Letter of Instruction No. 16 (Marcos)

October 1, 1972

LETTER OF INSTRUCTION No. 16

To: The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources The Secretary of National Defense The Provincial Governors, City and Municipal Mayors The Chairman and Members, Price Control Council.

In view of the present national emergency and our desire to reform our society, and following the promulgation of Presidential Decree No. 7, dated October 1, 1972, as a means of arresting increases in the prices of meat, you are all hereby ordered to immediately implement and enforce strictly the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 7 which regulates the orderly marketing of livestock and animal products and establishes stricter control over animal feeds for the benefit of the mass of our people, particularly for consumers and those engaged in the livestock industry.

The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall, within 15 days, organize and establish the National Meat Inspection System with its defined functions and procedures as promulgated in this Presidential Decree.

The Secretary of National Defense shall see to the safe, speedy, and economical movement of livestock and animal products through the marketing channels, prevent the interception of vehicles carrying such products by any person for the purpose of committing any form or extortion and harrassment and for forwith arrest and detain such persons under Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972.

Provincial Governors and City and Municipal Mayors shall forthwith cease and desist from imposing and collecting any and all fees and charges on the production, slaughter, transport, and marketing of livestock and animal products within their respective jurisdictions, except ante-mortem and post-mortem fees authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources or by the National Meat Inspection System to be established here after.

The Price Control Council is hereby directed to review the ceiling prices of meats and other animal products in view of the reduced marketing costs arising from the implementation of the aforesaid Presidential Decree with the objective of reducing meat retail prices to consumers to the extent possible. The Council is to approve new price ceilings for such products within 30 days from today.

Done in the City of Manila this 1st day of October in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.

Rh