REPUBLIC ACT No. 4618
An Act Establishing the National Stud Farm, Prescribing its Powers and Functions and Providing Funds for the Purpose
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:
Section 1. Purpose.— The purposes of this Act are to improve the breed of Philippine horses for the benefit of all breeders and horseowners, and to prevent illegal importation of race horses.
Section 2. Establishment; control.— There is hereby created and established a National Stud Farm, hereinafter called the Farm, to be governed and managed by a Board of Trustees which shall be charged with the responsibility of implementing the aims and purposes of this Act, and discharge the duties and functions hereinafter provided. The Farm shall be under the administrative control and supervision of the Office of the President of the Philippines.
Section 3. Composition of the Board of Trustees.— The Board of Trustees, hereinafter referred to as the Board, shall be composed of the following members: The Director of the Bureau of Animal Industry, the Chairman of the Games and Amusements Board, the General Manager of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society Races, the General Manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the General Manager of the Races of the White Cross, Inc., the presidents of existing racing clubs, the President of the Thoroughbred and Horse Breeders Association of the Philippines, Inc., and three other members, one of whom shall be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, to be appointed by the President of the Philippines. They shall elect from among themselves a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman of the Board.
Section 4. Meetings of the Board.— The Board shall hold regular meetings once a week and such number of special meetings not to exceed four times a month. For actual attendance at such meetings, each member shall be entitled to a per diem of thirty pesos.
Section 5. The National Stud Master.— The Board shall name and appoint a National Stud Master, who shall be the General Manager of the Farm and shall execute the policies, decisions and resolutions of the Board of Trustees and discharge such other duties and functions as the Board may direct. No person shall be appointed National Stud Master unless he has been a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine for at least ten years and must have special knowledge and thorough experience about horses. The National Stud Master shall attend all meetings of the Board.
Section 6. The Board Secretary.— The Board shall appoint a Secretary to the Board who must be a member of the Philippine Bar with at least five years’ experience as a practitioner and whose compensation shall be fixed by the Board. The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the Board, take notes of the proceedings thereof, and within forty-eight hours after each meeting, have the minutes prepared and copies thereof furnished to the Board for approval. He shall prepare an agenda of the meetings upon instruction of the Chairman of the Board; shall prepare for the signature of the Chairman and the National Stud Master, official correspondence and other papers; and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Board, or by its chairman, or by any Member thereof.
Section 7. Other personnel.— The Board also appoint such other personnel as may be necessary for the effective implementation of the purposes of this Act and such personnel shall be exempt form any provision of the Civil Service Act or any of the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
Section 8. Acquisition of thoroughbreds.— The Farm shall acquire and own thoroughbred stallions of excellent blood-stock or pedigree to be made available for breeding purposes to mares owned by Filipino breeders under the provisions of this Act.
Section 9. The stallion stations.— Farm stallions shall be established on land which, through soil analysis, climatic conditions and other tests as may be determined by the Board, is best suitable for breeding purposes. The stations shall be as proximate as possible to the center of horse racing activities.
Section 10. Breeding service.— The stallions owned by the Farm shall be available for breeding purposes to mares owned by Filipinos under such policies and regulations which the Board shall prescribe which shall include the following conditions:
(a) That more owners apply for breeding service to the Farm at least two months before the start of the breeding season for the Farm stallions;
(b) That only mares of top quality, as determined by their pedigree and actual racing record if they have already raced in the Philippines, shall be accepted for such service: Provided, That, if the number of qualified mares as screened by the Farm exceeds that which could be served by the Farm’s stallions for one breeding season, lots shall be drawn among the owners of said qualified mares to determine the mares to be served for the season: And Provided, further, That qualified mares which have not been chosen shall have preference at the next breeding season;
(c) That the mares be subject to veterinary inspection before and after service;
(d) That the mares served by stallions owned by the Farm, after having been served and found in foal, as well as their foals, shall not be sold and exported to any foreign country; and
(e) That the mares be subject to periodic inspection by personnel of the Farm after service.
Section 11. Fees for service.— The farm shall not charge service fees on commercial level. The board shall set such fees as may be reasonable and conducive to inviting owners of mares of excellent quality to have their horses served by the Farm stallions. There shall, however, be no live foal guarantees or return services allowed by the Farms.
Section 12. Conditions for purchase of stallions.— The Farm shall purchase and acquire such stallions only which are of the best bloodline and their pedigree must be certified by the Stud Book Keeper of the country of their source. The Board shall promulgate such rules and conditions under which all purchases of stallions must comply and representative for the purchase of thoroughbreds may be named. Said representative, if other than the National Stud Master, must be fully versed in determining the quality of horses and in any case must always act under specific instructions by the Board.
Section 13. Age of stallion.— All stallions purchased by the Farm must not be more than twelve years old and must be duly certified sires.
Section 14. Sale of horses.— Horses imported by the Farm cannot be resold except when they are unanimously certified to by the veterinarians of the respective entities represented in the Board that they are already sterile and/or can no longer be used for breeding purposes: Provided, That the sale shall likewise be unanimously approved by the Board.
Section 15. Acquisition of stallions and mares.— The Farm shall have the sole authority to participate in thoroughbred national auction sales abroad sanctioned by the thoroughbred national breeder’s association or organization of said country, and bid accordingly for the purpose of acquiring to top quality stallions heretofore mentioned and also of excellent mares when the financial condition of the Farm so warrants.
Section 16. Rules and regulations.— The Board may promulgate such and all other rules and regulations not inconsistent herewith for the accomplishment of the purposes of this Act.
