Title
Anti-Hoarding and Price Manipulation Measures
Law
Letter Of Instructions No. 1859
Decision Date
Oct 12, 1983
A 1983 law issued by President Ferdinand Marcos aims to prevent hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation of essential commodities in the Philippines, with defined terms and assigned responsibilities to relevant government agencies, imposing penalties such as imprisonment, fines, and forfeiture of products involved, while also allowing for administrative penalties, providing necessary authority and responsibilities for effective implementation and enforcement.
prevention
hoarding
profiteering

Legal basis and related laws

  • The Letter of Instructions is anchored on Act 4164, which penalizes hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation of prime and essential commodities on the occasion of a public calamity due to natural causes.
  • It also relies on Presidential Decree 1674, which authorizes measures to check price manipulation and penalizes violations of orders issued under that authority.
  • Section 6 ties the criminal penalties to Presidential Decree 1674.
  • Section 7(d) expressly references Executive Order 913 for the method of adding per-day amounts for continuing violations.

Purpose and public-welfare intent

  • The Letter of Instructions directs government action because hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation hamper the economical and steady flow of prime and essential commodities to consumers.
  • It declares these conduct patterns to be inimical to public interest.
  • It treats current economic problems, including exchange rate adjustments and sudden economic reverses, as emergency conditions affecting public welfare.

Key definitions for enforcement

  • “Prime and essential commodities” include the following commodities whether imported or locally manufactured:
    • (a) Essential foods and foodstuffs, including milk, rice, corn, meat and poultry, cooking oil, flour, sugar.
    • (b) Medicines, drugs, and pharmaceutical preparations.
    • (c) Animal and poultry feeds.
    • (d) Building and construction materials.
    • (e) Textiles and garments.
    • (f) Educational and office supplies and equipment.
    • (g) Fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, and other agricultural inputs.
    • (h) Laundry soap and other detergents.
    • (i) Household utensils, appliances, and other household necessities.
    • (j) Motor vehicles spare parts, tires, batteries, engines, and other machineries.
    • (k) Iron, steel, copper, tinplates, and other basic mineral products.
    • (l) Footwear, including all components thereof.
    • (m) Such other commodities as the Minister may determine in consultation with the Price Stabilization Council after due publication.
  • “Hoarding” means:
    • the undue accumulation by a businessman of prime and/or essential commodities beyond normal inventory levels and/or the unjustified refusal to dispose of, sell, or distribute them to consumers;
    • the unreasonable accumulation by a person or entity other than a businessman of essential or prime commodities; or
    • the storing, collecting, keeping, or hiding of essential or prime commodities, or taking them out of the channels of trade and commerce.
  • “Profiteering” means selling or offering for sale any article or commodity with the intent of obtaining a fraudulent or grossly excessive price over the true or intrinsic worth of the article or commodity.
  • “Price manipulation” means the artificial advancing and depressing of prices by those who have the ability to do so by certain devices.

Coverage and target conduct

  • The Letter of Instructions governs conduct involving hoarding, profiteering, or price manipulation of prime and essential commodities.
  • It applies to both businessmen and persons/entities other than businessmen for purposes of defining hoarding.
  • It treats hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation as acts that obstruct the steady supply of commodities to consumers.
  • It authorizes enforcement through criminal prosecution and administrative penalties aimed at stopping and punishing the proscribed conduct.

Government roles and enforcement workflow

  • The Minister of Trade and Industry is authorized to adopt and implement measures necessary to prevent hoarding, profiteering, or price manipulation of prime and essential commodities.
  • For this purpose, the Minister of Trade and Industry may deputize or enlist the assistance of Ministries and agencies, including local government, to prevent the prohibited activities.
  • Local government authorities must, upon deputization by the Minister of Trade and Industry, report to law enforcement agencies cases of hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation.
  • The Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines must direct law enforcement agencies to apprehend those engaged in hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation.
  • The Ministry of Justice must prosecute hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation cases with full force of law.

Criminal penalties and special consequences

  • Section 6 punishes all acts of hoarding, profiteering, or price manipulation with imprisonment of not less than six (6) months nor more than five (5) years, or a fine of not less than two thousand pesos but not more than twenty thousand pesos, or both, at the discretion of the Court.
  • Section 6 requires forfeiture of the products that are the subject of the offense.
  • For aliens, conviction carries an additional consequence: upon conviction and after service of sentence, the offender must be immediately deported without any further proceedings.
  • For naturalized citizens, conviction carries an additional consequence: the offender must automatically lose naturalization and, upon service of sentence, must be immediately deported.
  • For a firm or corporation, the President or Manager must be criminally responsible for the offense based on the act of the firm or corporation.

Administrative penalties and ministerial powers

  • In addition to criminal penalties, the Minister may impose one or more administrative penalties for hoarding, profiteering, or price manipulation.
  • Administrative penalties that the Minister may impose include:
    • the issuance of a cease and desist order;
    • acceptance of a voluntary assurance of compliance or discontinuance under terms and conditions imposed by the Minister;
    • seizure of products that are the subject of the offense;
    • administrative fines that the Minister deems reasonable, with limits of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than one hundred thousand pesos, plus not more than five hundred pesos for each day of continuing violation, as provided in Executive Order 913;
    • cancellation of any permit, license, authority, or registration granted by the Ministry, or suspension of its validity for a period the Minister deems reasonable, but not exceeding one year;
    • withholding any permit, license, authority, or registration the respondent is securing from the Ministry;
    • censure;
    • other analogous penalties or sanctions.

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