Whereas the President of the United States,
upon October twenty-third, nineteen hundred and two, signed an
executive order providing that "the executive order of July third,
eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, prescribing the conditions upon which
officers of the customs in the Philippine Islands, ceded to the United
States by Spain, may issue a certificate of protection entitling the
vessel to which it is issued to the protection and flag of the United
States on the high seas and in all ports, shall not be deemed to
preclude the power and authority of the Philippine Commission to enact
laws extending the right or privilege of inter-island or coastwise
trade in the Philippine Archipelago to foreign vessels during the
period while the laws regulating the coastwise trade of the United
States are inapplicable thereto under the provisions of Act of Congress
entitled 'An Act temporarily to provide revenue for the Philippine
Islands and for other purposes,' approved March eighth, nineteen
hundred and two:"
Section 1. The Collector of Customs for the
Philippine Archipelago is hereby authorized to issue a special
coastwise license to any vessel belonging in whole or in part to a
citizen of the United States, to a citizen of the Philippine Islands,
or to a citizen or subject of any country with which the United States
is at peace, entitling said vessel to engage in the coastwise trade of
the Philippine Islands upon the terms and conditions hereinafter
prescribed.
Sec. 2. The owner, managing owner, charterer, or
master of any vessel for which a special coastwise license is sought
shall make application therefor under oath to the Collector of Customs
for the Philippine Archipelago, setting forth the name and residence of
the owner or owners, the nationality, name, and place of construction
of the vessel, her class, gross and net tonnage, number of decks and
masts, her length, breadth, and depth, and a statement that the vessel
is intended for legitimate trade only.
If satisfied of the bona fide of the application, the Collector of
Customs for the Philippine Archipelago shall issue a special coastwise
license for a period not to exceed one year, upon the payment of a
license fee of one dollar per year for each ton of registered tonnage
of the vessel, or at the rate of fifteen cents per registered ton per
month for any shorter period: Provided, That in no case shall a license
fee of less than fifteen cents per ton be collected.
Sec. 3. In case the vessel is owned by an
incorporated company, the application may be made by the president,
vice-president, acting president, or secretary of such company, or by
the master of the vessel.
Sec. 4. Upon the death, removal, or resignation of
the person in whose name the license is granted, or of one of the
above-mentioned officers of an incorporated company, or of a master of
a vessel, whose name appears in the license, a new license must be
obtained, and the same shall be issued without charge for the unexpired
period of the original license.
Sec. 5. In assessing the license fee above
prescribed, the vessels of the United States, Great Britain, Belgium,
Denmark, Austria-Hungary, the German Empire, Italy, Sweden, Norway,
Spain, the Netherlands Russia, Finland, Portugal, and Japan, whose
registers indicate their gross and net tonnage under their present law,
shall be taken to be of the tonnage so expressed in their documents,
without admeasurement or charge therefor in the Philippine Islands, but
all other vessels shall be subject to the usual admeasurement and fees
at the port of Manila before being granted the license above described.
Sec. 6. Vessels operating under the special
coastwise license shall hoist their national ensign, and shall fly at
the mainmast the "Philippine coastwise emblem," which shall consist of
a rectangular white flag with one blue and one red star ranged from
staff to tip in a horizontal median line.
Sec. 7. The provisions of section one hundred and
thirty-four, one hundred and thirty-six, one hundred and thirty-seven,
one hundred and thirty-eight, one hundred and forty-eight, one hundred
and forty-nine, one hundred and fifty-two, one hundred and fifty-three,
and one hundred and fifty-five of the Philippine Customs Administrative
Act shall apply to all vessels, their cargoes, masters, officers, and
crews operating or being carried under the special coastwise license
hereinbefore authorized.
Sec. 8. Vessels operating under the special
coastwise license, arriving at ports in the Philippine Islands from a
port or place outside of the Islands, shall be subject to all the laws,
regulations, orders, provisions, fines, forfeitures, and other
penalties provided for foreign vessels, for vessels possessing the
certificate of protection issued under section one hundred and
seventeen of the Philippine Customs Administrative Act when entering
from a port or place outside of the Philippine Islands, and for other
vessels so entering the Philippine Islands.
