CHAPTER
I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1. (a) The pueblos of the Philippine Islands
shall be recognized as municipal corporations with the same boundaries
as now existing de jure or de facto, upon organization under the
provisions of this Act.
(b) This Act shall not apply to the city of Manila,
for which special legislation shall be enacted.
(c) This Act shall not apply to the settlement of
non-Christian tribes, for which special legislation shall be enacted.
Sec. 2. (a) Pueblos incorporated under this Act
shall be designated as municipalities (municipios), and shall be known
respectively by the names heretofore adopted. Under such names they may
sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, acquire and hold real
and personal property for the general interests of the municipality,
and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred upon them.
(b) All property and property rights vested in any
pueblo under its former organization shall continue to be vested in the
same municipality after its incorporation under this Act.
Sec. 3. The government of each municipality
established under this Act is hereby vested in a president, a
vice-president, and a municipal council. The president and the
councilors, together with the vice-president, shall be chosen at large
by the qualified electors of the municipality, and their term of office
shall be for two years from and after the first Monday in January next
after their election and until their successors are duly chosen and
qualified: Provided, That the president and vice-president elected in
nineteen hundred and one shall hold office until the first Monday in
January, nineteen hundred and three, or until their successors are duly
chosen and qualified and that the councilors elected in nineteen
hundred and one shall divide themselves by lot into two classes. The
seats of those of the first class shall be vacated on the first Monday
of January, nineteen hundred and two, and those of the second class one
year thereafter, or when their successors are duly chosen and
qualified, so that one-half of the municipal council shall be chosen
annually.
Sec. 4. (a) Incorporated municipalities shall be
of four classes, according to the number of inhabitants. Municipalities
of the first class shall be those which contain not less than
twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and shall have eighteen councilors;
of the second class, those containing eighteen thousand and less than
twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and shall have fourteen councilors;
of the third class, those containing ten thousand and less than
eighteen thousand inhabitants, and shall have ten councilors; of the
fourth class, those containing less than ten thousand inhabitants, and
shall have eight.
(b) Municipalities of less than two thousand
inhabitants may be incorporated under the provisions of this Act, or
may, upon petition signed by a majority of the qualified electors
thereof, be attached as a barrio to an adjacent and incorporated
municipality, if the council of the latter shall grant said petition.
(c) A barrio or barrios with an aggregate population
of more than two thousand may be incorporated under the provisions of
this Act as a separate municipality, upon the granting by the
Commission of a petition signed by two-thirds of the qualified electors
thereof.
(d) In case of controversy, the Commission shall
determine to which class a town shall belong, and thereafter, if its
population shall sufficiently increase or diminish, it shall pass to a
higher or lower class by order of the provincial board.
Sec. 5. The municipality shall be divided into
barrios, or wards, and the limits of such barrios shall be clearly
defined, as hereinafter provided in section thirty-six. For
administrative purposes, the barrios may be grouped into districts. The
number of such districts in the municipality shall be equal to the
number of councilors, including the vice-president.
CHAPTER
II
QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS —
ELECTIONS
Sec. 6. The electors charged with the duty of
choosing elective municipal officers shall be male persons,
twenty-three years of age or over, who have had a legal residence in
the municipality in which they exercise the suffrage for a period of
six months immediately preceding the election, and who are not citizens
or subjects of any foreign power, and who are comprised within one of
the following three classes:
(a) Those who, prior to the thirteenth of August,
eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, held the office of municipal
captain, gobernadorcillo, alcalde, lieutenant, cabeza de Barangay or
member of any ayuntamiento.
(b) Those who own real property to the value of five
hundred pesos, or who annually pay thirty pesos or more of the
established taxes.
(c) Those who speak, read, and write English or
Spanish.
Sec. 7. Each elector shall, before casting his
ballot, take and subscribe the following elector's oath, which shall be
administered by the municipal secretary with whom it shall be filed:
"ELECTOR'S
OATH
"I, ___________________, do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am a male resident of the
municipality of ______________, in the ________________; and shall have
resided therein for the period of six months immediately preceding the
next municipal election; that at the date of said election I shall be
_______ years of age; that I am not a subject or citizen of any foreign
power; that I shall in all respects be entitled to vote therein at the
next election for municipal officers; furthermore, that I recognize and
accept the supreme authority of the United States of America, and will
maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that I will obey the laws,
legal orders and decrees duly promulgated by its authority; and that I
impose upon myself this obligation voluntarily and without mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me God. (In case of
affirmation, the words "So help me God" should be stricken out.)
"(Signature of the elector.)
"Subscribed and sworn to (or
affirmed) before me this ________ day of ________, 19____.
"(Signature of municipal
secretary.)"
Sec. 8. The following persons shall be
disqualified from voting: (a) Any person who is
delinquent in payment of public taxes, assessed since August
thirteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
(b) Any person who has been deprived of the right to
vote by the sentence of a court of competent jurisdiction since August
thirteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
(c) Any person who has taken and violated the oath of
allegiance to the United States.
(d) Any person who, on the first day of April,
nineteen hundred and one, or thereafter, shall be in arms in the
Philippine Islands against authority or sovereignty of the United
States, whether such person be an officer, soldier or civilian.
(e) Any person who, on the first day of April,
nineteen hundred and one, or thereafter, shall make contribution of
money or other valuable thing in aid of any person or organization
against the authority or sovereignty of the United States, or who shall
demand or receive such contribution from others, or who shall make any
contribution to any person or organization hostile to or in arms
against the authority or sovereignty of the United States, for the
purpose of securing any protection, immunity or benefit.
(f) Any person who, on the first day of April,
nineteen hundred and one, or thereafter, shall in any manner whatsoever
give aid and comfort to any person or organization in said Islands in
opposition to or in arms against the authority or sovereignty of the
United States.
(g) Insane or feeble-minded persons.
Sec. 9. (a) General municipal elections (except
the first, for which special provision is hereinafter made, in Chapter
VIII) shall be held on the first Tuesday in December of each year, and
the officers elected thereat shall enter upon their duties on the first
Monday of January following. In order to provide properly for municipal
elections, the president, during the first five days of the month next
preceding the month in which any general election is to be held, shall
prepare and cause to be posted a proclamation specifying the place
where and the hours during which the election shall be held, and
notifying all persons qualified as electors to appear before the
municipal secretary during the first fifteen days of the month in which
the proclamation is dated, for the purpose of taking the elector's
oath. It shall be the duty of the secretary, and he is empowered, to
administer the oaths, but without fee.
(b) One copy of the proclamation shall be posted at
the main entrance of the municipal building and one in a public and
conspicuous place in each barrio of the town. Between the fifteenth and
twentieth days of the month, the president shall prepare from the oaths
thus taken a list of the qualified electors, alphabetically arranged
according to surnames, and shall post it at the main entrance of the
municipal building. He shall further prepare and cause to be posted in
a public and conspicuous place in each barrio an alphabetical list of
the qualified electors residing within its limits. Each list shall be
accompanied by a notice specifying a term of five days prior to the
election during which any qualified elector may demand his proper
enrollment as such, or the exclusion from the list of qualified
electors of the name of any person not possessing the right to vote.
Such demands shall be made to the president, who shall promptly refer
them for settlement to a board consisting of the vice-president, the
municipal treasurer and himself. Where the value of land offered as a
qualification for voting is disputed, its value as assessed for
taxation shall conclusively determine the same. If there is no
assessment the value shall be determined by the board. The questions
raised before said board shall be determined before the date of the
pending election, and the determination shall be immediately
communicated in writing to the person whose qualifications as an
elector are in question.
(c) Special elections, duly called in accordance with
the provisions of section thirteen, subsection (b), shall be held on
the fourth Tuesday succeeding the call for the same. They shall be
conducted in accordance with the rules provided for general elections
in sections nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen.
Sec. 10. Municipal elections shall be held in the
house of the municipality, and shall be presided over by a board of
election judges, consisting of three qualified electors who are not
candidates at such election and who, together with two tellers
possessing like qualifications, shall be designated in writing prior to
the day of election by a majority vote of a board consisting of those
members of the municipal council who have the longest unexpired terms
of office. Should any votes be cast for any member of the board of
election judges, said votes shall be void and of no effect. The senior
member of the board of judges shall act as its chairman, and the action
of the board shall be determined by a majority vote. In case of the
absence at the election of any member of the board of judges or of a
teller, or his disqualification at any stage of the election, the
vacancy or vacancies shall be immediately filled by a majority vote of
the entire number of the remaining judges and tellers.
Sec. 11. (a) Elections shall be by secret ballot.
Only duly qualified electors shall be allowed in the room where an
election is being held. A portion of the room shall be cut off by a
railing and gate. Within the space thus enclosed the board of judges
shall sit, and tables, together with blank ballots and writing
materials, shall be placed for the convenience of voters. The tables
shall be separated from each other by screens.
