A collection of Philippine laws, statutes and codes not included or cited in the main indices of the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.
A collection of Philippine laws, statutes and codes not included or cited in the main indices of the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.
ACT NO. 1396 - AN ACT PROVIDING FOR
THE ORGANIZATION OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS,
OTHER THAN THE MORO PROVINCE, WHICH ARE NOT ORGANIZED UNDER THE
PROVISIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACT NUMBERED EIGHTY-THREE, AND
REPEALING ACTS NUMBERED FORTY-NINE, THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN,
FOUR HUNDRED AND TEN, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO, FOUR HUNDRED AND
FORTY-ONE, FIVE HUNDRED, FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX, AND FIVE HUNDRED
AND SIXTY-SEVEN, AND SECTIONS ONE AND TWO OF ACT NUMBERED SEVEN HUNDRED
AND FORTY-SEVEN
Section 1. A civil
provincial government is hereby established for each province of the
Philippine Islands not organized under the Provincial Government Act
Numbered Eighty-three, except the Moro Province. Every provincial
government established under this Act shall be a body corporate, with
power to sue and be sued, to have and use a corporate seal, to hold
property, real and personal, to make contracts for labor and material
needed in the construction of duly authorized public works, and to
incur such other obligations as are expressly authorized by
law.
Sec. 2. Except as hereinafter provided, the
officers of each provincial government organized under this Act shall
be a provincial governor, a provincial secretary, a provincial
treasurer, a provincial supervisor, and a provincial fiscal. No person
shall be eligible for any of these offices who is not either a citizen
of the United States, a native of the Philippine Islands, a person who
has taken the oath of allegiance to the United States and served as a
member of the Army or Navy of the United States and been honorably
discharged therefrom, or who, not being a subject or citizen of any
other power or government, may have under or by virtue of the treaty of
Paris acquired the political rights of a native of the Philippine
Islands, or who, having taken the oath of allegiance to the United
States, shall violate the same. Nonresidence in the province shall not
render the person appointed to the office ineligible.
Sec. 3. The provincial officers shall be appointed
by the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the Philippine
Commission, and shall hold office during his pleasure. They shall
reside and have their offices at the capital of the province.
Sec. 4. The provincial secretary, the provincial
treasurer, and the provincial supervisor shall be selected under the
provisions and restrictions of the Civil Service Act. The provincial
secretary shall be able to speak and write the Spanish language, and
after January first, nineteen hundred and six, the English language
also. Before the treasurer shall qualify he shall give a bond to the
Insular Government for the benefit of whom it may concern, with
sufficient surety, in the amount hereinafter prescribed in sections
twenty-three to twenty-seven, inclusive, in the case of each province
to which this Act shall apply; the surety, or sureties, shall be
approved by the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands. The bond shall be
conditioned to secure the faithful performance of the duties of the
offices as now or hereafter prescribed by law; and for the accounting
for all funds coming into his hands as treasurer, or into those of his
authorized deputies, during his incumbency, and, in case of death or
removal, until the statement of his accounts by the Auditor for the
Philippine Islands. His bond shall, after its approval, be filed with
the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands, who shall record the same in a
book to be kept for the purpose and shall safely keep the same. If suit
be brought on this bond it shall be no defense to those signing the
bond that the above requirements for approval have not been complied
with, if in fact, by virtue of such bond, the provincial treasurer has
entered upon the discharge of his official duties.
Sec. 5. Before assuming office each provincial
officer shall take and subscribe to the following oath or
affirmation:
The oaths of office may be administered to provincial officers by a
member of the Commission, the Executive Secretary, the Assistant
Executive Secretary, the governor of the province, or any United States
Army officer stationed in the province, by the Court of First Instance
within whose judicial district the said province lies, by any notary
public or justice of the peace, or by any other person duly authorized
in such case to administer oaths.
Sec. 6. (a) The provincial governor shall be the
chief executive officer of the province. He shall report to the
Governor-General. He shall see that the laws are faithfully executed by
all the officers in the province; he shall receive the judge of First
Instance when he enters the province to hold the terms of court
therein, and shall provide for his protection and entertainment,
charging the reasonable expenses thereof to the provincial treasury,
which shall not exceed six pesos, Philippine currency, per day:
Provided, That where the governor fails for any cause to make proper
provision for the protection and entertainment of the judge, a per diem
of six pesos, Philippine currency, shall be allowed from the provincial
treasury to the judge in lieu of expenses during the period he is
required to be in the province for the purpose of holding court.
(b) He shall attend the Court of First Instance when
in session, by himself or a deputy, as the chief executive officer of
the court and province, and shall execute such process as he shall be
required to execute by law.
(c) Subject to other provisions of law, he shall have
control of the local police of the various townships or settlements of
the province; and may, when the public interests require, temporarily
withdraw from the township or settlement in which such police are
organized a part thereof for use in other townships or settlements of
the province.
(d) In the event that any provincial Constabulary
inspector in charge shall find that the officers or men of the township
police force are inefficient, dishonest, disloyal to the United States,
or guilty of any violation of law or duty, he shall at once report the
same to the governor of the province, who shall have power, and it
shall be his duty to suspend the accused official, and after due
hearing, if he finds the official accused to be guilty of the offense
or neglect of duty charged, he shall dismiss him, and the vacancy thus
occasioned shall be filled as provided by the provisions of the
Township Government Act.
(e) He shall exercise the same powers with regard to
the use of the Insular police stationed in the province as are now or
may hereafter be provided by law for governors of provinces organized
under Act Numbered Eighty-three, entitled "The Provincial Government
Act."
(f) Whenever lawless violence or seditious conspiracy
and disturbance of the public peace shall occur of so formidable a
character as to be beyond the power of the local and Insular police of
the province to suppress, it shall be the duty of the governor to call
upon the Governor-General or the military officer commanding the
district in which the province lies to send troops to suppress the
disturbance.
(g) He shall preside at all meetings of the
provincial board hereinafter constituted.
(h) He shall at least once in every six months visit
every township or settlement of the province; while in the township or
settlement he shall hear all complaints made against the conduct of any
of its executive officers, and take suitable action thereon. He shall
have the power to suspend any township official charged with misconduct
in office or disloyalty to the United States, and after proper notice
and hearing to remove him and to direct the provincial fiscal to bring
a criminal or civil suit in the public interest against the person
complained of if the charge made involves either civil or criminal
liability, or to dismiss the complaint and reinstate the person
complained of.
