REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3279 - AN ACT TO
REVISE THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF CALBAYOG
Section 1. This Act shall be known as the "Revised Charter of
the City of Calbayog."
ARTICLE I
General Provisions
Sec. 2. Territory of the City of Calbayog. — The City
of Calbayog which is hereby created, shall comprise the present
territorial jurisdiction of the municipalities of Calbayog, Oquendo and
Tinambacan, in the Province of Samar.
Sec. 3. Corporate character of the City. — The City
of Calbayog constitutes a political body corporate and as such is
endowed with the attribute of perpetual succession and possessed of the
powers which pertain to a municipal corporation, to be exercised in
conformity with the provisions of this Charter.
Sec. 4. Sealed and general powers of the City. — The
city shall have a common seal, and may alter the same at pleasure. It
may take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real
and personal property for the general interests of the city, condemn
private property for public use, contract and be contracted with, sue
and be sued, prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution, and
exercise all powers hereafter conferred.
Sec. 5. Liability for damages. — The city shall not
be liable or held for damages or injuries to person or property arising
from the failure of the Mayor, the Municipal Board or any other city
officer or employee, to enforce the provisions of this Charter, or of
any other law or ordinance, or from the negligence of said Mayor,
Municipal Board or other city officers or employees while enforcing or
attempting to enforce said provisions: Provided, however, That nothing
herein contained shall prevent any aggrieved party from filing a
personal action in the proper court against any official or employee of
the city government for any act of omission in the performance of his
duties.
Sec. 6. Jurisdiction of the City. — The jurisdiction
of the City of Calbayog for police purposes shall be co-extensive with
its territorial jurisdiction, and for the purpose of protecting and
insuring purity of the water supply of the city, such police
jurisdiction shall also extend over all territory within the drainage
area of such water supply, or within one hundred meters of any
reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct or pumping station used in
connection with the city water service.
ARTICLE II
The Mayor
Sec. 7. The Mayor. — The Mayor shall be the chief
executive of the city. He shall be elected at large by qualified voters
of the city during every election for provincial and municipal
officials in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Election
Code. No person shall be eligible for the position of mayor unless he
is at least thirty years of age, a resident of the city for at least
five years and a qualified voter therein.
He shall receive a salary of six thousand six hundred pesos per annum.
The Municipal Board may appropriate such sums of money as may be
necessary for the house allowance of the Mayor, not to exceed two
thousand four hundred pesos per annum.
Sec. 8. The Vice-Mayor. — There shall be Vice-Mayor
who shall perform the duties and exercise the power of the Mayor, in
the event of the death, sickness, absence or other temporary incapacity
of the Mayor, or in the event of a definite vacancy in the position of
Mayor, until said office shall be filled, in accordance with law. The
Vice-Mayor shall be elected in the same manner as the Mayor and shall
at the time of his election possess the same qualifications as the
Mayor.
If, for any reason, the Vice-Mayor is temporarily in capacitated for
the performance of the duties of the office of the Mayor, of the said
office of the Vice-Mayor is vacant, the duties and powers of the Mayor
shall be performed and exercised by a member of the Municipal Board who
shall be chosen by a majority of all members thereof. Whenever the
Vice-Mayor performs the duties and exercises the powers of the Mayor,
he automatically ceases to be the presiding officer of the Municipal
Board. Where a member of the Municipal Board exercises the functions of
the Vice-Mayor, said member ceases temporarily to take part in the
deliberations of the Board except to preside. Where the offices of the
City Mayor and the Vice-Mayor are left vacant by virtue of the death or
permanent disability of the incumbents, vacancies shall be filled by
appointments by the President of the Philippines with the consent of
the Commission on Appointments. The Vice-Mayor shall perform such other
duties as may be assigned to him by the Mayor or prescribed by law or
ordinance. He shall receive a salary of from three thousand four
hundred to three thousand eight hundred pesos per annum.
Sec. 9. General powers and duties of the Mayor. — The
Mayor shall have immediate control over the executive and
administrative functions of the different departments of the city,
subject to the supervision of the President of the Philippines. He
shall have the following general powers and duties:
(a) To comply with and enforce and give the necessary
orders for the faithful enforcement and execution of the laws and
ordinances in effect within the jurisdiction of the city;
(b) To safeguard all the lands, buildings, records,
moneys, credits, and other property and rights of the city, and subject
to the provisions of this Charter, have control and administration of
all property owned and operated by the city;
(c) To see that all taxes and other revenues of the
city are collected and applied in accordance with appropriations to the
payment of the municipal expenses;
(d) To cause to the instituted judicial proceedings
to recover property and funds of the city whenever found, to cause to
be defended all suits against the city, and otherwise to protect the
interests of the city;
(e) To see that the executive officers and employees
of the city properly discharge their respective duties. The Mayor, may,
in the interest of the service and with the approval of the Department
Head of the National Government first had, transfer officers and
employees not appointed by the President of the Philippines from one
section, division, or service to another section, division or service
within the same department without changing the compensation they
receive;
To examine and inspect the books, records and
papers of all officers, agents, and employees of the city over whom he
has executive supervision and control whenever occasion arises and at
least once a year. For this purpose he shall be provided by the
Municipal Board with such clerical or other assistance as may be
necessary;
(g) To give such information and recommend such
measures to the Board as he shall deem advantageous to the city;
(h) To attend, if he wishes to do so, either in
person or by a duly authorized representative, the session of the
Municipal Board and participate in its discussion, but not to vote;
(i) To represent the city in all its business
matters, and sign on its behalf all its bonds, contracts, and
obligations made in accordance with law and ordinances;
( j) To submit to the Municipal Board at least two
and a half months before the beginning of the ensuing fiscal year a
budget of receipts and expenditures of the city;
(k) To receive, hear, and decide as he may deem
proper the petitions, complaints, and claims concerning all classes of
municipal matters of an administrative or executive
character;
(l) To grant or refuse municipal licenses or permits
of all classes and to revoke the same for violation of the conditions
upon which they were granted, or it acts prohibited by law or municipal
ordinance are being committed under the protection of such licenses or
in the premises in which the protection of such the same was granted is
carried on, or of any other good reason of general interest;
(m) To exempt, after consultation with the City
Superintendent of Schools, deserving poor pupils from the payment of
school fees or any part thereof;
(n) To take such emergency measures as may be
necessary to avoid fires, floods, and to mitigate the effects of storms
and other public calamities;
(o) To submit and annual report and to the President
of the Philippines; and
(p) To perform such other duties and exercise other
powers as may be prescribed by law or ordinance.
Sec. 10. Secretary to the Mayor. — The Mayor shall
appoint one Secretary who shall hold office at the pleasure of the
Mayor and who shall receive a compensation to be fixed by ordinance
approved by the Office of the President, at not exceeding four thousand
pesos per annum.
The Secretary shall have charge and custody of all records and
documents of the city and of any office or departments thereof for
which provision is not otherwise made; shall keep the corporate seal
and affix the same with his signature to all ordinances and resolutions
signed by the Mayor and to all other official documents and papers of
ordinance; shall attest all executive orders, proclamations,
ordinances, and resolutions signed by the Mayor, shall, upon request,
furnish certified copies of all city records and documents in his
charge which are not of a confidential character and shall charge
twenty centavos for each one hundred words including the certificate,
such fees to be paid directly to the city treasurer; and shall perform
such other duties as the Mayor shall require of him.
ARTICLE III
The Municipal Board
Sec. 11. Constitution and organization of the
Municipal Board. — The Municipal Board shall be the legislative body of
the city, and shall be composed of the Vice-Mayor, who shall be its
presiding officer, and ten councilors who shall be elected at large by
the qualified voters of the city. The Vice-Mayor shall have no right to
vote except in case of tie.
If the Vice-Mayor or a member of the Municipal Board shall be candidate
for office in any election he shall be disqualified to act with said
body in the performance of the duties thereof, relative to such
election, and if, for such reason, the number of members should be
unduly reduced, the President shall appoint any disinterested voter of
the city, belonging to the political party of the disqualified member,
to act in his place in such matter.
The members of the Municipal Board shall receive a salary of not more
than three thousand six hundred pesos per annum.
Sec. 12. Qualifications, election, suspension and
removal of members. — The members of the Municipal Board shall at the
time of their election, be qualified electors of the city, resident
thereof of at least two years immediately prior to their election and
not less then twenty-three years of age. Such members may be suspended
or removed from office under the same circumstances, in the same
manner, and with the same effect, as elective provincial officers, and
the provisions of law governing the suspension or removal of elective
provincial officers are hereby made applicable in the suspension or
removal of said members.
Election for members of the Board shall be held on the date of the
regular election for provincial and municipal offices, and elected
members shall assume office on the first day of January next following
their election, upon qualifying and shall hold office for four years
and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified.
The ten candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall be
declared elected.
A vacancy in the Municipal Board shall be filled in accordance with the
provisions of the Election Code.
Sec. 13. Secretary of the Board. — The Board shall
have a secretary, who shall be elected by it to serve during the term
of office of the members. A vacancy in the office of secretary shall be
filled temporary for the unexpired term in like manner.
The secretary shall be in charge of the records of the Municipal Board.
He shall keep a full record of the proceedings of the Board, and file
all documents relating thereto; shall record in a book kept for that
purpose, all ordinances and all resolutions and motions directing the
payment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the
Board, with the dates of passage of the same, and of the publication of
ordinances; shall keep a seal, circular in form, with the inscription
"Municipal Board — City of Calbayog," in the center of which shall be
placed the arms of the city, and affix the same, with his signature, to
all ordinances and other official acts of the Board, and shall present
the same for signature to the presiding officer; shall cause its
ordinance passed to be published as herein provided; shall, upon
request, furnish certified copies of all records of public character in
his charge under the seal of his office and collect and receive
thereafter such fees as may be prescribed by resolution of the Board;
and shall keep his office and all records therein which are not of a
confidential nature open to public inspection during usual business
hours. The compensation of the secretary of the Board shall be fixed by
ordinance approved by the President of the Philippines, at not
exceeding four thousand pesos per annum.
Sec. 14. Method of transacting business by the Board
— Veto — Authentication and publication of ordinances. — The Board
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business during each
week on a day which it shall fix by resolution, and such extraordinary
sessions, not exceeding thirty during any one year, as may be called by
the Mayor. It shall sit with open doors, unless otherwise ordered by an
affirmative vote of seven members. It shall keep a record of its
proceedings and determine its rules or procedure not herein set forth.
Seven members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business. But a smaller number may adjourn from day to
day and may compel the immediate attendance of any member absent
without good cause by issuing to the police of the city an order for
his arrest and production at the session under such penalties as shall
have been previously prescribed by ordinance. Seven affirmative votes
shall be necessary for the passage of any ordinance, or of any
resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating
liability, but other measures shall prevail upon the majority votes of
the members present at any meeting duly called and held. The ayes and
nays shall be taken and recorded upon the passage of all ordinances,
upon all resolutions of motions directing the payment of money or
creating liability, and at the request of any member, upon any other
resolution or motion. Each approved ordinance, resolution or motion
shall be sealed with the seal of the Board, signed by the presiding
officer and the secretary of the Board and recorded in a book kept for
that purpose and shall, on the day following its passage, be posted by
the Secretary at the main entrance of the city hall, and shall take
effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following its passage
unless otherwise stated in said ordinance, resolution of motion or
vetoed by the Mayor as hereinafter provided. A vetoed ordinance, if
repassed, shall take effect ten days after the veto is overridden by
the required vote unless otherwise stated in the ordinance or again
disapproved by the Mayor within said time.
Each ordinance and each resolution or motion directing the payment of
money or creating liability enacted or adopted by the Board shall be
forwarded to the Mayor for his approval. Within ten days after the
receipt of the ordinance, resolution or motion, the Mayor shall return
it with his veto, his reasons therefor in writing shall accompany it.
