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ACT NO. 2152
ACT NO. 2152 - AN ACT TO PROVIDE A
SYSTEM FOR THE APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC WATERS, AND FOR THE DETERMINING
OF EXISTING RIGHTS THERETO; FOR THE PUBLIC REGISTRATION OF ALL WATER
RIGHTS; FOR THE CREATION AND USE OF WATER POWER; FOR INVESTIGATIONS FOR
AND THE CONSTRUCTION MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATION OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS; FOR THE REPAYMENT OF MONEY
EXPENDED THEREFOR; FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATION OF
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS BY PRIVATE PERSONS; FOR THE INSPECTION AND
REGULATION OF ALL WORKS PERTAINING TO THE USE OF WATER; AND PROVIDING
PENALTIES FOR ITS VIOLATION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 1. Subject to existing rights, the public waters of
the Philippine Islands may be appropriated for beneficial use, in the
manner provided in this Act.
Sec. 2. The power to grant appropriations of
public waters is hereby vested in the Secretary of Commerce and Police
in accordance with the provisions of this law, upon the recommendation
and approval of the irrigation council hereinafter created.
There is hereby created an Irrigation Council which shall consist of
five members as follows: The Secretary of Commerce and Police, who
shall be ex-officio chairman thereof; the chairman of the Committee on
Agriculture of the Philippine Assembly; the Director of Public Works;
the chairman of the Committee on Public Works of the Philippine
Assembly; and one agriculturist to be appointed by the
Governor-General, who shall receive a per diem of fifteen pesos for
each session of the council which he actually attends: Provided, That
the officers already receiving a salary or per diem from the Government
shall serve without additional remuneration: And Provided Further, That
when the Philippine Assembly is not organized, or is without officers,
the persons who held the offices of chairman of the Committee on
Agriculture and chairman of the Committee on Public Works at the close
of the preceding session shall continue in office as members of the
Irrigation Council until their successors are appointed and qualified.
The Director of Public Works shall have direction and supervision of
the investigation for and construction of irrigation systems by the
Government of the Philippine Islands and shall perform such duties as
are prescribed herein.
The Chief Irrigation Engineer shall, in addition to the duties and
responsibilities stated in his appointment, be charged with those of
the superintendent of irrigation as provided in Act Numbered Eighteen
hundred and fifty-four.
Sec. 3. Priority of appropriation shall give the
better right as between two or more persons using the public waters. In
determining the priority, the nonuser of the water for a period of five
years shall extinguish any claim of priority unless such nonuser shall
have been caused by force majeure. When the waters of any source of
supply are not sufficient for the service of all those desiring the use
of the same, and when priority of appropriation can not established,
the order of preference shall be as follows:
(a) Domestic
purposes.
(b) Agricultural purposes or power development for
agricultural purposes.
(c) Industrial purposes.
(d) Ponds for fisheries.
(e) Mining purposes or milling connected with mining
purposes.
Sec. 4. Any controversy between the persons
claiming right to use of water of any stream shall be submitted the
Secretary of Commerce and Police through the Director of Public Works,
and his decision thereon shall be final unless appeal therefrom be
taken to the proper court within thirty days after the date of the
notification of the parties of said decision. In case of such appeal
the court having jurisdiction shall try the controversy de
novo.
Sec. 5. The Director of Public Works shall as soon
as practicable prepare for such streams in the Philippine Islands as
may be designated by the Secretary of Commerce and Police a list of the
appropriations of, water according to priority, and in order to make
such list he shall cause a public notice to all claimants of water
rights upon such streams to be posted at the usual places for posting
public notices in each municipality affected and at such other places
as he may deem advisable. Such notice shall contain a statement of the
information that it is desired to obtain from the claimants the date
before which all claims must be received, which date shall be at least
six months after such notice, the conditions under which such claims
must be presented, and any further facts that may be deemed necessary.
The said Director of Public Works shall send to each person known to
have a claim to the waters of such streams a blank form, on which said
claimants shall set forth in writing all the particulars, showing the
amounts and dates of appropriations to the use of water of said stream
to which he lays claim, the said statement to include the following
data, if possible:
(a) The name
and address of the claimant;
(b) The nature of the use or title on which the claim
for an appropriation is based;
(c) The date of the commencement of such use,
Also if used for irrigation, the following:
(d) The date of beginning of survey;
(e) The date of beginning of construction;
(f) The date when completed;
(g) The date of beginning and completion of
enlargements;
(h) The dimensions of the ditch as originally
constructed and as enlarged;
(i) The amount of land irrigated in the first year;
(j) The amount in subsequent years, with the date of
irrigation and the amount of land such ditch is capable of irrigating;
(k) The character of the soil and the kind of crops
cultivated.
Also:
(l) Such other facts as will show compliance with the
law in acquiring the appropriation, and the rank of the priority
claimed.
Each of said claimants shall be required to certify to his statements
under oath, and any officer authorized to administer oaths is hereby
authorized to administer such oaths: Provided, However, That there
shall be no charge for such oaths when administered by an officer of
the Insular, provincial, or municipal government authorized to
administer oaths.
