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REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4585 - AN ACT
CREATING THE CITY OF LA CARLOTA
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| SECTION
1. This Act shall be known as the Charter of the City
of La Carlota. ARTICLE I
SECTION 2. Territory of the City of La Carlota. — The
City of La Carlota, which is hereby created, shall comprise the present
territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of La Carlota in the
Province of Negros Occidental.The City as a public corporation SECTION 3. Corporate character. — The City of La Carlota 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. SECTION 4. Seal and general powers of the City. — The City shall have a seal, which shall be used in all documents of official character and alter the same at pleasure. It may acquire, receive, hold, barter, donate, 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 the powers hereinafter conferred. SECTION 5. Liability for damages. — The city shall not be liable or held for damages or injuries to persons or property arising from the failure of the Mayor, the Municipal Board, or any other city officer, to enforce the provisions of this Charter, or any other law or ordinance, or from negligence of said Mayor, Municipal Board, or other officers while enforcing or attempting to enforce said provisions. SECTION 6. Jurisdiction of the City. — The jurisdiction of the City of La Carlota for police purposes shall be co-extensive with its territorial jurisdiction, 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 of pumping station used in connection with the city water service. SECTION 7. Relations between the City of La Carlota and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental. — For election purposes, the City of La Carlota unless otherwise provided shall continue as part of the Second Congressional District of the Province of Negros Occidental. The voters of the City of La Carlota shall take part in the election of provincial officers of Negros Occidental, but the latter shall have no jurisdiction over the City of La Carlota and the officers of the same. ARTICLE II
The Mayor SECTION 8. The Mayor. — The mayor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the city. He shall be at least thirty years of age, a resident of the city at least five years prior to his election, and a qualified voter therein: provided, that the first election for mayor shall be held at the general elections for provincial and municipal officials next following the approval of this Act. He shall hold office for four years, unless sooner removed for just cause and with due process of law, and shall receive a salary of not exceeding seven thousand two hundred pesos per annum. The Municipal Board may, in its discretion, provide quarters for the Mayor for commute the same in addition to his salary. The mayor shall be the chief executive of the city, and, as such, shall have immediate control over the executive functions of the different departments. The mayor may receive, in addition to his salary, an allowance to be fixed by the Municipal Board, which he may disburse for any lawful purpose incident to his duties as Mayor. SECTION 9. The Vice Mayor. — There shall be a Vice-Mayor who shall perform the duties of Mayor in the event of the sickness, absence or other temporary incapacity of the Mayor, or in the event of definite vacancy in the position of Mayor, until said office is filled in accordance with law. The vice-mayor shall also preside over the meeting of the Municipal Board, but he shall have no right to vote except in case of tie. If, for any reason, the vice-mayor is temporarily incapacitated for the performance of the duties of the mayor, or said office of the Vice-Mayor is vacant, the duties of the mayor shall be performed by a councilor who obtained the highest number of votes in the last election. If, in any event, the Vice-Mayor is discharging the duties of the Mayor, the councilor obtaining the highest number of votes in the last election shall be the presiding officer of the Municipal Board. The Vice-Mayor shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the mayor or prescribed by the law or ordinance. He 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. For services as acting Mayor the Vice-Mayor shall receive a total of the compensation equivalent to the salary of the mayor during such period. SECTION 10. General powers and duties of the Mayor. — As chief executive of the city government, the mayor shall have immediate control over the executive and administrative functions of the different departments, and shall be held accountable for the proper administration of all affairs of the city. He shall have the following powers and duties: (a) To comply with and enforce and give necessary orders for the faithful and proper enforcement and execution of the laws and city ordinances and resolutions in effect within the jurisdiction of the city. (b) To have direct control and supervision over all the lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits, and other property and right of the city, and subject to the provisions of this Charter, have control of all its property. (c) To see that all taxes and other revenues of the city are collected, and the city funds applied in accordance with appropriations to the payment of municipal 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 officers and employees of the city property discharge their respective duties. (f) To examine and inspect the books, records, and papers of all executive or administrative officers, agents, and employees of the city 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 represent the city in all its business matters, and sign on its behalf all its bonds, contracts, and obligations made in accordance with law or ordinances. (i) To submit to the Municipal Board before the thirty-first day of October of each 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 concerning all classes of municipal matters of an administrative or executive character. (k) To grant or refuse municipal licenses or permits of all classes and to revoke same, in