Sec. 9. The master of any vessel engaging in the
coastwise trade of the Philippine Islands without being duly licensed
in accordance with this Act shall, on conviction, be fined not
exceeding five thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor not more
than ten years, or both, in the discretion of the court, and the vessel
and the cargo may be seized and forfeited.
Sec. 10. In addition to the penalties prescribed
by section three hundred and two of the Philippine Customs
Administrative Act, the master of any vessel operating under a special
coastwise license which shall have any firearms, gunpowder, cartridges,
dynamite, or any other class of explosives or munitions of war,
concealed on board the vessel, or not duly manifested, may also, on
conviction, be imprisoned at hard labor not more than ten years, in the
discretion of the court; and any officer, member of the crew, or other
person aboard such vessel, who, having guilty knowledge of the presence
on board of such concealed or unmanifested firearms, gunpowder,
cartridges, dynamite, or other explosives or munitions of war, shall
fail to report, or to make due effort to report, the same to the first
authority of the Insular Government with whom communication can be had,
shall, on conviction, be fined not more than two thousand dollars, or
imprisoned at hard labor not more than five years, or both, in the
discretion of the court.
Sec. 11. In addition to the penalties prescribed
by section one hundred and fifty-one of the Philippine Customs
Administrative Act, the master of any vessel operating under a special
coastwise license which shall enter any closed port in the Philippine
Islands without the special permission of the collector of customs at a
port of entry shall, on conviction, be fined not to exceed two thousand
dollars, or be imprisoned at hard labor not more than five years, or
both, in the discretion of the court.
Sec. 12. Every vessel for which a special
coastwise license is sought shall first be required to specially
register in the office of the Collector of Customs for the Philippine
Archipelago all firearms, side arms, cartridges or ammunition therefor,
lead, and other articles on board or in the possession of either crew
or passengers, which the Collector of Customs for the Philippine
Archipelago may designate for such purpose, in addition to having the
same regularly manifested as required by law.
Sec. 13. The special coastwise license by this Act
provided shall not be issued to any vessel having Chinese persons in
its crew who are excluded by law from entering the Philippine Islands,
until the master of such vessel shall have given bond, conditioned for
the payment of five hundred dollars, in money of the United States, for
every such Chinese member of the crew who shall escape to the shores of
the Philippine Islands from the vessel, and for the payment of the
expenses of capture and deportation hereinafter described. The amount
of such bond shall be fixed by the Collector of Customs for the
Philippine Archipelago and shall contain a provision that, in addition
to the payment of the penalties above provided which it secures, it
shall also cover the payment of all expenses incident to the capture
and deportation of such Chinese members of the crew escaping from such
vessel into the Philippine Islands. The bond shall be signed and
executed by the master of the vessel and by one or more sufficient
sureties, to be approved by the Collector of Customs for the Philippine
Archipelago, with whom it shall be filed. In addition to the security
of the bond the Collector of Customs shall have authority to seize and
hold the vessel until the penalties above provided and imposed, and the
expense of capture and deportation of such escaped Chinese person,
shall have been paid: Provided, That where such a Chinese member of the
crew shall escape to the shores of the Philippine Islands without the
connivance of the master or the officers of the vessel, and they, or
either of them, shall retake and return to the vessel such Chinaman
within five days from the time of his escape, the penalties herein
provided may be reduced or remitted by the Collector of Customs for the
Philippine Archipelago in his discretion.
Sec. 14. Upon being informed of the escape of any
such Chinese member of the crew of a vessel receiving a special
coastwise license under this Act the Collector of Customs for the
Philippine Archipelago shall apply to the proper Constabulary,
provincial, or municipal authorities for the capture and return of the
escaped Chinaman, and, if captured, he shall be deported from the
Philippine Islands to the place from which he last sailed at the
expense of the master of the vessel from which he escaped, the expense
thereof to be collected out of the penalty of the bond in addition to
the penalty already imposed.
Sec. 15. A Chinese member of the crew of a vessel
receiving a special coastwise license under this Act escaping from the
vessel, as described in sections thirteen and fourteen, may be
apprehended upon a warrant issued either by a collector of customs, a
justice of the peace, a municipal president, or the judge of a
municipal court, upon an affidavit duly filed with said officer setting
forth the fact that the person shall named in the warrant is a Chinese
member of the crew of a vessel licensed under this Act, the vessel to
be named in the warrant, and who had unlawfully escaped from such
vessel; and any officer authorized to serve process in the Philippine
Islands shall be authorized to serve such warrant and make due return
thereof to the officer issuing the warrant.