Sec. 6. The blank form required by section five to
be forwarded to each known claimant shall be accompanied by a notice
that the statement therein called for must be presented within thirty
days from the receipt of said notice. The failure of any claimant to
make such sworn statement within six months after notice shall, upon
the complaint of the Director of Public Works, work a forfeiture of the
claim: Provided, However, That the Secretary of Commerce and Police
may, for sufficient cause in his discretion, extend the time limit
within which the statement may be filed for a period not exceeding six
months.
Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the Director of
Public Works, as soon as practicable, to make an examination of such
stream and the works diverting therefrom, said examination to include
the measurements of the discharge of said stream ,and of the carrying
capacity of the various ditches and canals diverting water therefrom,
an examination of the irrigated lands, and an approximate measurement
of the lands irrigated and susceptible of irrigation from the various
ditches and canals, which said observations and measurements shall be
reduced to writing and made a matter of official record in his office;
and it shall be the duty of the Director of Public Works to make a map
or plat showing, with substantial accuracy, the course of said stream,
the location of each dam, ditch, or canal diverting water therefrom,
and the divisions and subdivisions of lands which have been irrigated
or which are susceptible of irrigation from the works already
constructed.
Sec. 8. The Director of Public Works or any
official by him thereunto specifically authorized, in the
investigations made to determine the priority of appropriation, may
examine witnesses under oath, and for this purpose is hereby authorized
to administer oaths to witnesses and take affidavits, and shall not be
obliged to follow strictly the ordinary rules of evidence, but may, on
the contrary, proceed to hear them fully and equitably.
Sec. 9. Upon approval of the list of priorities,
the Secretary of Commerce and Police shall publish the said approved
list in the manner provided in section five. This notice shall show for
each appropriation:
(a) The name
and post-office address of the
appropriator.
(b) The priority number of such appropriation.
(c) The amount of prior appropriations.
(d) The amount of water to which the appropriator is
entitled.
(e) And if such appropriations be for irrigation, a
description of the legal subdivisions of the lands to which said water
is to be diverted,
It shall thereupon be the duty of the Director of Public Works to issue
to each appropriator represented in such list a certificate signed by
the Secretary of Commerce and Police, setting forth the information
shown in items (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section relating to
his appropriation.
Such certificate shall be transmitted by the Director of Public Works,
by registered mail, to the register of deeds of the province in which
such appropriation shall have been made, and on the same date a notice
of such transmittal shall be forwarded by the Director of Public Works
to the appropriator and it shall be the duty of the register of deeds
to record the same in a book specially prepared and kept for that
purpose and thereupon immediately transmit the same to the
appropriator. If the water is to be wholly or partially used in another
province than that in which the point of diversion is located, the
Director of Public Works shall instruct the register of deeds of the
latter to transmit in the same manner, after the proper procedure, the
certified copy to the register of deeds of the province where the water
is to be used and this officer shall be entitled to the fees and
charged with the duties above mentioned:
Provided, However, That if such recording fee shall not be paid within
one year after receipt of such notice from the Director of Public
Works, the claimant shall lose all right to the priority of
appropriation as established in this section.
Sec. 10. In case any person shall desire to appeal
from the decision of the Director of Public Works as approved by the
Secretary of Commerce and Police, such appeal shall lie to the Court of
First Instance of the province in which his property is situated to
have his right determined. Such action must be brought within ninety
days after the termination of the publication of the approved list of
priorities provided for in section nine hereof. Such action shall be
tried as speedily as possible, and the court is hereby authorized to
employ a hydraulic engineer or other expert to examine and make report
under oath upon any subject matter in controversy, the cost of such
employment to be equitably apportioned by the court and charged against
the parties to the suit as costs.
Provided, However, That the final decision of the courts in these
cases, shall be recorded in accordance with the provisions of section
nine hereof.
Sec. 11. The Director of Public Works shall
apportion the waters of any stream to the appropriators thereof
according to their respective rights, and shall give notice of such
apportionment to all the persons interested, by registered mail,
according to the list of priorities approved and finally recorded, or,
as the case may be, as corrected by the judgment of some court having
jurisdiction of the subject-matter.
Sec. 12. Upon the final approval of the list of
appropriations, according to the priority, provided for in the
preceding sections, there may be formed, at the desire of the majority
of all the appropriators in any system, an irrigators' association, for
the purpose of maintaining and operating the said system. The
Presidente or Presidentes of the municipality or municipalities in
which the land under a given system is located shall, at the request of
three or more of the appropriators in such system, call a meeting of
all the acknowledged appropriators in said system, for the purpose of
perfecting the said association.
Such association when duly organized shall have the following powers:
(a) To appoint
a caretaker, who shall be charged with
the preservation and administration of the general system, the
equitable apportionment of the waters of the stream according to the
recorded list of appropriations, and the adjustment of controversies
between the irrigators, in accordance with the said list, from whose
decision appeal may lie to the Secretary of Commerce and Police, within
the time and in the manner prescribed by the regulations, and who shall
perform all other duties imposed, and have the powers conferred upon
him by said regulations.
