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REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4584

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4584 - AN ACT CREATING THE CITY OF LAOAG

ARTICLE I
Title of Act

SECTION 1. Title of Act. — This Act shall be known as the Charter of the City of Laoag.

ARTICLE II
General Provisions

SECTION 2.    Territory of the City of Laoag. — The City of Laoag, which is hereby created, shall comprise the present territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of Laoag, Province of Ilocos Norte.

SECTION 3.    Corporate character of the city. — The City of Laoag constitutes a political body corporate and as such in 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.

SECTION 4.    Seal 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 as well as defend to final judgment and execution actions where its interests are involved, and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred.

SECTION 5.    City not liable for damages. — The city shall not be liable or held for damages or injuries to persons or property arising from the failure of the City Mayor, the City Council, 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 City Mayor, City Council 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 or omission in the performance of his duties.

SECTION 6.    Jurisdiction of the city. — The jurisdiction of the City of Laoag for police purposes shall be co-extensive with its territorial jurisdiction; and shall extend to three miles from the shores of the city; and for the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply of the city, such police jurisdiction shall also extend over all territory within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct or pumping station used in connection with the city water service. The City Court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the municipal court of the respective municipalities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within said drainage area, or within said space of one hundred meters. The court first taking jurisdiction of such an offense shall thereafter retain exclusive jurisdiction thereof. The police forces of the several municipalities concerned shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the police force of the city for the maintenance of good order and the enforcement of ordinances throughout said zone, area and space. But any license that may be issued within said zone, area or space shall be granted by the proper authorities of the municipality concerned, and the fees arising therefrom shall accrue to the treasury of the said municipality concerned and not to that of the city.

ARTICLE III
The City Mayor and City Vice-Mayor

SECTION 7.    The City Mayor. — The Mayor shall be the chief executive of the city. He shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city and shall hold office for a term of four years, the first elected mayor to begin serving upon the expiration of the term of office of the incumbent municipal mayor. He shall receive a compensation of six thousand pesos per annum, and shall be entitled in addition to this salary, to a non-commutable allowance of not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum. No person shall be eligible for election as mayor unless he is not less than thirty years of age, a resident of the city or that of the former Municipality of Laoag for at least two years prior to his election, and a qualified voter therein.

SECTION 8.    The City Vice-Mayor. — There shall be a vice-mayor who shall be chosen in the same manner as the City Mayor, and shall possess the same qualifications as that of the City Mayor. He shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the City Mayor in the event of the death, sickness, absence or other temporary incapacity of the incumbent, or in the event of a permanent vacancy in the position of City Mayor.

If for any reason, the Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated for the performance of the duties of the City Mayor, or said office of the Vice-Mayor is vacant, the duties and powers of the City Mayor shall be performed and exercised by the councilor who obtained the highest number of votes during the election for members of the City Council. The Vice-Mayor shall be the presiding officer of the City Council with no right to vote except in case of tie, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the City Mayor or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall receive a compensation of four thousand two hundred pesos per annum.

SECTION 9.    General powers and duties of the City Mayor. — Unless otherwise provided by law, the City Mayor shall have immediate control over the executive and administrative functions of the different departments of the city, subject to the authority and supervision of the Office of the President. 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 properties and rights of the city, and, subject to the provisions of this Charter, have control over all its property;

(c)    To see that all taxes and other revenues of the city are collected and applied in accordance with appropriations to the payment of city expenses;

(d)    To cause to be instituted judicial proceedings to recover property and funds of the city wherever 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 concerned 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;

(f)    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 at least once a year and whenever occasion arises. For this purpose he shall be provided by the city council with such clerical or other assistance as may be necessary;

(g)    To give such information and recommend such measures to the council as he shall deem advantageous to the city;

(h)    To represent the city in all its business matters and sign in its behalf all its bonds, contracts, and obligations made in accordance with law or ordinance;

(i)    To submit to the city council at least two months before the beginning of each fiscal year a budget of receipts and expenditures of the city;

(j)    To receive, hear, and decide as he may deem proper the petitions, complaints, and claims of the residents concerning all classes of municipal matter of an administrative or executive character;

(k)    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 if acts prohibited by law or municipal ordinance are being committed under the protection of such license or in the premises in which the business for which the same have been granted is carried on, or for any other good reason of general interest;

(l)    To exempt, with the concurrence of the division superintendent of schools, deserving poor pupils from the payment of school fees or any part thereof;

(m)    To take such emergency measures as may be necessary to avoid fires and floods and mitigate the effects of storms and other public calamities;

(n)    To submit an annual report to the Office of the President; and

(o)    To perform such other duties and exercise such other executive powers as may be prescribed by law or ordinance.