(b) Blank ballots, with the names of the several
offices to be filled printed thereon and with suitable spaces for the
insertion of the names of the persons voted for, shall be provided in
sufficient numbers by the provincial governor before every general or
special election. The municipality shall pay for the ballots, which
shall be furnished at cost price. Ballots other than the
above-described official forms will be illegal, unless the provincial
governor shall fail to provide the blanks, or to provide them in
sufficient number. In the latter event, the board of judges will
determine and provide the form to be employed.
(c) Each elector shall fill out this ballot at one of
the tables provided for the purpose, by writing in the names of the
persons for whom he desires to vote. He shall then fold his ballot and
deposit it in the ballot box, first stating to the board of judges his
name and the barrio in which he resides. When he has voted, the
chairman shall check his name on the official list of voters, in order
to avoid the possibility of his voting a second time.
(d) The board of judges shall identify the voters,
and shall exclude the ballot of anyone whose name is found not to be
included in the official list.
(e) The number of electors admitted to the enclosed
space shall never exceed the number of tables, nor shall any two
persons occupy one table at the same time, except in the case of
electors who cannot read and write.
(f) Any elector who cannot read and write shall be
assisted in the preparation of his ballot by the two tellers, who shall
accompany him to a table. One of the tellers, in the presence of the
other, shall thereupon fill out a ballot in accordance with the
dictation of the elector, who shall then deposit it in the usual manner.
(g) Before an election the board of judges shall
provide a suitable ballot box with a slit in the top for the insertion
of ballots. Immediately before the voting begins, they shall see that
the box is empty and shall lock the same. While an election is in
progress, the ballot box shall be kept locked and the key shall be
constantly in the possession of the chairman of the board of judges,
who will not unlock the box or allow it to be unlocked until the board
is ready to count the ballots. The box shall not be removed from the
presence of the board of judges during the election or until the
ballots are counted and the result declared.
(h) The hours for voting shall be from eight
antemeridian to four postmeridian, at which latter time the election
shall close.
Sec. 12. A plurality of votes shall be sufficient
to elect.
Sec. 13. (a) Immediately after the close of the
election the box shall be opened by the chairman in the presence of the
board, the ballots shall be canvassed by the board, a certificate of
the result of the election shall be prepared in duplicate and signed by
the members of the board and by the tellers, and the certificate shall
be a sufficient warrant for those elected to assume their offices,
unless objections are filed as follows: A duplicate, containing the
additional statement that a term of three days is granted in which any
resident of the town can present to the board, or to the chairman
thereof, in writing such objections as he may deem just and legal
against those declared elected, shall be prepared by the board and
posted at the main entrance of the municipal building.
(b) On the day following said term of three days a
duplicate of the election certificate and the objections made, if any,
shall be sent by the chairman of the board of judges to the provincial
board. Should the provincial board, upon investigation and after
hearing of evidence, if necessary, find the election legal, they shall,
within seven days after the receipt of said documents, direct the newly
elected officers to qualify and enter upon their duties on the day
fixed by this Act, but, if the provincial board determine that there
has been an illegality committed in the election of any officers or
that any candidate returned is not eligible, they shall so declare in
writing, with the reasons therefor, and shall order a special election
to fill the vacancies thus occasioned and shall certify their finding
and order to the municipal secretary, who shall spread the same on the
records of the council. In determining the legality of the election,
the provincial board shall ignore irregularities or informalities which
do not prevent the declared result from being the actual will of the
electors.
CHAPTER
III
OFFICERS — THEIR QUALIFICATIONS,
DUTIES, AND COMPENSATION
Sec. 14. A president, vice-president, or councilor
shall have the following qualifications:
(a) He shall be a duly qualified elector of the
municipality, twenty-six or more years of age, and shall have a legal
residence therein for at least one year prior to the date of election.
(b) He shall intelligently speak, read, and write
either Spanish or the English language or the local dialect.
Sec. 15. In no case shall there be elected or
appointed to a municipal office ecclesiastics, soldiers in active
service, persons receiving salaries from provincial, departmental, or
governmental funds, or contractors for public works of the municipality.
Sec. 16. (a) Every person elected or appointed to
a municipal office under the provisions of this Act shall, before
entering upon the duties thereof, take and subscribe before the
president or municipal secretary the following oath of office:
"OATH
OF OFFICE
"I,
_____________________________ having been ______________ as
____________________ of the municipality of _______________ in the
province of _______________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have
the prescribed qualifications to hold office in said municipality; that
I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of
America and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that I
will obey the laws, legal orders and decrees promulgated by its duly
constituted authorities; that I impose upon myself this obligation I
voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that
I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon
which I am about to enter, so help me God. (Last four words to be
stricken out in case of affirmation.)
"(Signature of officer.)
"Subscribed and sworn to (or
affirmed) before me this ________ day of ________________________,
19______.
"(Signature of president or
municipal secretary)."
(b) Such oaths shall be filed in the office of the
municipal secretary.
Sec. 17. Every municipal officer charged with the
custody of municipal funds shall, before entering upon the duties of
his office, execute a bond to the municipality with two or more
sureties, the amount of which bond and the sufficiency of which
sureties shall be approved by the president, and by the provincial
treasurer, in writing, indorsed thereon, and by the municipal council
by a recorded vote. A copy of the bond and the approval of the same
shall be spread upon the minutes of the council. The bond shall be
fixed at a penal sum of not less than half of the amount of the
aggregate revenue which will probably come into the custody of such
municipal officer during the current year and shall be conditioned for
the faithful performance of the duties of the office and the payment as
required by law of all moneys received by such officer for and in
behalf of the municipality. The bond shall be filed in the office of
the municipal secretary, who shall carefully preserve the same. Should
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 municipal
officer had entered upon the discharge of his official duties.
Sec. 18. The president shall be the chief
executive of the municipality.
(a) He shall cause the ordinances of the municipality
to be executed, and shall supervise the discharge of official duties by
all subordinates.
(b) He shall examine and inspect the books, records,
and papers of every officer or agent employed by the municipality.
(c) He shall issue orders, relating to the police or
to public safety, and orders for the purpose of avoiding
conflagrations, floods, and the effects of storms or other public
calamities.
(d) He shall draw warrants upon the municipal
treasurer for the legitimate payments authorized by the council.
(e) He shall assist the provincial treasurer and his
deputies in the collection of taxes.
(f) He shall, with the assistance of the municipal
treasurer, one councilor, and the secretary, hold such public auctions
as may be authorized by the council.
(g) He shall hold a court to hear and adjudge alleged
violations of public ordinances, upon complaint filed by his direction,
or by a police officer, or a private citizen; and, after due trial in
which the accused and his witnesses shall be heard, shall, upon
conviction, impose such punishment, either by admonition or by fine and
imprisonment, or both, in his discretion, as is provided in subsection
(dd) of section thirty-nine.
(h) Fines shall be paid in coin to the treasurer of
the municipality, upon the order of the president, and the municipal
officer shall issue a receipt therefor, which shall be countersigned by
the president, who shall, upon countersigning it, record the payment of
the same in the docket hereinafter prescribed in paragraph (j).
(i) Provided, That if the charge be against a
municipal officer or employee for violating his official duty, the
president shall have jurisdiction to suspend him, pending action on
such violation by the municipal council; and, if a fine is imposed
against such officer, it may be collected by withholding the requisite
amount from such salary as is or may hereafter become due to him.
(j) The president shall keep a docket of the trials
held under the preceding paragraph, in which shall be recorded in a
summary manner the name of the defendant, the charge against him and
the name of the prosecuting witness, the date of the arrest, the date
of the trial, the presence of the defendant, and the nature of the
judgment, together with the fines collected, if any, in accordance with
the judgment. A docket with proper blanks for entry of required details
shall be furnished to the president by the provincial governor, and the
cost of the same shall be paid out of the treasury of the municipality.
(k) He shall recommend to the municipal council at
any time such measures connected with the public health, cleanliness,
or ornament of the municipality or the improvement of its finances as
he shall deem expedient. He shall preside at all meetings of the
municipal council and shall sign its journal; but he shall not vote,
except in case of a tie, when he shall give the casting vote. He shall
approve ordinances adopted by the municipal council, unless he shall
consider them prejudicial to the public welfare, in which case he shall
veto them; but the council may pass an ordinance over the veto of the
president by a two-thirds vote of all its members, in which case it
shall be valid without the signature of the president. If the president
shall not either approve or veto an ordinance within five days of its
adoption, it shall become a law.
(l) He shall appoint, by and with the consent of the
majority of all the members of the council, the municipal treasurer,
municipal secretary and all non-elective officers and employees that
may be provided for by law or by ordinance; and at any time, for cause,
he may suspend any such officer or employee for a period not exceeding
ten days, which suspension may be continued for a longer period by the
council; and, by and with the consent of a majority of all the members
of the council, he may discharge any such officer or employee.
