EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
20 MAY -4
Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. l^td
AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING A MECHANISM FOR THE MANDATORY AND 
EXPEDITED DISPOSITION OF ABANDONED IMPORTED GOODS FOR THE 
BENEFIT OF THE POOR AND UNDERPRIVILEGED IN TIMES OF 
CALAMITIES AND OTHER NATIONAL EMERGENCIES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The current COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the fabric of our 
society. Social distancing, closure of schools and business establishments, increase 
in unemployment, unprecedented decline of the economy and the strain to our 
health systems - these are just some of the consequences that the pandemic and 
the accompanying enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has brought upon us. But 
the sector who bore the brunt of the economic stand-still caused by COVID-19 is the 
poor and underprivileged. These are our jeepney, tricycle and other PUV drivers, 
construction workers, no work/no pay laborers, the homelesscitizens and the street 
dwellers, the informal economy workers, among others. These are the sectors that 
the Legislature had in mind when we expeditiously passed Republic Act No. 11469 or 
the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act." One of the interventions contained in the said 
law is the grant of an emergency subsidy ranging from Php 5,000 to 8,000 per 
month for two (2) months to around 18 Million low-income households.However, it 
should be noted that Bayanihan to Heal as One Act is an emergency measure. It is 
merely a stop-gap response. It has a sunset provision.
COVID-19 is indeed a wake-up call for the government on the value of 
planning ahead and putting in place institutional mechanisms and strategies geared 
towards the effective response to and management of these kinds of national


emergencies. Therefore, the challenge and the objective is to pass legislation and 
enact policies that anticipate these eventualities, so that when another calamity or 
national emergency comes, government action and response will run smoothly and 
be immediate, adequate and coordinated.
As a contribution to this objective, this proposed measure is being filed in 
response for the need to timely and sufficiently provide relief goods and other basic 
necessities to the poorest of the poor in times of calamities and other national 
emergencies. A potential source of these goods are the abandoned imported items 
and products that are left to stagnate in our country's ports and warehouses. This 
bill aims to institutionalize a mechanism for the mandatory and expedited disposition 
of abandoned imported goods for the benefit of the poor and underprivileged. This 
will amend Section 1141 of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as "Customs 
Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA)" by providing that abandoned goods suitable 
for shelter or consisting of foodstuffs, clothing materials or medicines and other 
basic necessities shall be mandatorily donated to the Department of Social Welfare 
and Development (DSWD).The amendment further imposes the condition that in 
instances of calamities and other national emergencies, the donation and transfer to 
the DSWD shall be done in an expedited manner within a period of seven (7) days 
from the issuance of the Decree of Abandonment by the proper Bureau of Customs 
(BOC) official.
Under the current state of the law (CMTA), the donation of the relevant 
goods is not made mandatory in favor of the DSWD. The law likewise does not 
provide for a specified period within which donation and transfer to the DSWD shall 
be made. These are the gaps in the law that this bill seeks to address and resolve.
Thus, instead of being left to rot, expire or otherwise be rendered unfit for 
consumption, this bill will cut those bureaucratic bottlenecks and facilitate the quick 
disposition of abandoned essential goods from the BOC to the DSWD and ultimately 
to the poor families who are in dire need of these goods.


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In view of this, early passage of this bill is sought.
Senator


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
Ot tiK fectretcrp
SENATE
S. No.
Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. Lapid
AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING A MECHANISM FOR THE MANDATORY AND 
EXPEDITED DISPOSITION OF ABANDONED IMPORTED GOODS FOR THE 
BENEFIT OF THE POOR AND UNDERPRIVILEGED IN TIMES OF CALAMITIES
AND OTHER NATIONAL EMERGENCIES
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled:
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SECTION 1. Section 1141 of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as 
"Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA)" is hereby amended to read as 
follows:
"Sec. 1141. Mode of Disposition. - The goods subject to disposition 
may be donated to another government agency or declared for official 
use of the Bureau, after approval of the Secretary of Finance, or sold 
at a public auction within thirty (30) days after a ten (lO)-day notice 
posted at a public place at the port where the goods are located and 
published electronically or in a newspaper of general circulation.
For purposes of donating the goods as above described, goods suitable 
for shelter or consisting of foodstuffs, clothing materials or medicines 
[may] AND OTHER BASIC NECESSITIES SHALL be donated to the


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DSWD; PROVIDED FURTHER, THATIN TIMES OF CALAMITIES 
OR OTHER NATIONAL EMERGENCIES, THE DONATION AND 
TRANSFER TO THE DSWD SHALL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN 
SEVEN (7) DAYS FROM THE ISSUANCE OF A DECREE OF 
ABANDONMENT BY THE PROPER BUREAU OF CUSTOMS 
OFFICIAL."
Sec. 2. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (60) days from 
the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Finance, Bureau of Customs and the 
Department of Social Welfare and Development shall issue the necessary rules and 
regulations to implement the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 3.Repealing Clause. —All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, 
proclamations, rules and regulations, or any part thereof, which are inconsistent with 
the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Sec. 4. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act, or the 
application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional or invalid, 
the remainder of this Act shall not be affected thereby.
Sec. S.Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation.
Approved,