(i) Between the first and fifteenth of July of each
year he shall make a report to the Governor-General of the Philippine
Islands for the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth of June. This
report shall embrace all matters pertinent to the administration and
progress of the provincial government, and contain full information as
to the commercial, economic, financial, industrial, and political
conditions of the province, in order that the Governor-General and the
Philippine Commission may be properly informed of the actual existing
conditions during the period covered by the report. Should unexpected
events or matters of special importance to the general welfare of the
province occur subsequent to the date of the regular annual report, a
supplementary statement may also be filed, not later than September
fifteenth, in order that complete data may be at hand for the use of
the Governor-General in submitting his annual report to the Philippine
Commission.
(j) The Governor shall, through a jailer and guards
to be appointed by him, have custody of all prisoners held awaiting
trial or duly sentenced to the provincial jail.
(k) He shall make known to all people of his
province, by proclamation or communications delivered to the presidents
of the several townships or settlements, all general laws or
governmental order which concern them.
(l) Upon the organization of any new township or
settlement with the province he shall fix the date for the first
election in such township or settlement.
(m) He shall be authorized to carry, as a badge of
his office, a walking stick of white Indian cane, with gold head and a
gold cord.
Sec. 7. The provincial secretary shall attest all
the official acts of the provincial governor under the seal of the
province, and shall record all of such acts as are required by law to
be recorded. He shall be the custodian of the provincial seal. He shall
receive from the provincial governor and file in his office all reports
to the provincial governor required by law, and shall index the same,
and he shall generally act as custodian of all provincial records and
documents. He shall, on demand, furnish certified copies of all public
records and documents, for which he may charge as personal
compensation, in addition to his regular salary, the amount of ten
centavos, Philippine currency, per one hundred words, including the
certificate.
Sec. 8. (a) The provincial treasurer shall be the
chief financial officer of the province. He shall fix the day or days
during each month from January fifteenth to June thirtieth of each year
on which the people of the several townships may appear before him or
his deputies to pay their property taxes: Provided, That the last day
so fixed shall be the thirtieth of June of each year. He shall, in
person or by authorized deputy, supervise the appraisement and
assessment of real property in all the townships or settlements of the
province, except where otherwise specially provided. He shall by
himself or deputy, collect all taxes imposed upon property or persons
in the province either by the townships or settlements of the province,
the provincial government, or the Central Government of the Islands,
except fines for the violation of township ordinances, fees for the
granting of the privilege of fisheries, the issuing of certificates of
ownership of large cattle and the transfer of title to the same, tolls
from ferries operated by the townships, fees from township stables,
township pounds, township markets, township slaughterhouses, township
bath houses, and township cemeteries; which shall be collected by the
township treasurer in the manner prescribed by ordinance of the
township council. It shall be his duty to procure a certified copy of
the tax-assessment list from each township or settlement of the
province, and file the same in his office, and to make an alphabetical
index thereof, which list and alphabetical index shall be a public
record.
(b) Upon the receipt of the monthly accounts of each
township he shall promptly audit the same and shall disallow any
expenditures not properly authorized, immediately notifying the
township treasurer of any expenditures disallowed.
(c) He shall be the custodian of the funds of the
province and shall pay no money out of the provincial treasury except
upon warrants drawn in accordance with law, which shall be attached to
his vouchers for their payment. He shall render an account before the
tenth of each month to the provincial board of the transactions of his
office for the preceding month, and shall include, among other things,
the amount of the cash on hand at the beginning of the month and the
receipts during the month from every source, the payments during the
month and on what accounts paid, and the balance on hand at the close
of the last day of the month. The provincial board shall examine such
accounts, and if found correct, shall so certify on the face of the
accounts. He shall forward a copy of his monthly accounts, so approved
to the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands, and another to the Auditor
for the Philippine Islands. The reports or accounts-current submitted
to the Auditor shall be accompanied by all of their supporting vouchers
to enable the Auditor to settle and adjust the same and certify the
balance thereon. Such accounts-current, vouchers, and paid warrants
shall be as prescribed by the rules prepared under section ten of this
Act. The provincial treasurer shall retain a copy of his
accounts-current and of their supporting vouchers and file the same as
a permanent record of his office.
(d) He shall perform the duties of registrar of
property pending the appointment of such registrar for the province in
accordance with the provisions of the Land Registration Act.
Sec. 9. Promptly at the close of business on the
last day of each month, and at other times if in the opinion of the
provincial governor it is deemed advisable, a committee consisting of
the provincial governor, the provincial supervisor, and the division
superintendent of schools shall count the cash in the hands of the
provincial treasurer. If the provincial treasurer is authorized to
deposit funds in a designated depository he shall keep a true and
correct record of all deposits made by him therein, and a true and
correct list of checks drawn against the said depository by him,
showing the date and number of such checks, the name of the payee, and
the purpose of which drawn. In counting the cash in the hands of the
provincial treasurer the aforesaid committee shall include therein as a
separate item the balance on deposit in such depository, as shown by
the records kept by the provincial treasurer. If the provincial
treasurer is acting as a disbursing officer of Insular funds, the
committee aforesaid shall count and determine the cash balance on hand
of said account under each separate designation as disbursing officer
of Insular funds in the same manner and at the same time as the balance
of provincial funds is ascertained. The committee aforesaid shall
certify in detail to the Auditor for the Philippine Islands and to the
Treasury of the Philippine Islands the result of each count and
verification of cash herein provided for, and such certificates shall
be signed by each member of the committee: Provided, That in case the
division superintendent of schools does not reside at the provincial
capital or is disqualified for any other reason, a teacher of the
public schools at the provincial capital, assigned to such duty by the
division superintendent, shall be a member of the above committee and
shall assist in the counting of cash in the provincial treasury and
make proper certification as herein provided: And provided further,
That in case the office of the provincial supervisor is combined with
that of provincial treasurer or provincial governor the
Governor-General shall designate a third person to act as a member of
said committee. In the absence or disability of any member of the
aforesaid committee two of the said committee shall act and make the
verification; and in the absence or disability of two members of the
committee it shall be the duty of the remaining member to call upon a
teacher of the public schools at the provincial capital who shall act
as a member of said committee and make proper certification as provided
herein. A duplicate of the certificate forwarded to the Insular Auditor
and the Insular Treasurer shall be spread upon the minutes of the
provincial board.