SECTION 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 less than one thousand eight hundred pesos per annum.

The Secretary shall have charge and custody of all records and documents of the city and of any office or department 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 the government of the city as may be required by law or 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 or fraction thereof, including the certificate, such fees to be paid directly to the city treasurer; and shall perform such other duties as the mayor may require of him.

ARTICLE IV
The City Council

SECTION 11.    Composition and compensation. — The City Council shall be the legislative body of the city and shall be composed of the vice-mayor who shall be its presiding officer, and eight councilors who shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city during every election for provincial, city and municipal officials in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code. In case of sickness, absence, suspension or other temporary disability of any member of the council, or if necessary to maintain a quorum, the President of the Philippines may appoint a temporary substitute who shall possess all the rights and perform all the duties of a member of the council until the return to duty of the regular incumbent.

If the vice-mayor or any member of the City Council shall be a 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 City Council shall receive a salary of one thousand eight hundred pesos each per annum.

SECTION 12.    Qualifications, election, suspension, and removal of members. — The members of the City Council shall, at the time of their election, be qualified voters of the city, residents therein for at least two years prior to their election, and not less than twenty-five 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 officials and the provisions of law governing the suspension or removal of elective provincial officials are hereby made applicable in the suspension or removal of said members.

Elections for members of the council shall be held on the date of the regular election for provincial, city and municipal officials, and elected members shall assume office on the first day of January immediately following their election, upon qualifying, and shall hold office for four years and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified. The eight candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected. A vacancy in the city council shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Election Code.

SECTION 13.    Secretary of the Council. — The council shall have a secretary who shall be appointed by it to serve during the term of office of the members thereof. The compensation of the secretary shall be fixed by ordinance at not less than one thousand eight hundred pesos per annum. A vacancy in the office of the secretary shall be filled temporarily for the unexpired term in like manner.

The Secretary shall be in charge of the records of the city council. He shall keep a complete record of the proceedings of the council, 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 council, with the dates of passage of the same and of the publication of ordinances; shall keep a seal, circular in form, with the inscription "City Council — City of Laoag," in the center of which shall be placed the coat of arms of the city, and affix the same, with his signature to all ordinances and other official acts of the council and shall present the same for signature to the presiding officer; shall cause each 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 therefor such fees as may be prescribed by resolution of the council; and shall keep his office and all records therein which are not of a confidential nature open to public inspection during usual business hours.

SECTION 14.    Legislative procedure. — The city council shall hold one regular session for the transaction of business each week on a day which it shall fix by resolution, and such special sessions as may be necessary for the public interest, as may be called by the mayor. Its sessions, regular or special, shall be open to the public, unless otherwise ordered by the affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council. It shall keep a record of all its proceedings and determine its rules of procedures not herein set forth. A majority of all the members of the council 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 who is absent without good cause by issuing to the police of the city an order for his arrest and attendance at the session under such penalties as shall have been previously prescribed by ordinance. The affirmative vote of a majority of all the members 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 shall present at any session duly called and held. The ayes and nays shall be taken and recorded upon the passage of all ordinances, upon all resolutions or 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 city council, and recorded in a book kept for the purpose and shall, on the day following its passage, be posted by the secretary at the main entrance of the city hall and in at least two other public places, and shall take effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following its passage unless otherwise stated in said ordinance resolution or 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 votes unless otherwise stated in the ordinance, resolution or motion.

Each ordinance and each resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the council, 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 approval or veto. If he does not return it within that time, it shall be deemed to be approved. If he returns it with his veto, his reasons therefor in writing shall accompany it. It may then again be enacted by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the council.

The Mayor shall have the power to veto any particular item or items of an appropriation ordinance, or of any ordinance, resolution or motion directing the payment of 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, resolution or motions returned to the council 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 deem reenacted.