(b) To issue the regulations necessary for the proper
preservation and administration of the general system and for the
adequate operation of the association, which regulations shall be
previously approved by the Secretary of Commerce and Police to whom
they shall be submitted through the Director of Public Works for this
purpose as soon as possible: Provided, However, That in the event of no
objection having been made by the Secretary of Commerce and Police
within sixty days after the receipt by him of the said regulations for
their approval, the said regulations shall then enter into force and
effect as if they had been approved by the said Secretary.
(c) To compel the members of the association to
contribute in proportion to the benefits derived, to the cost of
preservation, improvement, and operation of the general system, the
association-being authorized to exercise this power in the manner
established in the regulations.
(d) To elect annually, on the date fixed by the
regulations, a president, who shall represent the interests of the
association and carry into execution the resolutions of the same.
The said president shall be the ex officio treasurer of the association
and shall collect from each member the assessment or assessments
previously fixed for the preservation, improvement, and operation of
the system, and prior to entering upon the discharge of his duties, he
shall furnish bond in the sum fixed by the regulations; and
(e) To incorporate in accordance with Act Numbered
Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, entitled "The Corporation Act."
The caretaker shall receive the emoluments fixed by the regulations,
and the president shall not be entitled to any compensation, unless
expressly provided for by the regulations.
Sec. 13. In the event of the appropriators not
organizing in accordance with the provisions of the next preceding
section, the system shall be temporarily administered under this Act as
follows:
(a) By the
municipal council, when the system affects
one municipality alone;
(b) By the provincial board, when it affects two or
more municipalities of a province;
(c) By the Director of Public Works, when it affects
two or more provinces.
The regulations issued for the administration, use, and distribution of
waters shall be previously approved by the Irrigation Council and in
the preparation of these regulations all the persons interested shall
be given a hearing.
The cost of this service shall be a lien upon the crops, in the first
place, and in the second place upon the land of the water users and
ditch owners, in accordance with the distribution thereof, as shown by
the accounts of the municipal council, the provincial board, or the
Director of Public Works, which distribution shall be based upon the
quantity of water consumed by each appropriator or ditch owner, in
proportion to the total quantity delivered to all: Provided, However,
That the funds necessary to defray the administration expenses prior to
the expiration of each agricultural year (the period intervening
between the beginning of the planting and the completion of the
harvesting of the crops), in accordance with the appropriation, shall
be advanced by the municipality or the province out of their funds, or
by the Director of Public Works, out of the irrigation fund, and shall
be reimbursed at the end of each year with interest at the rate of four
per centum: And Provided Further, That in the event of the
municipalities or provincial board being without funds to cover these
expenses the administration of such systems shall be given to the
Director of Public Works for such time as the funds advanced to meet
said expenses are paid from the Insular Treasury.
The municipal and provincial treasurers shall, in the performance of
their official duties, collect the charges for administration expenses
for each year upon the completion of each harvest acting in this
respect as delegates of the Director of Public Works. Such lien shall
have preference over all other liens except that for taxes on the land
and any mortgage lien in favor of the Philippine Agricultural Bank, and
such preferred lien shall not be removed until all charges are paid or
the property is sold for payment thereof. Within one year after default
of payment on an installment payable on any parcel of land, the
municipal president, the provincial governor or the Director of Public
Works shall file with the clerk of the Court of First Instance of the
district in which the land is situated, a list of all lands upon which
default has been made. The clerk of the court shall thereupon publish
in the manner provided for the publication of the summons in a civil
action, a list of the lands so filed by the Director of Public Works,
accompanied by a notice requiring the owners to file an answer thereto
within thirty days after the completion of the publications.
Upon the filing of an answer by the person interested, the action in
respect to such person shall proceed to judgment, as provided for other
actions by the Code of Civil Procedure. Upon termination of such thirty
days, judgment shall be entered against such persons as have not
answered, and their lands, or the portion thereof deemed necessary,
shall be sold, after ten days' public notice, at public auction by the
sheriff to satisfy such preferred lien.
Any excess over the amount of said lien and the cost of such procedure
shall be returned to the interested person, who shall have one year
thereafter to redeem his land by payment of the amount of the judgment,
and costs with interest at six per centum: Provided, However, That in
the event of the cost of maintenance being so exceptionally high in any
year that it exceeds fifty per centum of the net profits, such
exceptional cost shall be distributed in an equitable manner, over two
or more years, but not more than five: And Provided Further, That in
the cases in which a crop is unharvested at the time of the execution
of the lien, the execution shall be levied first on said crop.
In the preparation of the regulations mentioned in this and the next
preceding section, the customs and usages of each locality shall be
taken into consideration, and in these regulations one day of the year
shall be fixed for a meeting of all the persons interested for the
purpose of preparing an estimate of expenditures for the next
succeeding year.
Sec. 14. Any person hereafter desiring to
appropriate any public water shall previously make an application to
the Secretary of Commerce and Police through the Director of Public
Works.
This application shall set forth:
(a) The name
and post-office address of the applicant,
(b) The source from which said appropriation shall be
made.
(c) The place or site of diversion.