Sec. 10. (a) The Treasurer of the Philippine
Islands shall prescribe the method of keeping the ledgers and records
of the provincial treasurer, and shall prepare such rules and
regulations relative to the administration of the affairs of his office
as may be necessary. The necessary books and forms shall be furnished
to the provincial government by the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands
at cost.
(b) The Auditor for the Philippine Islands shall
prescribe the manner in which the provincial treasurer shall render
accounts submitted to him for settlement, as provided by rule twelve of
Act Numbered Ninety, and issue instructions relative to the rendition
of such accounts, as provided in rules twelve and forty-four of said
Act. For assistance in the audit of the account of the provincial
treasurer, the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands shall forward to the
Auditor for the Philippine Islands copies of all resolutions of the
provincial board approved by the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands
authorizing the appointment of assistants, deputies, and other
employees, and fixing their salaries.
(c) The books, accounts, papers, and cash of the
provincial treasurer and the township treasurers shall at all times be
open to the inspection of the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands or
his duly authorized agent. At least once in every six months the office
of the provincial treasurer shall be examined by a traveling examiner
of the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands, who shall file with the
Auditor for the Philippine Islands a complete report covering every
examination made by him of said office, particularly citing therein
each and every discrepancy or failure to charge a revenue which may be
discovered, and make such other reports as the Insular Treasurer may
require.
(d) In case the examination of the traveling examiner
of the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands discloses a shortage in the
cash which should be on hand, it shall be the duty of the examining
officer to seize the office and its contents and notify the Treasurer
of the Philippine Islands and the Auditor for the Philippine Islands
forthwith. The Treasurer of the Philippine Islands or his deputy shall
thereupon at once take full possession of the office, the books,
papers, vouchers, and cash of the provincial treasurer, close and
render his accounts to the date of taking possession, and temporarily
continue the public business until action is taken in accordance with
section twenty of this Act. Upon the seizure of the office, the
sureties of the defaulting officer shall be at once notified by the
Treasurer of the Philippine Islands.
(e) The deputy of the Treasurer of the Philippine
Islands placed in charge of the office of the provincial treasurer
under the provisions of this section shall render to the Auditor for
the Philippine Islands the accounts of such provincial treasurer, and
in his name to the date of taking possession, if the same are
delinquent, together with a copy of his report of the examination. Upon
receipt of such accounts the Auditor shall examine and audit the same
without delay. Upon the completion of such examination and audit, when
a defalcation is shown and it is necessary to institute legal
proceedings against the sureties of the defaulting officer, the Auditor
for the Philippine Islands shall forward to the Attorney-General a
statement of the account. Such proceedings shall be brought against the
sureties, under the direction of the Attorney-General, and in such suit
the account as stated by the Insular Auditor shall be prima facie
evidence of the amount due on the bond.
(f) In case of the decease of the provincial
treasurer, the same procedure shall be pursued, and upon settlement of
his accounts by the Insular Auditor the legal representatives of such
deceased officer shall be furnished with a certified copy of the
settlement.
Sec. 11. (a) The provincial supervisor shall have
supervision of the construction, repair, and maintenance of the roads,
bridges, and ferries of the province. He shall also have charge of the
construction and repair of public buildings and the offices of the
provincial government, and shall be the custodian thereof under the
direction of the provincial board. It shall be his duty to see that the
roads, bridges, and public buildings of the province are kept in proper
repair, and he shall make monthly reports to the provincial board as to
the condition of the roads, bridges, and public buildings of the
province, and shall recommend to the board the repairs and new
construction which are necessary. All contracts for the construction,
repair, and maintenance of provincial buildings, roads, bridges, or
ferries shall be let by the provincial supervisor, with the approval of
the provincial board, and no payment, partial or final, upon any
contract made for such work shall be made except upon the certificate
of the supervisor that the same is due. Before a contract is let for
work it shall be the duty of the supervisor to prepare proper plans and
specifications and to make an estimate of the cost thereof, and to
submit the same to the provincial board. Copies of all contracts made
by the supervisor with the approval of the provincial board shall be
forwarded by the supervisor to the Auditor for the Philippine Islands
and to the Consulting Engineer to the Commission, and he shall submit
monthly reports of all engineering work prosecuted during the month to
the Consulting Engineer to the Commission.
(b) In preparing plans and specifications for the
construction and repair of buildings for secondary schools, to be
undertaken by the province as hereinafter provided, the provincial
supervisor shall consult with the Insular Architect and with the
superintendent of the school division in which the province is located;
and such plans and specifications shall be subject to the approval of
the latter or of the General Superintendent of Education, in accordance
with the provisions of Act Numbered Seventy-four, as amended, before
the work may be undertaken.
(c) All stationery and office supplies of every
character shall be purchased by him, upon the order of the provincial
board, for the use of the provincial officers. He shall keep a property
account, in which he shall charge the provincial officers with the
furniture or other personal property delivered to them and held or used
by them for public purposes, and shall take receipts for all supplies
thus delivered by him.
(d) He shall give bond to the Government of the
Philippine Islands, for whom it may concern, to secure the proper
accounting for all money, property, and supplies intrusted to his
custody. It shall be the duty of the Governor-General to fix the amount
of the bond, and of the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands to approve
the same and record and retain it in his custody. In case of a vacancy
in the office of provincial supervisor, or when, for any reason, such
officer can not perform his duties, the provincial treasurer shall be
vested with the power to purchase stationery and office supplies, and
in making such purchases and delivering the same to the provincial
officers he shall keep a property account and take receipts required of
the provincial supervisor by paragraph (c) of this section.