It may then be again enacted by the affirmative votes of eight members
of the Board, and, again forwarded to the Mayor for his approval, and
if within ten days after its receipt he does not again return it with
his veto, it shall be deemed to be approved. If within said time he
again returns it with his veto, it shall be forwarded forthwith to the
President for his approval or disapproval, which shall be final. The
Mayor shall have the power to veto any particular item or items of an
appropriation ordinance, or of an ordinance, resolution or motion
directing the payment of the money or creating liability, but the veto
shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object. The
item or items objected to shall not take effect except in the manner
heretofore provided in this section as to ordinances, resolutions and
motions returned to the Board with his veto, but should an item or
items in an appropriation ordinance be disapproved by the Mayor, the
corresponding item or items in the appropriation ordinance of the
previous year shall be deemed restored unless otherwise expressly
directed in the veto.
Sec. 15. Legislative powers. — The Municipal Board
shall have the following legislative powers:
(a) To provide for the levy and collection of taxes
for general and special purposes in accordance with law, including
specifically the power to levy real property tax not to exceed one and
one-half per centum ad valorem: Provided, That the said maximum rate of
one and one-half per centum shall not be imposed during the first five
years of the effectivity of this Act;
(b) To fix with approval of the Department Head of
the National Government the number and salaries of officials and
employees of the city not otherwise provided for in this Act;
(c) To authorize the free distribution of medicine to
the employees and laborers of the city whose salary or wage does not
exceed one hundred and twenty pesos per month or four pesos per day,
and of evaporated or fresh milk to indigent mothers residing in the
city and of bread and light meals to indigent children ten years or
less of age residing in the city, the distribution to be made under the
direct supervision and control of the Mayor;
(d) To fix the tariff of fees and charges for all
services rendered by the city or any of its departments, branches or
officials;
(e) To provide for the erection and maintenance or
the rental, in case of need, of the necessary buildings for the use of
the city;
To provide for the establishment and
maintenance of public schools and, except as otherwise provided by law
to fix, with the approval of the Director of Public Schools, reasonable
matriculation and/or tuition fees for intermediate and secondary
instruction therein and to a acquire sites for school houses for
primary and intermediate classes through purchases or conditional or
absolute donation;
(g) To establish or maintain or aid in the
establishment and maintenance of vocational schools and institutions of
higher learning conducted by the National Government or any of its
subdivisions or agencies; and with the approval of the Director of
Public Schools, to fix reasonable tuition feed for instruction in the
vocational schools and in the institutions of higher learning supported
by the city;
(h) To provide for and maintain an efficient police
force for the maintenance of law order in the city, and make all
necessary police ordinances, with a view to the confinement and
reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, prostitutes
and persons convicted of violating any of the ordinances of the
city;
(i) To maintain the municipal court established by
law which shall have jurisdiction of all criminal cases under the
ordinances of the city, and such further jurisdiction as may be herein
or hereafter conferred;
( j) To establish for and maintain a city fire
department and to establish and maintain engine houses, fire engines,
hose trucks, hooks and ladders, and other equipment for the prevention
and extinguishment of fires, and to regulate the management and use of
the same;
(k) To establish fire zones, determine the kinds of
buildings or structures that may be erected within their limits,
regulate the manner of constructing and repairing the same, and fix the
fees for permits for the construction repairs, demolition of buildings
and other structures;
(l) To regulate the use of lights in stables, shops,
and other buildings and places and to regulate and restrict the
issuance of permits for the building of bonfires, rockets and other
pyrotechnic displays, and to fix fees for such permits;
(m) To make regulations to protect the public from
configuration and to prevent and mitigate the effects of famine,
floods, storms and other public calamities, and provide relief for
victims thereof;
(n) To tax, regulate and fix the amount of the
license fees for the following: hawkers, peddlers, hucksters, not
including hucksters or peddlers who sell only native vegetables,
fruits, or foods, personally carried by the hucksters or peddlers;
barbers, collecting agencies, manicurists, hairdressers, tattooers,
jugglers, acrobats, wrestlers and boxers, shooting galleries, slot
machines, merry- go-rounds and other similar riding devices, and the
keeping, preparation and sale of meat, poultry, fish, game, butter,
cheese, lard, vegetable, bread, other provisions and to impose a
municipal occupation tax, not to exceed fifty pesos per annum, on
lawyers, medical practitioners, land surveyors, architects, public
accountants, civil, electrical, chemical, mechanical, or mining
engineers, radio engineers or technicians, veterinarians, dental
surgeons, opticians and optometrists, insurance agents and sub-agents,
business agents and business consultants, professional appraisers or
connoisseurs of tobacco or other domestic or foreign products, music
teachers, piano tuners, nurses and midwives, auctioneers, plumbers,
electrical contractors, chiropodists, money chargers, real estate,
commercial and other brokers, and persons engaged in the transportation
of passengers or freight by hire, including common carries and
transportation contractors: Provided, That persons exercising their
profession or occupation only as salaried employees and not as
independent practitioners shall be exempt from the municipal occupation
tax herein prescribed;
(o) To tax, fix the license fee and regulate the
business of hotels, restaurants, refreshment places, cafes, lodging
houses, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, laundries, dyeing and cleaning
establishments, beauty parlors, physical or beauty culture and fashion
schools, clubs, livery garages, public warehouses, pawnshops, theaters,
cinematographs, and the letting or subletting of lands and buildings,
whether used for commercial, industrial or residential purposes; and
further to fix the location of, and to tax, fix the license fee on, and
regulate the business of livery stables, boarding stables, embalmers,
public billiard tables, public halls, tables, bowling alleys, dance
halls, public dancing halls, cabarets, night clubs, circuses, and other
similar parades, public vehicles, public ferries, cockpits, dealers in
second hand materials or merchandise, junk dealers, theatrical
performances, boxing contests, public exhibitions, blacksmith shops,
foundries, steam boilers, lumberyards, shipyards, the storage and sale
of gunpowder, tax, pitch, resin, coal, oil, gasoline, benzine,
turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitroglycerin, petroleum or any of the
products thereof and of all other highly combustible or explosive
materials, and other establishments likely to endanger the public
safety or give rise to conflagrations or explosions, and subject to the
provisions of ordinances issued by the Department of Health in
accordance with law, tanneries, renderies, allow chandlers, bone
factories, soap factories: Provided, That no license shall be exerted
to any theater or cinematograph unless the application for said license
agrees to exhibit pictures made in the Philippines and to the extent of
five per centum of their annual exhibitions: And provided, further,
That any violation of this condition shall cause the revocation of said
license;
(p) To tax and fix the license fees on printers or
bookbinders or both, tailor shops, milliners, manufacturers of jewelry,
embroideries, sail or awnings or both, rope, paper, leather goods,
including shoes, slippers, sandals, harnesses and valises or bags,
sporting goods, rubber goods, plastics and celluloid products, hardware
including glasswares, cooking utensils, electrical goods and
construction materials, chemical products including drugs, perfumes,
toilet articles, paints, dyes and inks, textiles, shell lamps or lamp
shades or both, statuettes or tombstones or both, sacks, furniture of
all kinds, including rattan goods, wire, brass beds or both, clothing,
hats, eyeglasses or optical goods or both fertilizers or buttons.
Manufacturers above-mentioned shall not be subject to the payment of
any municipal tax or license fee as retail dealers of their own
products: Provided, That any manufacturing conducted solely by the
immediate members of a family at their own home shall not be subject to
any tax or license fee;
(q) To tax and fix the license fee on dealers in
general merchandise, including importers and indentors, except those
dealers who may be expressly subject to the payment of some other
municipal tax under the provisions of this section.
Dealers in general merchandise shall be classified as (a) wholesale
dealers and (b) retail dealers. For purposes of the tax on retail
dealers, general merchandise shall be classified into four main
classes; namely: (1) luxury articles, (2) semi-luxury articles, (3)
essential commodities and (4) miscellaneous articles. A separate
license shall be prescribed for each class but where commodities of
different classes are sold in the same establishment, it shall not be
compulsory for the owner to secure more than one license if he pays the
higher or highest rate of tax prescribed by ordinance. Wholesale
dealers shall pay the license tax as such, as may be provided by
ordinance.
For purposes of this section, the term "general merchandise" shall
include poultry and livestock, agricultural products, fish and other
allied products;
(r) To tax, fix the license fee on and regulate the
sale, trading in or disposal of alcoholic or malt beverages, wines, and
mixed or fermented liquors, including tuba, basi, tapuy, offered for
retail sale;
(s) To impose a tax on all products or commodities
manufactured or produced in the city and removed therefrom;
(t) To impose a sales tax of not exceeding one per
centum of the gross value in money of all articles sold, bartered,
exchanged or transferred within the city;
(u) To regulate the method of using steam engines and
boilers and all other motive powers other than marine, or belonging to
the Government of the Philippines, to provide for the inspection
thereof, and fix a reasonable fee for such inspection; and to regulate
and fix the fees for the licenses of the engineers engaged in operating
the same;
(v) To provide for the prohibition and suppression
of riots, affrays, disturbances, and disorderly assemblies; houses of
ill-fame and other disorderly houses; gaming houses, gambling and all
fraudulent devices for the purpose of obtaining money or property;
prostitution, vagrancy, intoxication, fighting, quarrelling, and all
disorderly conduct; and printing, circulation, exhibition, possession
or sale of obscene pictures, books or publications, and for the
maintenance and preservation of peace and good morals;
(w) To prohibit, or regulate and fix the license fees
for the keeping of dogs, and to authorize their impounding and
destruction when running at large contrary to ordinances, and to tax
and regulate the keeping or training of fighting cocks;
(x) To establish and maintain municipal pounds; to
regulate, restrain, and prohibit the running at large of domestic
animals, and provide for the destraining, impounding, and the sale of
the same for the penalty incurred, and the cost of the proceedings; and
to the impose penalties upon owners of said animals for the violation
of any ordinance in relation thereto;
(y) To provide for the punishment of, cruelty to
animals;
(z) To require property owners by ordinance to
construct or repair, at their expense, sidewalks along the street
adjacent to their lots in accordance with the specifications of the
city engineer as to quality, width and grade, and subject to his
supervision and approval, providing that, in case of failure or
inability of the property owners to comply with the requirement within
a specified period of time after demand, the city engineer shall cause
the work to be done and the cost thereof collected as special
assessment from such owners, who may choose to pay the same in full, or
in ten equal yearly installments which shall be due and payable to the
City of Calbayog in the same manner as the annual tax levied on real
estate and shall be made subject and same remedies as such annual tax;
and all said sums and amounts shall, from the day in which they are
assessed, constitute liens on the property against which the same were
assessed and shall take precedence over the any and all other liens
which may exist upon such property excepting only such as may have been
attached as a result of the non-payment of said annual tax.