(d) The approximate amount of water to be diverted.
(e) A description of the proposed works.
(f) The purpose or object of the appropriation.
(g) If for irrigation, a description of the land to
be irrigated and the area thereof, and any additional facts required by
the Secretary of Commerce and Police.
On receipt of this application, which shall be on a form prescribed by
the Secretary of Commerce and Police, and to be furnished by the
Director of Public Works without cost to the applicant, it shall be the
duty of the Director of Public Works to make a record thereof in his
office, and to carefully examine the same to ascertain whether it sets
forth all facts necessary to determine the nature and the amount of the
proposed appropriation.
If the application be defective it shall be the duty of the Director of
Public Works to point out the defects noted and return it to the
applicant for correction, and sixty days after receipt thereof by said
applicant shall be allowed for the refiling thereof. If refilled,
corrected in proper form, within such time the application shall take
priority as of the date of original filing, subject to compliance with
the further provisions of the law and the regulations thereunder:
Provided, That prior to the approval of the application the applicant
shall not be authorized to perform any work for the use of the waters.
Sec. 15. When the original or corrected
application is filed in accordance with the requirements of this Act,
the Director of Public Works shall, within thirty days, cause to be
published in English, and when advisable in Spanish and the local
dialect, once a week for four consecutive weeks in some newspaper
having a general circulation in the province or showing:
(a) The name of
the applicant.
(b) Date of filing of application.
(c) The information required in section fourteen
hereof under (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g).
Such notice shall also be posted in English, Spanish, and the local
dialect, for the space of four weeks provided in the next preceding
paragraph, at the usual place for posting public notices in the
municipalities affected by the appropriation, and shall besides be
published once a week by means of Bandillos or public
criers:
Provided, That any person interested may object to the appropriation
within the time limit stated in the notice and fixed by the Director of
Public Works, which shall not be less than thirty days nor more than
sixty days, beginning with the last day of the publication in the
newspaper of the said notice, filing with the said Director of Public
Works a written protest stating reasons for the objection. Upon
termination of the period set for the filing of protests, the Director
of Public Works shall make the necessary investigations regarding the
appropriation, and any objections that may have been filed, taking
testimony if necessary, in accordance with the provisions of section
eight hereof, and shall make report upon the case to the Secretary of
Commerce and Police, who shall take action thereon, after reviewing the
evidence in support of and against the appropriation. The decision of
the Secretary of Commerce and Police shall be subject to appeal in
accordance with the provisions of section four of this Act: Provided,
however, That failure or omission to file such protest shall not work
to the detriment of prior rights to the appropriation or use of water.
Sec. 16. If there is no unappropriated water in
the source of supply, the Secretary of Commerce and Police, through the
Director of Public Works, shall deny the application in writing, a
record thereof being filed in his office, and shall return the
application so denied to the applicant, who shall not prosecute any
work under his application. If the applicant shall perform any work
under his application he shall be guilty of and punished for a
misdemeanor.
If the source of supply be a navigable stream, the application must be
referred by the Director of Public Works to the Director of Navigation,
who shall return the application with his recommendation thereon.
If there is unappropriated water on the source of supply named and the
appropriation is not detrimental to the public, the Secretary of
Commerce and Police, through the Director of Public Works, shall
approve the application, indorse such approval upon the application, a
record of such approval and indorsement being filed in the office of
the Director of Public Works, and shall return the application so
indorsed to the applicant, who shall, on receipt thereof, be authorized
to take such measures as may be necessary to perfect such
appropriation: Provided, However, That in case there is an insufficient
supply for the total amount of water applied for, the Secretary of
Commerce and Police, through the Director of Public Works, may approve
an application for a less amount of water.
Sec. 17. After the approval of an application the
applicant shall submit in duplicate to the Director of Public Works,
for approval, the plans and specifications for the works necessary for
the use of the water granted by the said approval. No work shall be
begun until the plans for the same have been approved, and no work
shall be done at any time except in accordance with the said plans. The
Director of Public Works shall have authority to examine and inspect
such works during construction and order any changes or alterations
which he may consider necessary for the security of the work, or the
safe-guarding of life, property, or the public interest. No water shall
be turned into such works until the approval of the same by the
Director of Public Works has been secured.
Any failure to conform to the requirements laid down in this section
shall be punishable as a misdemeanor under this Act: Provided, However,
That applicants for small appropriations to irrigate land, not in
excess of sixteen hectares, shall not be required to submit plans and
specifications other than those required in the application.
Sec. 18. Upon the approval of the completed work
by the Director of Public Works, he shall issue to the applicant a
certificate signed by the Secretary of Commerce and Police, setting
forth the name of the applicant, the date, source, purpose, and amount
of the appropriation, and if for irrigation, a description of the land
to be irrigated, which certificate shall within one year after its
issuance be recorded in the province in which the point of diversion of
the appropriation is, as well as in the province where the water is
used, in the same manner as is provided in section nine for the
registration of certificate of appropriation. The priority of such new
appropriation shall date from the filing of the application in the
office of the Director of Public Works.
