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WHEREAS, Tetraethyl (TEL) is an additive to gasoline used to reduce or prevent engine knock in gasoline-fed vehicles by increasing octane number and, as an imported item, requires annual expenditures of approximately two hundred million pesos;

WHEREAS, it has been established that TEL is a poisonous compound of lead that, when expelled from the exhaust pipes of motor vehicles as particulates and inhaled, is readily absorbed into the body leading to lead poisoning and various illnesses and, settling quickly out of the air, it contaminates the soil resulting in increased danger to health;

WHEREAS, scientific investigations have conclusively shown that lead pollution in the Philippines is serious and that the adverse consequences of lead intoxication attributable to TEL in gasoline is grievous, thus increasing concern in the Philippines about the detrimental effects of free lead in the atmosphere;

WHEREAS, medical investigations in the Philippines have shown that in the urban areas Filipino children have been exposed to lead poisoning beyond tolerable medical limits;

WHEREAS, it is imperative for the Philippines to adopt a national program designed to arrest the dangers posed by TEL nationwide;

WHEREAS, various chemical compounds can be used for blending with gasoline to reduce and/or eliminate TEL in gasoline without posing dangers to health and at the same time improve octane ratings, among which substitutes is ethanol which is the only one that can be produced locally in sufficient quantity and -quality, indicating that ethanol is the best choice in the Philippines to replace TEL as a gasoline additive;

WHEREAS, technical studies have shown that ethanol may be produced efficiently from sugar cane and in existing sugar districts so that, considering the plight of the sugar industry which resulted from the depressed world prices of sugar, the early implementation of an ethanol program will produce an additional benefit of providing a new market for the local sugar industry;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State, in view of the growing world-wide concern over the harmful effects brought about by the use of tetraethyl lead (TEL) in gasoline and as a measure to protect and safeguard the health of the people against lead poisoning, to eliminate the use of tetraethyl lead (TEL) in gasoline, and in its stead, to use ethanol.

SEC. 2. In pursuance of the above policy, the Philippine National Alcohol Commission (PNAC), under the Ministry of Trade and Industry is hereby directed to immediately draw up a National Ethanol Program which will cause the gradual withdrawal of the use of TEL in gasoline by blending ethanol with gasoline beginning with a 5% blend up to a 20% blend which maximum blend is to be attained as soon as practicable but not later than 5 years from date hereof. Such a program shall include the establishment of alcohol distilleries in appropriate locations throughout the country, with preferential emphasis on sugar central districts in order to ensure adequate supply of ethanol to support this program.

SEC. 3. The Ministry of Energy is hereby directed to implement a program, consistent with the rules and regulations drawn up by PNAC, which will cause the oil companies operating in the Philippines to blend ethanol with gasoline, leading to the phase-out of lead in gasoline.

SEC. 4. The National Pollution Control Commission (NPCC) is hereby directed to coordinate with PNAC in establishing standards for permissible lead content in the emission of all types of motor vehicles. NPCC is also hereby directed to enforce such standards.

SEC. 5. The Ministry of Health is hereby directed to monitor on a regular basis the incidence of lead poisoning in the country and to recommend or take such remedial measures as may be warranted to counteract its adverse effects.

SEC. 6. The Philippine National Alcohol Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of the National Ethanol Program and shall prepare the implementing rules and regulations therefor.

SEC. 7. All laws, decrees, executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations of parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SEC. 8. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 16th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-five.