(m) He shall make all nominations at the first
meeting of the council after his election, except for those offices in
which a vacancy may occur during his term. In case the council shall
reject any of the nominations made by him, then it shall be his duty,
at the next regular meeting of the council, to submit the names of
other persons for appointment. In case a vacancy occurs in any of the
above-named offices during the term of office of the president, he
shall submit a nomination to the council at the first regular meeting
after the occurrence of the vacancy.
(n) During the month of December of each year the
president shall prepare and make out in duplicate an annual report, in
which he shall set forth the most important events which have occurred
in the municipality within the current year. One copy of the report
shall be filed in the office of the municipal secretary and the other
shall be submitted to the council and thereafter forwarded to the
provincial governor on or before the fifteenth day of the following
January.
(o) He is authorized to use as a symbol of office a
blank cylindrical cane, with gold head, gilt ferule and silver cord and
tassels.
Sec. 19. The vice-president shall:
(a) Act as substitute for the president in case of
the absence of the latter or of his temporary inability to discharge
the duties of his
(b) In case of a permanent vacancy in the office of
president, he shall fill the post for the unexpired portion of the
term; and a new vice-president shall be elected by a majority vote of
all the members of the council, as provided in section thirty-nine,
subsection (b).
(c) He shall be an ex officio member of the council,
with all the rights and duties of any other member, and there shall be
assigned to him the barrio or district in which the municipal offices
are situated.
(d) He is authorized to use as a symbol of office a
black cylindrical cane, with gold head, gilt ferule and black cord and
tassels.
Sec. 20. The municipal secretary shall be the
clerk of the municipal council, whose meetings it shall be his duty to
attend.
(a) He shall keep a journal of the proceedings of the
council and of all records and acts of the municipality.
(b) He shall countersign and certify to the
correctness of all warrants ordered by the council to be drawn on the
treasury of the municipality.
(c) He shall keep his office in the building where
the municipal council meets, or at some place convenient thereto, as
the council shall direct.
(d) He shall keep a civil register for the
municipality and shall record therein all births, marriages, and
deaths, with their respective dates. In case of marriages, he shall
further record the previous residences of the contracting parties, the
name of the person solemnizing the marriage, and the names of the
witnesses. In case of deaths, the causes of death shall be recorded
when known. Physicians and midwives residing within the limits of the
municipality shall immediately forward to the municipal secretary
notification of every birth or death that occurs under his or her
professional observation, together with the necessary information for
making the proper entry in the civil register. Every person resident
within the limits of the municipality who is authorized by law to
celebrate marriages shall immediately forward to the municipal
secretary notification of every marriage which he celebrates, together
with the necessary data for properly recording said marriage in the
civil register. All entries in the civil register shall be made by the
municipal secretary free of charge.
(e) He shall issue upon demand of any person a
certified copy of any record within his control, and shall be
authorized to charge and receive a fee, which shall not exceed, for
both the writing and certificate, ten cents per one hundred words
(Mexican currency). The records shall during usual business hours, be
open to inspection by all residents of the municipality and by all
officers of the provincial, departmental, and general governments.
(f) He shall perform all such other duties as the
municipal council may by ordinance provide, or as may be imposed by
general legislation.
Sec. 21. The municipal treasurer shall receive all
moneys paid to the municipality from any source.
(a) He shall give to every person paying money to the
municipal treasury a receipt therefor, specifying the date of payment
and upon what account paid.
(b) He shall keep a detailed account of all moneys
received, and shall pay the same out only under authority of an
ordinance or resolution of the council and upon a warrant signed by the
president and countersigned by the secretary.
(c) He shall, on or before the third day of each
month, make out in triplicate a full and complete statement of the
receipts and expenditures of the preceding month, together with a
statement of the cash actually on hand in the municipal treasury. He
shall deliver two copies to the president, who shall verify them and
certify upon the face of each to the correctness thereof and shall then
immediately cause one copy to be posted at the main entrance to the
municipal building and send the other copy to the provincial treasurer.
(d) He shall pay all lawful warrants in the order in
which they shall be presented, and he shall note on the back of each
the date of such presentation, and, when payment is made, the date of
such payment: Provided, That he shall not pay any warrant when there is
not in the treasury a sufficient amount to meet warrants previously
presented and not paid for want of funds.
(e) He shall have his office in the municipal
building and shall keep in the municipal safe or strong box, which it
shall be the duty of the municipal council to provide, all moneys
belonging to the municipality. Such moneys shall be kept separate and
distinct from his own money, nor shall he be permitted to make profit
out of public money, nor to lend or otherwise use it, nor to use the
same in any method not authorized by law. A municipal treasurer
violating the foregoing restriction shall be dismissed from office, if
such violation shall be established at a hearing before the provincial
treasurer. Such violation shall be considered a malversation of funds,
to be tried accordingly under the penal law by a court of competent
jurisdiction. The provincial treasurer shall report any such violation
to the provincial fiscal for prosecution. The municipal treasurer may,
to prevent the accumulation of too large an amount of money in the
strong-box of the municipality, when especially authorized by
resolution of the municipal council, deposit for safe-keeping with the
provincial treasurer such sums of money as he will not be obliged to
use at once, taking a receipt from the provincial treasurer. He shall
exhibit this receipt to the municipal council at its next meeting, and
the municipal secretary shall record the fact of such exhibition and
the date and amount of the receipt.
(f) He shall be the custodian of all municipal
property and shall keep a record thereof in a suitable book.
Sec. 22. The president, municipal secretary, and
municipal treasurer shall receive such annual salaries as the council
shall fix:
(a) But, in cases of municipalities of the first
class, these salaries shall not exceed, for the president, one thousand
two hundred pesos; for the municipal secretary, six hundred pesos; and
for the municipal treasurer, eight hundred pesos.
(b) In cases of municipalities of the second class,
for president one thousand pesos; for municipal secretary, five hundred
pesos; and for municipal treasurer, six hundred pesos.
(c) In cases of municipalities of the third class,
for president, eight hundred pesos; for municipal secretary, four
hundred pesos; and for municipal treasurer, four hundred pesos.
(d) In cases of municipalities of the fourth class,
for president, six hundred pesos; for municipal secretary, three
hundred pesos; and for municipal treasurer, three hundred pesos.
(e) The salary of the president, during the period
when the vice-president performs his duties, shall be drawn by the
vice-president.
(f) The vice-president, except when serving as
president, and the councilors shall receive no compensation, their
offices being honorary.
(g) No change of salaries by the council, after
salaries have been fixed at the organization of the municipality, shall
affect that of an officer then elected or incumbent.
Sec. 23. (a) A person elected by the people to
fill a municipal office shall not be permitted to decline the same, but
shall qualify and discharge the duties thereof, unless before election
he shall have presented to the judges of election, and established to
their satisfaction, a claim for exemption on the ground:
1. That he has discharged the duties of the same
office for two previous terms; or
2. That he is physically disabled; or
3. That he is more than sixty-five years of age.
(b) Any person violating the foregoing provision of
this section, and being convicted thereof in a court of competent
jurisdiction, shall suffer imprisonment for a term not exceeding six
months.
Sec. 24. A second reelection to any municipal
office is prohibited, except after two years.
Sec. 25. Should any elective municipal officer
become permanently incapacitated for the proper discharge of his duties
during his term of office, through accident or disease, his office may
be declared vacant by the vote of a majority of all the members of the
council, and his successor shall be promptly chosen, also by a majority
vote of all the members.
Sec. 26. The term of office of all appointed
officers shall be until the end of the term of the president appointing
them and until their successors are appointed and qualified, unless
sooner removed, as provided in this Act.
Sec. 27. Every officer of the municipality shall,
at the expiration of his term, deliver to his successor in office, who
shall receipt for the same in duplicate, all property, books, and
effects of every description in his possession belonging to the
municipality or pertaining to his office. One copy of the receipt shall
be delivered to the retiring officer and the other copy shall be filed
with the municipal treasurer. Upon the refusal of the retiring officer
to comply with this provision, he shall be liable for all damages
caused thereby and to such penalty as may be by ordinance prescribed.
Sec. 28. (a) No municipal officer shall be
directly or indirectly interested in any contract work, or business of
the municipality or in the purchase of any real estate or any other
property belonging to the corporation.
(b) Any officer violating the provisions of this
section shall, upon a two-thirds vote of all the members of the
council, be removed from office; and, upon trial and conviction in a
court of competent jurisdiction, shall be imprisoned for not less than
six months and not more than two years.
CHAPTER
IV
THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
Sec. 29. (a) The municipal council shall prescribe
the time and place of holding its meetings. Regular meetings shall be
held once in every two weeks and special meetings as often as occasion
may demand.
Any meeting, regular or special, may, in case the amount of business
shall require, be adjourned from day to day until the business is
completed.
(b) The president, or any two members of the council,
may call a special meeting by giving written notice of it to each
member of the council, which notice shall be served personally or left
at his usual place of abode.