conformity with the provisions of laws and ordinances, or for violation of the conditions upon which they were granted, or if acts prohibited by law or municipal ordinances are being committed under the protection of such licenses 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 determine according to law or ordinance the time, manner, and place of payment of the salaries and wages of the officers and employees of the city. (m) To make all appointments, except as otherwise provided in this Charter. (n) To make such emergency measures as may be necessary to avoid fires, floods, and to mitigate the effects of storms and other public calamities. (o) To render an annual report to the Office of the President. (p) To exercise the power of veto, but any vetoed ordinance or resolution may be repassed by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the Board. (q) To perform such other duties and exercise such other executive powers as may be prescribed by law or ordinance. (r) Subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law, to appoint all officers and employees of the City of La Carlota. SECTION 11. 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, not exceeding three thousand pesos per annum and one assistant secretary with an annual compensation of not exceeding one thousand eight hundred pesos who shall perform the duties of the secretary when absent and such other duties assigned to him by the secretary. 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 all other official documents and papers of the government of the city as may be required by custom, in the discretion of the mayor; shall attest all executive orders, proclamations, ordinances and resolutions signed by the mayor and shall perform such other duties as the mayor may require of him; shall, on demand, furnish certified copies of all city records and documents in his charge which are not of a confidential character, and collect and receive such fees as may be prescribed by resolution of the Board. He shall also perform such duties as are required of the heads of departments of the city government, by Section twenty, and for the purposes of said section, the secretary will be considered the head of a department. The position of the secretary shall be regarded as within the unclassified civil service. The appointee shall be entitled to all the benefits and privileges of classified employees. ARTICLE III
The Municipal Board SECTION 12. Organization. — The Municipal Board shall be the legislative body of the city, and shall consist of the vice-mayor, as the presiding officer, and eight councilors elected by popular vote. The vice-mayor, shall have no right to vote except in case of a tie. The presiding officer shall sign all ordinances, and all resolutions and motions directing the payment of money or creating liability enacted or adopted by the Board. In case of sickness of any member of the Board, or if, for any reason it becomes necessary to maintain a quorum. The President of the Philippines may make a temporary appointment until the return to duty of the sick or absent member. During the period of such temporary appointment the person receiving the same shall possess all the rights and perform all the duties of a member of the Board. The members of the Board shall receive a salary of two thousand four hundred pesos per annum and the Vice-Mayor shall receive a salary of three thousand six hundred pesos per annum. SECTION 13. Election, suspension and removal of members. — The members of the Municipal Board shall be elected at large and each of them at the time of election shall be a resident of the city for at least one year; must be a qualified elector and not less than 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. Elections 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 until their successors are elected and qualified. If any member of the Municipal Board should be a candidate for office in any election, he shall be incompetent to act with the Board in the discharge of the duties herein conferred upon it as to election matters, and in such case the other members of the board shall discharge said duties without his assistance, or the municipal board may choose some disinterested elector of the city to act on the Board in such matters in his stead. SECTION 14. Secretary of the Board. — The Board shall have a secretary, who shall be appointed by the mayor to serve during the term of appointing power. A vacancy in the office of the secretary shall be filled temporarily or for the unexpired term in like manner. The secretary shall be in charge of the 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 La Carlota", 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 officials acts of the Board, and shall present the same for signature to the presiding officer of the Board; shall cause each ordinance passed to be published as herein provided; shall, on demand, furnish certified copies of all records of public character in his charge under the seal of his office; and collect and receive therefore 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 character open to public inspection during usual business hours. His compensation as secretary shall be fixed by the Board at not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos a year. SECTION 15. Appropriation ordinances. — The Board shall make all appropriations for the expenses of the government of the city. Whenever the Board fails to pass an appropriation ordinance for any year before the end of the previous year, the appropriation ordinance for such previous year shall be deemed reenacted, and shall go into effect on the first day of July of the new year as the appropriation ordinance for that year, and such appropriation ordinance shall be deemed into effect on the first day of July of each year, as the appropriation ordinance for that year, until a new appropriations ordinance is duly enacted. SECTION 16. Method of transacting business by the Board; Veto; Authentication and publication of ordinances. — The Board shall hold one ordinary session for the transaction of business during each week on a day which shall be fixed by resolution, and such extraordinary sessions as may be called by the mayor. It shall sit with open doors, unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of five members. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and determine its rule of procedure not herein set forth. Five 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. Five 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 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 Board, signed by the presiding officer and the secretary of the Board 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 to 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 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 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 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 be again enacted by the affirmative votes of six members of the Board, and again forwarded to the mayor for his approval, and if within ten days after its receipt he does not 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 of the Philippines 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 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 motion returned to the Board with his veto, but should an item or items in an appropriations ordinance be disapproved by the mayor, the corresponding item or items in the appropriations ordinance of the previous year shall be deemed restored unless otherwise expressly directed in the veto. SECTION 17. 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 exceeding two per centum ad valorem. (b) To float bonds, subject to existing laws and regulations, for the purpose of financing public works projects. (c) To fix the tariff of fees and charges for all services rendered by the city or any of its departments, branches, or offices. (d) To provide for the erection and maintenance or rental, in case of need, of the necessary buildings for the use of the city. (e) To fix the number and salaries of officials and employees of the city not otherwise provided for in this Act. (f) To provide for the establishment and maintenance of free public schools for intermediate instruction and to acquire sites for schoolhouses for primary and intermediate classes through purchases or conditional or absolute donation. (g) To establish secondary, and professional schools; and with the approval of the Director of Public Schools, to fix reasonable fees for instruction therein. (h) To provide for the establishment and maintenance of an efficient police 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, and prostitutes, and persons convicted of violating any of the ordinances of the city. (i) To maintain the city courts 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 fire limits, determine the kinds of buildings or structures that may be erected within said 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 structures. (k) 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 the use of firecrackers, fireworks, torpedoes, candles, skyrockets, and other pyrotechnic displays, and to fix the fees for such permits. (l) To make regulations to protect the public from conflagrations and to prevent and mitigate the effects of famine, flood, storms, and other public calamities, and to provide relief for persons suffering from the same. (m) To establish and maintain engine houses, fire engines, hose carts, hooks and ladders, and other equipments for the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and to regulate the management and use of the same. (n) To regulate and fix the amount of the license of fees for the following: hawkers, peddlers, and hucksters, not including hucksters or peddlers who sell only native vegetables, fruits, or foods, personally carried by hucksters or peddlers, auctioneers, plumbers, barbers, collection agencies, mercantile agencies, shipping and intelligence offices, private detective agencies, advertising agencies, beauty parlors, massagists, tattooers, jugglers, acrobat, hotel clubs restaurants, cafes, lodging houses, boarding houses, livery garages, livery stables, laundries, boarding stables, dealers in large cattle, public billiard tables, cleaning and dyeing establishment, public warehouses, circuses, and other similar parades, public vehicles, race tracks, horse races, bowling alleys, 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, 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, plumber, 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. (o) To tax, fix the license fee and regulate the business of hotels, restaurants, refreshment places, cafes, lodging houses, boarding house, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, laundries, dyeing and cleaning establishment, 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, circuses and other similar parades, public vehicles, race tracks, horse races, dog races, cockpits, dealers in second-hand merchandise, junk dealers, theatrical performances, boxing contests, public exhibitions, blacksmith shops, foundries, steam boilers, lumberyards, 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 rules and regulations issued by the Bureau of Health Services in accordance with law: 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 ten 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 tombstone or both, sacks, furniture of all kinds, including rattan goods, wire brass beds or both, clothing hats, eyeglasses or optical goods or both, fertilizers and 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 member 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 fees on, and regulate the sale of intoxicating liquors, whether imported or locally manufactured. To tax motor and other vehicles operating within the City of La Carlota, the provisions of any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, and draft animals not paying any national tax: provided, that all automobiles and trucks belonging to the National Government or to any provincial or municipal government shall be exempt from such tax. (s) To regulate the method of using steam engines and boilers, other than marine or belonging to the National Government; to provide for the inspection thereof, and fix a reasonable fee