[ Act No. 2878, February 05, 1920 ]

AN ACT ABOLISHING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MINDANAO AND SULU AS A SPECIAL POLITICAL DIVISION; MAKING THE NECESSARY PROVISIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENTS RESULTING THEREFROM, 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. The Government of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu is hereby dissolved and discontinued as a special political division, and all offices of the Department ire hereby abolished.SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, shall hereafter exercise the powers and perform the administrative and supervisory duties heretofore vested in and performed by the Government of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, over the provincial, municipal, and municipal district governments and their authorized subdivisions: Provided, That the offices of the provincial governors, until provision is made for their being filled by election, and the offices of the provincial fiscals and provincial secretary-treasurer, shall be filled by appointment by the Governor-General, by and with the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate.SEC. 3. The several Departments, Bureaus, and offices of the Insular Government shall hereafter exercise the same jurisdiction, and are hereby charged with the same duties, relating to their respective branches in all the provinces heretofore included in the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, in the same manner as in the regularly organized provinces: Provided, however, That pending the reorganization of the Courts of First Instance in Mindanao and Sulu, and until the Secretary of Justice shall, in the interest of the public service, recommend otherwise, the Bureau of Justice shall take charge of the Department Attorney's Office and shall exercise the powers and perform the duties at present required by law from said Attorney's Office, which is hereby abolished, and there shall be created in lieu thereof in the said Bureau of Justice the additional positions of one Assistant Attorney, class one, and not more than three assistant attorneys, class five, whose salaries, as well as the new office expenses, shall be payable out of the funds of the several provincial governments, in accordance with the present method, as authorized by section one of Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and seventy-five.SEC. 4. The public funds and other property of the Government of Mindanao and Sulu shall be transferred to the Department of the Interior, which is hereby authorized to make the necessary transfers to the proper branches of the public service.  The Secretary of the Interior is further authorized, subject to the approval of the presiding officers of both Houses of the Legislature, to make arrangements as to the details and other items of the appropriations for the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes and the Department of Mindanao and Sulu for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and twenty, specifying the positions to be continued or created in the Department of the Interior or in the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, fixing their respective titles and compensations, including the positions of Director and Assistant Director of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes who, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, may be paid such per diems as said Secretary may authorize, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, That the total expenditure shall not exceed the sums now appropriated and available for said Bureau and for the Government of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu: And provided, further, That the Insular officers, with the approval of the proper Department Secretary, may be detailed to perform the duties in connection with the provincial and municipal administration, in addition to their other duties, and may in this case, be allowed such additional compensation as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct.SEC. 5. The provisions of the Election Law relative to provincial officers shall be applicable to any province situated within the territorial jurisdiction of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, whenever the Secretary of the Interior shall certify to the Governor-General that existing conditions in said province justify the holding of elections as the best means of firmly establishing popular government: Provided, That the election of any provincial officer under the provisions of this section shall be subject to confirmation by the Governor-General as a prerequisite to the assumption of the office by the candidate elected.SEC. 6. Chapter sixty-two of the Administrative Code and any other provisions of law inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby suspended, amended, or repealed, in so far as this may be necessary for carrying out the purposes hereof.SEC. 7. This Act shall take effect ninety days after its approval.Approved, February 5, 1920.

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