Sec. 30. The majority of the council elected shall
constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn
from time to time and may compel the attendance of absentees, under
such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance.
Sec. 31. (a) The regular sessions or meetings of
the municipal council shall be public and the person presiding has the
authority to exact from all present due respect and proper deportment,
to prevent disturbances and disorder, and to order the room cleared of
any or all present who give reason for such action by improper behavior.
(b) The council may hold special sessions with closed
doors to consider and vote upon appointments submitted to it by the
president.
Sec. 32. The municipal council shall determine its
own rules procedure, punish its members for disorderly conduct, and,
with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members, the council may
suspend or expel a member for cause, electing his successor by a
majority vote of all the members.
Sec. 33. The council shall keep a journal of its
own proceedings. The ayes and nays shall be taken upon the passage of
all ordinances, upon all propositions to create any liability against
the municipality, and upon any other proposition, upon the request of
any member, and they shall be entered upon the journal. The affirmative
vote of a majority of all the members of the municipal council shall be
necessary to the passage of any ordinance or of any proposition
creating indebtedness; but other measures, except as otherwise
specially provided in this Act or by due authority, shall prevail upon
the majority vote of the, members present at any meeting duly called
and held.
Sec. 34. Every ordinance shall go into effect on
the tenth day after its passage, unless the ordinance shall provide
that it shall take effect at an earlier or a later date. The ordinance
on the day after its passage shall be posted by the municipal secretary
at the main entrance, of the municipal building. He shall certify to
the fact of posting and shall spread his certificate upon the minutes
of the council, but failure to post an ordinance shall not invalidate
the same.
Sec. 35. At the first regular meeting after the
election and qualification of a new president, the council shall pass
on his nominations to non-elective municipal offices and shall
prescribe the duties of all appointed officers and employees when not
determined by the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 36. The council shall definitely fix the
limits of the barrios of the municipality, prescribing for them such
boundaries that the barrios, taken collectively, shall include the
entire territory of the municipality.
Sec. 37. (a) If the number of barrios in a
municipality is less than or equal to the number of councilors, the
council shall put each of its members in immediate charge of a barrio
or part of a barrio, so that each barrio shall be under the direction
of one or more councilors.
(b) If the number of barrios exceeds the number of
councilors, including the vice-president, the council shall group the
barrios into as many districts as there are councilors, and shall place
each councilor in charge of one such district. Each councilor shall be
empowered to appoint one lieutenant in each barrio or part of a barrio
which comes under his immediate supervision. A lieutenant of barrio
shall serve without compensation and shall report directly to the
councilor appointing him.
Sec. 38. (a) Each councilor shall keep the people
of his barrio or barrios informed as to the acts of the council, or
other governmental measures which directly concern them, by means of
suitable notices posted in a public and conspicuous place in each
barrio. He shall serve in the council as the representative of the
people of his barrio or barrios and shall bring their special needs to
the attention of that body.
(b) He shall further promptly inform the president of
any unusual or untoward event occurring within the barrios assigned to
him.
(c) He is authorized to use as a symbol of office a
cane with silver head, plated ferule and black cord and tassels.
Sec. 39. The municipal council shall:
(a) Establish and fix the salaries of municipal
officers and employees, subject to the limitations expressed in section
twenty-two. A list of all salaries authorized by the council shall be
posted at the main entrance of the municipal building.
(b) Fill a permanent vacancy in the office of
vice-president or of councilor, from among persons having the necessary
qualifications, by a majority vote of all its members. A person thus
substituted as vice-president or councilor shall serve only for the
unexpired portion of the term for which his predecessor was elected and
until his successor shall have been chosen and qualified.
(c) Make appropriations for lawful and necessary
municipal expenditures.
(d) Manage the property of the municipality.
(e) Erect all needful buildings for the use of the
municipality.
(f) Establish fire limits, prescribe the kind of
buildings that may be constructed within said limits and issue permits
for the erection of the same, but without charging fees for said
permits.
(g) Regulate the establishment and provide for the
inspection of steam boilers.
(h) Provide for lighting the streets and for
sprinkling the same in cases where it is deemed desirable.
(i) Provide for and regulate the numbering of house
and lots.
(j) Regulate the construction, care and use of
streets, sidewalks, wharves, and piers in the municipality; prevent and
remove obstacles and encroachments on the same; and declare and abate
nuisances.
(k) Construct and keep in repair bridges and
viaducts, and regulate the use of the same.
(l) Prohibit the throwing or depositing of filth,
garbage, or other offensive matter in any street, alley, park, or
public square; provide for the suitable collection and disposition of
such matter and for cleaning and keeping clean the streets, alleys,
parks, and other public places of the municipality.
(m) Regulate the keeping and use of animals, in so
far as the same affects the public health and the health of domestic
animals.
(n) Require any land or building which is in an
unsanitary condition to be cleansed at the expense of the owner or
tenant, and, upon failure to comply with such an order, have the work
done and assess the expense upon the land or buildings.
(o) Construct and keep in repair public drains,
sewers, and cesspools, and regulate the construction and use of private
water-closets, privies, sewers, drains, and cesspools.
(p) Prohibit the burial of the dead within the
centers of population of the municipality and provide for their burial
in such proper place and in such manner as the council may determine.
(q) Establish or authorize the establishment of
slaughterhouses and markets, and inspect and regulate the use of the
same.
(r) Provide for and regulate the inspection of meat,
fruits, poultry, milk, fish, vegetables, and all other articles of food.
(s) Adopt such other measures to prevent the
introduction and spread of disease as may, from time to time, be deemed
desirable or necessary.
(t) Establish, regulate and maintain a police
department.
(u) Provide against the evils of gambling, gambling
houses, and disorderly houses of whatsoever sort.
(v) Provide for the closing of opium joints and
prohibit and punish the keeping or visiting of any place where opium is
smoked or sold for the purpose of smoking.
(w) Provide for the punishment of mendicants, common
prostitutes, or habitual disturbers of the peace.
(x) Prohibit and punish intoxication, fighting, and
all disorderly conduct.
(y) Provide for the arrest, trial, fining, and
putting to work on the streets or elsewhere of all persons known to be
vagrants, and of persons found within the town without legitimate
business or visible means of support.
(z) Restrain riots, disturbances or disorderly
assemblages.
(aa) Regulate or prohibit the running at large of
domestic animals within the limits of the municipality.
(bb) Prohibit and provide for the punishment of
cruelty to animals.
(cc) Provide for inspection of weights and measures
and enforce the keeping of proper weights and measures by vendors, but
without the power to exact fees for such inspection.
(dd) Fix the penalties for violation of ordinances,
but no single penalty shall exceed a fine of two hundred pesos or
imprisonment for six months, or both; imprisonment shall be imposed in
lieu of unpaid fines at the rate of one day's imprisonment for each
peso of the fine. An appeal shall lie to the Court of First Instance,
next to be held within the province, in all cases where the judgment
shall be for a fine exceeding fifteen pesos or for imprisonment
exceeding fifteen days; and it shall be the duty of the provincial
fiscal to appear for and represent the prosecution in such appeal
cases. Pending the appeal the defendant shall remain in custody unless
released upon sufficient bail, in accordance with the general
provisions of law, to await the judgment of the appellate court.
(ee) Establish, maintain and regulate municipal
prisons.
(ff) Establish and maintain schools.
(gg) Establish a post-office and provide for the
collection and delivery of mails; but such regulations must be in
harmony with the postal service and rules established by the General
Government.
(hh) Provide by ordinance for the levy of taxes for
municipal purposes, within the limitations of law, as hereinafter
provided in section forty-three.
(ii) License and regulate the selling, giving away or
disposing in any manner of any intoxicating, malt, vinous, mixed, or
fermented liquors, at retail, in quantities of not more than five
gallons, and determine the amount to be paid for such licenses, subject
to such limitations of general law as may hereafter be enacted.
(jj) Make such ordinances and regulations, not
repugnant to law as may be necessary to carry into effect and discharge
the powers and duties conferred by this Act, and such as shall seem
necessary and proper to provide for the health and safety, promote the
prosperity, improve the morals, peace, good order, comfort, and
convenience of the municipality and the inhabitants thereof, and for
the protection of property therein; and enforce obedience thereto with
such lawful fines or penalties as the municipal council may prescribe
under the provisions of paragraph (dd), of this section.
Sec. 40. The municipal council is empowered:
(a) To order the suspension or removal at any time,
for cause, of any non-elective officer, provided that a two-thirds vote
of all the members shall be required for such removal.
(b) To make such provisions for the care of the poor,
the sick, or those of unsound mind as it may deem necessary.
(c) To purchase, receive, hold, sell, lease, convey
and dispose of property, real and personal, for the benefit of the
municipality, provided that the express authorization of the provincial
governor shall be necessary to alienate or constitute any lien upon any
real property of the municipality.
