Article 186Monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade

Monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade.

-The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from 200 to 6,000 pesos, or both, shall be imposed upon:

1. Any person who shall enter into any contract or agreement or shall take part in any conspiracy or combination in the form of a trust or otherwise, in restraint of trade or commerce or to prevent by artificial means free competition in the market;

2. Any person who shall monopolize any merchandise or object of trade or commerce, or shall combine with any other person or persons to monopolize said merchandise or object in order to alter the prices thereof by spreading false rumors or making use of any other artifice to restrain free competition in the market;

3. Any person who, being an importer of any merchandise or object of commerce from any foreign country or from the United States, shall combine in any manner with other persons for the purpose of making transactions prejudicial to lawful commerce, or of increasing the market price in any part of the Philippine Islands of any article or articles imported or intended to be imported into said Islands, or of any article in the manufacture of which an imported article is used.

If the offense mentioned in this article affects any food substance or other article of prime necessity, the penalty shall be that of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods, it being sufficient for the imposition thereof that the initial steps have been taken toward carrying out the purposes of the combination.

Any property possessed under any contract or by any combination mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, and being the subject thereof, shall be forfeited to the Government of the Philippine Islands.

Whenever any of the offenses described above is committed by a corporation or association, the president and each one of the directors or managers of said corporation or association, or its agent or representative in the Philippine Islands, in case of a foreign corporation or association, who shall have knowingly permitted or failed to prevent the commission of such offenses, shall be held liable as principals thereof.

SECTION TWO.-Frauds in commerce and industry