Sec. 12. The provincial fiscal shall be the
attorney and legal adviser of the provincial government and of each of
its officers when called upon, and they may require from him written
opinions. He shall represent the provincial government in all suits
brought on its behalf or against it in the courts of the province or in
the courts of any other province: Provided, That in case the provincial
fiscal is performing the duties of fiscal for more than one province he
shall be disqualified, in controversies between such provinces, to act
as attorney or legal adviser for either of them, and the Secretary of
Finance and Justice shall, in accordance with the provisions of Act
Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty-five, as amended by Act Numbered
Eleven hundred and fifty-three, direct the temporary detail of a fiscal
for the performance of such duties for each province. He shall be the
legal adviser of the council and president of each township or
settlement of the province, and shall upon the request of any president
or council submit in writing his views upon any question properly
arising in the discharge of their public duties. He shall in the courts
of the province represent the public in all criminal cases, and perform
such duties with reference to the institution of all criminal
prosecution as the Code of Criminal Procedure shall require. In cases
where the interests of any township or settlement and of the provincial
government are opposed he shall act on behalf of the provincial
government, and the township or settlement shall be obliged to employ
special counsel. The Attorney-General shall represent the provincial
government, except as hereinafter provided, in all suits for or against
it which shall come into the Supreme Court; but if he deems it
necessary he may authorize the provincial fiscal to assist him in the
hearing of the cause before the Supreme Court. In suits by the
government of one province against the government of any other province
the Attorney-General shall take no part, and the provinces engaged in
the litigation shall be represented in the Supreme Court by their
respective provincial fiscals. When any criminal case is appealed to
the Supreme Court the provincial fiscal shall forthwith make a report
to the Attorney-General explaining the question of law and fact
appearing therein, and the conclusions of the court, and, if the
Attorney-General directs, the provincial fiscal shall appear in such
case in the Supreme Court on appeal. The Attorney-General shall have
general supervision of the provincial fiscal, shall prepare rules for
his guidance, and may require reports from him as to the condition of
the public business in the court of his province. The fiscal of the
Mountain Judicial District and the fiscal of the Fifteenth Judicial
District shall be entitled to the traveling expenses authorized by
section eighteen of Act Numbered Eight hundred and sixty-seven, and the
fiscal of the Province of Mindoro shall be entitled to the traveling
expenses authorized by section eleven of Act Numbered Five hundred, the
provisions of section fifteen of this Act to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Sec. 13. The salaries authorized in this Act shall
be paid monthly so that one-twelfth of the annual salary shall be paid
on the last day of each calendar month.
Sec. 14. There shall be such subordinate employees
in the office of the provincial governor, the provincial secretary, the
provincial treasurer, and the provincial supervisor as the provincial
board shall authorize and the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands
approve; they shall be appointed by the provincial governor, the
provincial secretary, the provincial treasurer, and the provincial
supervisor, respectively, subject to the provisions of the Civil
Service Act; and their salaries shall be fixed by the provincial board
with the approval of the Insular Treasurer: Provided, That the
aggregate salaries of such officers and employees shall not exceed the
amount appropriated therefor by the Philippine Commission: And provided
further, That the provincial treasurer shall have authority to require
a bond from each of his deputies in a penal sum not less than the
largest amount of public funds of every kind such deputy is likely to
have in his custody at any one time, or may, with the approval of the
Insular Treasurer first had, employ deputies from whom no bond shall be
required, other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, but
the provincial treasurer shall be liable upon his official bond for the
faithful performance by such deputies of their duties and for the
accounting for all funds coming into their hands as such deputies.
Sec. 15. Provincial officers, their deputies,
subordinates, and other employees, shall be allowed the expenses of
travel and subsistence while necessarily absent from the capital of the
province on official business as herein provided:
(a) Actual and necessary cost of transportation,
together with a per diem not exceeding two pesos, to be fixed by the
provincial board, for subsistence, except as otherwise herein provided.
(b) Actual and necessary cost of transportation and
subsistence only, while traveling by boat, when subsistence is not
included in the cost of transportation.
(c) Actual and necessary cost of transportation only,
while traveling by boat, when subsistence is included in the cost of
transportation.
(d) A per diem of six pesos, for transportation and
subsistence, while in the city of Manila.
(e) The provincial board shall, by resolution, on or
before January first and July first of each year, fix a tariff of
maximum amounts which shall be allowed provincial officers and
employees for expenses of transportation on official business between
the various towns of the province, during the ensuing six months, and a
copy thereof shall be forwarded by the provincial secretary to the
Insular Auditor.
(f) Payment of transportation and subsistence
expenses in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be
made from the treasury of the province upon the approval of the
provincial board.
Sec. 16. The provincial governor, provincial
treasurer, and provincial supervisor shall constitute the provincial
board. The governor shall be the presiding officer of the board, and
the provincial secretary shall be its secretary and shall keep its
minutes.
Sec. 17. It shall be the duty of the provincial
board:
(a) To provide, by construction or purchase or
renting, suitable offices for the provincial officers, and a
court-house containing a room or rooms suitable for the holding of
court and for offices for the court officers, and a provincial jail in
the municipality fixed by law as the capital of the province. The
provincial building shall first be used for the purpose of affording
sufficient office room to all the provincial officers. If, after
supplying this necessary office room, the building affords sufficient
accommodation for the residence of the governor of the province, he may
occupy the building for this purpose. The assignment of rooms for
offices and the residence of the governor in the provincial buildings
shall be made by the provincial board.
(b) To furnish suitable vault or safe to the
provincial treasurer, in which he shall keep the provincial or other
public funds as long as they are in his custody, except as hereinafter
provided.
(c) To order, in its discretion, the construction,
repair, or maintenance of roads, bridges, or ferries within the
province on the recommendation of the provincial supervisor, and to
approve or reject contracts for such construction or repair, and the
construction or repair of provincial buildings let by the provincial
supervisor: Provided, That no public improvement, the estimated cost of
which exceeds one thousand pesos, Philippine currency, shall be
directed to be made or contract therefor approved or funds therefor
appropriated until the provincial board shall have requested through
the Executive Secretary investigations, plans, or surveys of such
public improvement by the Bureau of Engineering: Provided further, That
no contract for construction of a road, bridge, or of a public building
shall be entered into until the provincial treasurer shall certify that
there is in the provincial treasury a sum sufficient to meet the
estimated cost of the construction of the improvement which may be
lawfully devoted to such purpose; and after such certificate shall be
made and filed and the contract entered into, the provincial treasurer
shall treat the sum thus certified as not subject to warrant except to
meet the obligations of the contract. All work of repair, construction,
or equipment of roads or buildings involving a greater cost than one
thousand pesos, Philippine currency, shall be let to the lowest
responsible bidder, after ten days' public notice of the letting by
advertisement in a paper of general circulation in the province, or, if
there be no such paper, by a notice posted for ten days at the main
entrance to the supervisor's office in the capital of the province. If
the provincial board shall regard the contract to be let and the work
to be done of sufficient magnitude, it may authorize the supervisor, in
addition to giving the public notices above required, to advertise for
bids in a newspaper published in the city of Manila. The supervisor is
authorized to reject any or all bids, and if the bids are too high he
may recommend to the board that he be allowed to purchase the material
and hire the labor and himself supervise the work, and the board may
then authorize such a course.
