ACT NO.

2616
ACT NO. 2616 - THE SALVAGE LAW
 

Section 1. When in case of shipwreck, the vessel or its cargo shall be beyond the control of the crew, or shall have
been abandoned by them, and picked up and conveyed to a safe place by other persons, the latter shall be entitled
to a reward for the salvage.

Those who, not being included in the above paragraph, assist in saving a vessel or its cargo from shipwreck, shall be
entitled to a like reward. 

Sec. 2. If the captain of the vessel, or the person acting in his stead, is present, no one shall take from the sea, or
from the shores or coast merchandise or effects proceeding from a shipwreck or proceed to the salvage of the
vessel, without the consent of such captain or person acting in his stead.

Sec. 3. He who shall save or pick up a vessel or merchandise at sea, in the absence of the captain of the vessel,
owner, or a representative of either of them, they being unknown, shall convey and deliver such vessel or
merchandise, as soon as possible, to the Collector of Customs, if the port has a collector, and otherwise to the
provincial treasurer or municipal mayor.

Sec. 4. After the salvage is accomplished, the owner or his representative shall have a right to the delivery of the
vessel or things saved, provided that he pays, or gives a bond to secure, the expenses and the proper reward.

The amount and sufficiency of the bond, in the absence of agreement, shall be determined by the Collector of
Customs or by the Judge of the Court of First Instance of the province in which the things saved may be found.

Sec. 5. The Collector of Customs, provincial treasurer, or municipal mayor, to whom a salvage is reported, shall
order:

a. That the things saved be safeguard and inventoried.

b. The sale at public auction of the things saved which may be in danger of immediate loss or of those
whose conservation is evidently prejudicial to the interests of the owner, when no objection is made to
such sale.

c. The advertisement within the thirty days subsequent to the salvage, in one of the local newspapers or in
the nearest newspaper published, of all the details of the disaster, with a statement of the mark and
number of the effects requesting all interested persons to make their claims.

Sec. 6. If, while the vessel or things saved are at the disposition of the authorities, the owner or his representative
shall claim them, such authorities shall order their delivery to such owner or his representative, provided that there
is no controversy over their value, and a bond is given by the owner or his representative to secure the payment of
the expenses and the proper reward. Otherwise, the delivery shall nor be made until the matter is decided by the
Court of First Instance of the province.

Sec. 7. No claim being presented in the three months subsequent to the publication of the advertisement
prescribed in sub-section (c) of Section five, the things save shall be sold at public auction, and their proceeds, after
deducting the expenses and the proper reward shall be deposited in the insular treasury. If three years shall pass
without anyone claiming it, one-half of the deposit shall be adjudged to him who saved the things, and the other
half to the insular government.

Sec. 8. The following shall have no right to a reward for salvage or assistance:

a. The crew of the vessel shipwrecked or which was is danger of shipwreck;

b. He who shall have commenced the salvage in spite of opposition of the captain or his representative;
and

c. He who shall have failed to comply with the provisions of Section three.

Sec. 9. If, during the danger, an agreement is entered into concerning the amount of the reward for salvage or
assistance, its validity may be impugned because it is excessive, and it may be required to be reduced to an amount
proportionate to the circumstances.

Sec. 10. In a case coming under the last preceding section, as well as in the absence of an agreement, the reward
for salvage or assistance shall be fixed by the Court of First Instance of the province where the things salvaged are
found, taking into account principally the expenditures made to recover or save the vessel or the cargo or both, the
zeal demonstrated, the time employed, the services rendered, the excessive express occasioned the number of
persons who aided, the danger to which they and their vessels were exposed as well as that which menaced the
things recovered or salvaged, and the value of such things after deducting the expenses.

Sec. 11. From the proceeds of the sale of the things saved shall be deducted, first, the expenses of their custody,
conservation, advertisement, and auction, as well as whatever taxes or duties they should pay for their entrance;
then there shall be deducted the expenses of salvage; and from the net amount remaining shall be taken the
reward for the salvage or assistance which shall not exceed fifty per cent of such amount remaining.

Sec. 12. If in the salvage or in the rendering of assistance different persons shall have intervened the reward shall
be divided between them in proportion to the services which each one may have rendered, and, in case of doubt,
in equal parts.

Those who, in order to save persons, shall have been exposed to the same dangers shall also have a right to
participation in the reward.

Sec. 13. If a vessel or its cargo shall have been assisted or saved, entirely or partially, by another vessel, the reward
for salvage or for assistance shall be divided between the owner, the captain, and the remainder of the crew of the
latter vessel, so as to give the owner a half, the captain a fourth, and all the remainder of the crew the other fourth
of the reward, in proportion to their respective salaries, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary. The
express of salvage, as well as the reward for salvage or assistance, shall be a charge on the things salvaged on their
value.

Sec. 14. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

Enacted: February 4, 1916

 MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 890

PENALIZING THE UNAUTHORIZED SALVAGE OF VESSELS, WRECKS,

DERELICTS AND OTHER HAZARDS TO NAVIGATION AS WELL AS CARGOES
CARRIED BY SUNKEN VESSELS

WHEREAS, Letter of Instruction No. 263 dated March 1, 1975 authorizes

the Philippine Coast Guard to issue permits to salvage derelicts and
sunken vessels or wrecks, and the Bureau of customs to issue permits to
salvage cargoes carried by sunken vessels;

WHEREAS, in order to ensure full and strict compliance with the said
Letter of Instruction No. 263, it is necessary that certain penalties be
provided for unauthorized salvage operations.

