WHEREAS, the Government has entered into agreements for the installation, construction, development, maintenance and use of nuclear power plants in the Philippines to generate electric power to promote the above-enumerated objectives of the Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968;
WHEREAS, the aforesaid agreements have brought to light the need for amending certain provisions of the said Act in order to further facilitate and encourage the wider use and application of atomic energy for peaceful purposes in the Philippines and as well as to attract local and international nuclear suppliers to invest and cooperate in the installation, construction, maintenance and use of nuclear power projects in the country;
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 as part of the law of the land the following:
SECTION 1. Section 3(f) of Republic Act No. 5207 is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 2. Section 3 is hereby amended by the addition of subsection (p) which shall read as follows:
SECTION 3. Section 39(b) is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 4. Section 45 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Exclusions.—The Commission may, if it determines that the small extent of the risks involved so warrants, exclude by regulation any small quantities of nuclear material from the application of the provisions in this Part VII, PROVIDED, THAT (a) MAXIMUM LIMITS FOR THE EXCLUSION OF SUCH QUANTITIES HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY; AND (b) ANY EXCLUSION MUST BE WITHIN THE LIMITS SO ESTABLISHED."
SECTION 5. Section 52 is hereby amended by the addition of a new paragraph which shall read as follows:
"THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ACTING THROUGH SUCH OFFICER AS MAY BE DESIGNATED BY THE PRESIDENT SHALL ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS OF INDEMNIFICATION WITH CONTRACTORS OR SUPPLIERS OF GOODS OR SERVICES FOR AN ATOMIC ENERGY FACILITY OWNED OR OPERATED BY THE GOVERNMENT, ITS AGENCIES, INSTRUMENTALITIES OR CORPORATIONS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO WHICH THE GOVERNMENT AGREES TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD SUCH CONTRACTORS OR SUPPLIERS HARMLESS FROM ANY LOSS OR LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN RELATION TO A NUCLEAR INCIDENT OCCURRING IN THE PHILIPPINES IN EXCESS OF THE YIELD OF THE INSURANCE OR OTHER SECURITY HEREIN SET FORTH, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH INDEMNITY SHALL IN NO CASE EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF PHILIPPINE PESOS WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO ONE HUNDRED TWENTY MILLION U.S. DOLLARS."
SECTION 6. This Decree shall take effect upon approval.
DONE in the City of Manila this 11th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President: (Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE Presidential Executive Assistant