[ Act No. 2738, February 16, 1918 ]

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE MINT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR SAID PURPOSE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:SECTION 1. A Bureau is hereby created in the Department of Finance which shall be known as the Mint of the Philippine Islands.SEC. 2. The Mint of the Philippine Islands shall have a Director and an Assistant Director, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, by and with the consent of the Senate, and shall receive annual salaries of seven thousand two hundred pesos and six thousand pesos, respectively.SEC. 3. The Mint of the Philippine Islands shall have charge, under the immediate control, direction, and executive supervision of the Department of Finance, of all coining and assaying and all work in connection therewith that the Insular Government may require, and of any work of a like nature entrusted to said Bureau by law or by order of the Secretary of Finance.SEC. 4. The Director of the Mint shall have general control of all matters under the jurisdiction of the Mint and shall be authorized to draft the necessary regulations for carrying out in the most efficient manner the provisions and purposes of this Act, which regulations shall be effective and binding upon their approval by the Secretary of Finance and promulgation in due form.The Director of the Mint shall submit to the Secretary of Finance an annual report on the operations of the Mint and such other reports as said Secretary may request of him.SEC. 5. Until otherwise provided by the Legislature, the personnel of the Mint and their compensations shall be such as the Secretary of Finance may determine: Provided, That the Department Secretaries, acting jointly, may, without subjection to the civil-service laws, contract for a period not to exceed three years the services of such technical personnel as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act: Provided, further, That the Director of the Mint may, with the approval of the Department heads concerned, request the services of any employee of the Bureaus of Printing and Science for duty at the Mint, reimbursing their salaries to the Bureau to which they belong.SEC. 6. The officers and employees of the Mint shall be subject to the provisions of chapter fifteen of Act Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and eleven, known as the Administrative Code.SEC. 7. The Director of the Mint shall receive and keep, until legally withdrawn, all coins or bullion required for the use or needs of his Bureau. He shall also receive the bullion sent to the Mint to be coined or assayed, and shall deliver the minted coins to the persons legally authorized to receive the same; he shall compute the value of each deposit as well as the amount of the expenses and deductions, if any, and furnish a detailed memorandum of all to the depositor; he shall also issue, over his signature, a certificate of the net amount of the deposit, and in each case of transfer of coin or bullion, he shall issue receipts setting forth the amount and nature of the coins or bullion ; he shall keep accounts of all operations carried on by him and shall submit the same to the Insular Auditor, who shall prescribe the necessary accounting rules therefor.SEC. 8. There is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred thousand pesos, in money of the Philippine Islands, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the purchase of the necessary equipment and any other expenses in connection with the establishment and operation of the Mint, including the salaries and wages of the officers and employees of the same: Provided, That the allotment of these funds shall be made with the approval of the Secretary of Finance first had.SEC. 9. This Act shall take effect on its approval.Approved, February 16, 1918.

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