(aa) To regulate the inspection, weighing and
measuring of brick, lumber, coal and other articles or merchandise;
(bb) Subject and provisions of existing law, to
provide for the laying out, construction and improvement, and to
regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, to provide for
lighting, cleaning, and sprinkling of streets, avenues, alleys,
sidewalks, wharves, piers, parks, cemeteries, and other public places;
to regulate, fix license fees for and prohibit the use of the same for
processions, signs, signposts, awning, awning posts, and the carrying
or displaying of banners, placards, advertisement, or handbills, or the
flying of signs, flags or banners whether along, across, over or from
buildings along the same; to prohibit the placing, throwing,
depositing, or leaving of obstacles of any kind, garbage, refuse, or
other offensive matter or matters liable to cause damage in the street
and other public places and to provide for the collection and
disposition thereof; to provide for the inspection of, fix, the license
fees for and regulate the openings in the same for the laying of water,
sewer and other pipes, the building and repair of tunnels, sewers and
drains, and all structures in and under the same and the erecting of
poles and the stringing of wires therein; to provide for the regulate
cross-walks, curbs and gutters therein; to name streets without a name
and provide for and regulate the numbering of houses and lots fronting
thereon or in the interior of the blocks; to regulate traffic and sales
upon the streets and other public places; to provide for the abatement
of nuisances in the same and punish the authors or owners thereof; to
provide for the construction and maintenance, and regulate the use of
bridges, viaducts, and culverts; to provide and regulate ball playing,
kite-flying, hoop-rolling, and other amusements which may annoy persons
using the streets and public places, or frighten horses or other
animals; to promulgate the speed of horse and other animal-driven
vehicle within the limits of the city;
(cc) To provide for the construction and maintenance
of, and regulate the navigation on, canals, and water courses within
the city and provide for the cleansing and purification of the same;
unless otherwise provided by law, to provide for the construction and
maintenance, and regulate the use of public landing places, wharves,
piers, docks, and levees, and those of private ownership; and to
provide for or regulate the drainage and filling of private premises
when necessary in the enforcement of sanitary rules and regulations
issued in accordance with law;
(dd) Subject to the provisions of the Public Service
Law, to fix the charges to be paid by all water craft landing at or
using public wharves, docks, levees, or landing places owned, operated,
managed or controlled by the city;
(ee) Any provision of law to the contrary
notwithstanding, to provide for the maintenance of waterworks for the
purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the city, and for the
purification of the source of water supply and the places through which
the same passes, and to regulate the consumption and use of water; to
fix, subject to the provisions of the Public Service Law, and provide
for the collection of rents therefor and to regulate the construction,
repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns and reservoirs;
( ff ) To provide for the establishment and
maintenance and regulate the use of public drains, sewers, latrines and
cesspools;
(gg) Subject to the rules and regulations issued by
the Director of Health Services in accordance with law, to provide for
the establishment, maintenance and to fix the fees for the use of, and
regulate public stables, laundries and baths, and public markets and
prohibit the establishment or operation within the city limits of
public markets or any person, entity, association, or corporation other
than the city;
(hh) To establish or authorize the establishment of
slaughterhouses, to provide for their veterinary or sanitary
inspection, to regulate the use of the same, and to charge reasonable
slaughter fees. No fees shall be charged for veterinary or sanitary
inspection of meat from large cattle or domestic animals slaughtered
outside the city, when such inspection was had at the place where the
animals were slaughtered;
(ii) To regulate, inspect and provide measures
preventing and discrimination or the exclusion of any race or races in
or from any institution, establishments, or service open to the public
within the city limits, or in the sale and supply of gas or
electricity, or in the telephone service; to fix and regulate charges
therefor where the same has not been fixed by national law; to regulate
and provide for the inspection of all gas, electric and telephone
conduits, mains, meters, and other apparatus, and provide for the
condemnation, substitution or removal of the same when defective or
dangerous;
( jj) To declare, prevent and provide for the
abatement of nuisances; to regulate the ringing of bells and the making
of loud or unusual noises; to provide that owners, agents, or tenants
of buildings, or premises keep and maintain the same in sanitary
conditions, and that, in case of failure to do so within sixty days
from the date a written notice is served, the city health officer shall
cause the same to be kept in sanitary condition, and the costs thereof
to be assessed against the owner to the extent of not to exceed sixty
per centum of the assessed value, which cost shall constitute a lien
against the property; and to regulate and/or prohibit, of fix the
license fees for the use of property on or near public ways, grounds or
places, or elsewhere within the city, for display by electric signs or
the erection or maintenance of billboards or structures or whatever
materials erected, maintained, or used for the display of posters,
signs, or other pictorial or reading matter, except signs displayed at
the place or places where the profession or business advertised thereby
is in whole or in part conducted;
(kk) To provide for the enforcement of the rules and
regulations issued by the Director of Health Services, and by ordinance
to prescribe penalties for violation of such rules and
regulations;
(ll) To extent its ordinances over all waters within
the city and over any boat or other floating structures thereon and for
the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply
of the city, over all territory within the drainage area of such water
supply, and within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal,
aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with the city water
service;
(mm) To regulate any of the business or occupation
being conducted, within the city not specifically mentioned in the
preceding paragraphs, and to impose a license fee upon all persons
engaged in the same or who enjoy privileges in the city;
(nn) To fix and regulate the size, speed, and
operation of motor and other vehicles within the city; to regulate the
lights used on such vehicles; to establish bus stops and terminals; and
prohibit and regulate the entrance of provincial public utility
vehicles into the city, except those passing through the
city;
(oo) To grant fishing and fishery privileges subject
to the provisions of the Fisheries Act;
(pp) To fix the date of the holding of a fiesta in
the city not oftener than once a year and to alter, not oftener than
once in three years, the date fixed for the celebration thereof; and
(qq) To enact all ordinances it may deem necessary
and proper for the sanitation and safety, the furtherance of the
prosperity, and the promotion of the morality, peace, good order,
comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the city and its
inhabitants, and such others as may be necessary to carry into effect
and discharge the power and duties conferred by this Charter; and to
fix penalties for the violation of ordinances, which shall not exceed a
two hundred-peso fine or six months imprisonment, or both such fine and
imprisonment for a single offense.
Sec. 16. Restrictive provisions. — No commercial
sign, signboard, or billboard shall be erected or displayed on public
lands, premises or buildings. If, after due investigation, and having
given the owners and opportunity to be heard, the Mayor should consider
any sign, signboard or billboard displayed or exposed to public view as
offensive to the sight or is otherwise a nuisance, he may order the
removal of such sign, signboard or billboard, and if same is not
removed within ten days after he has issued such order, he may himself
cause its removal, and the sign, signboard, or billboard shall
thereupon be forfeited to the city and the expenses incident to the
removal of the same shall become a lawful charge against any person or
property liable for the erection or display hereof.
ARTICLE IV
Barrio Councils
Sec. 17. Barrio Councils. — In each barrio there
shall be organized a barrio council which shall be composed of a barrio
lieutenant who shall be its chairman, a sub-barrio lieutenant who shall
assist the barrio lieutenant in the discharge of his duties, a
councilman for livelihood, a councilman for education, and a councilman
for health who, in addition to their other duties, will look after the
enforcement of laws, ordinances and resolutions, pertaining to the
matters comprised within their respective offices and the promotion of
the welfare of the barrio. They shall be elected at a meeting to be
attended by at least one-third of all the residents of the barrio who
are qualified voters. The election shall take place annually not
earlier than the third Saturday of January and not later than the
second Saturday of February. The councilor assigned to the barrio shall
convoke and preside over the meeting. He shall appoint a board of
inspectors and canvassers to conduct the election. The manner of
election shall be by secret ballot. Those who obtain the highest number
of votes for the position for which they are candidates shall be
declared elected and shall assume office immediately: Provided,
however, That no person shall be eligible as a candidate for the barrio
council unless he has been a president of the barrio for at least six
months immediately prior to the election, at least twenty-one years of
age at the time of the election, able to read and write and possesses
the necessary training, experience, and fitness for the position. Any
person who is a resident of the barrio and is twenty-one years of age
or over and is able to read and write is eligible to vote in the
election, provided he has been a resident of the barrio for at least
three months prior to the election.
The members of the barrio council shall hold office for one year or
until their successors are duly elected and qualified. But in no case
can be re-elected for more than four the consecutive terms, unless two
years have elapsed from the expiration of his last term, in which case
he shall again be eligible for election to any barrio office. The
councilor may, for cause, recommend to the municipal board the
suspension or dismissal of any of the members of the barrio council.
They shall not receive any compensation or emolument of any
kind.
The barrio council shall have the power to promulgate rules not
inconsistent with law or ordinances of the municipal board and, subject
to the approval of the latter, shall be operative within the barrio.
The council shall be responsible for the planning, budgeting and
spending of funds belonging to the barrio treasury and shall have the
following powers and duties: (a) to represent the barrio in cases in
which such representation is not incompatible with the personality of
the municipal board; (b) to hold a regular session once a month; (c) to
make their own rules of procedure which shall be approved by the
councilor concerned; (d) to submit to the municipal board, through said
councilor, such suggestions or recommendations as they may see fit for
improvements in their place or for the welfare of the inhabitants
thereof; (e) to provide for the publication by town crier or such other
means as they see fit, of new laws and municipal ordinances; o
organize at least three times a year civic lectures tending to
generalize information concerning the duties and right of citizenship;
and (g) to cooperate with the government for the success of measures of
general interest in their respective barrios. The barrio councilmen may
hold their sessions in the public school building of the barrio during
hours when there are no classes, or in any house or lot in the barrio,
the provincial or permanent use of which may be granted to them, for
said purpose free of charge; and shall elect from among their number a
secretary who shall prepare short minutes of the proceedings of the
council and draft the recommendations or suggestions to be submitted by
the same to the municipal council, in either of the official languages
of the country or in the local dialect. The barrio council shall also
elect from among their number a treasurer who shall collect all fees
and contributions due the barrio treasury for which he shall issue the
proper receipts. He shall be the custodian of the barrio funds and
shall deposit all collections with the City Treasurer within a period
of one week after receipt of such fees and contributions. He shall
disburse the same in accordance with resolutions of the municipal
board, upon vouchers signed by the payee and approved by the barrio
lieutenant with the approval of the municipal board and subject to
availability of funds in the barrio treasury. The barrio council may
provide for necessary travelling expenses for the barrio lieutenant or
any member of the council.
Sec. 18. Duties of barrio lieutenants. — The barrio
lieutenant shall assist the councilor assigned to such barrio in the
performance of his duties. In the absence or incapacity of the barrio
lieutenant, his duties shall be performed by the sub-barrio lieutenant.
Sec. 19. Barrio police force. — There shall be a
barrio police force whose members shall be appointed by the Mayor and
who, together with the members of the barrio council, shall be deemed
agents of person in authority.
ARTICLE V
Departments and offices of the City
Sec. 20. City Departments. — There shall be the
following city departments over which the Mayor shall have direct
control and supervision, any existing law to the contrary
notwithstanding:
1. Department of Finance
2. Department of Engineering and Public Works
3. Law Department
4. Department of Health
5. Police Department
6. Fire Department
7. Department of Assessment
The Municipal Board may from time to time make such readjustment of the
duties of the several departments as the public interest may demand,
and, with the approval of the President, may consolidate any
department, division or office of the city with any other department,
division or office.
Sec. 21. Powers and duties of heads of departments. —
Each head of department of the city government shall be in control of
such department under the direction and supervision of the Mayor, and
shall possess such powers as may be prescribed herein or by ordinance.
He shall certify to the correctness of all payrolls and vouchers of his
department covering the payment of money before payment, except as
herein otherwise expressly provided. At least four months before the
beginning of each fiscal year, he shall prepare and present to the
Mayor an estimate of the receipts and appropriation necessary for the
operation of his department for the ensuing fiscal year, and shall
submit therewith such information for purposes of comparison as the
Mayor may desire. He shall submit to the Mayor as often as required
reports covering the operation of his department.
In case of the absence or sickness, or inability to act for any other
reason, of the head of one of the city departments or in case of
temporary vacancy, the officer next in rank of that department shall
perform the duties of the department head concerned.
Sec. 22. Appointment and removal of officials and
employees. — The President of the Philippines, with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments, shall appoint the judge and auxiliary
judge, the city treasurer, the city engineer, the city fiscal and his
assistants, the chief of police, the city health officer, the city
assessors, the chief of the fire department, the city superintendent of
schools, and other heads of such city departments as may be created.
Said officers shall not be suspended nor removed except in the manner
and for causes provided by law.
Subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law, the mayor shall
appoint all other officers and employees paid out of city funds, and
they shall be suspended or removed in accordance with law.