Sec. 19. The Director of Public Works shall have
authority to inspect all works for the diversion, carriage, storage,
apportioning, or measurement of waters, or any works pertaining to the
use of waters in the Philippine Islands, and to make and enforce,
subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, such
regulations relating thereto as may be deemed necessary for the
conservation and preservation of the public interest.
Sec. 20. If any appropriation applied for in
accordance with section fourteen shall be for the purpose of developing
power, the application shall state in addition to the information
required by said section, the following:
(a) The point
of restoration.
(b) The amount of power it is proposed to develop.
(c) The probable amount of power available at mean
low water in the stream from which the water is to be taken between the
points of diversion and restoration.
Appropriations for power purposes shall be divided into two classes
which shall be known as "small developments" and "large developments,"
according to whether such developments be of less than one hundred
horsepower, or of one hundred horsepower or over.
Sec. 21.
The applicant for an appropriation for a
small development shall be allowed one year from the date of approval
of such application by the Secretary of Commerce and Police in which to
complete surveys and designs and to begin actual construction, and the
construction of such projects must be completed within three years from
the date of said approval. The applicant for an appropriation for a
large development shall be allowed two years from the date of the
approval of such application by the Secretary of Commerce and Police in
which to complete surveys and designs and to begin actual construction,
and the construction of such projects must be completed within five
years from the date of such approval: Provided, However, That the
Secretary of Commerce and Police may, for good cause shown, extend the
time for the completion of any project or portions thereof for such
period as he may deem just and equitable.
The failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall render
the appropriation null and void, unless such failure shall be due to
fortuitous cause of force majeure, in which case the Secretary of
Commerce and Police may, in his discretion, extend the time for
completion as he may deem necessary.
Sec. 22. The appropriator of water for power
purposes for a small development shall pay to the Government of the
Philippine Islands an annual rental of twenty-five centavos Philippine
currency per horsepower for the first ten years, beginning on the first
day of January after the plant is ready for operation. After the first
period, the rental shall become one peso Philippine currency per
horsepower per year: Provided, However, That the development of less
than thirty horsepower shall be exempt from the rental provided in this
section.
The appropriation of water for power purposes for a large development
shall pay to the Government of the Philippine Islands an annual rental
of fifty centavos per horsepower for the first ten years, beginning on
the first day of January after the plant is ready for operation. At the
end of the first ten years and of each ten-year period thereafter the
Secretary of Commerce and Police shall determine the rate of rental
which shall be charged for the succeeding ten years: Provided, That in
no case shall the rental rate be less than one peso nor more than two
pesos per horsepower per year.
The amount of water upon which rental shall be charged, shall be
determined as follows: The normal rated water capacity of the water
wheels installed expressed in second-liters shall be multiplied by the
difference in level of water surface in forebay and tailrace expressed
in meters, and the product divided by one hundred, the quotient
representing the developed horsepower on the basis of an efficiency of
seventy-six per centum for the plant.
Sec. 23. The rental shall be paid at the time and
in the manner directed by the Secretary of Commerce and Police and
shall be collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue as a general tax.
If at any time payment shall not be made when the same shall have
become due, said payment shall become a lien upon the right of use of
water and all the works, lands, buildings, and machinery which
constitute the property appurtenant thereto, which lien shall be
enforced in the manner prescribed in section thirteen of this Act.
Sec. 24. If it be found possible to generate power
in connection with any irrigation canal or system, the Secretary of
Commerce and Police may authorize the construction and operation of
power plants thereon by the Government, or by any person, upon such
terms and conditions as he may prescribe.
Sec. 25. Upon determination by the Secretary of
Commerce and Police that the Government construction of any irrigation
project is advisable, he shall, in the manner prescribed in section
fifteen hereof, give public notice of:
(a) The land
irrigable under such project.
(b) The approximate annual charge per hectare on said
land to cover the cost of construction.
(c) The number of annual installments, which in no
case shall be less than twenty nor more than forty, in which said
construction charge shall be paid.
(d) The estimated approximate annual cost of
maintenance and operation.
(e) A statement that protests against the
construction of the project may be filed with the Governor-General
within ninety days after completion of publication.
At the beginning of the publication of the notice a map shall be filed
in the office of the municipal secretary of each municipality
interested, showing the land to be affected by the irrigation project,
which map shall be open to inspection by the public.
The Secretary of Commerce and Police shall publish or cause to be
published in English and, when advisable, in Spanish and the local
dialect, in the newspapers designated for the publication of official
notices, the notice provided for in this section, which notice shall be
published once a week for four consecutive weeks. Such notice in
English, Spanish, and the local dialect shall also be posted at the
usual places for posting public notices in each municipality and place
affected by said project and shall also be published once a week by
Bandillos or public criers.