(d) To agree, upon the recommendation of the
provincial supervisor, with the provincial board of any adjoining
province, on the terms, within the limitations of law, upon which roads
forming the boundary between the two provinces, and bridges and ferries
crossing streams forming such boundary, shall be constructed, repaired,
or maintained under the joint control of the two provincial governments.
(e) To direct, in its discretion, the bringing or
defense of suits on behalf of the provincial government and to
compromise the same on the recommendation of the provincial fiscal and
the approval of the judge of First Instance for the district.
(f) To order the monthly payment of all salaries
provided by law, and the payment of all lawfully contracted
indebtedness, by directing the issue of warrants upon the provincial
treasurer. Every warrant shall be drawn by the governor and
countersigned by the secretary, and shall recite the cause and purpose
of drawing the same, the date of the resolution authorizing it, and the
page of the minutes of the board's proceedings on which it is recorded.
Should the provincial treasurer deem any warrant drawn to be for an
unlawful or unwarranted purpose, he may suspend payment and refer the
question to the Auditor for the Philippine Islands, whose decision
shall be mandatory upon him.
(g) To authorize the provincial treasurer to deposit
so much of the provincial funds as may not be needed in the near future
for public use in a bank of deposit of approved standing in the
Islands. All interest paid on such deposit shall insure to the benefit
of the provincial treasury, and no funds shall be deposited in the bank
by the treasurer until there shall be spread upon the minutes of the
board a resolution reciting and approving the exact terms of the
contract of deposit in the bank. The bank shall certify the weekly
balances of provincial funds held by it to the provincial governor and
to the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands.
(h) To hold regular weekly meetings upon a day to be
fixed by the board, and special meetings upon the call of the governor.
The meetings of the board shall be open to the public.
(i) To authorize the appointment of necessary
subordinate employees by the various provincial officers, and to fix
the salaries of such employees, subject to the approval of the
Treasurer of the Philippine Islands.
(j) To adopt rules regulating the hours of employment
of the subordinates in the various offices, subject to the provisions
of the Civil Service Law and Rules.
(k) To provide an official seal for the province.
(1) To pass upon every ordinance, resolution, or
other act of the several township councils of the province, approving
the same should they deem it satisfactory; should they deem it
unsatisfactory they shall return it to the council, suggesting suitable
amendments; the council shall inform them of its action, and they shall
then approve the ordinance or act as amended, or modify it, as they may
deem necessary. Should the council of any township fail to fix the
limits of the barrios of the township; to fix the salaries of duly
authorized officers and employees; to make appropriations for lawful
and necessary township expenditures; to regulate the sanitation of the
township and order the removal of nuisances and causes of disease; to
regulate the running at large of domestic animals; to adopt suitable
measures to prevent the spread of disease; to prohibit gambling, opium
smoking, or the sale of opium for smoking; to provide for the
establishment and maintenance of schools for primary instruction; to
provide for the construction and maintenance of necessary waterworks
for supplying the inhabitants of the township with water, and for
insuring the equitable distribution and use of water for the purpose of
irrigation in the township or for other purposes; or, in general, to
provide for carrying into effect and discharging the powers and duties
conferred on it by law; or, should it fail to enact such measures as
are necessary and proper to provide for the health and safety, promote
the prosperity, improve the morals, good order, peace, comfort, and
convenience of the township and the inhabitants thereof and for the
protection of the property therein — then the provincial board shall
issue to the president of such township suitable written orders for
securing these ends, and such orders shall have the effect of law,
subject to disapproval by the Secretary of the Interior. But the
constant aim of the provincial board shall be to aid the people of the
several townships of the province to acquire the knowledge and
experience necessary for successful local popular government, and their
supervision and control shall be confined within the narrowest limits
consistent with the requirements that the powers of government in the
township shall be honestly and effectively exercised, and that law and
order and individual freedom shall be maintained.
(m) To change the boundaries of existing townships
and of townships hereafter established.
(n) To provide, if deemed expedient by the provincial
board, by construction or purchase or renting, such school building or
buildings in the province as in the opinion of the board may be
necessary, to be used for the free secondary instruction of pupils
resident in the province, such secondary instruction being understood
to include, in addition to academic and commercial subjects, manual
training, instruction in agriculture, and normal-school instruction,
and to provide for the payment of all expenses of maintaining such
public school or schools of secondary instruction as may be established
in the province; and the schools in their establishment and conduct
shall be subject to the general supervision of the division
superintendents and the General Superintendent of Education, in
accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered Seventy-four: Provided,
That, temporarily, and until such time as the Commission shall decide
that the condition of the finances of the teachers and the expense of
supplies and equipment for secondary schools from the provincial
treasury, such salaries and expense may be borne by the Insular
Government: Provided, further, That if for any reason the province is
not prepared to establish a secondary or high school, the provincial
board may provide from provincial funds for the payment of the tuition,
in a high school in any other province or in the city of Manila, of
such pupils as may wish to enter such high school and are declared by
the proper examining authorities of the school which they wish to enter
to be fitted to receive secondary instruction; and the principal of the
high school in question shall, provided the provincial board shall
approve of the admission of pupils from other provinces, make
provisions for their accommodation, and when the school to which such
pupils are admitted is a provincial school the provincial board may
authorize and direct the provincial treasurer to collect from the
province sending them a reasonable tuition fee for each pupil so
admitted.
(o) To provide and equip for the division
superintendent of schools the necessary room or rooms for his office
and for use in storing and distributing supplies. In case any division
embraces more than one province, such room or rooms and equipment shall
be provided by the province in which the division superintendent
maintains his residence.
(p) To forward to the Executive Secretary
requisitions upon the Insular Purchasing Agent for property or supplies
made under the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and forty-six, as
amended, and to accompany the same with a certified copy of a
resolution by the provincial board or township council making the
necessary appropriation to cover the cost and expenses therefor; and
also, when notified by the Insular Purchasing Agent that he is ready to
make the shipment, to forward to him a certificate by the provincial
treasurer or township treasurer, as the case may be, showing that there
is sufficient money in the provincial treasury or township treasury to
cover the cost and expenses incurred by reason of the requisition, and
that the money required to make the payment has been set aside by the
board or council and is reserved for the purpose. It is hereby made the
duty of the provincial treasurer or township treasurer to issue such
certificate, if the facts warrant the issue thereof, upon the request
of the provincial board or township council. After the making of an
appropriation by the provincial board or township council for the
purpose above mentioned the money thus set aside shall not be withdrawn
by the provincial treasurer or township treasurer for any other
purpose, whether by direction of the provincial board or township
council or otherwise, under penalty of dismissal of such provincial or
township treasurer.