Sec. 16. The master of any vessel for which a
special coastwise license is sought shall first be required to register
in the Office of the Collector of Customs for the Philippine
Archipelago all aliens on board his vessel, either as master, officers,
members of crew, passengers, or otherwise, who will continue on board
while said vessel is engaged in the coastwise trade, by presenting for
file separate alien manifests, in duplicate, containing the usual data
in regard to all such persons.
Sec. 17. Vessels operating under a special
coastwise license shall be permitted to carry coastwise cargoes from
one port of entry to another simultaneously with foreign cargoes,
provided that either all of such coastwise merchandise or all of such
foreign merchandise be contained in separate holds or compartments,
which may be securely fastened and sealed in a manner satisfactory to
the customs authorities, and the simultaneous transportation of foreign
and coastwise cargoes shall be subject generally to such limitations,
bonds, and regulations as the Collector of Customs for the Philippine
Archipelago may prescribe.
Sec. 18. No vessel shall receive a special
coastwise license under this Act until the master or owner thereof
shall have paid full customs duties upon all sea stores and supplies
upon the vessel, which have not been purchased in the Philippine
Islands.
Sec. 19. No foreign merchandise upon which duties
have not been paid shall be transported to any but a port of entry in
the Philippine Islands, and any violation of the provisions of this
section or of those of the two next preceding sections shall render the
vessel, her master, officers, and crew, or any other guilty person,
subject to all the penalties prescribed by this Act, or otherwise by
law, for smuggling and carrying unmanifested goods, and in case any of
the goods so transported in violation of law shall be firearms,
gunpowder, cartridges, dynamite, or any other class of explosives or
munitions of war, the vessel, her master, officers, and crew, and any
other guilty person, shall also be subject to all the penalties
prescribed by section ten of this Act and section three hundred and two
of the Philippine Customs Administrative Act.
Sec. 20. Vessels operating under a special
coastwise license shall be permitted to carry passengers from one port
to another in the Philippine Islands.
Sec. 21. Vessels operating under a special
coastwise license shall not be permitted to engage in the lighterage or
other exclusively harbor business in the Philippine Archipelago.
Sec. 22. All special coastwise licenses shall be
numbered consecutively, starting with "F 1 "
Sec. 23. All vessels operating under the special
coastwise license shall pay the regular fees prescribed by Chapter
Twenty-two of the Philippine Customs Administrative Act for vessels
having a regular first-class coastwise license.
Sec. 24. Any vessel possessing a certificate of
protection issued under section one hundred and seventeen of the
Philippine Customs Administrative Act, shall be entitled to the
privileges and shall be subject to all the penalties directly or
indirectly imposed in sections nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one of this
Act, and all vessels engaged in the Philippine coastwise trade on or
after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and three, shall fly
the Philippine coasting emblem at the mainmast.
Sec. 25. All vessels engaged in the coastwise
trade under this Act or under the Customs Administrative Act are hereby
declared to be common carriers and subject to the provisions of Act
Numbered Ninety-eight, entitled "An Act to regulate commerce in the
Philippine Islands."
Sec. 26. It shall be unlawful for two or more
masters, owners, or agents of vessels engaged in the coastwise trade
under this Act, or under the Customs Administrative Act, to enter into
any agreement between themselves to fix, increase, or maintain rates of
transportation for passengers or merchandise, or to divide the
coastwise trade and business of these Islands, or between any port of
the Islands, for the purpose of restraining and avoiding competition;
and it shall be the duty of the Collector of Customs, after a due
hearing, to withdraw and cancel the license to any vessel to engage in
the coastwise trade whose master, owner, or agent shall have entered
into such agreement. An appeal from the decision of the Collector will
lie to the Court of Customs Appeals in cases arising under this
section, as in other cases.
