[ Act No. 3222, September 16, 1925 ]

AN ACT GRANTING AUTHORITY TO THE PROVINCE OF ILOILO AND CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES THEREOF TO ISSUE BONDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FUNDS FOR PERMANENT PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS, AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUE OF BONDS OF THE INSULAR GOVERNMENT SECURED BY BONDS OF SAID PROVINCE AND MUNICIPALITIES, 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. Pursuant to  the provisions of section eleven of  the Act of Congress  approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen  hundred and sixteen, entitled "An Act  to declare the purpose of the people  of the United States as to the future political status of the people of  the  Philippine Islands, and to provide a more autonomous Government for those islands," as amended  by the Act of Congress approved May thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  and twenty-two, the Province of Iloilo and certain municipalities thereof  mentioned hereinafter  are hereby authorized to incur a bonded indebtedness for the construction  of  permanent improvements  and  for the repayment  to  the Insular  Government of outstanding loans contracted for the construction of permanent  improvements, in the following  amounts: Province  of  Iloilo, for  waterworks system  and  repayment of insular loan, one  million one hundred twenty-one thousand pesos; municipality of Cabatuan, for waterworks system, eight  thousand pesos; municipality of  Iloilo, for waterworks system  and  repayment of insular loan, three hundred thirty-eight thousand pesos; municipality of  Jaro, for  waterworks system  and  repayment of insular  loan, ninety-four thousand pesos;  municipality  of La Paz, for waterworks system and repayment  of insular  loan, eighty thousand  pesos; municipality of Maasin.  for  waterworks system, three  thousand pesos; municipality of Pavia, for waterworks system, twenty-five thousand pesos; municipality of Santa Barbara, for waterworks system and repayment of insular loan, one hundred four thousand  eight hundred pesos; municipality of  Dingle, for waterworks system, twenty thousand  pesos; municipality of Pototan, for  waterworks system  and repayment of insular loan, one hundred fifty-nine thousand three hundred pesos; or a grand total of one million nine hundred fifty-three  thousand one hundred pesos.The Governor-General of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized to issue, in the name  and  on  behalf  of the said Province and municipalities  of Iloilo, the bonds covering said  indebtedness.The bonds so authorized shall be issued on the date to be  designated by the Governor-General with the consent of the presiding officers of both Houses of the Legislature, and shall bear an annual interest  to  be  determined also by the said officials, payable quarterly or  semiannually in gold coin  of the  United States  or its  equivalent,  in the discretion of the Insular Treasurer; and shall be redeemable' after ten  years at the pleasure of the Provincial Board of Iloilo or the municipal councils of the municipalities abovementioned,  and shall be payable after  thirty years  from date of issue in gold coin  of  the United  States, or  its equivalent in the discretion of the Insular Treasurer.  The bonds may be coupon bonds or registered bonds, convertible into either form, shall  be issued  in convenient denominations, and in the case  of the  registered bonds, the same shall be registered in  the Office of the Insular Treasurer. at Manila where the principal and interest shall be payable.SEC. 2. The  Governor-General is further authorized to sell said bonds upon such terms as in his judgment are most favorable to the Province of Iloilo and  its municipalities herein mentioned,  or to assign and transfer said bonds to the Insular Government for  and in  consideration of the  net  proceeds of the sale  of bonds of the Insular Government which shall  be issued for this purpose in an equivalent amount, as provided in section four  of this Act, and to deposit the proceeds of the sale or assignment with a duly  authorized  depository  of the  Government of the Philippine Islands.  The proceeds of the sale or assignment to the Insular Government of said  bonds shall be applied by  the  Insular Treasurer to  the repayment of the  outstanding  indebtedness  of the  province and municipalities herein mentioned to the  Insular  Government, and the remainder shall be placed by him to the credit of the "Public Works  Bond Fund, Province  and  nine municipalities' of Iloilo,"  and shall only be withdrawn therefrom for  the purposes mentioned in this Act.SEC.  3. Commencing with the fiscal year of the issue of these bonds  and each succeeding year thereafter until said bonds  shall be fully paid, there is hereby made a continuing annual appropriation to be paid out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not  otherwise appropriated of such sums as may be necessary to meet the annual interest payments upon  the  provincial  and  municipal bonds  issued in accordance  with this Act, and to make up  the sinking fund for the payment of  said bonds.  The  sinking fund hereby  created shall be annually  adjusted in such manner that the total thereof at  each annual due date  of the bond issue shall be equal to the  total of an annuity of one  hundred ninety-three pesos  and seventy-one centavos for each ten thousand pesos  of  bonds outstanding with interest at the rate of three and one-half per centum per annum.   Such sinking fund shall  be under  the custody of  the Insular Treasurer,  who shall invest the  same in such manner as the Secretary of Finance  may approve in accordance with the law governing  the investment of sinking funds,  and shall charge  all incidental expenses  of such investment against said sinking fund.SEC.  4. The Secretary  of War is hereby  authorized to issue in the name and  on behalf of the Government  of the Philippine  Islands bonds in the  amount of  nine  hundred seventy-six   thousand  five hundred fifty  dollars,  United States currency,. redeemable after ten years in the discretion of the Insular Government,  and payable after  thirty years.  