(q) To order, in its discretion, the execution by the
supervisor, at provincial expense, of such minor surveys and
examinations as may be necessary to determine the advisability of
making public improvements, either by the provincial government or the
Insular Government within the jurisdiction of the province: Provided,
That no survey or examination costing more than one thousand pesos,
Philippine currency, shall be commenced without the previous approval
of the Consulting Engineer to the Commission.
(r) To make loans, when deemed expedient by the
provincial board, out of provincial funds not otherwise appropriated,
to townships of the province for the construction or repair of school
buildings or for other school purposes: Provided, however, That the sum
so loaned in any one fiscal year shall not exceed ten per centum of the
gross regular income of the province for the previous fiscal year: And
provided further, That such loans shall be made payable without
interest by the townships to the province not later than the end of the
succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 18. When, in its opinion, the inhabitants of
any township or settlement have advanced sufficiently in civilization
and material prosperity to make such a course practicable and in the
public interest, the provincial board may by resolution, with the
approval of the Secretary of the Interior first had:
(a) Provide that the general exemption of members of
non-Christian tribes from payment of the poll or cedula personal taxes
prescribed by section one hundred and twenty of the Internal Revenue
Law of Nineteen hundred and four shall not apply to the inhabitants of
such township or settlement, but that they shall pay said tax, and that
the affirmative provisions of sections one hundred and twenty to one
hundred and twenty-five, inclusive, of said Internal Revenue Law shall
be applicable to the inhabitants of such township or settlement.
(b) Provide that sections forty-three to ninety,
inclusive, of the Municipal Code, as amended, and subsection (i) of
section thirteen and section seventeen of the Provincial Government
Act, relative to taxation, shall be applicable to such township or
settlement: Provided, That the provincial board shall by resolution fix
the date before which property owners must comply with the provisions
of section fifty-one of the Municipal Code; the date when the board of
assessors shall meet, take oath of office, organize, and proceed to
make a list of all the taxable real estate in the township by barrios;
the date within which the board of assessors shall complete their
valuation of the real property situated within the township and the
period within which the annual taxes thus imposed shall be payable
during the year within which they become due.
Sec. 19. (a) There is hereby imposed, for the
purpose of protecting, improving, and extending the roads and trails of
the province and of constructing public works, an annual tax of two
pesos on every male in habitant of the province over eighteen years and
under sixty years of age, except soldiers and sailors of the United
States Army and Navy, civilian employees of the military branch of the
United States Government in the Philippine Islands, consular and
diplomatic representatives and of officials of foreign powers in the
Philippine Islands, paupers, insane persons, and persons serving a
sentence of more than one year in a public prison. This tax shall be
collected by the provincial treasurer and his deputies. It shall be
deemed to be delinquent after the first day of February of each year:
Provided, That the amount of taxes due and payable for the period from
the date of this Act to the first day of January, nineteen hundred and
seven, shall be two pesos: And provided further, That this amount shall
be due and payable on the first day of December, nineteen hundred and
five, and shall become delinquent on the first day of January, nineteen
hundred and six: And provided further, That persons liable to pay this
tax not residents of the province prior to February first of any year,
but who enter and reside in the province after that date, may pay the
tax within thirty days after their arrival in the province.
(b) Any person who becomes delinquent in the payment
of this tax shall, in lieu of such payment, work for ten days on the
roads, trails, or public works in the province under the direction of
the provincial supervisor, either performing such work in person or
providing a substitute to perform it: Provided, That at any time after
he or his substitute shall have begun work he may secure release from
obligation to work by payment of the amount of the tax originally due
in full. The provincial board shall also fix the period within which
the inhabitants of each township who are delinquent in the payment of
this tax shall work it out, and the road, trail, or public work upon
which they shall labor: Provided, That when any delinquent in the
payment of this tax is obliged to perform work outside the township in
which he resides he shall be furnished subsistence by the province
while engaged in such work and during the usual and necessary time
consumed in going from his home to the place where such work is
performed and in returning from such place to his home: And provided
further, That he shall be credited with the usual and necessary time
consumed in traveling from his home to the place where the work is
performed and returning therefrom as a part of the time required by
him, such usual and necessary time to be determined by the provincial
board. Any person delinquent in the payment of this tax who shall
refuse or fail, either in person or by a substitute furnished by him,
to work it out within the misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be
punished by a fine not exceeding ten pesos or by imprisonment not
exceeding twenty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the
discretion of the court.
(c) When, in the opinion of the provincial board, the
inhabitants of any township or settlement have not advanced
sufficiently in civilization to make the collection of this tax
practicable, or in the public interest, the board may, by resolution,
with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior first had, exempt
the inhabitants of such township or settlement from the payment of this
tax.
(d) The provincial board is hereby authorized in its
discretion to expend such amounts as may appear necessary for the
purchase of rice to be sold at cost to laborers actually at work on the
roads and bridges of the province. Payments on this account shall be
made from the road and bridge fund of the province and all money
derived from sales shall be deposited in the provincial treasury to the
credit of said fund.
Sec. 20. (a) Vacancies in provincial offices
created by removal, resignation, or death shall be filled by
appointment by the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the
Commission, within ninety days after the vacancy occurs.
(b) Should the Governor-General have reason to
believe that any provincial officer is guilty of disloyalty,
dishonesty, oppression, or misconduct in office, he may suspend him
from the discharge of the duties of his office, and, after due notice
to the suspended officer, shall investigate the cause of suspension and
either remove him, with the advice and consent of the Commission, from
office or reinstate him, as the circumstances may require. In case the
suspension results in a removal, the removed appointee shall not
receive any compensation from and after the date of his suspension.
Should he be reinstated, it shall be in the discretion of the
Governor-General to direct that his compensation, during the period of
his suspension, shall be withheld, or paid from the provincial
treasury. Suspension or removal under this section shall not prevent
the institution of criminal proceedings against the person suspended or
removed.
Every provincial officer shall be subject to prosecution, in a Court of
First Instance, for a criminal act committed by him, in the same manner
as any other person.