Sec. 27. The Civil Governor is hereby authorized
to appoint a commission of three persons, to membership in which any
official of the Insular Government may be eligible, which commission
shall exercise the authority and discharge the duties hereinafter
prescribed and shall be known as the "Coastwise Rate Commission." The
Coastwise Rate Commission is authorized to classify vessels,
merchandise, and passengers for the purpose of carriage in the
coastwise trade and to fix the maximum rates to be charged thereunder
for the transportation in the several classes of vessels of the various
classes of merchandise and passengers from one point to another in the
Philippine Islands.
Sec. 28. Each member of the Coastwise Rate
Commission who shall not be an official of the Insular Government shall
receive for his services while actually engaged in the work of said
Rate Commission a per diem of ten dollars per day, in money of the
United States. The Civil Governor is authorized to designate from some
one of the Bureaus of the Insular Government a stenographer to act as
secretary of the said Rate Commission, during its sessions, to take the
evidence and transcribe the same, and to keep the minutes of its
proceedings.
It shall be the duty of the Collector of Customs of the Philippine
Archipelago to furnish rooms, furniture, and the necessary stationery
for the work of the Rate Commission and its secretary. The Rate
Commission shall meet at the call of the Civil Governor and may be
adjourned from time to time by his order.
Sec. 29. It shall be the duty of the owner or
master of any vessel engaged in the coastwise trade to comply with the
requirements of the tariff of maximum rates fixed by the Coastwise Rate
Commission as hereinbefore provided, and in case of failure to provide
transportation at the prescribed rate, the Collector of Customs for the
Philippine Archipelago shall withdraw the license of the vessel to
engage in the coastwise trade, and the offending vessel, if it
thereafter engages in the coastwise trade, and its owner, master, and
officers, shall be liable to the same penalties as those which are
imposed upon any vessel, its owner, master, or officers, engaged in the
coastwise trade without a license: Provided, however, That if an appeal
be taken from the decision of the Coastwise Rate Commission and the
tariff fixed by it to the Court of Customs Appeals, as hereinafter
provided, and the Court of Customs Appeals shall modify or change the
maximum rates fixed by the Coastwise Rate Commission, then the maximum
rates as modified by the Court of Customs Appeals shall be observed and
obeyed by all vessels engaged in the coastwise trade subject to the
penalties hereinbefore provided for violation of the rates of the
Coastwise Rate Commission.
Sec. 30. The maximum rates shall be reasonable,
and shall not be fixed as hereinbefore provided, except after a public
hearing of all persons or companies engaged as common carriers in the
transportation of freight or passengers.
Sec. 31. Any person deeming himself aggrieved by
the order of the Coastwise Rate Commission fixing rates for
transportation may appeal from the decision of the Coastwise Rate
Commission to the Court of Customs Appeals, to which, upon notice of
appeal, the Coastwise Rate Commission shall forward a record of the
proceedings before it, including a transcript of all the evidence
taken, and of its judgment thereon. The decision of the Court of
Customs Appeals shall be final.
Sec. 32. It shall not be obligatory upon the Civil
Governor to appoint the Coastwise Rate Commission herein provided
unless he shall deem the rates prescribed to be excessive and such
regulation to be necessary.
Sec. 33. All prosecutions for violations occurring
under this Act shall be instituted in the Court of Customs Appeals in
the manner provided in the Customs Administrative Act, and all appeals
from penalties imposed by the Collector of Customs hereunder shall be
taken to the Court of Customs Appeals as in that Act provided.
Sec. 34. Copies of sections ten, eleven, twelve,
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and seventeen of this Act, printed in both
English and Spanish in bold type, shall be conspicuously posted in such
places aboard vessels operating under a special coastwise license and
in such manner the Collector of Customs for the Philippine Archipelago
may direct.
Sec. 35. On and after the first day of December,
nineteen hundred and two, the Collector of Customs may, in his
discretion, with the approval of the Civil Governor and whenever the
public interest shall require, issue a regulation providing that no
vessel of more than one hundred and fifty tons of registered tonnage
shall be permitted to enter, berth, or moor within the Pasig River for
the purpose of loading or discharging cargo, or for any other purpose
than to make necessary repairs which could not be made in Manila Bay.
Sec. 36. All existing decrees, laws, regulations,
or orders, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this
Act, are hereby repealed.
Sec. 37. This Act shall be known and referred to
as the "Coastwise Trade Act."
Sec. 38. This Act shall take effect on its
passage.
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