(d) To employ a lawyer or lawyers when necessary in
order to defend the interests of the municipality; but ordinary legal
questions shall be submitted to the provincial fiscal, who shall answer
the same in writing free of charge.
(e) To provide for the erection of markets, public
stables, public bathing establishments, wharves, and municipal
cemeteries, and for the establishment of ferries; and to fix reasonable
fees for the use of the same.
(f) To provide for the establishment and maintenance
of special and professional institutions of learning other than primary
schools, and to charge and collect matriculation and tuition fees.
(g) To construct and maintain waterworks for the
purpose of supplying the inhabitants of the town with water, and
control the use of said water and of water-courses within the town.
(h) To name streets, avenues, and other public
places, or change the names thereof.
(i) To license, tax, regulate or prohibit the keeping
of dogs and authorize the killing of the same when at large contrary to
ordinance.
(j) To license, tax or prohibit cock-fighting and the
keeping or training of fighting cocks and to license, tax or close
cockpits.
(k) To license public carriages, carts, and hearses
kept for hire; cafes, restaurants, hotels, inns, and lodging houses;
billiard tables, theatrical performances, horse races, and circuses.
Sec. 41. Questions which may arise relative to the
constitution or attributes of the municipal government shall be
submitted to the provincial fiscal for decision.
CHAPTER
V
TAXATION AND FINANCE
Sec. 42. Taxation shall be just and in each
municipality uniform.
Sec. 43. The revenues of the municipality shall be
devoted exclusively to local public purposes. They shall be derived
from the following sources only:
(a) An ad valorem tax on all lands, buildings, and
improvements in the municipality, except land or buildings owned by the
United States of America, the Central Government of the Philippine
Islands, any departmental or provincial government in said Islands or
by the municipality, to be levied against the owner or owners thereof,
or, in case of doubt or dispute as to ownership, against the possessors
thereof, by ordinance duly adopted by the council; which tax shall not
be less than one-fourth of one per centum and not more than one-half of
one per centum of the value of said lands, buildings, and improvements
as assessed in accordance with law: Provided, That upon application to
the board of assessors by the owner of any agricultural land and upon
satisfactory evidence that he was not in arms against the authority of
the United States in these Islands after April first, nineteen hundred
and one, for was not giving aid and comfort to those so in arms after
said date, his land may be exempted from taxation by said board, with
the concurrence of the Board of Tax Appeals, to whom the application
and all the evidence shall be submitted for its consideration, for one
year after the time when such tax may be first levied under this Act,
if it shall appear that such land has not yielded a crop between
January first, nineteen hundred and one, and March first, nineteen
hundred and two, for the reason that the owner of the land has really
been prevented from cultivating the land because of war and its
necessary consequences.
(b) The proceeds of at least one-fourth of one per
centum of the lands and improvements as assessed shall be devoted
exclusively to the support of free public primary schools and the
providing or erection of suitable school buildings. The municipal
council shall have discretion to expend the remaining one-fourth of one
per centum or so much thereof as they shall deem wise to levy, for any
lawful municipal purpose herein provided.
(c) The granting of the privilege of fisheries.
(d) Fees for the issuing of certificates of ownership
of large cattle and of transfer of title in the same.
(e) Rents and profits from all property belonging to
the municipality, tolls from ferries, municipal stables, markets,
slaughter houses, public bath house, and cemeteries belonging to the
municipality.
(f) Rentals for the privilege of establishing and
maintaining the same.
(g) Fees for tuition in institutions of instruction
other than primary schools founded and maintained by the municipality;
but nothing herein shall require the charging of such fees.
(h) Licenses for billiard tables, theatrical
performances, horse races, and circuses; for the selling at retail in
quantities of not more than five gallons of any intoxicating malt,
vinous, mixed, or, fermented liquors; for the keeping of dogs; for
cock-pits, cock-fighting or the keeping or training of fighting cocks;
for public carriages, carts or hearses kept for hire; and for cafes,
restaurants, hotels, inns, and lodging houses; in accordance with the
provisions of section thirty-nine, subsection (ii) and section forty,
subsections (i), (j), and (k).
(i) Municipal fines.
(j) An annual tax, hereby imposed for the purpose of
protecting the roads of the municipality and the province from
destruction, of three dollars, Mexican, upon each draftcart the wheels
of which have tires less than two inches and a half in width, and an
annual tax of two dollars, Mexican, upon each cart the wheels of which
are rigid with the axles to which they are attached, and an annual tax
of five dollars, Mexican, upon each cart having both such tires and
axles, all to be collected by the provincial treasurer in the usual
manner. One-half of the proceeds of such taxes shall be paid into the
municipal treasury and one-half shall be paid into the provincial
treasury.
Sec. 44. It shall not be in the power of the
municipal council to impose a tax in any form whatever upon goods and
merchandise carried into the municipality, or out of the same, and any
attempt to impose an import or export tax upon such goods in the guise
of an unreasonable charge for wharfage, use of bridges or otherwise,
shall be void.
Sec. 45. All taxes, licenses, and fees imposed by
the council shall be fixed by ordinance and may be changed from year to
year, as the council may deem proper.
Sec. 46. The municipal treasurer, during the first
fifteen days of January of each year, shall prepare in duplicate
itemized statements of the income and disbursements for the preceding
calendar year, one copy of which shall be transmitted to the provincial
treasurer and the other to the council. He shall produce to the council
his books and receipts, together with the stubs of the receipts issued
by him and the warrants on which he has made disbursements. The council
shall carefully audit these accounts, comparing the statement of income
with the duplicate receipts and the statement of disbursements with the
warrants. If the amounts are found to be correct, they will be attested
by the members of the council. Should any member not be in favor of
approving them or any item thereof, he will indorse his disapproval in
writing thereon, specifying the item or items objected to and the
reasons for his objections. A certified copy of the statement, with the
signatures thereto and the endorsements thereon, shall be immediately
forwarded to the provincial treasurer, who, if he thinks that judicial
proceedings should be begun against either the municipal treasurer or
the council, or any member thereof, for the unlawful expenditure of
money of the municipality, shall, on behalf of the municipality,
through the provincial fiscal, begin proceedings to recover the same.
Sec. 47. (a) During the month of January of each
year, the council shall prepare in duplicate a report giving:
(b) An inventory of all buildings, lands, and other
property, real and personal, belonging to the municipality.
(c) An itemized estimate of the revenues of the
municipality from all sources during the current year, with a statement
opposite each item of the amount realized from that source during the
last preceding year.
(d) An itemized estimate of the ordinary expenses of
the municipality for the current year, with a statement opposite each
item of the corresponding expenses for the last preceding year. The
estimated ordinary expenses shall not exceed the estimated resources.
This estimate shall include a statement of outstanding indebtedness, if
such exist.
(e) An estimate of such extraordinary expenditures,
if any, as may, be required through unusual necessity or to make
permanent improvements. Such estimate shall state the approximate total
expenditures by reason of such necessity or improvement, the amount
which it is expected to expend during the current year, and the source
or sources from which it is proposed to secure the necessary funds;
also an itemized statement of extraordinary expenditures for the last
preceding calendar year. The report hereinbefore provided for shall be
in such form as may be prescribed by the provincial treasurer.
(f) Such report, when approved, shall be attested by
the president and municipal secretary and shall be forwarded in
duplicate to the provincial treasurer for his action. If the provincial
treasurer shall, upon consideration, find that the taxes levied will
produce the estimated revenue and that the actual expenditures provided
for in the report will not exceed in the aggregate the estimate hereof,
then he shall approve the same and shall forward one of the copies of
the report, with his approval indorsed thereon, to the president to
serve as a guide to the municipality in the administration of its
finances. If, after the provincial treasurer shall have begun the
collection of taxes, he finds that the amount to be actually collected
will fall short of the estimate, he shall certify this fact to the
council, with a statement of the probable shortage, and it shall be the
duty of the council to reduce its subsequent expenditures so as to
bring their aggregate within the available income as reported by him.
(g) Expenses not provided for in the annual estimate
can only be incurred and paid upon authorization by the provincial
treasurer at the request of the municipal council.
Sec. 48. Taxes, imposts, and all other revenues of
the municipality shall not be leased or farmed by the municipal
council, but shall be collected by the provincial treasurer, or his
authorized deputies, as hereinafter provided.
CHAPTER
VI
ASSESSMENT
Sec. 49. (a) The real estate of the municipality
shall be valued and assessed for taxation by a board, to consist of the
president, the municipal treasurer, and a specially authorized deputy
of the provincial treasurer, which board shall be known as the
municipal board of assessors. The president of the municipality shall
be president of the board of assessors, and the municipal secretary
shall be its secretary. The place of meeting of the board, except when
viewing land to be valued, shall be the office of the municipal
secretary.
(b) All questions presented to the board for its
determination shall be decided by a majority vote.