for such inspection, and to regulate and fix the fees for the license of the engineers engaged in operating the same. (t) 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 purposes of obtaining money or property; prostitution, vagrancy, intoxication, fighting, quarrelling, and all disorderly conduct; the printing, circulation, exhibition or sale of obscene picture, books, or publications, and for the maintenance and preservation of peace and good morals. (u) 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 ordinance, and to tax and regulate the keeping or training of fighting cocks. (v) To establish and maintain municipal pounds; to regulate, retrain, 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 proceeding; and to impose penalties upon the owners of said animals for the violation of any ordinance in relation thereto. (w) To prohibit and provide for the punishment of cruelty to animals; (x) 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 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 La Carlota 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 were assessed constitute liens on the property against which the same were assessed and shall take precedence over any and 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. (y) To regulate the inspection, weighing, and measuring of brick, lumber, coal and other articles of merchandise. (z) 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 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 matter 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 gas, 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 and regulate crosswalks, 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 nuisance 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 prohibit 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 regulate the speed of horses and other animals, motor and other vehicles, cars, and locomotives, within the limits of the city; to regulate the locating, constructing, and laying of track of horse, electric, and other forms of railroad in the streets or other public places of the city authorized by law, to provide for and change the location, grade, and crossings of railroads, and compel any such railroad to raise or lower its tracks to conform to such provisions for changes; and to require railroad companies to fence their property, or any part thereof, to provide suitable protection against injury to persons or property, and to construct and repair ditches, drains, sewers and culverts along and under their tracks, so that the natural drainage of the streets and adjacent property shall not be obstructed. (aa) To provide for the maintenance of waterworks for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the city, and for the purifications of the source of supply and the places through which the same passes, and to regulate the consumption and use of the water, to fix and provide for the collection of rents therefor; and to regulate the construction, repair, and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns, and reservoirs. (bb) To provide for the establishment and maintenance and regulate the use of public drains, sewers, latrines, and cesspools. (cc) Subject to the provisions of rules and regulations issued by the Department of Health in accordance with law, to provide for the establishment and maintenance and fix the fees for the use of, and regulate public stables, laundries, and baths, and public markets and slaughterhouses, and to prohibit or permit the establishment or operation within the city limits of public markets and slaughterhouses, by any person, entity, association, or corporation other than the city. (dd) To regulate, inspect and provide measures preventing any 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 and street-railway service; to fix and regulate charges therefor where the same have not been fixed by national law; to regulate and provide for the inspection of all gas, electrical, telephone, and street-railway conduits, mains, meters, and other apparatus, and provide for the condemnation, substitution or removal of the same when defective or dangerous. (ee) To declare, prevent, and provide for the abatement of nuisance; to regulate the ringing of bells and the making of loud or unusual noises; to provide that owners, agents, or tenants or buildings or premises keep and maintain the same in sanitary condition, and that, in case of failure to do so, after sixty days from the date of serving of a written notice, the city health officer shall cause the same to be kept in a sanitary condition and the cost thereof be assessed to 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 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, for the display of 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. (ff) To authorize the free distribution of medicine by the city health officer to the employees and laborers of the city, and of fresh native milk, if available, to indigent mothers residing in the city. (gg) To establish and regulate the size, speed, and operation of motor and other vehicles within the city; 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. (hh) To tax, license and regulate any business, trade or occupation being conducted or practised within the City of La Carlota, not otherwise enumerated in the preceding subsections, including percentage taxes based on gross sales or receipts. (ii) To levy or impose annual tax upon every signboard of professionals and commercial establishments in the city in the amount not exceeding two pesos; upon every transient while sojourning in the city and upon every contract laborer working in any agricultural, commercial and industrial firm, enterprise or establishment within the city: provided, that the amount collected therefrom shall be devoted exclusively for the promotion of public schools in the city. (jj) To pass an ordinance subjecting all real estate transactions to one per cent sales tax. (kk) To tax, license, permit and regulate wages or betting by the public on boxing, sipa, bowling, billiards, pools, horse or dog races, cockpits, jai-alai, roller or ice-skating or any sporting or athletic contests, as well as grant exclusive rights to establishments for this purpose, notwithstanding any existing law to the contrary. (ll) To enact an ordinance or pass a resolution providing for the automatic retention of the expected allotments of one-twelfth of the annual allotments of the city. Such allotments of the city are to be remitted to the city treasurer within ten days. However, if collections are less than the allotment the Bureau of Internal Revenue has to release the balance to the city every quarter. (mm) 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 two hundred pesos fine or six month's imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment, for a single offense. SECTION 18. 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 owner an opportunity to be heard, the mayor of the city shall 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 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 IV