SECTION 15.    General powers and duties of the Council. — Except as otherwise provided by law, and subject to the conditions and limitations thereof, the City Council shall have the following legislative powers:

(a)    To provide for the levy and collection of taxes for general and specific purposes in accordance with law, including specially the power to levy real property tax not to exceed one and one-half per centum ad valorem: provided, that the said minimum 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 the 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 make all appropriations for the expenses for the government of the city;

(d)    To authorize the free distribution of medicine to the employees and laborers of the city whose salary or wage do not exceed one hundred and twenty pesos per month or four pesos per day, and of evaporated or fresh native 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;

(e)    To fix the tariff of fees and charges for all services rendered by the city or any of its departments, branches or officials;

(f)    To provide for the erection and maintenance or the rental, in case of need, of the necessary buildings for the use of the city;

(g)    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 acquire sites for schoolhouse for primary and intermediate classes through purchase or conditional or absolute donation;

(h)    To establish and 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 fees for instruction in the vocational schools and in the institutions of higher learning supported by the city;

(i)    To maintain the city court established by law which shall have jurisdiction over all criminal cases under the ordinances of the city, and such further jurisdiction as may be herein or hereafter conferred;

(j)    To provide for and maintain an efficient police force for the maintenance of law and 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;

(k)    To provide 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;

(l)    To establish fires 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, repair, or demolition of buildings and other structures;

(m)    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 and rockets, and other pyrotechnic displays, and to fix the fees for such permits;

(n)    To make regulations to protect the public from conflagrations and to prevent and mitigate the effects of famine, floods, storms and other public calamities, and provide relief for victims thereof;

(o)    To tax, regulate and fix the amount of license fees for the following: hawkers, peddlers, hucksters or peddlers, barbers, collecting agencies, manicurists, hair dressers, 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 and other provisions; and to impose a municipal occupation tax, not to exceed fifty pesos per annum, on lawyers, physicians, dentists, architects, civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical or mining engineers, radio engineers or technicians, certified public accountants, opticians and optometrists, veterinarians, land surveyors, insurance agents and sub-agents, business agents and business consultants, professional appraisers or connoisseurs of tobacco of other domestic or foreign products, music teachers, piano tuners, nurses and midwives, auctioneers, plumbers, electrical contractors, building contractors, massagists, physical culture instructors, chiropodists, money changers, real estate, commercial and other brokers, and persons engaged in the transportation of passengers or freight by hire, including common carriers 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;

(p)    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 pool 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, lumber yards, shipyards, the storage and sale of gunpowder, tar, 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 law, tanneries, renderies, tallow chandleries, bone factories, soap factories: provided, that no license shall be granted to any theater or cinematograph unless the applicant for said license agrees to exhibit pictures made in the Philippines to the extent of five per centum of their annual exhibitions: provided, finally, that any violation of this condition shall cause the revocation of said license;

(q)    To tax and fix the license fees on pictures or bookbinders or both, manufacturers of 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;

(r)    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 purpose of this section, the term "general merchandise" shall include poultry and livestock agricultural products, fish and other allied products;

(s)    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, lambanog, offered for retail sale;

(t)    To impose a tax on all products or commodities manufactured or produced in the city and removed therefrom;

(u)    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;

(v)    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 the licenses of the engineers engaged in operating the same;

(w)    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 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;

(x)    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;

(y)    To establish and maintain municipal pounds; to regulate, restrain, and prohibit the running at large of domestic animals, and provide for the distraining, impounding, and sale of the same for the penalty incurred, and the cost of the proceedings; and to impose penalties upon the owners of said animals for the violation of any ordinance in relation thereto;

(z)    To prohibit, and provide for the punishment of, cruelty to animals;

(aa)    To require property owners by ordinance to construct or repair, at their expense, sidewalks along the street or streets adjacent to their lots in accordance with the specifications of the city engineer as to the 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 a 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 Laoag in the same manner as the annual tax levied on real estate and shall be made subject to the same penalties for delinquency, and enforceable by the 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 any and all other liens which may exist upon such property excepting only such as may have been attached as a result of the nonpayment of said annual tax;

(bb)    To regulate the inspection, weighing, and measuring of brick, lumber, coal and other articles or merchandise;

(cc)    Subject to the provisions of existing law, to provide for the laying out, construction and improvement, and to regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, wharves, piers, parks, cemeteries, and other public places; to provide for lighting, cleaning , and sprinkling of streets, and public places; to regulate, fix the license fees for and prohibit the use of the same for processions, signs, signposts, awnings, awning posts, and the carrying or displaying of banners, placards, advertisements, 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 streets 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, 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 and regulate crosswalks, curbs and gutters thereon to name streets without names 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 and owners thereof; to provide for the construction and maintenance, and regulate the use of bridges, viaducts, and culverts; to prohibit and regulate ball playing, hoop rolling, and other amusements which may annoy persons using the streets and public places, or frighten horses or other animals; to regulate the speed of horse and other animal driven vehicles within the limits of the city;