(c) Pending the filling of a vacancy in a provincial
office created by removal, resignation, or death, or whatever a
provincial officer fails to discharge or is disabled from discharging
the duties of his office on account of sickness, absence, or other
cause, or in case of the suspension of a provincial office by the
Governor-General as provided by paragraph (b) of this section, the
vacancy thus caused shall be filled in the following manner:
(1) In case the vacancy, absence, or suspension is in
the office of provincial governor, the provincial secretary shall
discharge the duties of provincial governor during such vacancy,
absence, or suspension, or until the vacancy shall be filled as
directed by law: Provided, however, That if in the judgment of the
Governor-General the public interest demands, the vacancy thus created
may be filled by a person to be specially appointed by the
Governor-General instead of by the secretary of the province; and in
case such person is not at the time of appointment in the service of
the Government, his salary shall be the same as that of the regular
provincial governor and shall be paid out of provincial funds.
Whenever the governor of the province shall leave the capital for a
temporary absence for the purpose of inspecting the townships of his
province or for any other purpose, he may, if he thinks the public
interest will be served thereby, delegate to the secretary of the
province, by a proper writing, the power to perform such of his duties
as governor as can only conveniently be performed at the capital of the
province. Such written delegation shall be spread upon the records of
the province to evidence the authority of the secretary to perform such
acts of the governor as he may be required to perform after such
delegation.
(2) In case the vacancy, absence, or suspension is in
the office of provincial secretary, provincial treasurer, or provincial
supervisor, the Governor-General shall appoint a person to perform the
duties of the office during such vacancy or absence or suspension, and,
in the case of the provincial treasurer and provincial supervisor,
shall make such provision with respect to the bond of the temporary
appointee as to him may seem wise. In all cases in which a deputy of
the Insular Treasurer shall take possession of the office of any
provincial treasurer because of alleged defalcations in this office,
such treasurer shall ipso facto be suspended from the performance of
his functions as a member of the provincial board, and the deputy
placed in charge of the office of such provincial treasurer by the
Insular Treasurer shall, during the time he is in charge of such
office, be a member of the provincial board with all the powers and
duties pertaining to the provincial treasurer, and during such time the
per diem to which such examiner or deputy is entitled under the
provisions of Act Numbered Three hundred and fifty-eight, as amended,
shall be paid from the revenues of the province where such service is
rendered.
(3) In case the vacancy, absence, or suspension is in
the office of fiscal for the province the judge of First Instance may
appoint a temporary fiscal to discharge the duties of the office which
the regular fiscal fails or is unable to perform. The temporary fiscal
shall receive the same compensation and allowances per day as that
provided by law for the regular fiscal for the days actually employed,
such compensation to be paid out of the salary of the regular fiscal or
from the appropriation for contingent expenses, Bureau of Justice, as
the Secretary of Finance and Justice shall decide.
Sec. 21. No provincial official shall leave the
province without obtaining permission so to do from the Governor
General.
Sec. 22. The provincial governor, the provincial
secretary, the provincial treasurer, the provincial supervisor, and the
deputy clerk of the Court of First Instance for the province are hereby
made justices of the peace, ex officio, with jurisdiction throughout
the province. All fees collected in the province by any provincial
officer or deputy clerk of the Court of First Instance as ex officio
justices of the peace shall be accounted for to the provincial
treasurer and turned into the provincial treasury. Courts of justices
of the peace may, upon recommendation of the provincial board and with
the approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, be established in
townships organized under the Township Government Act, Numbered
Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven, in like manner and with like powers,
jurisdiction, and duties as courts of justices of the peace in
municipalities organized under Act Numbered Eighty-two, entitled "The
Municipal Code." The existing courts of justices of the peace in
provinces organized under this Act are hereby recognized and continued
and the justices of such courts shall continue in office during the
pleasure of the Philippine Commission, and the establishment of such
courts and the appointment of such justices are hereby validated.
Sec. 23. (a) The Province of Nueva Ecija shall
consist of the territory included within the limits of said province at
the time of the cession of the Philippine Islands to the United States.
The capital of the province shall be the township of Bayombong.
(b) The officers of the provincial government shall
be a provincial governor, at four thousand eight hundred pesos per
annum, who shall discharge, in addition to his regular duties, the
duties hereinbefore prescribed for the provincial supervisor; a
provincial secretary-treasurer, at three thousand pesos per annum, who
shall discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed for the provincial
secretary and those prescribed for the provincial treasurer and who
shall give a bond, as provided by section four of this Act, in the sum
of ten thousand pesos. The fiscal for the Mountain Judicial District
shall discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed for the provincial
fiscal.
(c) The provincial governor, the provincial
secretary-treasurer, and the division superintendent of schools for the
Province of Nueva Vizcaya shall constitute the provincial board.
Sec. 24. (a) The Province of Lepanto-Bontoc shall
consist of the territory included within the limits heretofore fixed
for this province by Act Numbered Four hundred and ten, as amended. The
capital of the province shall be the township of Cervantes.
(b) This province shall be divided into three sub
provinces as follows:
(1) The sub province of Lepanto, which shall consist
of the territory included within the boundaries fixed for this sub
province by Act Numbered Four hundred and ten, as amended.
(2) The sub province of Bontoc, which consist of the
territory included within the boundaries fixed for this sub province by
Act Numbered Four hundred and ten, as amended.
(3) The sub province of Amburayan, which shall
consist of the territory included within the boundaries fixed for this
sub province by Act Numbered Four hundred and ten, as amended.
(c) The officers of the provincial government shall
be a provincial governor, at four thousand eight hundred pesos per
annum; a secretary-treasurer, at three thousand two hundred pesos per
annum, who shall discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed for the
provincial secretary and those prescribed for the provincial treasurer,
and shall give a bond as provided by section four of this Act in the
sum of ten thousand pesos; and a provincial supervisor, at three
thousand pesos per annum. The fiscal for the Mountain Judicial District
shall discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed for the provincial
fiscal.
(d) There shall be a lieutenant-governor for the sub
province of Bontoc, at three thousand pesos per annum, who shall reside
and have his office in the settlement of Bontoc; and a
lieutenant-governor for the sub province of Amburayan, at two thousand
four hundred pesos per annum, who shall reside and have his office in
the settlement of Alilem. Subject to the supervision of the provincial
governor, the lieutenant-governors shall exercise in their respective
sub provinces the powers hereinbefore conferred upon the provincial
governor. They shall be eligible to appointment as deputies of the
provincial secretary-treasurer, but when so appointed shall receive no
additional salary.