Departments and Offices SECTION 19. City Departments. — There shall be a finance department, an engineering department, a law department, a health department, a police and fire department and an assessment department. Unless otherwise provided by law, the mayor shall have general supervisory and general control over all city departments. 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 may consolidate any department, division or office of the city with any other department, division or office. SECTION 20. Powers and duties of heads of departments. — Each head of department of the city government shall be in control of such department 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 appropriation necessary for the operation of his department during the ensuing fiscal year, and 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, the officer next in charge of that department shall act in his place with authority to sign all necessary papers, vouchers and requisitions and similar documents. SECTION 21. Appointment and removal of officials and employees. — The mayor shall appoint the city treasurer, the city health officer, the chief of police and fire department, and other heads and other employees of such city department as may be created. Said officers shall not be suspended nor removed except in the manner and for causes provided by law: provided, that appointments of heads and other employees of the city shall be limited to civil service eligibles as may from time to time be certified as such by the Commissioner of Civil Service. SECTION 22. Full-time duty. — Each city officer, except members of the Municipal Board, shall devote his time and attention exclusively during the usual office hours to the duties of his office, and such members shall attend the regular sessions of the Board. No city officer shall hold more than one office unless expressly so provided by law. But this section shall not apply to other persons discharging public duties in the city under the National Government who receive no compensation for their services. SECTION 23. Prohibited transaction. — It shall be unlawful for any city officer, directly or individually or as a member of a firm, to engage in any business transaction with the city, or with any of its authorized officials, board, agents or attorneys, whereby money is to be paid, directly or indirectly, out of the resources of the city to such person or firm; 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. SECTION 24. Statement of assets. — Before assuming office, every official and regular employee of the city government shall file in the office of the city attorney a sworn statement of his assets and property holdings. ARTICLE V
Finance Department SECTION 25. The City Treasurer — His powers, duties and compensation. — There shall be city treasurer, who shall have charge of the 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 not exceeding five thousand four hundred 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, all further charges of whatever nature fixed by law or ordinance, and shall receive and issue receipt for all costs, fees, fines and forfeitures imposed by the city court. (b) He shall collect all miscellaneous charges made by the engineering department, and by 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 Collector of Internal Revenue, by himself or through deputies, all taxes and charges imposed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines upon property or persons in the City of La Carlota 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 duties imposed by law or resolution upon provincial treasurers generally, as well as the 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. (f) 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 daily all city funds and collection in any bank duly designated as government depository. (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 appropriations, expenditures and balances of all funds and accounts as of the last of the month preceding. ARTICLE VI
Law Department SECTION 26. The City Attorney and Register of Deeds ex-officio — His compensation, powers and duties. — The city attorney shall be the chief legal adviser of the city. He shall receive a salary of not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall have the following powers and duties: (a) He shall represent the city in all civil cases wherein the city or any officer thereof, in his official capacity, is a party. (b) He shall, when directed by the mayor, institute and prosecute in the city's interest all suits on any bond, lease, or other contract and upon 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 instrument 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 persons, 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 privileges, investigate or cause to be investigated the same and report to the mayor. (f) He shall investigate all charges of crimes, misdemeanors and violations of laws and city ordinances and prepare the necessary informations or make the necessary complaints against the persons accused. He may conduct such investigations by taking oral evidence of reputed witnesses and for this purpose may, by subpoena or subpoena duces tecum, summon witnesses to