(dd)    To provide for the construction and maintenance of, and regulate the navigation on, canals and water courses within the city and provide for the cleaning 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 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;

(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, cisterns and reservoirs;

(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 by 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 any discrimination or the exclusion of any race or races in or from any institution, establishment, 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 the 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 and unusual noises; to provide that owners, agents, or tenants of buildings or premises keep and maintain the same in sanitary condition, 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 a sanitary condition, and the cost 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, or fix the license fees for the use of property on or near public ways, grounds, or places, or elsewhere within the city, or display by electric signs or the erection or maintenance of billboards or structures of 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 extend its ordinance 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 other 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 light 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 and any of its constituent barrios, and limit the holding of the same to once in three years, the date fixed for the celebration thereof;

(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 powers 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;

(rr)    To exercise the power of eminent domain with the approval of the Department Head concerned or the President of the Philippines, for the following purposes; the construction or extension of roads, streets, sidewalks, boulevards, seawalls, bridges, ferries, levees, wharves, or piers, airfields, the construction of public buildings including schoolhouses and the making of necessary improvements in connection therewith; the establishment of parks, playgrounds, plazas, market places, artesian wells, or systems for the supply of water, irrigation, canals and dams, and the establishment of nurseries, breeding centers for animals, health centers, hospitals, cemeteries, crematories, drainage systems, cesspools, or sewage system and abattoirs;

(ss)    To dispose by lease or otherwise all lands of the public domain ceded to it by the National Government pursuant to the provisions of this Charter.

SECTION 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 an opportunity to be heard, the Mayor should decide that any sign, signboard, or billboard displayed or exposed to public view is 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 thereof.

ARTICLE V
Departments and Offices of the City

SECTION 17.    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 not withstanding: (a) Finance and Assessment Department; (b) Engineering and Public Works Department; (c) Law Department; (d) Health Department; and (e) Police and Fire Department.

The City Council may from time to time make such readjustments of the duties of the different departments as the public interest may demand and, with the approval of the President, may consolidate any department, division or office with any other department, division or office of the city.

SECTION 18.    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 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 during 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 absence or sickness, or inability to act for any other reason, of the head of any of the city departments, or in case of temporary vacancy, the officer next in rank in that department shall act in his place with authority to sign all necessary papers, vouchers, requisitions, and similar documents.

SECTION 19.    Appointment and removal of officials and employees. — The President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, shall appoint the city judge, the city treasurer, the city engineer, the city fiscal, the chief of police, the city health officer, the city assessor, 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.

SECTION 20.    Officers not to engage in certain transactions. — It shall be unlawful for any city officer, 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 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 surety 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 other Offices

SECTION 21.    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 provincial auditor of the Province of Ilocos Norte shall at the same time be ex-officio city auditor.

SECTION 22.    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 division superintendent of schools of the Province of Ilocos Norte shall at the same time be the ex-officio city superintendent of schools, and 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 salaries of the supervisors, principals, teachers and other operational expenses of the primary, intermediate, high school, and other public schools in the city shall be borne by the National Government.

SECTION 23.    The Land Registration Commission. — The Commissioner of the Land Registration Commission shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines, and the register of deeds of the Province of Ilocos Norte shall be the ex-officio register of deeds of the city.

ARTICLE VII
Finance and Assessment Department

SECTION 24.    The City Treasurer. — There shall be a city treasurer who shall have charge of the finance and assessment department and shall act as chief fiscal officer and financial adviser of the city and custodian of its funds. He shall receive a salary of four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall at the same time be the ex-officio city assessor, and 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 properties 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 city court;

(b)    He shall collect all miscellaneous charges made by the engineering and public works 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)    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;

(d)    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;

(e)    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;

(f)    He shall deposit all city funds and collections in any bank duly designated as Government depository in accordance with the existing rules and regulations;

(g)    He shall disburse the funds of the city in accordance with duly authorized appropriations, upon properly executed vouchers bearing the approval of the head of the department concerned, and on or before the twentieth day of each month he shall furnish the Mayor and the City Council, 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; and

(h)    He shall be the custodian of all moneys released for public works for the city from the National Government, and shall disburse the same.

The city treasurer, as ex-officio city assessor, shall have the following powers and duties:

(a)    The city assessor and his authorized deputies are empowered to administer any oath authorized to be administered in connection with the valuation of the 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 and the city showing the ownership of real estate in the city.