(e) The lieutenant-governors shall have power to
appoint, in accordance with the rules and restrictions of the Civil
Service Act and the Act amendatory thereof, such permanent assistants,
clerks, and employees in their offices as may be approved by the
provincial board. The number and salaries of such employees shall be
reported by them to the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands, who shall
have the power to abolish such subordinate offices or reduce salaries;
and no increase shall be made in the number of such employees or the
amount of such salaries after having been reduced by the Treasurer of
the Philippine Islands before his approval of the proposed increase
shall have been obtained. The salaries of the officers and employees
provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this section shall be paid
from the provincial treasury.
(f) The lieutenant-governor of Bontoc and the
lieutenant-governor of Amburayan shall be justices of the peace ex
officio, with jurisdiction throughout their respective sub provinces.
Sec. 25. (a) The Province of Mindoro shall consist
of the Island of Mindoro, the island of Lubang, and the small islands
adjacent to these islands and not included within the limits of any
other province.
(b) The officers of the provincial government of
Mindoro shall be a provincial governor, at four thousand five hundred
pesos per annum; a provincial supervisor-treasurer, at four thousand
five hundred pesos per annum, who shall discharge the duties
hereinbefore prescribed for the provincial supervisor and those
prescribed for the provincial treasurer, and who shall give a bond as
provided by section four of this Act in the sum of twenty thousand
pesos; a provincial secretary, at three thousand pesos per annum, and a
provincial fiscal, at two thousand eight hundred pesos per annum. These
officers shall reside and have their offices in the township of
Calapan, Island of Mindoro, which is hereby made the capital of the
province.
(c) The provincial governor, the provincial
supervisor-treasurer, and the provincial secretary shall constitute the
provincial board.
Sec. 26. (a) The Province of Palawan shall include
the entire Island of Palawan, the Islands of Dumaran and Balabac, the
Calamianes Islands, the Cuyos Islands, the Cagayanes Islands, and all
other islands adjacent to these islands and not included within the
limits of any other province.
(b) The capital of the Province of Palawan shall be
the township of Puerto Princesa on the Island of Palawan: Provided
however, That until cable communications shall have been established
between Puerto Princesa and Manila, the provincial government shall
have discretion to fix the capital of that province either at Cuyo or
at Puerto Princesa, and to change the place of the capital from one
place to the other, as the public interests may require, the change of
the capital, if made, to be effected by a proclamation of the
provincial governor, a copy of which shall be forwarded to the
Executive Secretary.
(c) The officers of the provincial government shall
be a provincial governor, at three thousand two hundred pesos per
annum, who shall discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed for the
provincial governor and those prescribed for the provincial supervisor;
and a provincial secretary-treasurer, at three thousand pesos per
annum, who shall discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed for the
provincial secretary and those prescribed for the provincial treasurer,
and who shall give a bond as provided by section four of this Act in
the sum of ten thousand pesos. The fiscal for the Fifteenth Judicial
District shall perform the duties prescribed for the provincial fiscal.
(d) The provincial governor, the provincial
secretary-treasurer, and the division superintendent of schools for the
Province of Palawan shall constitute the provincial board.
Sec. 27. (a) The Province of Benguet shall retain
the boundaries fixed by law at the time of the passage of this Act, and
the capital of the province shall be the township of Baguio.
(b) The officers of the provincial government of
Benguet shall be a provincial governor, at three thousand six hundred
pesos per annum, who shall perform the duties prescribed for the
provincial governor and those prescribed for the provincial supervisor;
a provincial secretary, at one thousand two hundred pesos per annum;
and a provincial treasurer, at one thousand six hundred pesos per
annum, who shall also act as disbursing officer for the Civil
Sanitarium, eight hundred pesos per annum, together with subsistence
and quarters in kind. The provincial treasurer shall give a bond as
provided by section four of this Act in the sum of eighteen thousand
pesos.
(c) The provincial governor, the provincial
secretary, and the provincial treasurer shall constitute the provincial
board.
Sec. 28. The following Acts and all Acts or parts
of Acts in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed:
(a) Act Numbered Forty-nine, entitled "An Act
providing for the establishment of a civil government for the Province
of Benguet."
(b) Act Numbered Three hundred and thirty-seven,
entitled "An Act providing for the organization of a provincial
government in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya."
(c) Act Numbered Four hundred and ten, entitled "An
Act providing for the organization of a provincial government in the
territory comprised in the Commandancias of Lepanto, Bontoc, and
Amburayan, and territory lying between Abra, Cagayan, and Bontoc not
included within the limits of any province, and providing for justices
of the peace in this territory and in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya."
(d) Act Numbered Four hundred and twenty-two,
entitled "An Act providing for the organization of a provincial
government in the Province of Paragua, and defining the limits of that
province,"
(e) Act Numbered Four hundred and forty-one, entitled
"An Act amending Act Numbered Four hundred and twenty-two, organizing a
provincial government in the Province of Paragua, so as to provide that
the duties of fiscal of that province shall be performed by the fiscal
of the Fourteenth Judicial District."
(f) Act Numbered Five hundred, entitled "An Act
providing for the organization of a provincial government in the Island
of Mindoro Four hundred and twenty-three, entitled 'An Act extending
the provisions of the Provincial Government Act and its amendments to
the Island of Mindoro and incorporating that island with the Province
of Marinduque.'"
(g) Act Numbered Five hundred and sixty-six, entitled
"An Act amending Act Numbered Four hundred and ten, providing for the
organization of the Province of Lepanto-Bontoc, by increasing the
salary of the secretary-treasurer in said province to one thousand
three hundred dollars and the salary of the lieutenant-governor of the
sub province of Bontoc to one thousand five hundred dollars per year."
(h) Act Numbered Five hundred and sixty-seven,
entitled "An Act amending Act Numbered Four hundred and twenty-two,
providing for the organization of a provincial government in the
Province of Paragua and defining the limits of that province, by fixing
new boundaries for the Province of Paragua."
(i) Section s one and two of Act Numbered Seven
hundred and forty-seven, entitled "An Act to amend Act Numbered Four
hundred and twenty-two, as amended, by defining new limits for the
Province of Paragua, and for other purposes."
Sec. 29. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of
the Interior to visit and inspect each province organized under the
provisions of this Act at least once during each fiscal year.
Sec. 30. The short title of this Act shall be "The
Special Provincial Government Act."
Sec. 31. The public good requiring the speedy
enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in
accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of
procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September
twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.
Sec. 32. This Act shall take effect on its
passage.