Sec. 50. (a) Before entering upon their duties and
the organization of the board, the members shall take and subscribe an
oath before the municipal secretary, who is hereby given authority to
take oaths for this purpose, in the following words:
"I,
_____________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
appraise all the real property subject to taxation in the municipality
of ______________________ so far as required by law, at its true value
in money, and will set the same in the tax list of said municipality at
its true value in money, and will faithfully discharge all the duties
imposed upon me by law. So help me God. (Last four words to be omitted
in case of affirmation.)
(Signature of assessor.)
"Sworn and subscribed to before
me this ________ day of _______________, 19______
"(Signature of municipal
secretary.)"
(b) Such oath, when subscribed, shall be filed with
the municipal secretary, who shall record the entire oath and
certificate upon the records of the board.
Sec. 51. It shall be the duty of every owner of
real estate in the municipality to prepare, or cause to be prepared, a
statement of the amount of land and improvements thereon which he owns
within the municipality, and a description sufficient in detail to
enable the board of assessors to identify the same on examination. He
shall subscribe the statement and verify the same on oath before the
municipal secretary, who is hereby authorized to administer such oath.
The statement shall be filed with the secretary of the board of
assessors within two weeks after the organization of the board.
Sec. 52. On the first day of September, nineteen
hundred and one, the board of assessors shall meet, take the oath of
office and organize, and shall proceed to make a list of all the
taxable real estate in the municipality by barrios. The names of the
owners in each barrio shall be arranged alphabetically, with a brief
description opposite to their names of the property owned by them. In
making this list the board of assessors shall take into consideration
the sworn statements by the owners of the property in the municipality,
hereinbefore required to be filed, but shall not be prevented thereby
from considering other evidence on the subject. For the purpose of
completing this list, the board is authorized to summon witnesses,
administer oaths to them, and subject them to examination concerning
the ownership and amount of real estate in each barrio. It shall be the
duty of the board, so far as is necessary, to examine the records of
the office of the provincial registrar showing the ownership of real
estate in the municipality.
Sec. 53. If the board of assessors shall find
parcels of land within the municipality subject to taxation, the owner
or owners of which cannot be discovered after a proper investigation,
it shall be the duty of the board to list the same for taxation,
charging the taxes as against an unknown owner and describing, with
sufficient accuracy, the property thus listed.
Sec. 54. (a) After having completed the list, the
board shall proceed to assess the value of each separate parcel of real
estate, and the improvements thereon, if any, at their true value in
money; and, where it shall appear that there are separate owners of the
land and of the improvements, a separate assessment of the property of
each shall be made.
(b) The values so fixed shall be placed upon the tax
list opposite the names of the owners and the descriptions of the
property taxed.
Sec. 55. If it shall be discovered by the board or
brought to their attention, or to the attention of any member thereof,
that any taxable real estate in the municipality has escaped listing,
it shall be the duty, of the board at once to list and value the same
and charge against the owner thereof the taxes due for the current year
and for all other years since the original assessment under this
chapter was made by the board, and the taxes thus assessed shall be
legal and collectible by all the remedies herein provided, and
penalties and interest shall be added to the back taxes as if the same
had been assessed at the time when they should have been assessed.
Sec. 56. The board of assessors shall complete
their listing and valuation of real property situated within the
municipality on or before January thirty-first, nineteen hundred and
two, and, when completed, shall authenticate the same by signing the
following certificate at the foot of the list:
"We
hereby certify that the foregoing list contains a true statement of the
aggregate amount of the taxable real estate belonging to each person
named in the list, according to the best of our knowledge and belief."
Sec. 57. When the list shall be completed in
accordance with the foregoing section, it shall be filed in the office
of the secretary of the board and the board of assessors shall, by
notice posted at the main entrance of the municipal building and by a
notice posted in a public and conspicuous place in each barrio of the
municipality, inform the public that the list has been completed and is
on file in the office of the secretary of the board and may be examined
by any person interested therein, and that, upon a day, at least ten
days after the posting of said notice, the board will be in session for
the purpose of hearing complaints as to the accuracy of the listing of
the property and a proper valuation thereof. After such notices have
been posted the secretary shall certify to the fact of posting upon the
records, which shall be deemed prima facie evidence thereof. At the day
fixed in the posted notice, the board shall meet and hear all
complaints then or theretofore filed by persons against whom taxes have
been assessed as owners of real estate, and shall make and enter the
decision on its minutes; and, if the board shall determine that
injustice has been done or errors have been committed it shall have
authority to amend the list in accordance with its findings.
Sec. 58. In case any complainant before the board
of assessors shall feel aggrieved by its decision, he may, within ten
days after the entry of the decision upon the minutes, appeal to a
board of tax appeals hereinafter provided for. He shall perfect his
appeal by filing a written notice of the same with the board of
assessors, and it shall be the duty of the secretary of said board
forthwith to transmit the appeal to the board of tax appeals, with all
written evidence in the possession of the board relating to said
assessment and valuation.
Sec. 59. (a) The provincial board shall constitute
the board of tax appeals.
(b) The provincial governor shall be the chairman of
this board and the provincial secretary shall be the secretary and
shall keep the records of its proceedings.
Sec. 60. (a) Before organizing as such, the
members of the board of tax appeals shall take the following oath
before a justice of the peace in and for the province:
"I
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will well and truly hear and
determine all matters and issues between taxpayers and the municipal
board of assessors submitted for my decision, so help me God. (In case
of affirmation, the last four words shall be stricken out.)
"(Signature of member of the
board.)
"Subscribe and sworn to before
me, this ___________ day of ______________ 19______
"(Signature of justice of the
peace.)"
(b) The oath of each member shall be recorded by the
secretary of the board in the minutes of its proceedings and filed in
the office of the provincial secretary.
Sec. 61. The board of tax appeals shall hear all
appeals duly transmitted to them, and shall decide the same within
fifteen days after the expiration of the time limited for the filing of
appeals. They shall have authority to cause to be amended the listing
and valuation of the property in respect to which the complaint is
made, by order signed by the board, or a majority thereof, and
transmitted to the municipal board of assessors, which shall amend the
tax list in conformity with said order.
Sec. 62. There shall be exempted from taxation
burying grounds, churches and their adjacent parsonages or conventos,
and lands and buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable,
scientific or educational purposes, and not for private profit; but
such exemption shall not extend to lands or buildings held for
investment, though the income therefrom be devoted to religious,
charitable, scientific, or educational purposes.
Sec. 63. The board of assessors shall meet, after
ten days' notice posted at the main entrance of the municipal building
and in a public and conspicuous place in each barrio, for three days in
the month of December in each year, to add to the list of real property
of the municipality the value of the improvements placed upon such
property during the year preceding, and to reduce the assessment
against any taxpayer whose improvements, already assessed, have been
destroyed during the preceding year, and for the addition to the list
of any property which is taxable and which has heretofore escaped
taxation.
Sec. 64. The assessment first made after the
organization of the town, as amended from time to time, shall continue
in force for the period of five years, unless an earlier provision is
made by law for another general assessment.
Sec. 65. (a) All licenses and privilege taxes
shall be paid before the licensee or taxpayer shall begin the business
or enjoyment of the privilege for which the license or tax is imposed
by the ordinance of the council.
(b) All licenses and privilege taxes shall terminate
on the thirty-first of May of each year, and anyone beginning a
business or exercising a privilege upon which a tax is levied by the
council after the thirty-first of May shall be required, before
beginning such business or exercising such privilege to pay the license
or tax for the part of the year which remains, to and including the
thirty-first of May following.
(c) An addition to the tax or license, in the nature
of a penalty amounting to twenty per centum of the original tax or
license, to be collected and accounted for by the provincial treasurer
in the same manner as the original tax or license, shall be imposed for
a failure to pay tax or license when due.
Sec. 66. It shall be the duty of the provincial
treasurer to keep a record, open to public inspection, of the names of
all persons paying licenses or privilege taxes, arranged alphabetically.
Sec. 67. Within ten days after the passage of the
ordinance by the council for the payment of licenses or privilege
taxes, the president and municipal treasurer shall prepare a list of
the names of the persons whose business, if continued, would render
them liable to the license or tax, and they shall transmit such list at
once to the provincial treasurer, to enable him more readily to detect
persons failing to pay the licenses and privilege taxes for which they
shall have become liable.
Sec. 68. The council shall provide that any person
conducting a business or enjoying a privilege without paying the tax
required by its ordinances shall be punished by fine and imprisonment,
after trial and conviction before the president, as in other cases
under the limitations prescribed in subsection (dd) of section
thirty-nine.
CHAPTER
VII
COLLECTION
Sec. 69. Taxes, imposts, and all other revenues of
the municipality shall not be leased or farmed by the municipal
council, but shall be collected by the provincial treasurer, or his
authorized deputies, or by the municipal treasurer, as hereinafter
provided.