Sec. 23. Officers not to engage in certain
transactions. — It shall be unlawful for any city officer, directly or
indirectly, individually or as a member of a firm, to engage in any
business transaction with the city, or with any of its authorized
officials, boards, agents or attorneys, whereby money is to be paid,
directly or indirectly, out of the resources of the city to such person
or firm; or to purchase any real estate or other property belonging to
the city, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments, or by virtue
of legal process at the suit of the city; or to be surety for any
person having a contract or doing business with the city, for the
performance of which security may be required; or to be surety on the
official bond of any officer of the city; and shall not be financially
interested in any transaction or contract in which the national
government or any subdivision or instrumentality thereof is an
interested party.
ARTICLE VI
Relation to Bureaus and Offices
Sec. 24. The General Auditing Office. — The Auditor
General shall receive and audit all accounts of the city, in accordance
with the provisions of law relating to Government accounts and
accounting. The city auditor shall be appointed by the Auditor General
and shall receive a salary of five thousand one hundred pesos per
annum, one-half to be paid by the National Government and the other
half by the city.
Sec. 25. The Bureau of Public Schools. — The Director
of Public Schools shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in
the city as elsewhere in the Philippines, and the city superintendent
of schools shall have all the powers and duties in respect to the
schools of the city as are vested in division superintendents in
respect to schools of their division: Provided, That the operational
expenses of primary and intermediate schools shall be borne by the
National Government.
Sec. 26. Reports to the Mayor concerning schools. —
The City Superintendent of Schools shall make a quarterly report of the
conditions of the schools and schools buildings of the city to the
Mayor, and such recommendations as seem to him wise relative to
improving the schools or school buildings in the city.
ARTICLE VII
Department of Finance
Sec. 27. The City Treasurer — His powers and duties.
— There shall be a City Treasurer who shall have charge of department
of finance and shall act as chief fiscal officer and financial adviser
of the city and custodian of its funds. He shall receive a salary of
six thousand pesos per annum. He shall have the following general
powers and duties:
(a) He shall collect all taxes due the city, all
licenses authorized by law or ordinance, all rents due for lands,
markets and other property owned by the city, and all further charges
of whatever nature fixed by law or ordinance; shall administer markets
and slaughterhouses, and shall receive and issue receipts for all
costs, fees, fines and forfeitures imposed by the municipal court;
(b) He shall collect all miscellaneous charges made
by the engineering department and by the other departments of the city
government, and all charges made by the city engineer for inspections,
permits, licenses, and the installations, maintenance, and services
rendered in the operation of the private privy system;
(c) He shall collect, as deputy of the Commissioner
of Internal Revenue, by himself of deputies, all taxes and charges
imposed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines upon
persons or property in the City of Calbayog depositing daily such
collections in any depository bank of the government;
(d) Unless otherwise specifically provided by law or
resolution, he shall perform in and for the city the duties imposed by
law or resolution upon provincial treasurers in general as well as
other duties imposed upon him by law;
(e) He shall purchase and issue all supplies,
equipment or other property required by the city, through the
purchasing agent, or otherwise, as may be authorized, subject to the
general provisions of law relating thereto;
He shall be accountable for all funds and
property of the city and shall render such accounts in connection
therewith as may be prescribed by the Auditor-General;
(g) He shall deposit all city funds and collections
in any bank duly designated as Government depository in accordance with
the existing rules and regulations.
(h) He shall disburse the funds of the city in
accordance with duly authorized appropriations, upon properly executed
vouchers bearing the approval of the chief of the department concerned,
and on or before the twentieth day of each month he shall furnish the
Mayor and the Municipal Board, for their information, a statement of
the appropriation, expenditures, and balances of all funds and accounts
as of the last day of the month preceding.
ARTICLE VIII
Department of Engineering and Public Works
Sec. 28. The City Engineer — His powers and duties. —
There shall be a City Engineer who shall have charge of the department
of engineering and public works. He shall receive a salary of six
thousand pesos per annum. He shall have the following powers and
duties:
(a) He shall have charge of all the surveying and
engineering works of the city, care, cleaning and sprinkling of
streets, canals and esteros, parks and public grounds, bridges,
recreation, and playgrounds, and shall perform such services in
connection with public improvements, or any work entered upon or
projected by the city, or any department thereof, as may require the
skill and experience of a civil engineer;
(b) He shall ascertain, record, and establish
monuments of the city survey and from thence extend the surveys of the
city, and locate, establish, and survey all city property, and also
private property abutting on the same, whenever directed by the Mayor;
(c) He shall prepare and submit plans, maps,
specifications and estimates for buildings, streets, bridges, docks,
and other public works, and supervise the construction and repair of
the same;
(d) He shall make such tests and inspection of
engineering materials used in construction and repair as may be
necessary to protect the city from the use of materials of a poor or
dangerous quality;
(e) He shall have the care of all public buildings,
when erected including markets and slaughterhouses and all buildings
rented for city purposes, and of any system now or hereafter
established by the city for lighting the streets, public places, or
public buildings;
He shall have the care of all public streets,
parks, and bridges, and shall maintain and regulate the use of the same
for all purposes as provided for by ordinance; shall collect and
dispose of all garbage, refuse, the contents of closets, vaults and
cesspools, and all other offensive and dangerous substances within the
city and, in the event the disposal and collection of such garbage,
refuse and other offensive substances has been awarded to a private
contractor, the disposal and collection thereof shall be under the
supervision of the city engineer;
(g) He shall have the care and custody of all the
public docks, wharves, levees and landing places owned by the city;
(h) He shall prevent the encroachment of private
buildings and fences on the streets public places of the city;
(i) He shall have general supervision and inspection
of all private docks, wharves, piers, levees, and landing places and
other property bordering on the harbor, river, esteros, and waterways
of the city, and shall issue permits for the construction, repair and
removal of the same, and enforce all ordinances relating the same;
( j) He shall have the care and custody of the public
systems of waterworks and sewers, and all sources of water-supply, and
shall control, maintain, and regulate the use of the same, in
accordance with the ordinance relating thereto; shall inspect and
regulate the use of all private systems for supplying water to the city
and its inhabitants and all private sewers and their connections with
the public sewers systems;
(k) He shall supervise the laying of mains and
connections for the purpose of supplying gas to the inhabitants of the
city;
(l) He shall inspect and report upon the conditions
of public property and public works whenever required by the Mayor;
(m) He shall supervise and regulate the location and
use of engines, boilers, forges, and other manufacturing and hearing
appliances in accordance with law and ordinance relating thereto. He is
authorized to charge fees, at rates to be fixed by the Municipal Board,
for the sanitation and transportation services and supplies furnished
by his department;
(n) He shall inspect and supervise the construction,
repair, removal, and safety of private buildings, and regulate and
enforce the numbering of houses in accordance with the ordinances of
the city;
(o) With the previous approval of the Mayor in each
case, shall order the removal of buildings and structures erected in
violation of the ordinances; shall order the removal of materials
employed in the construction or repair of any building or structure
made in violation of said ordinances; and shall cause buildings and
structures dangerous to the public to be made secure or torn down; and
(p) He shall file and preserve all maps, plans,
notes, surveys and other papers and documents pertaining to his office.
Sec. 29. Execution of authorized public works and
improvements. — All repair or construction of any work or public
improvements, except parks, boulevards, streets or alleys, involving an
estimated cost of three thousand pesos or more shall be awarded by the
Mayor upon the recommendation of the city engineer to the lowest
responsible bidder after public advertisement by posting notices of the
call for bids in conspicuous places in the City Hall and by publication
in the Official Gazette, both for not less than ten days: Provided,
however, That the city engineer may, with the approval of the President
of the Philippines, upon the recommendations of the Secretary of Public
Works and Communications, execute by administration any such public
work costing three thousand pesos or more.
In case of public works involving an expenditures of less than three
thousand pesos, it shall be discretionary with the city engineer either
to proceed with the work himself or to let the contract to the lowest
bidder after such publication and notice as shall deemed appropriate or
as may be, by regulations, prescribed.
ARTICLE IX
Law Department
Sec. 30. The City Fiscal — His powers and duties. —
There shall be a City Fiscal who shall discharge his duties under the
general supervision of the Secretary of Justice. The City Fiscal shall
receive a salary of six thousand pesos per annum. The City Fiscal shall
be the chief legal adviser of the city and all offices and departments
thereof. He shall be assisted in the discharge of his duties by two
assistant city fiscals — the first city fiscal shall receive a salary
of five thousand pesos per annum and the second assistant city fiscal
shall receive a salary of four thousand eight hundred pesos per annum.
The City Fiscal shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) He shall, personally or through any assistant,
represent the city in all civil cases wherein the city or any officer
thereof, in his official capacity, is a party, and shall prosecute and
defend all civil actions related to or connected with any city office
or interest;
(b) He shall, when directed by the Mayor, institute
and prosecute in the city's interest a suit on any bond, or contract,
and upon any breach or violation thereof;
(c) He shall, when requested, attend meetings of the
Board, draw ordinances, contracts, bonds, leases, and other instruments
involving any interest of the city, and inspect and pass upon any such
instruments already drawn;
(d) He shall give his opinion in writing, when
requested by the Mayor or the Board or any of the heads of the city
departments, upon any question relating to the city or the rights, or
duties of any city officer thereof;
(e) He shall, whenever it is brought to his knowledge
that any city officer or employee is guilty of neglect or misconduct in
office, or that any person, firm, or corporation holding or exercising
any franchise or public privilege from the city, has failed to comply
with any condition, or to pay any consideration mentioned in the grant
of such franchise or privilege, investigate or cause to be investigated
the same and report to the Mayor;
He shall have charge of the prosecution of all
crimes and violations of the city ordinances, in the municipal court of
the city or the Court of First Instance and shall discharge all the
duties in respect to criminal prosecutions as are enjoined by law upon
provincial fiscals;
(g) The city fiscal shall cause to be investigated
all charges of crimes, misdemeanors, and violations of laws and city
ordinances and have the necessary informations or complaints prepared
or made against the accused. He or any of his assistants may conduct
such investigations by taking oral evidence of reputed witness, and for
this purpose may issue subpoena to summon witnesses to appear and
testify under oath before him, and subpoena duces tecum for the
production of documents and other evidence. The attendance of an absent
or recalcitrant witness may be enforced by application for a warrant of
arrest to the municipal court or to the Court of First Instance;
(h) The city fiscal shall also cause to be
investigated the cause of sudden deaths which have not been
satisfactorily explained and when there is suspicion that the cause
arose the unlawful acts or omissions of other persons, or from foul
play. For that purpose, he may cause autopsies to be made in case it is
deemed necessary and shall be entitled to demand and receive for the
purpose of such investigations or autopsies the aid of the city health
officer;
(i) He shall at all times render such official
services as the Mayor or the Municipal Board may required, and shall
home such power and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law or
ordinance; and
( j) He shall act as register of deeds for the city.
ARTICLE X
Department of Health
Sec. 31. The City Health Officer — His powers and
duties. — There shall be City Health Officer who shall have charge of
the department of health and shall receive a salary of six thousand
pesos per annum. He shall have the following duties and powers:
(a) He shall have general supervision over the health
and sanitary conditions of the city, including the cleaning of
crematories, cemeteries, stockyards, slaughterhouse, and markets;
(b) He shall execute and enforce al laws, ordinances
and regulations relating to the public health;
(c) He shall recommend to the Municipal Board the
passage of such ordinances as he may deem necessary for the
preservation of the public health;
(d) He shall cause to be prosecuted all violations of
sanitary laws, ordinances, or regulations;
(e) He shall make sanitary inspections and may be
aided therein by such members of the police force of the city or the
national police as shall be designated as sanitary police by the chief
of police or proper national police office and such sanitary inspectors
as may be authorized by law;
He shall keep a civil register for the city
and shall record therein all births, marriages and death with their
respective dates;
(g) He shall have the control and supervision over
puriculture centers and social services of the city; and
(h) He shall perform such other duties, not repugnant
to law or ordinance, with reference to the health and sanitation of the
city as the Director of Health Services shall direct. In case of
epidemic or when the inhabitants of the city are menaced by any
infectious or contagious diseases, the Director of Disease Control
shall assume full control of the health sanitation services of the city
until such condition shall have ceased to exist.