Section 17. Registry section.— The Farm shall have a registry section which shall be in charge of keeping the Philippine National Stud Book.
Section 18. The National Stud Book Keeper.— The registry section shall be headed by the National Stud Book Keeper who shall be named and appointed by the Board. He must be a person of good moral character and integrity. He shall possess a special knowledge and thorough experience about horses and their habits. If possible he shall be a veterinarian of ten years of continuous actual practice and shall be well versed with pedigrees and blood lines of thoroughbred horses. The position of Stud Book Keeper shall be honorary. Priority in the appointment of a stud bookkeeper shall be given to the recommendee of the Thoroughbred and Breeder Associations of the Philippines, Inc.
Section 19. The Philippine National Stud Book.— The Philippine National Stud Book shall comprise three sections: the first section, devoted exclusively to pure thoroughbred horses recognized in and accepted by the national stud books of their countries of origin and their progeny; the second section, devoted to pure thoroughbred horse of other countries; and the third section, devoted to native pure-breed and native half-breed horses. The Farm shall strive to have the first thoroughbred section of the national stud book recognized by foreign racing authorities.
Section 20. Eligibility for registration in first section of Stud Book.— Only horses which can be traced without flaw on both sire’s and dam’s side of its pedigree to horses already accepted in the General Stud Book, to a world-recognized stud book of any country, or to certain approved sires and mares expressly exempted in the General Stud Book, may be considered eligible to apply for admission to the first section of the National Stud Book. In case of any doubt about the pedigree of any horse, the Farm may refuse registration without giving the cause for said refusal.
Section 21. Participation in the local races.— Only horses accepted and registered in the National Stud Book and properly named shall be allowed to participate in the races in the Philippines.
Section 22. Existing race horses.— Race horses already participating in the local races at the time of the approval of this Act shall continue to participate therein within a period of one year: Provided, However, That within the said period of one year said race horses must be accepted and registered with the National Stud Book; otherwise, they shall no longer be allowed to participate in the local races.
Section 23. Eligibility for registration.— Both the sire and the dam of a foal must have been previously accepted and registered in the National Stud Book so that such foal may itself be eligible for registration therein.
Section 24. Report of stallion owners.— Every stallion owner shall submit to the Farm, within the first five days of each month, a report of each thoroughbred or native mare served by his stallion or stallions. The report should state the names or if unnamed, a detailed description of each mare served, the dates of each service, and the names and addresses of their owners.
Section 25. Report of mare owners.— Every mare owner shall submit to the Farm, within the first five days of each month, each thoroughbred or native mare he has caused to be served. The report should state the name of the stallion, or if unnamed, a detailed description thereof, the dates of each service and the names and addresses of their owners.
Section 26. Report of death.— The death of any horse accepted and registered in the National Stud Book shall be reported by the owner thereof to the Farm within thirty days from date of such death.
Section 27. Report of abortions and deaths.— Every mare owner shall submit to the Farm a report regarding all abortions and deaths of foals within a period of thirty days from the date of such abortion, death or other accident.
Section 28. Branding of Foals.— Each foal shall be fire-branded or cold-branded with the municipal and owner’s brands within seven months from date of foaling. The owner of the foal shall, within ten days from the date of branding, submit a report to the Farm showing this fact and containing a facsimile of the municipal and owner’s brands.
Section 29. Inspection of mares served.— The Farm or any of its personnel shall have the authority to visit and inspect any mare reported to have been served by any stallion, at such times as the Farm may determine.
Section 30. Registration of foals.— To be eligible for registration, a foal must be registered to the Farm within a period of five months from its birth. The forms prescribed by the Farm must be duly accomplished and the owner must furnish the Farm with the foal’s name and complete description prescribed by the rules and regulations.
Section 31. Issuance of foal certificates.— The Farm shall issue Certificates of Registration for foals bred after the approval of this Act. No Certificate of Registration, however, shall be issued unless both the stallion and mare reports heretofore mentioned are on file in the Registry Section and unless the other conditions and form prescribed by the Farm shall have been duly accomplished and filed by the owner.
Section 32. Fees.— The Farm shall prescribe and set such reasonable fees as may be necessary for each report filed and for each certificate it may issue in connection with this Act.
Section 33. Imported thoroughbreds in local races.— Imported thoroughbred horses with pedigree records listed in a world-recognized stud book as certified by the countries of origin and which have no previous records of having run for a prize in any race may participate in the local races within a period of four years after the approval of this Act: Provided, That they shall compete only among themselves, unless owners of local-bred horses voluntarily enter their horses in such races, and that there shall not be more than one race reserved for them each race day if the number of imported thoroughbred horses does not exceed one hundred sixty; And Provided, finally, That in no case shall there be more than three races each race day for imported thoroughbred horses regardless of their number in excess of one hundred sixty.
Section 34. Farm fund.— The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is hereby authorized and directed to hold annually one special draw and horse race on a Saturday, or a lottery, as the case may be, the whole proceeds of which shall, after deducting the payment of the prizes and expenses as provided in Section six of Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred and sixty-nine, as amended, be turned over to the Farm for its support, maintenance and operation. The unexpended balance in excess of ten thousand pesos of the income of the Games and Amusements Board from races heretofore turned over to the Bureau of Animal Industry under Section nineteen of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred nine, as amended, shall be turned over to the Farm. The fund of the Farm shall be treated as a Special Fund and shall be available for the purposes authorized under this Act.
Section 35. Repealing clause.— All laws or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
Section 36. Effectivity.— This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 19, 1965.
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