Sec. 70. When collected, the taxes, imposts, and
other revenues of the municipality shall be turned over by the
provincial treasurer or his deputies, within one week of the date of
collection, to the municipal treasurer, together with an itemized
statement showing the persons from whom such taxes, imposts, and
revenues have been collected, the respective amounts of the same and
the nature of the tax, impost or liability on account of which such
amounts have been collected, except that it shall be sufficient for the
provincial treasurer or his deputy to pay over to the municipal
treasurer all amounts received by the provincial treasurer or his
deputy for taxes and imposts during the three weeks fixed by his
proclamation for payment of annual taxes, as provided in section
seventy-four, within one week after the close of that period.
Sec. 71. (a) In case the provincial treasurer
shall fail to pay over to the municipal treasurer the amount collected
by him, or which should have been collected as required by this Act,
the municipality shall at once proceed, through the provincial fiscal,
by action against the provincial treasurer upon this official bond,
which by law he shall be required to give before entering upon the
duties of his office, to recover the amount thus in default.
(b) At the termination of the period of collection as
fixed by this Act, the provincial treasurer shall return to the
municipal council an account of those taxes that could not be
collected, and such treasurer will not be held liable for the
uncollected portion, unless because of negligence or bad faith on his
part or on the part of his deputy or deputies.
(c) The proceedings under (a) and (b) shall not
prevent criminal prosecution for such default where the Penal Code and
the circumstances justify it.
Sec. 72. It shall be the duty of the provincial
treasurer to be present in the municipality himself or by deputy for at
least two days every month during the year, prepared to receive payment
of all revenues due to the municipality from any source whatever,
except fines, as provided in section eighteen, subsection (h), tolls
from ferries operated by the municipality and market fees, the daily
receipts from which shall be collected by the municipal treasurer in
the manner prescribed by ordinance of the council. The provincial
treasurer or his deputy shall give receipts for the same, showing the
date of payment, the name of the person paying, the amount of payment
and on what account collected. He shall give notice to the president of
the coming of himself or deputy, one week before the monthly visit of
himself or deputy to the municipality, and the president shall cause
the same to be posted at the main entrance of the municipal building
and in a public and conspicuous place in each barrio.
Sec. 73. It shall be the duty of the municipality
to furnish to the Provincial Treasurer an office in the municipal
building where taxes can be conveniently paid and collected.
Sec. 74. Annual taxes due the municipality shall
be payable at such times within the three months ending on May
thirty-first of each year, as shall be fixed by the provincial
treasurer by proclamation posted at the main entrance of the municipal
building and also at a public and conspicuous place in each barrio.
Taxes shall be due and payable at the office of the provincial
treasurer in the municipality, and shall be collected by him or his
deputy, on every day except Sunday, during the usual business hours,
for the three weeks described in said proclamation by fixing the
opening and closing days; and a failure to pay the same within the
period of three weeks thus specified shall subject the delinquent
taxpayer to the penalty of an additional tax of fifteen per cent of the
amount of the original tax due, to be collected at the same time and in
the same manner as the original tax, and the proclamation shall so
announce. The penalty shall be accounted for by the collecting officer
in the same manner as the tax. The provincial treasurer shall fix the
time of collection in the municipality with a view to economy in the
administration and discharge of his duties and the convenience of the
taxpayers of the municipality.
Sec. 75. Fifteen days after the tax shall become
delinquent the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall prepare and
sign a certified copy of the records of his office, showing the persons
delinquent in payment of their taxes and the amounts of tax and penalty
respectively due from them. He shall proceed at once to seize the
personal property of each delinquent, and, unless redeemed as
hereinafter provided, to sell at public auction, either at the main
entrance of the municipal building or at the place where such property
is seized, as the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall determine,
so much of the same as shall satisfy the tax, penalty and costs of
seizure and sale, to the highest bidder for cash, after due
advertisement by notice posted for ten days at the main entrance of the
municipal building and at a public and conspicuous place in the barrio
where the property was seized, stating the time, place and cause of
sale. The certified copy of the provincial treasurer's record of
delinquents, attested by the municipal secretary, shall be his warrant
for his proceedings, and the purchaser at such sale shall acquire an
indefeasible title to the property sold. Within two days after the sale
the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall make return of his
proceedings and spread it upon his records, which shall also be
attested by the municipal secretary. Any surplus resulting from the
sale, over and above the tax, penalty and costs, shall be returned to
the taxpayer on account of whose delinquency the sale has been made.
Sec. 76. The owner of the personal property seized
may redeem the same from the collecting officer at any time after
seizure and before sale by tendering to him the amount of the tax, the
penalty, and the costs incurred up to the time of tender. The costs to
be charged in making such seizure and sale shall only embrace the
actual expense of seizure and preservation of the property pending the
sale, and no charge shall be imposed for the services of the collecting
officer or his deputy.
Sec. 77. Taxes and penalties assessed against
realty shall constitute a lien thereon, which lien shall be superior to
all other liens, mortgages or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever;
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, with interest on both at the rate of
six per cent per annum from the date of the delinquency.
Sec. 78. In the event that the provincial
treasurer or his deputy shall be unable to find sufficient personal
property of the delinquent out of which to make all the taxes assessed
against him upon his real estate, due either to the municipality, the
provincial government or the Central Government, or, if the delinquent
be unknown, the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall, upon the
warrant of the certified record required in section seventy-five,
within twenty days after delinquency, advertise the real estate of the
delinquent for sale, or so much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy
all public taxes upon said property as above and costs of sale, for a
period of thirty days. The advertisement shall be by posting a notice
at the main entrance of the municipal building and in a public and
conspicuous place in the barrio in which the real estate lies, and by
publication once a week for three weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation published in said province, if any there be. The
advertisement shall contain a statement of the amount of the taxes and
penalties so due and the time and place of sale, the name of the
taxpayer against whom the taxes are levied, and a short description of
the land to be sold. At any time before the day fixed for the sale the
taxpayer may discontinue all proceedings by paying the taxes,
penalties, and interest to the provincial treasurer or his deputy. If
he does not do so the sale shall proceed and shall be held either at
the main entrance of the municipal building or on the premises to be
sold, as the provincial treasurer or his deputy may determine. Within
five days after the sale the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall
make return of the proceedings and spread it on his records, which
shall be attested by the municipal secretary. The purchaser at the sale
shall receive a certificate from the provincial treasurer or his
deputy, from his record, showing the proceedings of the sale,
describing the property sold, stating the name of the purchaser and
setting out the exact amount of all public taxes, penalties and
interest.
Sec. 79. Within one year from the date of sale,
the delinquent taxpayer, or anyone for him, shall have the right of
paying to the provincial treasurer, or any authorized deputy, the
amount of the public taxes, penalties and interest thereon from the
date of delinquency to the date of sale, together with interest on said
purchase price at the rate of fifteen per centum per annum from the
date of purchase to the date of redemption; and such payment shall
entitle the person paying to the delivery of the certificate issued to
the purchaser and a certificate from the provincial treasurer that he
has thus redeemed the land, and the provincial treasurer shall
forthwith pay over to the purchaser the amount by which such land has
thus been redeemed, and the land thereafter shall be free from the lien
of such taxes and penalties.
Sec. 80. In case the taxpayer shall not redeem the
land sold as above provided within one year from the date of sale, the
provincial treasurer or his deputy, in the name of such treasurer,
shall, as grantor, execute a deed in form and effect sufficient under
the laws of the Islands to convey to the purchaser so much of the land
against which the taxes have been assessed as has been sold, free from
all liens of any kind whatsoever, and the deeds shall succinctly recite
all the proceedings upon which the validity of the sale depends.
Sec. 81. In case there is no bidder at the public
sale of such land who offers a sum sufficient to pay the taxes,
penalties and costs, the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall
declare the land forfeited to the municipality, and shall make, within
two days thereafter, a return of his proceedings and the forfeiture,
which shall be spread upon the records of his office, and attested by
the municipal secretary.
Sec. 82. Within one year from the date of such
forfeiture thus declared, the taxpayer, or anyone for him, may redeem
said land, as above provided in cases where the land is sold. But, if
the land is not thus redeemed within the year, the forfeiture shall
become absolute and the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall
execute a deed, similar in form and having the same effect as the deed
required to be made by him in case of a sale, conveying the land to the
municipality. The deed shall be recorded as required by law for other
land titles and shall be filed with the municipal treasurer, who shall
enter it in his record of municipal property.
Sec. 83. The assessment of a tax shall constitute
a lawful indebtedness from the taxpayer to the municipality, which may
be enforced by a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction,
and this remedy shall be in addition to all the other remedies provided
by law.
