[ Act No. 3576, November 27, 1929 ]

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS FIVE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT, FIVE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE, AND FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY OF ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-SEVEN HUNDRED AND ELEVEN, KNOWN AS THE REVISED ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, 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 five hundred and thirty-eight of Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and eleven, known as the Revised Administrative Code, is hereby amended to read as follows:   

"SEC. 538. Impounding of estrays and stolen cattle.—All estrays and all animals recovered from thieves or taken by peace officers from persons unlawfully or reasonably suspected of being unlawfully in the possession of the same, shall be delivered to the treasurer of the municipality where found, and it shall thereupon become the duty of such treasurer properly to care for and maintain such animals and to post for at least ten consecutive days at the door of the municipal building in the municipality holding the animals and to forward immediately to the recorder of the provincial board, written notice in Spanish and in the local dialects of the finding of such estrays or of the seizure or taking of the animals delivered to the municipal treasurer, together with the class, sex, age, brands, knots or radiated hair commonly known as vemolinos or cowlicks, and other marks of identification of the estrays or of the animals seized or taken from persons not entitled to the possession hereof, and notifying owner of such animals to present themselves within twenty days after date to the municipality and establish the thereto. It shall be the duty of the provincial secretary to send copies of the notice published by in all the barrios of their respective municipalities once a week during said period of twenty days." 

SEC. 2. Section five hundred thirty-nine of Act Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and eleven, known as the Revised Administrative Code, is hereby amended to read as follow:   

"SEC. 539. Restoration to owner.—In case owners of animals taken as estrays or seized as above set out present themselves within the time limited in the notice and prove title thereto, it shall be the duty of the municipal treasurer cause delivery of such animal to the lawful owners upon payment of actual expenses of the maintenance and transportation, giving receipt for moneys paid and taking receipts for the animals delivered: Provided, however, That owners of stolen animals impounded in the municipal pound shall be exempt from the payment of pound fees." 

SEC. 3. Section five hundred and forty of Act Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and eleven, known as the Revised Administrative Code, is hereby amended to read as follows:   

"SEC. 540 Sale of unclaimed.—Should the owners of such animals fail to present themselves within the time fixed in the notice and prove title the animals taken or seized as aforesaid, immediate notice of that fact shall be given by the municipal treasurer to the provincial board of the province, which shall order said animals to be sold at public auction and shall give notice of the sale at least fifteen days before the date of sale by posting notice thereof at the door of the provincial building and at the door of the municipal building where such animals are held, and by banddilo in the barrios of said municipality. The notice of the sale shall contain a statement of the class, sex, age, band, knots of radiated hair commonly known as remolinos or cowlicks, and other marks of identification of the animals to be sold, the place where found or seized, and the date, hour, and place of sale. The place of sale shall be fixed, in the discretion of the provincial board, either at the provincial capital or in the municipality where such animals are held.   

"Animals ordered to be sold by the provincial board in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be sold for cash to the highest and best bidder therefor at public auction by verbal bidding, and the purchaser at such sale shall receive a good and indefeasible title to the animal sold: Provided, however, That notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding sections, if the owner appears at or during the time of the auction and proves his title, the sale shall be suspended and the animal shall be delivered to him upon payment of the maintenance and transportation expenses.   

"A record of any such sale shall be made in the municipality in which the sale took place and a certificate shall be issued as in ordinary sales, except that the entry and certificate shall show that the sale was made by the municipality in conformity with this section, and the signature of the owner shall be omitted from the entry and certificate." 

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved. November 27, 1929. 

Source: Supreme Court E-Library