[ Act No. 2759, February 23, 1918 ]

AN ACT AMENDING ACT NUMBERED EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY, ENTITLED "AN ACT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FOUNDING A UNIVERSITY FOR THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, GIVING IT CORPORATE EXISTENCE. PROVIDING FOR A BOARD OF REGENTS, DEFINING THE BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES, PROVIDING HIGHER AND PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

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. Section four of Act Numbered Eighteen hundred and seventy, entitled  "An Act for the purpose  of founding a university for the Philippine Islands, giving it corporate existence, providing for a board of regents, defining the board's responsibilities and duties, providing higher and professional instruction, and for other purposes," as amended, is hereby further amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 4. The government of said University is hereby vested in a board of regents to be known as the 'Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines.  The Board of Regents shall be comprised of the Secretary of Public Instruction, who shall be ex officio chairman of the board, the Secretary of the Interior, the chairman of the Committee on Public Instruction of the Senate, the chairman of the Committee on Public Instruction of the House of Representatives, the Director of Education, the President of the University, one member of the University Council of the University of the Philippines elected by said council, an alumnus of the University of the Philippines elected by the alumni of the University under such rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the Board of Regents, and three additional members to be appointed by the Governor-General, by and with the consent of the Senate. The president of the University shall be elected and his compensation shall be fixed by the Board of Regents. The member elected by the University Council and the one elected by the alumni of" the University shall hold office for a term of three years or until their successors are elected or appointed". Beginning with October sixteen, nineteen hundred and nineteen, the members of the Board of Regents appointed by the Governor-General shall hold office for a term of three years: Provided, however, That the regents first appointed after said date shall hold office as follows: One for one year, one for two years and one for three years, the term of office of each to be specified in his appointment by the Governor-General. In case of a vacancy among the members of the Board of Regents appointed by the Governor-General, such vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the Governor-General, by and with the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate, and such appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term. All members of the Board of Regents shall be citizens of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, and shall be residents of the Philippine Islands. Members shall serve without compensation other than actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the Board or upon other official business authorized by resolution of the Board."

SEC. 2. Section five of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. The University of the Philippines shall have the general powers set out in section thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, and the administration of said University and the exercise of its corporate powers are hereby vested exclusively in the Board of Regents and the president of the University in so far as authorized by said Board.

SEC. 3. Subsection (b) of section six of the same Act, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(b) To provide for the establishment of one or more Colleges, of Liberal Arts; a College of Law; a College of Social and Political Science; a College of Medicine and Surgery; a College of Pharmacy; a College of Dentistry; a College of Veterinary Science; a College of Engineering; a College of Mines; a College of Agriculture; a College of Education; a School of Fine Arts; a School of Forestry; a Conservatory of Music, and such other colleges and schools as the Board of Regents may deem necessary: Provided, That the Board of Regents may establish these colleges, or any of them, in Manila or in any other place in the Archipelago, as soon as in its judgment conditions shall favor their opening and funds shall be available for their maintenance: And provided further, That the Board of Regents shall have power to combine two or more of the colleges authorized by this Act, in the interests of economy and efficiency: And provided finally, That the Philippine Medical School, as established by Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifteen, as amended, shall become the College of Medicine and Surgery of the Philippine University as soon as two or more colleges of the University of the Philippines shall have been established and in actual operation."

SEC. 4. Subsection (e) of section six of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(e) To appoint, on the recommendation of the president of the University, professors, instructors, lecturers, and other employees of the University, to fix their compensation, hours of service, and such other duties and conditions as it may deem proper, to apply to them in its discretion the Leave Law, any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, and to remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been had."

SEC. 5. Section fifteen of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows :

"SEC. 15. The Governor-General, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall constitute a board of visitors of the University, whose duty it shall be to attend the commencement exercises of the University, and to make visits at such other times as they may deem proper, to examine the property, course of study, discipline, the state of finances of the University, to inspect all books and accounts of the institution, and to make report to the Philippine Legislature upon the same, with such recommendations as they favor."

SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect on its approval.Approved, February 23, 1918.

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