ARTICLE XI
Police Department
Sec. 32. The Chief of Police — His powers and duties.
— There shall be a Chief of Police who shall have charge of the police
department and shall receive a salary of five thousand four hundred
pesos per annum. He shall be assisted in the discharge of his duties by
a deputy chief of police who shall receive a salary of three thousand
six hundred pesos per annum. The Chief of Police shall have the
following powers and duties:
(a) He may issue supplementary regulations not
incompatible with law or general regulations promulgated by the proper
department head of the National Government, in accordance with law, for
the government of the city police and detective force;
(b) He shall quell riots, disorders, disturbances of
the peace, and shall arrest and prosecute through the city fiscal,
violators of law or ordinance; shall exercise exclusive police
supervision over all land and water within the police jurisdiction of
the city; shall be charged with the protection of the right of persons
and property wherever found within the jurisdiction of the city, and
shall arrest when necessary to prevent the escape of offenders and
violators of any law or ordinance, and all who obstruct or interfere
with him in the discharge of his duty; shall have charge of the city
prison; and shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all prisoners
until they shall be released from custody, in accordance with law, or
delivered to the warden of the proper prison or penitentiary;
(c) He may take good and sufficient bail for the
appearance before the judge of the municipal court of any person
arrested for violation of any city ordinance: Provided, however, That
he shall not exercise this power in cases of violations of any penal
law, except when the fiscal of the city shall so recommend and fix the
bail to be required of the person arrested;
(d) He shall have authority, within the police limits
of the city, to serve and execute criminal process of any court;
(e) He shall be the deputy sheriff of the city, and
as such he shall, personally or by representative, attend the sessions
of the municipality court, and shall execute promptly and faithfully,
all writs and processes of the said court;
He shall exercise supervision over the police
training school established in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the police department; and
(g) He shall have such further powers and perform
such further duties as may be prescribed by law or ordinance.
Sec. 33. Chief of Secret Service. — There shall be a
chief of the secret service who shall, under the chief of police, have
charge of the detective work of the department and of the detective
force of the city, and shall perform such other duties as may be
assigned to him by the chief of police or prescribed by law or
ordinance. The chief of the secret service shall receive a salary of
two thousand four hundred pesos per annum.
Sec. 34. Peace Officers — their powers and duties. —
The Mayor, the chief of police, the chief of police, the chief of the
secret service, and all officers and members of the city police and
detective force shall be peace officers. Such peace officers are
authorized to serve and execute all processes of the municipal court
and criminal processes of all other courts to whomsoever directed
within the jurisdictional limits of the city or within the police
limits as hereinabove defined; within the same territory, to pursue and
arrest, without warrant, any person found in suspicious places or under
suspicious circumstances reasonably tending to show that such person
has committed, or is about to commit, a crime or breach of the peace;
to arrest or cause to be arrested, without warrant, any offender when
the offense is committed in the presence of a peace officer or within
his view; and, in such pursuit or arrest to enter any building, ship,
boat, or vessel or take into in such crime or breach of the peace, and
any property suspected of having been stolen; and to exercise such
other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law
or ordinance. They shall detain an arrested person only in accordance
with the provisions of existing laws relative to such detention.
Whenever the Mayor shall deem it necessary to avert danger or to
protect life and property, in case of riot, disturbance or public
calamity, or when he has reason to fear any serious violation of law
and order, he may call upon the provincial commander or other members
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Except upon the occurrence of
any such conditions, police jurisdiction and supervision and the
preservation of peace and order shall pertain exclusively to the peace
officers herein mentioned, existing law to the contrary
notwithstanding.
ARTICLE XII
Fire Department
Sec. 35. Chief of Fire Department. — There shall be a
Chief of Fire Department who shall have the management and control of
all matters relating to the administration, organization, government,
discipline, and disposition of the fire forces. He shall receive a
salary of four thousand eighty pesos per annum and shall have the
following powers and duties:
(a) He shall issue supplementary regulations not
incompatible with law or general regulations issued by the proper
department head of the National Government in accordance with law, for
the government of the fire force;
(b) He shall have charge of the fire-engine houses,
the fire engines, hose trucks, hooks and ladders, trucks and all other
fire apparatus;
(c) He shall have full police powers in the vicinity
of fires;
(d) He shall have authority to remove or demolish any
building or other property whenever it shall become necessary to
prevent the spreading of fire or to protect adjacent property;
(e) He shall investigate and report to the Mayor upon
the origin and cause of all fires occurring within the city;
He shall inspect all buildings erected or
under construction or repair within city and determine whether they
provide sufficient protection against fire and comply with the
ordinances relating thereto;
(g) He shall have charge of the city telegraph,
telephone and fire alarm service;
(h) He shall have exclusive power, any law to the
contrary notwithstanding, to supervise and regulate the stringing,
grounding, and installation of wires for all electrical connections
with a view to avoiding conflagration operation of the fire department;
(i) He shall condemn all defectives electrical
installations and shall take the necessary steps to effect immediate
corrective action, informing the Mayor of the action thus taken;
( j) He shall supervise the manufacture, storage, and
use of petroleum, gas, acetylene, gunpowder, and other highly
combustible matter and explosives;
(k) No permit for the construction or repair of
buildings within the city shall be granted unless the plans relative
thereto have been approved by the chief of the fire department. He
shall have the power to alter or disapprove such plans as do not
provide for adequate protection against the occurrence of fires; and
(l) He shall have such powers and perform such duties
as may further be prescribed by law or ordinance.
ARTICLE XIII
Department of Assessment
Sec. 36. The City Assessor — His powers and duties. —
There shall be a City Assessor who shall have charge of the department
of assessment and who shall receive a salary of four thousand eighty
pesos per annum. The city treasurer shall act as city assessor
ex-officio until the Municipal Board, by ordinance, provides otherwise,
at which time the city assessor shall be appointed as heretofore
provided. The city assessors shall have the following powers and
duties:
(a) The city assessors and his authorized deputies
are empowered to administer any oath authorized to be administered in
connection with the valuation of real estate for the assessment and
collection of taxes;
(b) He shall make a list of the taxable real estate
in the city, arranging in the order of the lot and block numbers the
names of the owners thereof, with a brief description of the property
opposite each such name and the cash value thereof. In making this
list, the city assessor shall take into consideration any sworn
statement made by the owners of the property, but shall not be
prevented thereby from considering any other evidence on the subject
and exercising his own judgment in respect thereto. For the purpose of
completing this list, he and his representatives may enter upon the
real estate for the purpose of examining and measuring it, and may
summon witnesses, administer oaths to them, and subject them to
examination concerning the ownership and the amount of real estate and
its cost value; and
(c) He may, if necessary, examine the records of the
Register of Deeds of the Province of Samar showing the ownership of
real estate in the city.
Sec. 37. Real estate exempt form taxation. — The
following shall be exempted from taxation:
(a) Lands or buildings owned by the Republic of the
Philippines, the Province of Samar or the City of Calbayog, and burying
grounds, churches, and adjacent parsonages and convents, and lands or
buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or
educational purposes, and not for profit; but such exemption shall not
extend to lands or buildings held for investment, though income
therefrom be devoted to religious, charitable, scientific or
educational purposes;
(b) Lands or buildings which are the only real
property of the owners, and the value of which does not exceed four
hundred pesos; and
(c) Machinery, which term shall embrace machines,
mechanical contrivances, instruments, appliances, and apparatus
attached to the real estate, used for industrial, agricultural or
manufacturing purposes, during the first five years of the operation of
the machinery.
Sec. 38. Declaration to be made by persons acquiring
or improving real estate. — It shall be the duty of each person who, at
any time, acquires real estate in the city, and of each person who
constructs or adds to any improvements on real estate owned by him in
the city to prepare and present to the city assessor within a period of
sixty days next following such acquisition, construction or addition
made sworn declaration setting forth the value of the real estate
acquired or the improvement constructed or addition made by him and a
description of such property sufficient to enable the city assessor
readily to identify the same. Any person having acquired real estate
who fails to make and present the declaration herein required within
the period of sixty days shall be deemed to have waived his right to
notice of the assessment of such property and the assessment of the
same in the name of its former owner shall in all such cases, be valid
and binding on all persons interested, and for all purposes, as though
the same has been assessed in the name of its present owner.
Sec. 39. Action when owner makes no returns, or is
unknown, or ownership is in dispute or in doubt or when land and
improvements are separately owned. — If the owner of any parcel of real
estate shall fail to make a return thereof, of if the city assessors is
unable to discover the owner of any real estate, he shall nevertheless
list the same for taxation, and charge the tax against the true owner,
if known, and if unknown, then as against an unknown owner. In case of
doubt or dispute as to the ownership of real estate, the taxes shall be
levied against the possessor or possessors thereof. When it shall
appear that there are separate owners of the land and the improvements
thereon, a separate assessment of the property shall be made.
Sec. 40. Action in case estate has escaped taxation.
— If it shall come to the knowledge of the city assessor that any
taxable real estate in the city has escaped listing, it shall be his
duty to list and value the same at the time and in the manner provided
in the next succeeding section and to charge against the owner thereof
the taxes due for the current year and the last preceding one year, and
the taxes thus assessed shall be legal and collectible by all the
remedies herein provided, and if the failure of the city assessor to
assess such taxes at the time when they should have been assessed was
due to any fault or negligence on the part of the owner of such
property, the penalties shall be added to such back taxes as though
they have been assessed at the time when they should have been
assessed.
Sec. 41. When assessment may be increased or
decreased. — The city assessors shall, during the first fifteen days of
January of each year, add to his list of taxable real estate in the
city the value of the improvements placed upon such property which is
taxable and which has therefore escaped taxation. He may during the
same period revise and correct the assessed value of any or all parcel
of real estate in the city which are not assessed at their true money
value, by reducing or increasing the existing assessment as the case
may be.
Sec. 42. Publication of complete list and proceedings
thereon. — The city assessors shall, after the list shall have been
completed, inform the public by notice published for seven days in a
newspaper of general circulation in the city, if any, and by notice
posted for seven days at the main entrance of the City Hall, that the
list is on file in his office and may be examined by any person
interested therein, and that upon the date fixed in the notice, which
shall not be later than the tenth day of February, the city assessor
will be in his office for the purpose of hearing complaints as to the
accuracy of the listing of the property and the assessed value thereof.
He shall further notify in writing each person the amount of whose tax
will be changed by such proposed revision by delivering or mailing at
least thirty days in advance of the date fixed in the notice, such,
notification to such person or his authorized agent at the last known
address of such owner or agent in the Philippines.
If shall be duty carefully to preserve and record in his office copies
of said notice. On the day fixed in the notice, and for five days
thereafter, he shall be present in his office to hear all complaints
filed within the period by reasons against whom taxes have been
assessed as owners of real estate, and he shall make his decision
forthwith and enter the same in well-bound book, to be kept by him for
that purpose, and if he shall determine that injustice had been done or
errors have been committed he is authorized to amend the list in
accordance with his findings.
Sec. 43. City Assessor to authenticate list of real
estate assessed. — The city assessor shall authenticate each list of
real estate valued and assessed by him as soon as the same is
completed, by signing the following certificate at the foot thereof:
"I hereby certify that the following list contains a true statement of
the piece of taxable real estate belonging to each person named in the
list, and its true cash value, and that no real estate taxable by law
in the City of Calbayog has been omitted from the list, according to
the best of my knowledge and belief.