SECTION 25.    Real estate exempt from taxation. — The following shall be exempt from taxation:

(a)    Lands or buildings owned by the National Government or the City of Laoag, and burial grounds, churches, and adjacent parsonages and convents, and lands or buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes, and not for profit.

(b)    Lands and buildings which are the only real property of the owner, and the value of which does not exceed four hundred pesos.

(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 two years of the operation of the machinery.

SECTION 26.     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, a sworn declaration setting forth the value of the real estate acquired or the improvement constructed or addition made by him and 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 said 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.

SECTION 27.    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, or if the city assessor 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 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 of each shall be made.

SECTION 28.    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 had been assessed at the time when they should have been assessed.

SECTION 29.    When assessment may be increased or reduced. — The city assessor 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 during the preceding year, and any property which is taxable and which has theretofore escaped taxation. He may, during the same period, revise and correct the assessed value of any or all parcels 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.

SECTION 30.    Publication of complete list and proceedings thereon. — The city assessor shall, after the list 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 charged 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 said owner or agent in the Philippines, sometime in the month of January. It shall be his 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 persons against whom taxes have been assessed as owners of real estate, and he shall make his decision forthwith and enter the same in a well-bound book, to be kept by him for that purpose, and if he shall determine that injustice have been done or errors have been committed he is authorized to amend the list in accordance with his findings.

SECTION 31.    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 foregoing list contains a true statement of the piece or pieces 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 Laoag has been omitted from the list, according to the best of my knowledge and belief.

__________________________
(Signature)
City Assessor"

SECTION 32.    Time and manner of appealing to Board of Tax Appeals. — 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 Appeals with all the written evidence in his possession relating to such assessment and valuation.

SECTION 33.    Constitution and compensation of members of Board of Tax Appeals. — There shall be a 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 Board of Tax Appeals shall hold office for a term of two years unless sooner removed by the President of the Philippines.

SECTION 34.    Oath to be taken by members of the Board of Tax Appeals. — Before organizing as such, the members of the Board of Tax Appeals shall take the following oath before the city judge or some other officer authorized to administer oaths:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will hear 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 four words are to be stricken out.)

_____________________________
Signature
Member of the Board of Tax Appeals

"Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this _______ day of _____________, 19___.

_____________________________
(Signature and title of officer
administering oath)"

SECTION 35.    Proceedings before Board of Tax Appeals and the Department Head. — The Board of Tax Appeals shall hold such number of sessions as may be authorized by the Secretary of Finance, shall hear all appeals only transmitted to it and shall decide the same forthwith. 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 have power to revise and correct, with the approval of the Department Health first had, any and all erroneous or unjust assessments and valuations for taxation, and make a correct 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 as 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 Board of Tax Appeals before any reassessment or revaluation is made. The decision of the 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 circumstance justify. Such revision when approved by the President of the Philippines shall be final.

SECTION 36.    Taxes on real estate — Extension and remission of the tax. — A tax, the rate of which shall not exceed two per centum ad valorem to be determined by the city council, shall be levied annually on or before the second Monday of January on the assessed value of all real estate in the city subject to taxation. All taxes for any year shall be due and payable annually on the first day of June and from this date such taxes together with all penalties accruing thereto shall constitute a lien on the property subject to such taxation.

Such liens 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 duly 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 City Council simultaneously with the rate per centum ad valorem: provided, that the time limit for the first and second installments shall set at not later than the thirty-first day of May and the thirtieth 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 had willing and ready to pay the tax but is unable to effect it on account of the large number of taxpayers therein present, shall be furnished a properly prescribed card which will entitle him to pay the tax without penalty on the following day.

The words paid "under protest" shall be written upon the face of the real estate tax receipt upon the request of 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 at the rate of two per centum for each full month of delinquency that has expired, on the amount of 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 the prices of products is registered in any year, or that a similar disaster extends throughout the province, or for other good and sufficient reason, the City Council may, by resolution passed on or before the thirty-first day of December of each year, extend the time for the collection of the tax on real estate in the City of Laoag for a period not to exceed three months, or remit wholly or in part the payment of the tax or 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 taxes for any year in the city if he deems this to be in the public interest.

SECTION 37.    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 corresponding penalties shall remain unpaid ninety days after the 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 certificates, 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 of the personal property belonging to the delinquent person or persons in question not exempt from seizure; and these proceedings may be carried out by the city treasurer, his deputy, or any other officer, authorized to carry out legal proceedings.