Sec. 26. The owner of any land included as
"irrigable" in the public notice referred to in section twenty-five
hereof shall be allowed ninety days after the date indicated in the
notice of the said secretary in which to file with the
Governor-General, through the Director of Public Works and Secretary of
Commerce and Police, objections to the construction of such project, to
the inclusion of his land, to the estimated approximate charge or
charges, or to the number of annual installments. The Governor-General
shall refer such objections to the provincial board of the province in
which such land is situated for its report and recommendation after
hearing the persons interested. The Governor-General shall, with the
said report and recommendation in view, decide whether or not the
project shall be constructed, and what changes, if any, shall be made
in the conditions as stated in the public notice. The decision of the
Governor-General shall be final: Provided, However, That no project
shall be constructed if the owners of one-half of the irrigable land or
three-fourths of the owners of such land under such project object to
its construction within the ninety-day period specified above.
Sec. 27. After favorable decision by the
Governor-General, the Secretary of Commerce and Police shall authorize
the construction of the project in accordance with the procedure
provided by section six of Act Numbered Five hundred and eighty-four
for the construction of public works: Provided, That, other things
being equal, preference shall be given to the occupants of the land in
the matter of awarding contracts for the construction.
Sec. 28. If the persons interested in the
construction of an irrigation system in any district shall determine to
effect such construction themselves, they may apply for aid from
Government funds, subject to the regulations and conditions imposed
upon them by the Secretary of Commerce and Police in order to safeguard
the interests of the Government and in accordance with the provisions
of this Act: Provided, However, That the amount of Government funds
granted for such purpose shall in no case exceed forty per centum of
the estimated cost of the project, nor shall-the total amount granted
for any one project exceed fifty thousand pesos.
Inferior land not included within the designated zone of irrigable
lands of an irrigation system shall be entitled to be benefited by the
additional supply of water of the said system, under the obligation to
pay a proportional share of the administration charges, provided that
the rights of the system are not injured thereby, and the necessary
concessions may be made for this purpose.
Sec. 29. Upon the completion of the construction
of any project, or sufficient part thereof, by the Government, the
Secretary of Commerce and Police shall issue a second public notice,
which shall be posted and published in the same manner as provided in
section fifteen hereof. This notice shall announce:
(a) The land
irrigable under such project, or part
thereof.
(b) The annual charge which shall be made per hectare
to cover costs of construction with interest: Provided, However, That
such charge shall be uniform for each year and calculated on the basis
that it will repay all costs of construction with interest at four per
centum per annum on the sum invested in a period which shall not be
less than twenty nor more than forty years.
(c) The conditions of payment thereof.
(d) The time at which such payments shall be made.
(e) The date on which the official test of the system
is to be made in the presence of the persons interested for their
satisfaction.
The construction charge which shall be included shall be such as will
repay the actual cost of construction of the project with interest at
four per centum.
If an installment payable on a parcel of land shall remain unpaid at
the date specified in item (d) above, the same shall become a lien
against such land. Such lien shall have preference and be collectible
as prescribed in section thirteen hereof.
Sec. 30. Whenever, by reason of shortage of water
or other fortuitous event, a failure of crops occur on lands included
in any irrigation system or any portion of such system, the Secretary
of Commerce and Police may extend the time for the payment of the
annual installment.
Sec. 31. If at any time any irrigation work or
portion thereof constructed by the Insular Government under the
provisions of this Act shall be damaged or destroyed by earthquake,
fire, lightning, flood, tornado, typhoon, hurricane, war, or by other
fortuitous event or force majeure, the same shall be, upon approval of
the Governor-General, repaired or reconstructed from the insurance fund
hereafter provided for in this section, and the cost of such
reconstruction shall not be charged against the appropriators.
There is hereby authorized and created an irrigation insurance fund
which shall be established and maintained as follows: The Secretary of
Commerce and Police shall each year instruct the Director of Public
Works to add to the amount collectible from each owner of land
irrigated by any such irrigation system operated under the provisions
of this Act in the Philippine Islands an additional amount not to
exceed two per centum of the annual payment for construction,
maintenance, and operation due from the said landowner, which amount
shall be added to and collected as a portion of the regular annual
payment, and shall be covered into the Insular Treasury and set aside
as a special fund, to be known as the "irrigation insurance fund;"
which fund may be invested and reinvested by authority of the Secretary
of Commerce and Police, first, in financial transactions with relation
to irrigation proceedings, and, second, in the same manner and under
the same conditions as other trust funds handled by the Insular
Government may be invested; and the said fund, together with the
accumulated interest thereon, shall be expended for the purposes and in
the manner provided in this section and for no other purpose: Provided,
However, That whenever said irrigation fund shall exceed two hundred
thousand pesos there shall be no further collections until said fund
shall have reduced by expenditure as authorized herein to less than one
hundred and fifty thousand pesos.
Sec. 32. The irrigation works constructed by the
Government under the provisions of the foregoing sections shall be
administered by the Government in conformity with the provisions of
this Act for the benefit of the landowners: Provided, That after final
reimbursement of the expenses of construction of a system, when the
property owners included within the same shall organize themselves as
an irrigation community under the provisions of section twelve hereof,
and even before such final reimbursement if they shall pay the unpaid
difference of the expense of construction of such system, the
Irrigation Council shall decide if the administration and operation of
such system shall be transferred to such irrigation community, such
decision remaining subject to the approval of the Legislature, but in
case that a session of the Legislature shall pass without either of the
two Houses having taken any action on the matter, the decision of the
Irrigation Council shall be final.