_______________________
(Signature of City Assessor)"
Sec. 44. Time and manner of appealing to City Board
of Tax Appeals, and composition thereof . — In case any owner of real
estate or his authorized agent shall feel aggrieved by any decision of
the city assessor under the preceding sections of this article such
owner or agent may, within thirty days after the entry of such
decision, appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals. The appeal shall be
perfected by filing a written notice of the same with the city
assessor, and it shall be the duty of that officer forthwith to
transmit the appeal to the Board of Tax Appeal with all written
evidence in his possession relating to such assessment and valuation.
There shall be a City Board of Tax Appeals which shall be composed of
five members to be appointed by the President of the Philippines with
the consent of the Commission on Appointments. Three members of the
Board shall be selected from among government officials in the city
other than those in charge of assessment and they shall serve without
additional compensation.
The two other members shall be selected from among property owners in
the city and they shall each receive a compensation of ten pesos for
each day of session actually attended. The chairman of the Board shall
be designated in the appointment and shall have the power to designate
any city official or employee to serve as the secretary of the Board
without additional compensation.
The members of the City Board of Tax Appeals shall hold office for a
term of two years unless sooner removed by the President of the
Philippines.
Sec. 45. Oath to be taken by member of the City Board
of Tax Appeals. — Before organizing as such, the members of the City
Board of Tax Appeals shall take the following oath before the municipal
judge or any other officer authorized to administer oaths;
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will bear and determine well
and truly all matters and issues between taxpayers and the city
assessor submitted for my decision. So help me God. (In case of
affirmation the last words are to be stricken out.)
______________________
(Signature)
"Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this ______________
day of __________________, 19_______.
_______________________
(Signature and title of officer
administering oath)"
Sec. 46. Proceedings before the City Board of Tax
Appeals and the Department Head. — The City Board of Tax Appeals shall
hold such number of sessions as may be authorized by the Secretary of
Finance, and shall hear and decide all appeals duly transmitted to it.
It shall have authority to cause to be amended the listing and
valuation of the property in respect to which any appeal has been
perfected by order signed by the Board or a majority thereof, and
transmit it to the city assessor who shall amend the tax list in
conformity with said order.
It shall also have power to revise and correct, with the approval of
the Department Head first had, any and all erroneous or unjust
assessments and valuations for taxation, and make current and just
assessment and state the true valuation, in each case when it decides
that the assessment previously made is erroneous or unjust. The
assessment when so corrected shall be lawful and valid for all purposes
as though the assessment had been made within the time herein
prescribed. Such reassessment and revaluation shall be made on due
notice to the individual concerned who shall be entitled to be heard by
the City Board is made. The decision of the City Board of Tax Appeals
shall be final unless the Department Head declares the decision
reopened for review by him, in which case he may make such revision or
revaluation as in his opinion the circumstances justify. Such revision
when approved by the President of the Philippines shall be final.
Sec. 47. Taxes on real estate; extension and
remission of the tax. — A tax, the rate of which shall not exceed one
and one-half per centum ad valorem to be determined by the Municipal
Board, shall be levied annually on the assessed value of all real
estate, in the city subject to taxation. All taxes on real estate for
any year shall be due and payable annually on the first day of January
and from this date such taxes together with all penalties accruing
thereto shall constitute a lien on the property subject to such
taxation.
Such lien shall be superior to all other liens, mortgages or
encumbrances of any kind whatsoever; and shall be enforceable against
the property whether in the possession of the delinquent or any
subsequent owner, and can only be removed by the payment of the tax and
penalty.
At the option of the taxpayer, the tax for any year may be paid in two
installments to be fixed annually by the Municipal Board simultaneously
with the rate per centum of ad valorem taxation: Provided, That the
time limit for the first and second installments shall be set at not
later than the thirty-first day of May and the thirty-first day of
October of each year, respectively.
Any person who on the last day set for the payment of the real estate
tax as provided in the preceding paragraphs, shall be within the
premises of the City Hall willing and ready to pay the tax but in
unable to effect it on account of the large number of taxpayers therein
present shall be furnished a properly inscribed card which will entitle
him to pay the tax without penalty on the following day.
The words "paid under protest" shall be written on the face of the real
estate tax receipt upon the request of the any person willing to pay
the tax under protest. Confirmation in writing of an oral protest shall
be made within thirty days.
At the expiration of the time for the payment of the real estate tax
without penalty, the taxpayer shall be subject, from the first day of
delinquency, to the payment of a penalty of the rate of two per centum
for each full month of delinquency that has expired, on the amounts of
the original tax due, until the tax shall have been paid in full or
until the property shall have been forfeited to the city as provided in
this Act: Provided, That in no case shall the total penalty exceed
twenty-four per centum of the original tax due.
In the event that the crop is extensively damaged or that a great
lowering of prices of products is registered in any year or that
similar disaster extends throughout the province, or for other good and
sufficient reason, the Municipal Board may, by resolution passed on or
before the thirty-first day of December of such year, extend the time
for the collection of the tax on real estate in the city for a period
of not to exceed three months, or remit wholly or in part the payment
of the tax penalty for the ensuing year, but such resolution shall have
to specify clearly the grounds for such extension or remission and
shall not take effect until it shall have been approved by the
Department Head.
The President of the Philippines may, in his discretion, remit or
reduce the real estate for any year in the city if he deems this to be
in the public interest.
Sec. 48. Seizure of the personal property for
delinquency in payment of the tax. — After a property shall have become
delinquent in the payment of taxes and said taxes and the corresponding
penalty or penalties shall remain unpaid ninety days after payment
thereof shall have become due, the city treasurer or his deputy , if he
desires to compel payment through seizure of any personal property of
any delinquent person or persons, shall issue a duly authenticated
certificate, based on the records of his office, showing the fact of
delinquency and the amount of the tax and penalty due from said
delinquent person or persons or from each of them. Such certificate
shall be sufficient warrant for the seizure; and these proceedings may
be carried out by the city treasurer, his deputy or any other officer
authorized to carry out legal proceedings.
Sec. 49. Personal property exempt from seizure and
sale for delinquency. — The following personal property shall be exempt
from seizure, sale and execution for delinquency in the payment of the
real estate tax:
(a) The tools and implements necessarily used by the
delinquent in his trade or employment;
(b) Two horses, or two cows, or two carabaos, or
other beasts of burden, such as the delinquent may select, and
necessarily used by him in his ordinary occupation;
(c) His necessary clothing and that of his family;
(d) Household furniture and utensils necessary for
housekeeping, and used for that purpose by the delinquent, such as he
may select, of a value not exceeding two hundred pesos;
(e) Provisions for individual or family sufficient
for three months;
The professional libraries of lawyers, judges,
physicians, pharmacists, dentists, engineers, surveyors, clergymen,
school teachers, and music teachers, not exceeding five hundred pesos
in value;
(g) One fishing boat and net, the property of any
fisherman, by the lawful use of which he earns a livelihood;
(h) So much of the earnings of the delinquent for his
personal services within the month preceding the levy as are necessary
for the support of his family;
(i) Lettered gravestones;
( j) All moneys, benefits, privileges, or annuities
accruing or in any manner growing out of any life insurance, if the
annual premiums paid not to exceed five hundred pesos, and if they
exceed that sum, a like exemption shall exist which shall bear the same
proportion to the moneys, benefits, privileges, and annuities so
accruing or growing out of such insurance that said five hundred pesos
bears to the whole annual premiums paid; and
(k) Any article or material which forms part of a
home or of any improvements on any real estate.
Sec. 50. The owner may redeem the personal property
before sale. — The owner of the personal property seized may redeem the
same from the collecting officer at any time after seizure and before
sale by tendering to him the amount of the tax, the penalty, and the
costs incurred up to the time of tender. The costs to be charged in
making such seizures and sale shall only embrace the actual expense of
seizure and preservation of the property pending the sale, and no
charge shall be imposed for the services of the collecting officer or
his deputy.
Sec. 51. Sale of seized personal property. — Unless
redeemed as hereinabove provided, the property seized through
proceedings under Section forty-nine hereof, shall after due
advertisement, be exhibited for sale at public auction and so much of
the same as shall satisfy the tax, penalty and cost of seizure and
sale, shall be sold to the highest bidder. The purchaser at such sale
such acquire an indefeasible title to the property sold.
The advertisement shall state the time, place and cause of sale, and be
posted for ten days prior to the date of the auction, at the main
entrance of the city hall and at a public and conspicuous place in the
district where the property was seized.
The sale shall take place, at the discretion of the city treasurer or
his deputy, either at the main entrance of the city hall or at the
district where the property was seized. If no satisfactory bid is
offered in the aforementioned places, another auction shall be had upon
notice published anew.
Sec. 52. Return of Officer; Disposal of surplus. —
The officer directing the sale under the preceding section shall
forthwith make return of his proceedings, and note thereof shall be
made by the city treasurer, in his records. Any surplus resulting from
the sale, over and above the tax, penalty and cost, and any property
remaining in possession of the officer shall be returned to the
taxpayer on account of whose delinquency the sale has been made.
Sec. 53. Vesting Title to Real Estate in the City
Government. — Upon the expiration of one year from the date on which
the taxpayer became delinquent, and in the event of continued default
in the payment of the tax and penalty, all private rights, titles and
interest in and to the real estate on which said tax is delinquent,
shall be indefeasibly vested in the city government, subject only to
the rights of redemption and repurchase hereinafter provided for:
Provided, That the title acquired by said city government to real
estate shall not be superior to the title thereto of the original owner
prior to the seizure hereof.
Sec. 54. Redemption of Real Estate before seizure. —
Any time after the delinquency shall have occurred, but not after the
expiration of ninety days from the date of the publication of the
advertisement provided for in the next succeeding section, the owner or
lawful representative, or any person having any lien, right, or any
other legal or equitable interest in said property, may pay the taxes
and penalties accrued and thus redeem the property. Such redemption
shall operate to divest the city government of its title to the
property in question and to revert the same to the original owner, but
when such redemption shall be made by a person other than the owner,
payment shall continue a lien on the property, and the person making
such payment shall be entitled to recover the same from the original
owner, or if he be a lessee, he may retain the amount of said payment
from the proceeds of any income due to the owner of such property:
Provided, That the person exercising the right of redemption shall not
acquire a title to said property, better than that of the original
owner prior to the seizure.
Sec. 55. Notice of seizure of real estate. — Notice
of the seizure of real estate shall be given by posting notices at the
main entrance of the city hall, the provincial capitol building, and
all the municipal buildings in the Province of Samar, in English and
Spanish and in the dialect commonly used in the locality, and a copy of
said notice shall be sent by registered mail to the owner of the
property subject to seizure. Such notices shall state the name of the
delinquent person, the date on which such delinquency commenced the
amount of the taxes and penalties then due, and shall state that unless
such taxes and penalties are paid within ninety days from the date of
publication of such notice, the forfeiture of the delinquency real
estate to the city government shall become absolute.
Sec. 56. Ejectment of occupants of seized property. —
After the expiration of ninety days from the date of the publication of
the notice of delinquency provided for in the next preceding section,
the city treasurer or his deputy, may issue to the Mayor or to other
officers authorized by law to execute and enforce the laws a
certificate describing the parcel of real estate on which the taxes
have been declared delinquent, stating the amount of taxes due, and the
penalties and costs accrued by reason of the delinquency, and
requesting him to eject from said property all the tenants and
occupants thereof. Upon receiving such certificate, the Mayor or any
other official authorized to enforce the law shall forthwith have all
the tenants and occupants who refused to recognize the title of the
city expelled from the property in question, and to that end he may use
the police force: Provided, however, That if the property so seized is,
or includes a residential home, the occupant thereof shall be given a
sufficient time, not exceeding ten days from the date of the notice of
ejectment, to vacate the premises.
