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WHEREAS, there has been widespread use of pinball machines in amusements places all over the country;

WHEREAS, the proliferation of these gambling devices adversely affects the moral regeneration program of the Government under the New Society, especially the youth;

WHEREAS, it has come to my attention that there has been indiscriminate issuance of permits and/or licenses to operate pinball and slot machines and other similar devices to the detriment of the public interest.

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

SECTION 1. Any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, the operation, possession, use and importation of pinball and slot machines and other similar devices or paraphernalia used for their operation is hereby declared unlawful and any person guilty of the violation of this Decree shall suffer a fine of not less than five thousand pesos or an imprisonment ranging from prision correccional to prision mayor or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the Court or military tribunal: Provided, That if the offender is a corporation firm, partnership, or association, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers, as the case may be, and if such guilty officer or officers are aliens, in addition to the penalty prescribed, he or they shall be deported without further proceedings on the part of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation.

SEC. 2. All existing licenses and/or permits for the operation or use of pinball machines are hereby nullified and all operators or possessors of pinball machines are hereby given a period of fifteen days within which to dismantle or destroy such pinball or slot machines in their possessions or surrender them to the Philippine Constabulary.

SEC. 3. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 23rd day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.