges or other marine forms for government schools (subject to confirmation by the Secretary of the Interior).
Fees are due on January 1 each year, and if paid quarterly, on or before January 20, April 20, July 20, and October 20 (or last days of those months in remote provinces, at the Collector’s discretion). If not paid within the no-penalty period, the fee increases by 10%. If still delinquent 50 days after due date, the concession is cancelled (without prejudice to criminal proceedings under Section 12).
Twenty percent accrues to the Insular Treasury, forty percent to the province, and forty percent to the municipality where the concession is located; if the concession spans multiple provinces/municipalities, distribution is proportional to the areas within each.
A temporary written permit to prospect for sponges not under concession may be granted by the provincial treasurer with concurrence and countersignature of the provincial governor, upon payment of five pesos. It is not valid longer than three months, not renewable, and under no circumstances may more than 50 kilos of cleaned sponges be gathered under it.
Such permits must be taken up at once by the first peace officer who becomes aware of the fact, and at the end of the validity period the cancelled permits are returned to issuing treasurers and kept on file marked “cancelled.”
Holders of a sponge concession may erect necessary plant structures (houses, drying racks, corrals, landings, etc.) on the shore convenient to the concession for curing sponges, but prior approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police is required under Act No. 1654 before erecting such structures.
All sponges shipped from the Philippines must be graded as to variety and size, placed in separate sacks, and truthfully marked. The Insular Collector of Customs enforces this provision according to rules and regulations issued under the Act.
Under penalty of forfeiture of the concession and confiscation of the entire shipment where found, no commercial sponge less than ten centimeters through any diameter may be taken from Philippine waters, except for purposes of sponge culture within Philippine waters. The Secretary of the Interior imposes this after investigation (without prejudice to court punishment under Section 12).
Examples include: (a) transferring a concession/permit without the Secretary of the Interior’s consent; (b) fishing/collecting sponges within another concession’s boundary or by non-concessionaires outside their own boundary; (c) “loading”/impregnating sponges with foreign substances to deceive buyers; (d) shipping sponges from the Philippines except through the Custom House at a port of entry; (e) possessing Philippine commercial sponges without concession/permit or traceable bill of sale; (f) removing/defacing/destroying/interfering with location marks; (g) possessing undersized sponges; (h) taking commercial sponges using dredge or “gan-gara” except in waters more than thirty fathoms deep.