NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) OF THE PHILIPPINES ) First Regular Session ) SENATE Senate Bill No. 1778
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RECEIVED BY;
Introduced by: Senator Raffy T. Tulfo
AN ACT REPEALING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4635 OR "AN ACT TO SAFEGUARD THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE AND MAINTAIN THE DIGNITY OF THE NATION BY DECLARING IT A NATIONAL POLICY TO PROHIBIT THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTATION OF TEXTILE ARTICLES COMMONLY KNOWN AS USEDCLOTHING AND RAGS/' SETTING NATIONAL POLICIES ON THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTATION OF USED TEXTILES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Explanatory Note "Ukay-Ukay" refers to a type of retail business that deals in second-hand clothes, bags, shoes , and other accessories which are sold at a cheap price. The emergence of the Ukay-Ukay business started in the early 1980s in Baguio. Due to the frequency of natural calamities in the country. Salvation Army distributed imported second hand goods to victims of the calamities as a form of humanitarian assistance. The said goods were accumulated and bought in bulk by traders who sold the same to the public at cheap prices. The business initially catered to the low-income populace. Due to the heightened popularity of the business, high - income earners started to patronize it.
However, the commercial importation of secondhand clothing to the Philippines has been prohibited since 1966 under the Republic Act No. 4653, also known as the "Act. It was enacted to safeguard the health of the Filipino people and maintain the dignity of the nation through the prohibition of the importation of used clothing and other goods. Pursuant to aforesaid law, Ukay-Ukay business is deemed illegal. Nonetheless, there has been a proliferation of the Ukay-Ukay business on account of ineffective implementation of the applicable law banning the same. Consequently, there is an urgent need to repeal the law relative to the sale of imported used clothing by UkayUkay stores.