Sec. 33. In the case provided in section
thirty-two, in which the administration of an irrigation system
constructed by the Government shall be under the control of the
Government, the Director of Public Works shall administer the system
for the benefit of the landowners in accordance with the regulations
drawn by the Director of Public Works and approved by the Secretary of
Commerce and Police. The expense of operation and administration shall
be a lien upon the land of the water users and shall be determined and
collected in the manner prescribed in section thirteen hereof. Any
complaints arising among the consumers of water derived from said
system shall be determined by the Director of Public Works in
accordance with the regulations, from whose decision appeal shall lie
to the Secretary of Commerce and Police within ninety days after the
date of publication of the decision of the Director of Public Works:
Provided, Finally, That the decision of the Secretary of Commerce and
Police shall be appealable to the Court of First Instance of the
district within the time and in the manner provided in section four of
this Act.
Sec. 34. In order to favor the construction,
development, or maintenance of irrigation systems, the Government of
the Philippine Islands may exercise the right of eminent domain and
acquire any property in this manner and for such purposes, instituting
condemnation proceedings in accordance with existing law. Upon filing
condemnation proceedings the Government shall have the right of
immediate entry and occupation pending the determination by the court
of the amount of compensation and damages.
Sec. 35. If any person shall construct at his own
expense works for the diversion and distribution of water to the public
for irrigation purposes, the rates to be charged by such person for
such service shall be determined from time to time by the Secretary of
Commerce and Police: Provided, However, That such rates shall not be
changed oftener than once in ten years.
Sec. 36. When the person entitled to use of water
fails to beneficially use all or any part of the water, claimed by him,
for a period of five years without sufficient reason the Secretary of
Commerce and Police will declare such unused water reverted to the
public and to be regarded as unappropriated water.
Sec. 37. The Governor-General, for reasons of
public policy, may from time to time by proclamation designate as
exempt from appropriation any water or waters in the Philippine Islands
not previously appropriated, and thereupon the same shall be withdrawn
from appropriation for any use whatsoever under this Act until again
made subject to appropriation by a similar proclamation: Provided,
However, That said proclamation shall not apply to the use of water for
domestic purposes. In the case of artesian wells sunk for public
purposes the use of any excess of water over the amount necessary for
domestic use may be granted for other purposes, by the province or to
the municipality, as the case may be, or by the Director of Public
Works in the case of Insular wells, subject to rules and regulations to
be prescribed and promulgated by the Irrigation Council.
Sec. 38. The standard of measurement of flow of
water shall be the liter per second of time; the standard of
measurement of the volume of water shall be the hectare-meter, being
the amount of water required to cover one hectare one meter in depth.
Sec. 39. Water turned into any natural or
artificial water course or reservoir by any party entitled to the use
of such water may be reclaimed below and diverted therefrom by such
party, subject to existing rights, due allowances for losses being made
as determined by the Director of Public Works.
Sec. 40. The right to use of water for irrigation
purposes shall remain appurtenant to the land for which the said right
of use is established. If, however, it should at any time become
impracticable to use all or any part of said water beneficially or
economically for the irrigation of any land to which the right of use
of the same is appurtenant, all or any part of said right may be
severed from the said land simultaneously transferred and become
appurtenant to other land, without losing priority of right heretofore
established: Provided, That no such transfer shall be made at any time
to the detriment of existing rights.
The appropriator desiring such transfer shall make application for the
same through the Director of Public Works to the Secretary of Commerce
and Police and notice of such application shall be published as
provided in section fifteen hereof. If no detriment to existing rights
shall appear, the Secretary of Commerce and Police shall approve said
transfer, and certificates of same shall be issued and recorded in the
manner provided in section nine hereof.
Sec. 41. The Director of Public Works, or any
official by him thereunto specifically authorized, in making
investigations under this Act shall be authorized to issue, of his own
record, or on request of any interest party, subpoenas and subpoenas
duces tecum for witnesses in any case or inquiry pending before him and
shall make the investigation in the province where the waters covered
by the investigation are situated: Provided, However, That in the event
of the witness residing outside of the province in which the
investigation is held, or of his being unable to appear before the said
Director or authorized official, his testimony may be received by
deposition, in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered one
hundred and ninety, before the officers authorized by said Act for
taking depositions.
In case of disobedience to any of the subpoenas mentioned in this
section, the Director of Public Works or authorized official may invoke
the aid of the Court of First Instance of the province in which the
person subpoenaed resides to require such person to appear and give
evidence or to make deposition. Such witnesses shall be entitled to the
same fees and traveling expenses as witnesses appearing before the
Courts of First Instance in civil cases: Provided, However, That
witnesses so subpoenaed and cost of depositions so requested shall be
paid by the Insular Government, in accordance with rules prescribed by
the Insular Auditor.