Sec. 84. No court shall entertain any suit
assailing the validity of a tax assessed under this Act until the
taxpayer shall have paid, under protest, the tax assessed against him,
nor shall any court declare any tax invalid by reason of irregularities
or informalities in the proceedings of the officers charged with the
assessment or collection of the taxes, or of a failure to perform their
duties within the time herein specified for their performance, unless
such irregularities, informalities or failures shall have impaired the
substantial rights of the taxpayer; nor shall any court declare any tax
assessed under the provisions of this Act invalid except upon condition
that the taxpayer shall pay the just amount of his tax, as determined
by the court in the pending proceeding.
Sec. 85. No court shall entertain any suit
assailing the validity of a tax sale of land under this Act until the
taxpayer shall have paid into court the amount for which the land was
sold, together with interest at the rate of fifteen per centum per
annum upon that sum from the date of sale to the time of instituting
suit. The money so paid into court shall belong to the purchaser at the
tax sale if the deed is declared invalid, and shall be returned to the
depositor should he fail in his action.
Sec. 86. No court shall declare any such sale
invalid by reason of any irregularities or informalities in the
proceedings of the officer charged with the duty of making the sale or
by reason of failure by him to perform his duties within the time
herein specified for their performance, unless such irregularities,
informalities or failures shall have impaired the substantial rights of
the taxpayer.
Sec. 87. Any officer charged with the duty of
assessing real property, who shall wilfully omit from the tax lists
real property which he knows to be lawfully taxable, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand
pesos, or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, in the
discretion of the court.
Sec. 88. Any officer charged with the duty of
listing or collecting license or privilege taxes, who shall wilfully
omit to list or collect the same or any part thereof, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties provided in section
eighty-seven.
Sec. 89. Any officer charged with any duty in
connection with the assessment or collection of taxes, who shall accept
a bribe to influence his official action therein, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and subject to the penalties provided in section
eighty-seven.
Sec. 90. Any person offering a bribe to an officer
charged with any duty in connection with assessing or collecting taxes,
for the purpose of influencing his official action, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties provided in section
eighty-seven.
CHAPTER
VIII
PROVISIONAL SECTIONS
Sec. 91. When ten or more residents of the
territory of a former pueblo, which has no lawfully organized
government, shall sign and file a petition with the Commission asking
for the organization of a municipality under this Act, the Commission
shall, if it deems it wise, grant the petition by appointing the
chairman of a committee of officers to effect the organization of the
municipality, as hereinafter provided; but the Commission may, without
a petition, appoint such a chairman for any unorganized pueblo.
Sec. 92. The chairman so appointed shall select
and appoint five residents of the pueblo, having the qualifications of
electors under this Act, who, with the chairman, shall constitute a
committee of organization.
Sec. 93. The chairman shall issue a proclamation
fixing the time and place of holding an election, specifying the
offices to be filled, giving the number of councilors to be allotted to
the municipality pending the taking of the official census, and
notifying all persons desiring to qualify as electors to appear before
the committee during the first fifteen days after the publication of
the proclamation, for the purpose of taking the elector's oath, which
may be administered by any member of the committee. The proclamation
shall be posted by some member of the committee at the main entrance of
the municipal building and in one public and conspicuous place in each
barrio. The committee shall prepare, publish, and correct, within five
days after the expiration of the time when electors are required to
qualify, as a list of electors having the qualifications set forth in
section six of this Act. The committee shall preside at the election as
judges thereof, and shall make due return thereof to the Military
Governor and also to the provincial governor, if there be one, and
shall canvass, declare, and publish the results as prescribed in
sections nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen; and the committee
shall forthwith proceed, after such declaration and publication, to
administer the oath of office to the newly elected officials, as
provided in section sixteen.
Sec. 94. The officers elected shall assume the
performance of their duties under this Act as soon as they have taken
the oath of office.
Sec. 95. Municipalities organized before the date
of this Act under General Order Number Forty-three, issued by the
Military Governor August eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, may
reorganize under this Act, upon the granting of a petition for such
reorganization signed by a majority of all the members of the municipal
council and filed with the Commission. Should the Commission deem it
wise to grant such a petition, or to order such reorganization of its
own motion without petition, it will appoint the chairman of an
organization committee The president and vice-president of the
municipality shall be members of this committee, and the chairman shall
complete it by appointing three other duly qualified electors of the
municipality. The duties of this committee shall be identical with
those prescribed for the similar committee in section ninety-three.
Sec. 96. (a) Municipalities organized before the
date of this Act under General Order Numbered Forty, issued by the
Military Governor, March twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred, shall continue
to exercise the powers conferred upon them by that order, in the manner
therein prescribed, until the first day of April, nineteen hundred and
one.
(b) On that date this Act shall become operative in
such municipalities, and the office of municipal attorney shall be
abolished. Alcaldes and municipal lieutenants, elected or appointed
under General Order Numbered Forty, will continue to serve until
January first, nine- teen hundred and three, and until their successors
are duly chosen and qualified. They will be known as presidents and
vice-presidents respectively, and will assume the duties herein
prescribed for these officers. The remaining municipal officers
provided for under General Order Numbered Forty are identical with
those provided for by this Act, and shall assume the duties and hold
office for the terms herein prescribed for them.
(c) The next general municipal election in towns
organized under General Order Numbered Forty shall take place on the
first Tuesday of December, nineteen hundred and one, and shall be for
all elective municipal offices, except those of the councilors with the
longest time to serve under General Order Numbered Forty, who shall
continue to hold office until January, nineteen hundred and three, and
until their successors are duly chosen and qualified.
(d) The municipality and its officers shall
thereafter exercise all the powers conferred by this Act, under the
limitations and in the manner herein provided.
Sec. 97. After April first, nineteen hundred and
one, and until March first, nineteen hundred and two, one-half of the
internal revenue, including revenue derived from forest products on
government lands, collected in each municipality organized under this
Act for each month shall be paid into the municipal treasury for the
uses of the municipality on or before the fifteenth day of the
succeeding month.
Sec. 98. Until the present military government
shall be replaced by a civil central government of these Islands, or
until the Commission shall otherwise enact, the powers conferred by
section thirty-nine, subsection (t) on the municipal council of any
municipality organized under this Act to provide a police force for the
municipality, shall be exercised only upon the approval of the Military
Governor or of the commanding officer of the military district in which
the municipality is situated; and this approval shall be necessary to
the lawful appointment of members of the police force and to the arming
of the same. In case the Military Governor shall deem it necessary, the
police force of any such municipality shall be directly subject to the
orders of the Military Governor or his authorized subordinates.
Sec. 99. In all provinces where a civil provincial
government has not been established, the duties of the provincial
governor, provincial secretary, provincial treasurer, provincial
supervisor, and provincial fiscal shall be performed by military
officers designated by the Military Governor for these purposes; and
the Military Governor shall further have power, through such
subordinates as he may designate for the purpose, to inspect and
investigate at any time all the official books and records of the
municipalities organized in such provinces under this Act. He may
summarily suspend any municipal officer for inefficiency, misconduct,
or disloyalty to the United States; and if, upon investigation, it
shall prove that the officer is inefficient or is guilty of misconduct
or disloyalty, the Military Governor shall have power to remove him.
Should he deem such a course necessary in the interest of public
safety, he may appoint the successor of such an officer so removed;
otherwise, the vacancy will be filled as hereinbefore provided in the
case of permanent vacancies.
Sec. 100. In provinces where a civil form of
provincial government has been established, the Military Governor shall
have the power, through his subordinates, summarily to suspend any
municipal officer for gross misconduct or for disloyalty to the United
States. He shall,
upon such suspension, report his action to the Commission, together
with the reasons therefor.
CHAPTER
IX
FINAL
Sec. 101. In provinces where a civil form of
provincial government has been established, power to remove officials
found to be inefficient, or to be guilty of misconduct or of disloyalty
to the United States, and to appoint the successors of all officials so
removed, shall be vested in the Commission or its duly authorized
agents; and the Commission may summarily suspend any municipal officer,
pending investigation of his conduct; but no municipal officer shall be
removed from office until he has been notified of the charges against
him and has been afforded opportunity to appear before the Commission,
or its agent, and present his defense. If, upon investigation, the
charges against him are sustained, he shall be removed from office;
otherwise, he shall be reinstated. Should the Commission deem that
public safety demands such a course, it may appoint the successor of
any officer so removed; otherwise, the vacancy will be filled as
hereinbefore provided in the case of permanent vacancies.
Sec. 102. So many of the laws and orders in force
in the Philippine Islands, or parts thereof, as are inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. The president of the
municipality shall take preferred jurisdiction over all punishable acts
mentioned in the Penal Code which are also punishable by this Act.
Sec. 103. In order to secure uniformity in all
records, accounts, bonds, dockets, warrants, receipts, licenses, and
certificates provided for in this Act, the municipal treasurer shall
purchase the necessary blank books, bonds, dockets, warrants, receipts,
certificates, and licenses from the provincial supervisor, who shall
furnish them at costs.
Sec. 104. The short title of this Act shall be
"The Municipal Code."
Sec. 105. This Act shall take effect on its
passage.
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