appear and testify under oath before him, or to produce documents and other evidence before him, and the attendance of, or the production of documents and other evidence by an absent or recalcitrant witness may be enforced by application to the city court or the Court of First Instance. (g) He shall have charge of the prosecution of all crimes, misdemeanors and violation of laws and city ordinances triable in the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental and the city court of the city, and shall discharge all the duties in respect to criminal prosecutions enjoined by law upon provincial fiscals. (h) He shall cause to be investigated the causes of sudden deaths which have not been satisfactorily explained and when there is suspicion that the cause arose from 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 health officer. (i) He shall at all times render such professional service as the mayor or Board may require, and shall have such powers and perform the duties prescribed by law for register of deeds. ARTICLE VII
Engineering Department SECTION 27. The City Engineer — His powers and duties. — There shall be a city engineer, who shall be in charge of the Department of Engineering and Public Works. He shall receive a salary not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall have the following powers and duties: (a) He shall have charge of all the surveying and engineering work of the city, and shall perform such service in connection with public improvements, or any work entered upon or proposed 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 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 inspections 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, 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. (f) He shall have the care of all public streets, parks and bridges, and shall maintain, clean, sprinkle and regulate the use of the same for all purposes as provided 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. (g) He shall have the care and custody of all public levees, and landing places owned by the city. (h) He shall prevent the encroachment of private buildings and fences on the streets and public places of the city. (i) He shall have general supervision, and inspection of all private levees and landing places and other property bordering on the river, esteros and shall issue permit for the construction, repair and removal of the same. (j) He shall have the care and custody of the public system 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 system for supplying water to the city and its inhabitants, and all private sewers and their connections with the public sewer system. (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 heating appliances in accordance with law and ordinance relating thereto. He is authorized to charge fees, at rates to fixed by the Board with the approval of the mayor, for the sanitation and transportation services and supplies furnished by his department. (n) He shall inspect and supervise the construction, 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, he shall order the removal of buildings and structures erected in violation of the ordinances; shall order the removal of the 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. (p) He shall file and preserve all maps, plans, notes, surveys and other papers and documents pertaining to his office. SECTION 28. Execution of authorized public works and improvement. — All repair or construction of any work or public improvement, except parks, boulevards, streets or alleys involving an estimated costs 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 other public places, which shall not be less than ten, 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 mayor, execute by administration any such public works 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 be deemed appropriate or as may be, by regulations, prescribed. ARTICLE VIII
Health Department SECTION 29. The City Health Officer — His salary, powers and duties. — There shall be a city health officer, who shall have charge of the health department. He shall receive a salary not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. The city health officer shall have the following general powers and duties: (a) He shall have general supervision over the health and sanitary conditions of the city. (b) He shall execute and enforce all 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 violation of sanitary laws or 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 officer and such sanitary inspector as may be authorized by law. (f) He shall keep a civil register for the city and shall record therein all births, marriages and deaths with their respective dates. (g) 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. ARTICLE IX
Police and Fire Department SECTION 30. The Chief of Police — His powers, duties and compensation. — There shall be a chief of police who shall have charge of the police and fire department. He shall receive a salary not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall have the following general 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 violations of any law or ordinances; shall exercise police supervision over all land and water within the police jurisdiction of the city; shall be charged with the protection of the rights of person and property wherever found within the jurisdiction of the city, and shall arrest when necessary to prevent the escape of the offender, 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; 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 city court of any person arrested for violation of any city ordinance. (d) He shall have authority within the police limits of the city, to serve and execute criminal processes 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 city court, and shall execute promptly and faithfully, all writs and processes of said court. (f) He shall have charge of the fire-engine houses, fire engines, hose trucks, hooks and ladders, and all other fire apparatus. (g) He shall have full police powers in the vicinity of fires. (h) 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. (i) He