These  bonds shall hear the date to be designated by  him and shall be secured by the bonds of the Province of Iloilo and its nine municipalities hereby authorized, and assigned  and transferred to the Insular Government, as Provided in section two hereof.  The Secretary of War shall determine the form of said bonds, the rate oi interest, and the period at which  said interest shall be  payable.  The bonds may be coupon bonds or registered bonds, convertible in the discretion of the Secretary of War into either form, and in the case of  the registered bonds, the  same shall be  registered in the Treasury of the United States where the principal and interest  shall  be  payable in gold coin of  the United States.The Secretary of  War is further authorized to sell said bonds upon such terms as in his judgment are most favorable  to  the Government of  the Philippine Islands,  and he shall deposit the proceeds of the sale thereof with the authorized depository or depositories of the  Government of the Philippine Islands in the United  States to the credit of the Treasurer of the Philippine Islands.SEC. 5. The  sinking fund  provided  in   section three hereof shall constitute the sinking fund for the payment of the insular bonds issued by virtue of  this Act.SEC.  6. The insular  as  well as the  provincial  and municipal bonds  herein authorized shall  be exempt from taxation by the Government of the United  States, by the Government  of the Philippine  Islands, or by any political or municipal subdivision thereof, or by  any State or territory of the United States, or  by any  county, municipality or any  municipal subdivision  of any State  or territory of the United States, or by the  District  of Columbia, which fact shall be stated upon their face by  virtue of section one of the Act of Congress approved February sixth, nineteen hundred and five, according to  which Act, as well as in accordance  with the  Act  of  Congress  approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen,  as amended, and in  accordance with this Act. the said bonds are issued.SEC.  7. An appropriation is hereby  made  out  of the proceeds of  the sale of the insular bonds issued by  virtue of this Act, for the payment of the  bonds  issued by the Province of  Iloilo and the  nine municipalities and  assigned and transferred as security for the bonds of the Insular Government above-mentioned.SEC.  8. An  appropriation is hereby made  out of the general funds in the Insular Treasury not  otherwise appropriated,  of a sufficient sum to defray the expenses  incidental  to  the  issue  and  sale  of  the insular as well as provincial and municipal bonds herein authorized,  the payment of the interest of said insular bonds and the expenses by incidental  to  the  investment of the sinking- fund.   The """Province of Iloilo  and the nine municipalities shall  reimburse  the Insular  Government  for all such expenses and payments made to constitute, maintain, and invest the sinking fund provided in section three hereof, within thirty days after said expenses and sinking fund shall have been paid  " by the Insular Government.   The reimbursement shall be made in proportion to the amounts of bonds issued by the Province of Iloilo and the nine municipalities.  If for any reason, the Provincial Board  of Iloilo  and the municipal councils concerned shall fail to  meet  said  reimbursements, the  Collector of  Internal  Revenue  and  the provincial treasurer of Iloilo  are hereby authorized  and directed  to retain out of  the revenues of the province and municipalities that may come  into  their  possession as  belonging to said province and  municipalities, the sum necessary to meet any delinquency, and said officials shall deposit the sum so retained with  the  Insular Treasurer to  the credit of the general funds  of  the" Insular Government.SEC. 9. The Director  of Public Works of the Philippine Islands shall have the exclusive 'direction  of all the works and improvements  to be undertaken by virtue of this Act, which works shall be immediately  executed as soon as  the  Insular  Treasurer certifies  that the funds provided  herein are available.SEC. 10. Until the  bonds  shall have been totally paid and until the Legislature shall provide  otherwise,  the administration,  control,  operation, maintenance, and  improvements of the waterworks systems to be established with the proceeds of the sale of  the bonds herein authorized, shall be under the  charge of the Provincial Board of Iloilo and a  waterworks  board of the said province to be constituted with the  provincial treasurer, as  chairman,  and the district health officer,  and the district engineer  as members. Said Provincial Board of Iloilo  shall exercise its power and authority, and the waterworks board  hereby created  shall perform its duties,  in accordance with the rules  promulgated or that may  hereafter be promulgated jointly by the Chief of the Executive Bureau, and the Director of Public Works, with the  approval  of  the Secretary of the  Interior and the Secretary of Commerce and Communications.  All receipts from the waterworks systems shall be credited to a special fund which shall be used with  the approval of the Provincial Board of Iloilo solely for the following purposes and in the order herein given: first, for the payment  of the reimbursements mentioned in section eight hereof; second, for the operation and maintenance of the waterworks systems; third, for the improvement and extension of the system when plans for same have been approved by the Director of Public Works;  and fourth, in case of a surplus of  receipts which is not required for the  above purposes the same may be used for general purposes of the Province  of Iloilo and the nine municipalities, such surplus to be apportioned on the basis of the total consumption of water in each municipality during the year in which said surplus accrued.SEC.  11. This Act shall take effect on its approval.Approved.  September  16, 1925.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library