Sec. 42. Whenever ordered to do so by the Director
of Public Works, any ditch owner shall construct and maintain a
substantial head gate at the point where the water is diverted and
shall construct a measuring device, all in accordance with designs
approved by the Director of Public Works, at the most practicable point
or points for measuring and apportioning the water, as determined by
the Director of Public Works. If the said works are not completed
within ninety days after the receipt by the ditch owner of the order of
the Director of Public Works, said Director may, in his discretion,
refuse to deliver water to such owner, or extend the time of
completion. The taking of water by such ditch owner after such refusal
by the Director of Public Works until the completion of such head gate
or measuring device and the approval thereof by the said Director shall
constitute a misdemeanor under this Act.
Such devices shall be so arranged that they can be locked, and when
locked it shall be a misdemeanor under this Act for any unauthorized
person to disturb or change the same, and the use of water through such
devices after having been disturbed or changed shall be prima facie
evidence of the guilt of the person benefited by such interference,
disturbance, or change in and of the said device.
Sec. 43. No appropriator of water shall at any
time make use of the same for any other purpose than that for which it
was appropriated, nor make and change in the place of diversion,
storage, use, or restoration, nor in the works necessary for the use of
the same, except upon the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and
Police in the manner prescribed in section forty hereof: Provided,
However, That no such change shall at any time be approved when the
same shall act to the detriment of existing rights. In the event of the
approval of changes in the works necessary for the use of the water,
such changes will be made upon approved plans, and subject to the
inspection of the Director of Public Works, as provided in section
seventeen hereof,
Any failure to conform to the requirements laid down in this section
shall be punishable as a misdemeanor under this Act.
Sec. 44. Any person who, after having been
notified by the Director of Public Works that any works are unsafe for
the purpose for which they are used, makes use thereof for the storage,
diversion, or carriage of waters, until the receipt of a notice from
said director that in his opinion the works are safe, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor under this Act .
If such works are deemed a menace to life or property, any person
interested may call on the proper police authorities to take the
necessary steps to remove the danger.
Sec. 45. Any person interfering with or injuring
or destroying any dam, head gate, weir, bench mark, monument, or other
appliance for the diversion, carriage, storage, apportioning, or
measurement of water, or for any hydrographic or topographic surveys,
or obstructing or diverting the course of the waters pertaining to any
system, or maliciously interfering with any person engaged in the
discharge of duties connected therewith, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor under this Act, and shall also be liable for the injury or
damage resulting from such unlawful act: Provided, However, That if the
damages occasioned by such violation shall exceed in amount six hundred
pesos, the said violation shall constitute a crime and shall be
punishable under the provisions of the Penal Code, chapter three, title
thirteen.
The Director of Public Works, or his representative duly authorized
thereto, shall have power to arrest any person offending against the
provisions of this section, and deliver him to the nearest peace
officer of the province. It shall be the duty of the person making the
arrest to make complaint at once before a court having jurisdiction
thereof.
The Director of Public Works may enter upon private property, in the
performance of his duties under this Act, doing no unnecessary injury
thereto: Provided, However, That the owner of such private property
shall be indemnified for any actual damage so caused by the Government.
Sec. 46. The use of water by any person not
legally entitled to same or the willful waste of water, including that
from Insular, provincial, or municipal artesian wells, to the detriment
of another or the public shall constitute a misdemeanor under this
Act.
Sec. 47. Any violation of the provisions of this
Act, declared herein to be a misdemeanor, shall be punished by a fine
not exceeding two hundred pesos, or by imprisonment not exceeding six
months; and any justice of the peace of the municipality in which such
misdemeanor has been committed shall have jurisdiction thereof.
Any violation of the provisions of this Act declared to be a crime
shall be punished as such under the provisions of the Penal Code and
action shall be brought in the Court of First Instance of the province
in which such crime shall have been committed.
Sec. 48. The Director of Public Works shall
receive the following fees, to be collected in advance, and to be paid
by him into the general irrigation appropriation within a reasonable
time:
(a) For making
copy of any document recorded or filed
in his offices ten centavos for each one hundred words or fraction
thereof,
(b) For certifying two copies of documents, records,
or maps, fifty centavos for each certificate.
(e) For blue-print copy of any map or drawing, two
centavos per square decimeter or fraction thereof: Provided, That the
minimum charge for any such copy shall be twenty centavos.
(d) For the examination and inspection of plans of
work, at the request of the person interested, the actual cost of
examination and inspection.
Sec. 49. Wherever required by the sense of the
context, the word "person" in this Act shall be construed to mean
person, persons, association, or public or private corporation, and the
words "Director of Public Works" shall be construed to mean the
Director of Public Works or any authorized agent of the Director of
Public Works.
Sec. 50. This Act shall not work to the detriment
of rights acquired prior to its passage.
Sec. 51. The existing LEY DE AGUAS and the
provisions of the Civil Code in the matter of waters and all other
existing laws dealing with waters and irrigation systems shall continue
in force in so far as they are not incompatible with the provisions of
this Act, and all laws, Acts, or parts of Acts inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 52. The short title of this Act shall be "The
Irrigation Act."
Sec. 53. The public interest requiring the speedy
enactment of this Act, the same shall take effect upon its passage, in
accordance with section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and
forty-five of the Philippine Legislature.
ENACTED, February 6, 1912.
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