[ Act No. 238, September 24, 1901 ]

AN ACT FIXING THE LIMITS OF CAVITE HARBOR, VESTING THE ADMIRAL OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN COMMAND OF THE ASIATIC STATION WITH POLICE JURISDICTION THEREOF AND PROVIDING RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR GOVERNING VESSELS ANCHORING THEREIN.

By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission, that:SECTION 1. That portion of Manila Bay known as Cavite Harbor to the southward of a line drawn from Sangley Point to Parañaque and for one-half of a sea mile due north of said line and limits, is 2 hereby placed under the police supervision of the admiral of the United States Navy in command of the Asiatic Station in so far as relates to the control of vessels in said harbor. He is authorized to appoint a line officer of the United States Navy to be supervisor of the harbor and to have charge therein of the berthing of all vessels, other than naval vessels, and of the enforcement of the provisions of this Act. The admiral is also authorized to appoint a deputy supervisor, who is to be also a line officer of the United States Navy, to assist the supervisor, and, subject to the supervision of the supervisor, he shall have the same power as the supervisor himself.SEC. 2. The following rules and regulations are hereby prescribed for the government of any vessel, other than a vessel of the United States Navy, desiring to berth within the limits aforesaid:(a) Any such vessel shall first obtain permission to berth within said limits from the Captain of the Port of Manila, whose duty it shall be to notify the senior naval officer afloat at Cavite, addressing Commandant of Cavite Naval Station, of the approximate time of the arrival of said vessel at Cavite, giving the name and length of said vessel and her draft when loaded. (b) When by reason of stress of weather, or of any other urgent necessity, a vessel is compelled to enter Cavite Harbor without having had an opportunity to communicate with the Captain of the Port at Manila, she will take berth as hereinafter provided. (c) The supervisor of Cavite Harbor, so appointed by the admiral in command of the station, shall have charge of the berthing of all vessels, other than naval vessels, and the enforcement of the provisions of this Act.(d) It shall be the duty of the supervisor to see that all vessels entering Cavite Harbor shall be met by a steam launch or tug and directed to a proper berth, and all vessels so entering or changing from one berth to another shall do so in accordance with the direction of the supervisor. (e) Should any vessel entering Cavite Harbor for any reason, not be met and conducted to its berth as provided in the next preceding paragraph, it may anchor temporarily in any open berth, but is required to keep steam up ready to move, until such anchorage is confirmed or said vessel is directed to another berth.(f) All vessels are required to moor, if they are directed so to do, if the same be deemed advisable by the supervisor and he directs that the same be done. (g) All vessels shall have steam up and be ready to move during typhoon or other heavy weather.(h) The commanders of vessels and other persons or corporations are hereby forbidden to dump, or permit to be dumped, ashes or other refuse within the limits of Cavite Harbor. Lighters to remove such ashes or other refuse shall be provided by the supervisor of the harbor and shall be available at any time upon application to him, and he will fix and collect the charge the vessels shall pay for the service of removing such ashes or refuse, and such lighters may, except in bad weather, be called alongside by hoisting the international letter "L." When, owing to heavy weather or other causes, lighters can not come alongside the vessel, the ashes and refuse shall be retained on board until the weather moderates so that lighters can be put alongside, or until the vessel leaves the harbor limits.(i) Commanders or owners of vessels and all other persons or corporations fire forbidden to obstruct said harbor by sinking or permitting to be sunk obstructions of airy character, such as wrecks or lighters or other hindrances to navigation. All such wrecks or obstructions shall be removed by the supervisor at the expense of the officers, owners, agents, or masters of vessels immediately responsible for their presence in the harbor.SEC. 3. The officer or person in charge of any vessel anchoring or mooring in Cavite Harbor, within the limits aforesaid, who shall fail to comply with the above regulations, or with any other reasonable rules and regulations that may be hereafter issued by the admiral in charge for the government of vessels in said harbor, shall be fined by the supervisor fifty dollars, money of the United States, for the first offense, and one hundred dollars, money of the United States, for each subsequent offense, and said fines shall be paid by the master, owner, or agent of such vessel to the Captain of the Port of Manila, and shall by him be accounted for as insular funds, in case the fines are assessed against the masters, owners, or agents of any vessel for not complying with such harbor regulations and the same are not paid as herein required, it shall be the duty of the Captain of the Port of Manila to notify the Collector of Customs for the Islands and chief port, who shall refuse such vessel clearance from said port, and he may further revoke her charter or lake away her license to trade in the Philippine Islands: Provided, however, That if the makers or owners of vessels of the Quartermaster's Department of the United States shall fail to comply with such harbor regulations they shall not be fined as herein provided, but shall be reported by the supervisor to the Military Governor for punishment or may be debarred from the use of the harbor.SEC. 4. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect on its passage.Enacted, September 24, 1901.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library