Sec. 57. Redemption of real property before sale. —
After the title of the property shall have become vested in the city
government in the manner provided for in the preceding sections, and at
any time prior to the sale or execution of the contract of sale by the
city treasurer to a third party, the original owner or his authorized
representative or any person having lien, right, or other legal
interest or equity in said property in question, shall have the right
to redeem the entire property in question, by paying the full amount of
the taxes and penalties due thereon at the time of the seizure, and if
the city treasurer shall have entered into a lease of the property, the
redemption shall be made subject to such lease: Provided, That the
payment of the price of sale may, at the discretion of the purchaser,
be made in installments, extending over a period not exceeding twelve
months, but the initial payment, which must be made on the date of the
filing of the application for redemption, and every subsequent payment,
shall not be less than twenty-five per centum of the entire sum due,
and shall in no case be less than two pesos, unless the total or the
balance of the amount due on all seized property in the name of the
taxpayer is less than two pesos. The purchaser may occupy the property
after paying the first installment, and the usual taxes on the property
shall be payable in the year after that in which the application for
redemption was approved. Any failure of the purchaser to pay an
installment on the date it is due shall have the effect of a forfeiture
to the city government of any partial payment made by said purchaser,
and in case he has taken possession of the property due, he shall
forthwith surrender the same to the city government. In case the
purchaser should fail to relinquish possession of said property, the
city treasurer or his deputy shall forthwith surrender the same to
eject therefrom all the tenants or occupants thereof as provided for in
this Act: Provided, That the original owner of any real estate seized
prior to that approval of this Act, who redeems the same within six
months subsequent to its approval, is hereby released from any
obligation he may have to the government for rent for the use of such
property: Provided, further, That the provisions of this section shall
apply to redemption of real estate seized for delinquency in the
payment of taxes thereon and not redeemed up to the date of the
approval of this Act.
Sec. 58. Notice of sale of real estate at public
auction. — At any time after the forfeiture of any real estate shall
have become absolute, the treasurer, pursuant to the rules of procedure
promulgated by the Department Head, may announce the sale of the real
estate seized on account of delinquency for the payment of taxes
thereon, for the redemption of which no application has been filed.
Such announcement shall be made by posting a notice for three
consecutive weeks at the main entrances of the city hall and all the
municipal buildings of the province, in either English or Spanish, and
in the dialect commonly used in the locality, and by publishing the
same once a week for three consecutive weeks in the newspaper of
general circulation in the city. Copies of such shall be sent
immediately by registered mail to the delinquent taxpayer at the
latters' home address, if known. The notice shall state the amount of
the taxes and penalties due, the time and place of sale, the name of
the taxpayer against whom the taxes are levied, and the appropriate
area, the lot number and the location by district and street and the
street number and district or barrio where the real estate to be sold
is located.
Sec. 59. Sale of real estate; conditions. — At any
time during the sale or prior thereto, the taxpayer may stay the
proceedings by paying the taxes and penalties to the treasurer or his
duty. Otherwise the sale shall proceed and shall be held either at the
main entrance of the city hall or on the premises of the real estate to
be sold as the city treasurer, or his deputy may determine. The payment
of the sale price may, at the option of the purchaser, be made in
installments covering a period of not more than twelve months, but the
initial payment which shall be made at the time of the sale, and each
subsequent payment shall not be less than twenty-five per centum of the
sale price, and shall in no case be less than two pesos. The purchaser
may occupy the property after paying the first installment, and the
usual taxes on the property shall be payable in the year following that
in which the sale took place. Any failure of the purchaser to pay the
total price of the sale within twelve months from the date thereof
shall be sufficient ground for its cancellation, and any part payment
made shall revert to the government and if the purchaser has taken
possession of the property he shall forthwith surrender the same to the
city government. In case the purchaser should fail to relinquish
possession of the property, the city treasurer or his deputy shall
immediately take steps to eject the tenants or occupants of the
property in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Section fifty-
seven of this Act.
The city treasurer or his deputy shall make a report of the sale to the
Municipal Board within five days after the sale and shall make the same
appear on its records. The purchaser at this sale shall receive from
the city treasurer or his deputy a certificate showing the proceedings
of the sale, describing the property sold, stating the name of the
purchaser, the sale price, the conditions of payment, the amount paid
and the exact amount of the taxes and penalties.
Sec. 60. Redemption of real estate after sale. —
Within one year from and after the date of the sale the delinquent
taxpayer or any other person in his behalf, shall have the right to
redeem the property sold by paying to the city treasurer or his deputy
the amount of the taxes, penalties, costs and interests at the rate of
twelve per centum per annum on the purchase price, if paid in whole or
on any portion thereof as may have been paid by the purchaser, and such
payment shall invalidate the certificate of sale issued to the
purchaser, if any, and shall be issued by the city treasurer or his
deputy, stating that he has thus redeem the property, and the city
treasurer or his deputy upon the return by the purchaser of the
certificate of sale previously issued to him, shall forthwith refund to
the purchaser the entire sum paid by him with interest at twelve per
centum per annum, as provided for herein, and such property shall
thereafter be free from the lien of such taxes or penalties.
Sec. 61. Execution of deed of final sale. — In case
the delinquent taxpayer shall not redeem the property sold as herein
provided within one year from the date of the sale, and the purchaser
shall then have paid the total purchase price, the city treasurer, as
grantor, shall execute a deed in form and effect sufficient to convey
to the purchaser so much of the real estate against which the liens or
encumbrances of any kind whatsoever, and said deed shall succinctly
recite all the proceedings upon which the validity of the sale depends.
Any balance remaining from the proceeds of the sale, after deducting
the amount of the taxes and penalties due, and the costs, if any, shall
be returned to the original owner or his representatives.
Sec. 62. Taxes and penalties which shall be paid upon
redemption or repurchase. — The taxes and penalties to be paid by way
of redemption or repurchase, shall comprise in all cases only the
original tax by virtue of the failure to pay which the seizure was
made, and its incidental penalties, up to the date of the forfeiture of
the real estate to the government.
Sec. 63. Taxes; legal procedure. — (a) Assessment of
a tax shall constitute a lawful indebtedness of the taxpayer to the
city which may be enforced by civil action in any court of competent
jurisdiction, and this remedy shall be in addition to all remedies
provided by law.
(b) No court shall entertain any suit assailing the
validity of a tax assessed under this Charter until the taxpayer shall
have paid, under protest, the taxes assessed against him; nor shall any
court declare any tax invalid by reason of irregularities or
informalities in the proceedings of the officers charged with the
assessment of collection of taxes or of a failure to perform their
duties within the time specified for their performance, unless such
irregularities, informalities, or failure shall have impaired the
substantial rights of the axpayer.
(c) No court shall entertain any suit assailing the
validity of the tax sale of land under this Charter until the taxpayer
shall have paid into the court the amount for which the land was sold,
together with interest at the rate of twelve per centum per annum upon
the sum from the date of the sale to the time of instituting the suit.
The money so paid into the court shall belong and delivered to the
purchaser at the tax sale, if the deed is declared invalid, and shall
be returned to the depositor, should he fail in his action.
(d) No court shall declare any such sale invalid by
reason of any irregularities or informalities in the proceeding of the
officer charged with the duty of making the sale, or by reason of
failure by him to perform his duties with the time herein specified for
their performances unless such irregularities, informalities, of
failure shall have impaired the substantial rights of the
axpayer.
ARTICLE XIV
Tax Allotments and Special Assessment for Public Improvements
Sec. 64. Allotment of Internal Revenues and other
Taxes. — On the internal revenue accruing to the National Treasury
under Charter II, Title XII of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred
sixty-six, and other taxes collected by the National Government and
allotted to the various provinces, as well as the national aid for
schools, the city shall receive a share equal to what it would receive
if it were a regularly organized province.
Sec. 65. Power to levy special assessment for certain
purposes. — The Municipal Board may, by ordinance, provided for the
levying and collection, by special assessment of the land comprised
within the district or section of the city specially benefited, or a
part not to exceed sixty per centum of the cost of laying out, opening,
constructing, straightening, widening, extending, grading paving,
curbing, enlarging, or improving public avenues, roads, streets,
walling, deepening, or otherwise, establishing, repairing alleys,
sidewalks, parks, plazas, bridges, landing places, wharves, piers,
docks, levees, reservoirs, water-works, water mains, water courses,
esteros, canals, drains, and sewers, including the cost of acquiring
the necessary land and public improvements thereon, as hereinafter
provided.
In case of national public works the Municipal Board, as an agency of
the National Government shall, when the President of the Philippines so
directs it, provide for the levying and collection by special
assessment of the lands within the section or district of the city
specially benefited of the cost or a part thereof to be determined by
the President, of laying out, opening, constructing, straightening,
widening, extending, grading, paving, curbing, walling, or deepening,
or otherwise repairing, enlarging, or improving national roads and
other national public works within the city, including the cost of
acquiring the necessary land and improvements thereon.
Sec. 66. Basis of Apportionment. — The amount of the
special assessment shall be apportioned and computed according to the
assessed valuations of such lands as shown in the books of the city
assessor. If the property has not been declared for taxation purposes,
the city assessor shall immediately declare it for the owner and assess
its value, and such value shall be the basis of the apportionment and
computation of the special assessment due thereon.
Sec. 67. Property subject to special assessment. —
All lands comprised within the section or district benefited, except
those owned by the Republic of the Philippines, shall be subject to the
payment of the special assessment.
Sec. 68. Ordinance levying special assessment. — The
ordinance providing for the levying and collection of a special
assessment shall describe with reasonable accuracy the nature, extent,
and location of the work to be undertaken; the probable cost of the
work; the percentage of the cost to be defrayed by special assessment;
the district or section which shall be subject to the payment of the
special assessment and shall describe with reasonable accuracy metes
and bounds if practicable, and by other reasonable accurate means if
otherwise, and the period, which shall not be less than five nor more
than ten years, in which said special assessment shall be payable
without interest. One uniform rate per centum for all lands in the
entire district or section subject to the payment of all the special
assessment need not be established, but different rates for different
parts or sections of the city according as said property will derive
greater or less benefit from the proposed work, may be fixed.
It shall be the duty of the city engineer to make the plans,
specifications, and estimates of public works contemplated to be
undertaken.
Sec. 69. Publication of proposed ordinance levying
special assessment. — The proposed special assessment ordinance shall
be published, with a list of the owners of the lands affected thereby,
once a week for four consecutive weeks in any newspaper published in
the city, one in English, one in Spanish, and one in the local dialect,
if there be any, and in default of local papers, in any newspaper of
general circulation in the city. The said ordinance in English,
Spanish, and the local dialect shall also be posted in places where
public notices are generally posted in the city and also in the
district or section where the public improvement is constructed or
contemplated to be constructed.
The Secretary of the Municipal Board shall, on application, furnish a
copy of the proposed ordinance to each landowner affected or his agent
and shall, if possible, send to all of them a copy of said proposed
ordinance by ordinary mail or otherwise.
Sec. 70. Protest against special assessment. — Not
later than thirty days after the last publication of the ordinances and
the list of landowners, as provided in the preceding section, the
landowners affected may file with the Municipal Board a protest against
the enactment of the ordinance. The protest shall be duly signed by
them and shall set forth the addresses of the signers and the arguments
in support of their objection or protest against the special assessment
established in the ordinance. If no protest is filed within the time
and under the condition above specified, the ordinance shall be
considered approved as published.