shall investigate and report to the mayor upon the origin and cause of all fires occurring within the city. (j) He shall inspect all buildings erected or under construction or repair within the city and determine whether they provide sufficient protection against fire and comply with the ordinances relating thereto. (k) He shall have charge of the city fire alarm service. (l) He shall supervise and regulate the stringing, grounding, and installation of wires for all electrical connections with a view to avoiding conflagrations, interference with public traffic or safety, or the necessary operation of the police and fire department. (m) He shall supervise the manufacture, storage and use of petroleum, gas, acetylene, gunpowder and other highly combustible matter and explosives. (n) He shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law or ordinance. SECTION 31. Chief of the detective service. — There shall be a chief of the detective 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 detective service shall receive a salary of not exceeding three thousand pesos per annum. SECTION 32. Peace Officers. — Their powers and duties. — The mayor, the chief of police, the chief of the detective 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 city court and criminal processes of all other court 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 the show that such person has committed, or is about to commit, any crime or breach of 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 custody any person therein suspected of being concerned 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 until he can be brought before the proper magistrate. 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. ARTICLE X
Assessment Department SECTION 33. The City Treasurer as city assessor ex officio — His powers and duties. — The city treasurer shall act as the city assessor ex officio with an additional compensation of six hundred pesos per annum and shall have charge of the department of assessment. He and his authorized deputies are empowered to administer any oath authorized in connection with the valuation of real estate for the assessment and collection of taxes. He shall make the list of the taxable real estate in the city, arranging in the order of the lot and block numbers of 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 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. He may, if necessary, examine the records of the office of the Register of Deeds of the Province of Negros Occidental showing the ownership of real estate in the city. SECTION 34. Real estate exemption from taxation. — The following shall be exempt from taxation: (a) Lands or buildings owned by the Republic of the Philippines, the Province of Negros Occidental or the City of La Carlota and burying grounds, churches and their 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 owner, and the value of which does not exceed two 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 five years of the operation of the machinery. SECTION 35. 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 ex-officio within a period of sixty days next succeeding 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 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 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 36. 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 ex-officio 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 37. Action in case estate has escaped taxation. — If it shall come to the knowledge of the city assessor ex-officio that any taxable real estate in the city has escaped listing, it shall be his duty to list and assess 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 assessed 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 38. When assessment may be increased or reduced. — The city assessor ex-officio 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 therefore 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 assessed at their true money value, by reducing or increasing the existing assessment as the case may be. SECTION 39. Publication of complete list and proceedings thereon. — The city assessor ex-officio 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 change, by delivery or mailing at least 30 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. 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 had been done or errors have been committed he is authorized to amend the list in accordance with his findings. SECTION 40. City assessor ex-officio 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 La Carlota has been omitted from the list according to the best of my knowledge and belief. __________________________ (Signature) City Assessor" SECTION 41. 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 ex-officio 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 appeals to the Board of Tax Appeals with all written evidence in his possession relating to such assessment and valuation. SECTION 42. Composition and compensation 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 mayor. 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 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 mayor. SECTION 43. 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 44. Proceedings before the 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 mayor, shall hear all appeals duly 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 ex-officio 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 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 circumstances justify. SECTION 45. 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 Municipal Board, 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 on real estate 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 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 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 hall 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 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 a 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 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 46. 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 pe |