SECTION 38.    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)    Tools and implements necessarily used by the delinquent in his trade or employment;

(b)    One horse, cow or carabao, or other beast 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 one hundred pesos;

(e)    Provisions for individual or family use sufficient for four months;

(f)    The professional libraries of lawyers, judges, clergymen, physicians, engineers, schoolteachers, and music teachers, not exceeding five hundred pesos in value;

(g)    The fishing boat and net, not exceeding the total value of one hundred pesos, the property of any fisherman, by the lawful use of which he earns a livelihood; and

(h)    Any article or material which forms part of a home or of any improvement on any real estate.

SECTION 39.    The owner may redeem 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 cost incurred up to the time of tender. The costs to be charged in making such seizure and sale shall only embrace the actual expenses 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.

SECTION 40.    Sale of seized personal property. — Unless redeemed as hereinbefore provided, the property seized through proceedings under Section thirty-seven 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 shall be sold to the highest bidder. The purchaser at such sale shall 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 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 such property was seized. If no satisfactory bid is offered in the aforementioned districts, another auction shall be had, upon notice published anew.

SECTION 41.    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 upon his records. Any surplus resulting from the sale, over and above the tax, penalty and cost, and any property remaining in the possession of the officer, shall be returned to the taxpayer on account of whose delinquency the sale has been made.

SECTION 42.    Vesting title to real estate in 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 provided for hereinbelow: 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 thereof.

SECTION 43.    Redemption of real estate before seizure. — At 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 his 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, the payment shall constitute 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 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.

SECTION 44.    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 Ilocos Norte, 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. A copy of said notice shall also be posted on the property subject to seizure. Such notices shall state the name of the delinquent persons, the date on which such delinquency commenced, the amount of the taxes and penalties then due from each, and shall state that unless such taxes and penalties are paid within ninety days from the date of the publication of such notice, the forfeiture of the delinquent real estate to the city government shall become absolute.

SECTION 45.    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 cost 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 officer authorized to enforce the law shall forthwith have all the tenants and occupants who refuse to recognize the title to 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.

SECTION 46.    Redemption of real property before sale. — After the title to the property shall have become vested in the city government in the manner provided for in Sections forty-two and forty-four hereof, 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 legal representatives or any person having any lien, right, or other legal interest or equity in said property, shall have the right to redeem the entire property in question by paying the full amount of 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 said lease: provided, that the payment of the price of sale may, at the discretion of the purchaser, be made on 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 any 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, he shall forthwith surrender the same to the city government. In case the purchaser shall fail to relinquish possession of said property, the city treasurer or his deputy shall forthwith adopt measures to eject therefrom all the tenants or occupants thereof as provided for in this Act: provided, however, that the original owner of any real estate seized prior to the 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: providedfinally, 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.

SECTION 47.    Notice of sale of real estate of public auction. — At any time after the forfeiture of any real estate shall have become absolute, the treasurer, pursuant to the rules of procedure to be promulgated by the Department Head, may announce the sale of the real estate seized on account of delinquency in 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 entrance of the city hall and of 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 during three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. Copies of such notice shall be sent immediately by registered mail to the delinquent taxpayer at the latter's home address, if known. The notice shall state the amount of the taxes and penalties so due, the time and place of such sale, the name of the taxpayer against whom the taxes are levied, and the approximate area, the lot number and the location of district and street and the street number and district or barrio where the real estate to be sold is located.

SECTION 48.    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 city treasurer or his deputy. Otherwise, the sale shall proceed and shall be held either at the main entrance of the city hall or in 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 on installments covering a period not exceeding twelve months, but the initial payment shall be made at 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 unless the total or balance of the amounts due on all seized property in the name of the taxpayer in 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. And 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 city 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 forty-five of this Act. The city treasurer or his deputy shall make a report of the sale to the City Council within five days after the sale and shall make the same appear on its records. The purchaser at his 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 condition of payment, the amount paid, and the exact amount of the taxes and penalties.

SECTION 49.    Redemption of real estate after sale. — Within one year from and after the date of 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 interest at the rate of twelve per centum per annum of the purchase price, if paid in whole, or of any portion thereof as may have been paid by the purchasers, and such payment shall invalidate the certificate of sale issued to the purchaser, and shall entitle the person making such payment to a certificate to be issued by the city treasurer or his deputy, stating that he has thus redeemed the property, and the city treasurer of his deputy upon the return by the purchaser of the certificate of sale previously issued to him, shall forthwith refund interest 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 and penalties.

SECTION 50.    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 taxes have been assessed as has been sold, free from all 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.

SECTION 51.    Taxes and penalties which shall be paid upon redemption or