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:

1. That henceforth it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the

business or operation of salvaging vessels, wrecks, derelicts and other
hazards to navigation, or of salvaging cargoes carried by sunken vessels,
without first securing the required salvage permit from competent
authority pursuant to Letter of Instruction No. 263, and any violator hereof
shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than P100.00 nor
more than P500.00 or imprisonment for not less than thirty (30) days nor
more than six (6) months, or both, at the discretion of the Court.

2. If the offender is a juridical person, the President or the Manager, or any

other official in charge of the management thereof, as the case may be,
shall suffer the penalties herein provided.

3. Any watercraft, equipment, tolls, paraphernalia or instruments used in

the salvage of vessels, wrecks, derelicts, and other hazards to navigation,
as well as the cargoes carried by the vessels which are recovered in
violation hereof, shall be impounded and forfeited in favor of the
government.

4. Independently of the criminal liability herein provided, the Secretary of

National Defense is hereby empowered to impose, in the exercise of his
discretion, an administrative fine for violations hereof at such rates as
may be fixed by him which in no case shall exceed the amount of
P1,000.00.
Done in the City of Manila, this 9th day of February, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

By the President:

(Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE

Presidential Executive Assistant

COMMONWEALTH ACT No. 65

IN ACT TO DECLARE THAT PUBLIC ACT NUMBERED FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE,
KNOWN AS "CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA ACT," ENACTED BY THE SEVENTY-FOURTH
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, BE ACCEPTED, AS IT IS HEREBY ACCEPTED BY
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

RESPONSIBILITIES AND LIABILITIES

Section 3. (1) The carrier shall be bound, before and at the beginning of the voyage, to exercise due
diligence to —

(a) Make the ship seaworthy;

(b) Properly man, equip, and supply the ship;

(c) Make the holds, refrigerating and cooling chambers, and all other parts of the ship in
which goods are carried, fit and safe for their reception carriage and preservation.

(2) The carrier shall properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for, and discharge
the goods carried.

(3) After receiving the goods into his charge the carrier, or the master or agent of the carrier,
shall, on demand of the shipper, issue to the shipper a bill of lading showing among other things
—

(a) The leading marks necessary for identification of the goods as the same are furnished
in writing by the shipper before the loading of such goods starts, provided such marks are
stamped or otherwise shown clearly upon the goods if uncovered, or on the cases or
coverings in which such goods are contained, in such a manner as should ordinarily
remain legible until the end of the voyage.

(b) Either the number of packages or pieces, or the quantity or weight, as the case may
be, as furnished in writing by the shipper.

(c) The apparent order and condition of the goods: Provided, That no carrier, master, or
agent of the carrier, shall be bound to state or show in the bill of lading any marks,
number, quantity, or weight which he has reasonable ground for suspecting not
accurately to represent the goods actually received, or which he has had no reasonable
means of checking.
(4) Such a bill of lading shall be prima facie evidence of the receipt by the carrier of the goods as
therein described in accordance with paragraphs (3) (a), (b), and (c) of this section: Provided,
That nothing in this Act shall be construed as repealing or limiting the application of any part of
the Act, as amended, entitled "An Act relating to bills of lading in interstate and foreign
commerce," approved August 29, 1916 (U. S. C. title 49, secs. 81-124), commonly known as the
"Pomerene Bills of Lading Act."

(5) The shipper shall be deemed to have guaranteed to the carrier the accuracy at the time of
shipment of the marks, number, quantity, and weight, as furnished by him; and the shipper shall
indemnify the carrier against all loss damages, and expenses arising or resulting from
inaccuracies in such particulars. The right of the carrier to such indemnity shall in no way limit his
responsibility and liability under the contract of carriage or to any person other than the shipper.

(6) Unless notice of loss or damage and the general nature of such loss or damage be given in
writing to the carrier or his agent at the port of discharge before or at the time of the removal of
the goods into the custody of the person entitled to delivery thereof under the contract of carriage,
such removal shall be prima facie evidence of the delivery by the carrier of the goods as
described in the bill of lading. If the loss or damage is not apparent, the notice must be given
within three days of the delivery.

Said notice of loss or damage maybe endorsed upon the receipt for the goods given by the
person taking delivery thereof.

The notice in writing need not be given if the state of the goods has at the time of their receipt
been the subject of joint survey or inspection.

In any event the carrier and the ship shall be discharged from all liability in respect of loss
or damage unless suit is brought within one year after delivery of the goods or the date
when the goods should have been delivered: Provided, That if a notice of loss or damage,
either apparent or concealed, is not given as provided for in this section, that fact shall not
affect or prejudice the right of the shipper to bring suit within one year after the delivery of
the goods or the date when the goods should have been delivered.

In the case of any actual or apprehended loss or damage the carrier and the receiver shall give
all reasonable facilities to each other for inspecting and tallying the goods.

(7) After the goods are loaded the bill of lading to be issued by the carrier, master, or agent of the
carrier to the shipper shall, if the shipper so demands, be a "shipped" bill of lading Provided, That
if the shipper shall have previously taken up any document of title to such goods, he shall
surrender the same as against the issue of the "shipped" bill of lading, but at the option of the
carrier such document of title may be noted at the port of shipment by the carrier, master, or
agent with name or name the names of the ship or ships upon which the goods have been
shipped and the date or dates of shipment, and when so noted the same shall for the purpose of
this section be deemed to constitute a "shipped" bill of lading.