Sec. 71. Hearing of protest. — The Municipal Board
shall designate a date and place for the hearing of the protest filed
in accordance with the next preceding section and shall give reasonable
time to all protestants who have given their addresses and to all
landowners affected by any protest or protests, and shall order the
publication once a week for two consecutive weeks, of a notice of the
place and date of the hearing in the same manner herein provided for
the publication of the proposed special assessment ordinance. All
pertinent arguments and evidences presented by the landowners' interest
or their attorney shall be attached to the proper records. After the
hearing, the Municipal Board shall either modify its ordinance or
approve it in toto and send notice of its decision to all interested
parties who have given their addresses, and shall order the publication
of the ordinance as approved finally together with a list of the owners
of the parcels of land affected by the special assessment, three times
weekly, for three consecutive weeks, in the same manner hereinabove
prescribed. The ordinance finally passed by said body shall be sent to
the Mayor with all the papers pertaining thereto, for his approval or
veto as in the case of other city ordinances. If the Mayor approves it,
the ordinance shall be published as above provided, but if he vetoes
it, the procedure in similar cases provided in this Charter shall be
observed.
Sec. 72. When the ordinance is to take effect. — Upon
the expiration of thirty days from the date of the last publication of
the ordinance as finally approved, the same shall be effective in all
respects, if no appeal therefrom is taken to the proper authorities in
the manner hereinafter prescribed.
Sec. 73. Appeals. — At any time before the ordinance
providing for the levying and collection of special assessments becomes
effective in accordance with the preceding section, appeals from such
assessment may be filed with the President of the Philippines in case
of public works undertaken or contemplated to be undertaken by the
National Government, and with the Secretary of Finance in the case of
public works undertaken or contemplated to be undertaken by the city.
In the cases, the appeal shall be in writing and signed by at least a
majority of the owners of the lands situated in the special assessment
zone whose holdings represent more than one-half of the total assessed
value of the lands affected. The appellant or appellants shall
immediately give the Municipal Board a written notice of the appeal,
and the Secretary of the Municipal Board shall, within thirty days
after receipt of the notice of appeal, forward to the officer who has
jurisdiction to decide the appeal an expert from the minutes of the
Board relative to the proposed special assessment and all the documents
in connection therewith.
Sec. 74. Decision of the Appeal. — Only appeals made
within the time and in the manner prescribed in this Act shall be
entertained, and the officer of whom the appeal is made may call for
further hearing or decide the same in accordance with its merits as
shown in the papers or documents submitted to him. All appeals shall be
decided within sixty days after receipt by the appellate officer of the
docket of the case, and such decision shall be final.
Sec. 75. Fixing the amount of special assessment. —
As soon as the ordinance is in full force and effect, the city
treasurer shall determine the amount of the special assessment which
the owner of each parcel of land comprised within the zone described in
the ordinance levying the same is to pay each year during the
prescribed period, and shall send to each landowner a notice thereof by
ordinary mail. If upon completion of the public works it should appear
that the actual cost thereof is smaller or greater than the estimated
cost, the city treasurer shall without delay proceed to correct the
assessment by increasing or decreasing, as the case may be, the special
tax on each parcel of land affected for the balance of the unpaid
annual installments. If all annual installments have already been paid,
the city treasurer shall fix the amount of credit to be allowed to, or
the additional special tax to be levied upon, the land as the case may
be. In all cases, he shall give notice of such rectifications to the
parties interested.
Sec. 76. Payment of special assessment. — All sums
due from any landowner or owners as the result of any action taken
pursuant to this Article shall be payable to the city treasurer in the
same manner as the annual ordinary tax levied upon real property, and
shall be subject to the same penalties for delinquency and be enforced
in the same manner as said annual ordinary tax; and all said sums
together with any of said penalties shall, from the dates on which they
were assessed, constitute special liens on payment of the ordinary real
property tax. If, upon recomputation of the amount of the special
assessment in accordance with the next preceding section, it appears
that the landowner has paid more than what is correctly due from him,
the amount paid in excess shall be refunded to him immediately upon
demand; in the other case, the landowner shall have one year within
which to pay without penalty the amount still due from him. Said period
shall be counted upon the date the landowner received the proper
notice.
Sec. 77. Disposition of proceeds. — The proceeds of
the special assessment and penalties thereon shall be applied
exclusively to the purpose or purposes for which the assessment were
levied. It shall be the duty of the city treasurer to turn over to the
National Treasury all collections made by him from special assessment
levies for national public works.
ARTICLE XV
City Budget
Sec. 78. Annual Budget. — At least four months before
the beginning for each fiscal year, the city treasurer shall present to
the Mayor a certified established statement by department of all
receipts and expenditures of the city pertaining to the preceding
fiscal year, and to the first seven months of the current fiscal year
together with an estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the
remainder of the current fiscal year and he shall submit with this
statement a detailed estimate of the revenues and receipts of the city
from all sources for the ensuing fiscal year. Upon receipt of this
statement and estimate and the estimates of department heads as
required by Section twenty-one of this Charter, the Mayor shall
formulate and submit to the Municipal Board at least two and a half
months before the beginning of the ensuing fiscal year, a detailed
budget covering the estimated necessary expenditure for the said
ensuing fiscal year, which shall be the basis of the annual
appropriation ordinance: Provided, however, That in no case shall the
aggregate amount of such appropriation exceed the estimate of revenues
and receipts submitted by the city treasurer as provided above.
Sec. 79. Supplemental budget. — Supplemental budget
formulated in the same manner as the annual budget may be adopted when
special or unforeseen circumstances make such action necessary.
Sec. 80. Failure to enact an appropriation ordinance.
— Whenever the Municipal Board fails to enact an appropriation
ordinance for any fiscal year before the end of the current fiscal
year, the appropriation ordinance for such year shall be deemed
reenacted, and shall go into effect on the first day of July of the new
fiscal year as the appropriation ordinance for that year.
ARTICLE XVI
The Municipal Court
Sec. 81. Regular, auxiliary, and acting judges of
municipal courts. — There shall be a municipal court for the City of
Calbayog for which there shall be appointed a municipal judge and an
auxiliary municipal judge. The Municipal Board may, when the
circumstances so warrant and subject to the approval of the Secretary
of Justice, appropriate the necessary amount for the establishment of
another branch of the municipal court, the judge and auxiliary branch
of the municipal court, the judge and auxiliary judge thereof to be
appointed as herein provided.
The municipal judge may, upon proper application to the Secretary of
Justice, be allowed a vacation of not more than thirty days every year
with salary. The auxiliary municipal judge in case of absence,
incapacity or inability of the latter until he assumes his post, or
until a new judge shall have been appointed. During his incumbency, the
auxiliary municipal judge shall enjoy the powers, emoluments and
privileges of the municipal judge who shall not receive any
remuneration therefor except the salary to which he is entitled by
reason of his vacation provided for in this Charter.
In case of absence, incapacity of inability, of both the municipal
judge and auxiliary municipal judge, the Secretary of Justice shall
designate the justice of the peace of any of the adjoining
municipalities to preside over the municipal court, and he shall hold
office temporarily until the regular incumbent or the auxiliary judge
thereof shall have resumed office, or until another judge shall have
been appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Charter. The
justice of the peace so designated shall receive his salary as justice
of the peace plus seventy per cent of the salary of the municipal judge
whose office he has temporarily assumed. The municipal judge shall
receive a salary of six thousand pesos per annum.
Sec. 82. Clerk and employee of the Municipal Court. —
There shall be a clerk of the municipal court who shall be appointed by
the municipal judge in accordance with Civil Service Law, rules and
regulations, and who shall receive a compensation of two thousand four
hundred pesos per annum. He shall keep the seal of the court and affix
if to all orders, judgments, certificates, records, and other documents
issued by the court, in which he shall record in a summary manner the
names of the parties and the various proceedings in civil cases, and in
criminal cases, the name of the defendant, the charge against him, the
names of the witnesses, the date of the arrest, the appearance of the
defendant, together with the fines and costs adjudged or collected in
accordance with the judgment. He shall have power to administer oaths.
The clerk of the municipal court shall at the same time be sheriff of
the city and shall have, as such, the same powers and duties conferred
by existing law upon sheriffs. The municipal court may provide for two
clerks in the office of the clerk of the municipal court as the needs
of the service may demand. Said clerks shall be appointed by the Mayor
subject to Civil Service rules and regulations.
Sec. 83. Jurisdiction of municipal court. — The
Municipal Court shall have the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal
cases and the same incidental powers as conferred by law upon municipal
courts of chartered cities.
Sec. 84. Procedure in the municipal court in
prosecutions for violation of laws and ordinances. — In a prosecution
for the violation of any ordinance, the first process shall be a
summons; except that a warrant for the arrest of the offender may be
issued in the first instance upon the affidavit of any person that such
ordinance has been violated; and that the person making the complaint
has reasonable grounds to believe that the party charged is guilty
thereof, which warrant shall conclude: "Against the ordinance of the
city in such cases made and provided." All proceedings and prosecutions
for offenses against the laws of the Philippines shall conform to the
rules relating to process, pleading, practice, and procedure for the
judiciary of the Philippines, and such rules shall govern the municipal
court and its officers in all cases insofar as the same may be
applicable. An appeal from the municipal court to the Court of First
Instance shall be governed by the provisions of the Rules of
Court.
Sec. 85. Preliminary investigations in the city
fiscal's office, municipal court and Court of First Instance. — Every
person arrested shall, without necessary delay, be brought before the
city fiscal, the municipal court or the Court of First Instance for
preliminary hearing, release on bail, or trial. In cases triable in the
municipal court the defendant shall not be entitled as of right to a
preliminary investigation, except to summary one to enable the court to
fix the bail in any case where the prosecution announces itself ready
and is ready for trial within three days, not including Sundays, after
the request for an investigation is presented. In cases triable only in
the Court of First Instance the defendant shall not be entitled as of
right to preliminary investigation in any case where the fiscal of the
city, after a due examination of the facts, shall have presented an
information against him in proper form. But the Court of First Instance
may make such summary investigation into the case it may deem necessary
to enable it to fix the bail or determine whether the offense is
bailable.
Sec. 86. Costs, fees, fines and forfeiture in
municipal court. — There shall be taxed against and collected from the
defendant, in case of his conviction in the municipal court, such costs
and fees as may be prescribed by law in criminal cases in justice of
the peace courts. All costs fees, fines and forfeitures shall be
collected by the clerk of court, who shall keep a docket of those
imposed and of those collected, and shall pay collections of the same
to the city treasurer, for the benefit of the city, on the next
business day the same are collected, and take receipts therefor. The
municipal judge shall examine said docket each day, compare the same
with the amount receipted for by the city treasurer and satisfy himself
that all such costs, fees, fines and forfeitures have been duly
accounted for.
Sec. 87. Commitment to prison. — No person shall be
confined in the prison by sentence of the municipal court until the
warden or officer in charge of the prison shall receive a written
commitment showing the offense for which the prisoner was tried, the
date of the trial, the exact terms of the judgment or sentence, and the
date of the order of the commitment. The clerk shall, under seal of the
court, issue such commitment in each case of sentence to imprisonment.
ARTICLE XVII
Final and Transitory Provisions
Sec. 88. Change of government. — The incumbent mayor,
vice-mayor and members of the municipal board of the City of Calbayog
shall continue in office as the mayor, vice-mayor, and members of the
Municipal Board of the city, respectively, until the expiration of
their present terms of office.
Sec. 89. Election of Provincial Governor and members
of the Provincial Board of the Province of Samar. — The voters of the
City of Calbayog shall be qualified and entitled to vote in the
election of the Provincial Governor and the members of the Provincial
Board of Samar.
Sec. 90. Representative District. — Until otherwise
provided by law, the City of Calbayog shall continue as part of the
first representative district of the Province of Samar.
Sec. 91. Republic Act Numbered Three Hundred
Twenty-eight as amended by Republic Acts Numbered One thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, two thousand six hundred eighty-nine and Two
thousand three hundred sixty-six, are hereby repealed.
Sec. 92. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Approved: June 17, 1961.
|