[ Act No. 554, December 08, 1902 ]

AN ACT CONFERRING A FRANCHISE UPON THE MANILA RAILWAY COMPANY, LIMITED, TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE A RAILROAD FROM GUIGUINTO, ON THE PRESENT LINE OF THE MANILA AND DAGUPAN RAILROAD, TO CABANATUAN, IN THE PROVINCE OF NUEVA ECIJA, AN ESTIMATED DISTANCE OF SEVENTY-ONE KILOMETERS.

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:SECTION 1. The Manila Railway Company, Limited, an English, corporation, which under a Spanish concession constructed and is now operating the Manila and Dagupan Railroad, is hereby authorized to construct from the town of Guiguinto, in the Province of Bulacan, a station on the line of the Manila and Dagupan Railroad, a railroad in a northeasterly direction to Cabanatuan, in the Province of Nueva Ecija, an estimated distance of seventy-one kilometers.SEC. 2. From Guiguinto to the boundary of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, the railway line shall pass through the towns of Quingua and Pulilan, cross by suitable bridge the River Quingua, follow the left bank of the same river, pass through the town of Baliuag and the barrio of Sampaloc, and hero bending to the left pass through the towns of San Ildefonso and San Miguel de Mayumo, crossing with the necessary bridges the Pavers Masim, Gailan, and San Miguel. From the boundary line of the Province of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija the line shall run to the left of the public road to Gapan, cross the River Chico de San Tsidro to the barrio Tambo, and thence following the left bank of the River Grande de Nueva Ecija pass near the town of San Isidro and through the town of Santa Rosa to Cabanatuan.The grantee of the franchise shall be allowed in the route described to make the variations in location which a detailed study of the ground may show to be necessary to avoid floods, heavy cutting of bank, lessening a curve, reducing a gradient, or benefitting the railroad but the line shall pass within three miles of San Isidro, the capital of the Province of Nueva Ecija. If circumstances require that the line shall run to the east of San Isidro, the town shall be put in direct communication with the railroad by means of a short branch to be constructed along the public highway.SEC. 3. The maximum grade and minimum curve to be employed in the construction shall be two per cent and two hundred meters radius respectively.SEC. 4. The grantee shall construct and maintain stations at the towns of Quingua, Pulilan, Balinag, San Ildefonso, San Miguel de Mayumo, Gapan, San Isidro, Santa Rosa, and Cabanatuan. At Cabanatuan, the grantee, in addition to the station house, shall construct a locomotive shed with necessary turn-table, water service, and crane, in the situation which shall be most suitable for the purposes of the railroad.SEC. 5. All material employed in the construction of the line shall he of good class and quality adaptable to the conditions of the country. The rails shall be of steel of a weight not less than sixty-five pounds per yard, giving one hundred and two and fourteen one-hundredths tons per mile and shall be thirty feet long. Two thousand one hundred and twelve sleepers, six feet by eight inches by five inches, of native hard wood, shall be employed per mile of track. In the case of its not being possible to obtain the number required from the forests of the Archipelago with the necessary despatch, due to want of proper machinery and insufficient labor. Australian hard woods, puriog, maire, ironbark, karri, and kauri, used on the Australian Government railways, shall be employed.SEC. 6 . The railway shall be single line of three feet and six inches gauge (that is, the distance between the inner surfaces of the rails shall be three feet and six inches), sidings and loops necessary for the proper working of the line being provided for passing the trains at each station. The width of banks and cuttings shall be that necessary to carry the track.SEC. 7. All materials employed in the construction of buildings shall be of good claps and quality. Roofing shall be of galvanized iron. Bridges shall be constructed of native hard wood or foreign timber, to be replaced by steel and masonry when the development of traffic shall justify the outlay.SEC. 8. The grantee shall acquire for the construction of the railroad a strip of land thirty meters in width, except in such places where greater width is required for stations, buildings, embankments, cuts and borrow pits, quarries, and such additional lands as may be required for diversions of water, roads or highways, drainage of swamp lands, dikes and other works to protect the tracks from floods and freshets, as well as for yards, shops, wharves, platforms, storehouses, turn-outs, switches, or for any other purposes useful and proper to the railroad. In the wise when lands necessary for the proper construction of the line cannot be obtained by free arrangement with the owners, the grantee shall have the right to expropriate same in the manner established by law.SEC. 9. Before commencing work on am one section or district of the line the grantee shall file wilh the Consulting Engineer of the Commission a map or plan and profile thereof showing the course and direction, accompanied by an explanatory statement as to the route and general conditions of said section or district of the proposed railroad. On approval of said plan and profile two copies shall be drawn by the grantor, one of which shall remain in the possession of the grantee and the oilier be filed in the office of the Consulting Engineer of the Commission.SEC. 10. At points where the railroad shall cross public highways the grantee shall construct the necessary bridges and crossings so that the public communication shall not be interrupted. The grantee shall further put up the necessary notices to the public to avoid danger from passing trains, the same to be specified by the Consulting Engineer; and at points of peculiar danger for crossing, when required by the Consulting Engineer or by the provincial board of the province in which the crossing is, shall station a gate or a guard or both at the crossing to prevent accidents.SEC. 11. The grantee shall establish along the whole length of the road a telegraph line for the exclusive use of the railroad. The posts of this line shall also carry the number of wires which the Government may consider necessary to erect for public service. The establishment, protection, and maintenance of the wires and stations necessary for public service shall be at the cost of the Government.SEC. 12. The grantee before opening the road or portions of the road for conveyance of passengers and freight shall give notice in writing to the Consulting Engineer of the date when the railroad, or portion of the railroad will be, in the opinion of the company, sufficiently completed for safe conveyance. Upon receipt of such notification the Consulting Engineer shall himself or by his assistant forthwith examine all bridges, tunnels, and other works, locomotives and rolling stock intended to be used thereon, and if he finds the same to be satisfactory, in accordance with law, and safe for public travel, shall authorize the opening of all or a portion of the line.SEC. 13. The grantee shall enjoy the following powers, privileges and exemptions:(a) To occupy any part of the public domain, not occupied for other public purposes, which may be necessary for the purposes of the enjoyment of this franchise and may be approved by the Consulting Engineer. The land to be taken under this power shall be acquired by the company in the following manner: The company shall file a petition describing the land which it desires to acquire from the public domain, showing that the, same belongs to the public domain, is not in use for any other public purpose, and is property necessary for the enjoyment of the franchise to construct and maintain the railroad herein described, and praying that the same may be conveyed to it for list's and purposes of the enjoyment of said franchise. The petition shall be accompanied by a plat and survey of the land described in the petition. The Consulting Engineer, after an examination of the petition and the plat and the taking of evidence if necessary, shall approve the same, if he finds the land petitioned for to be necessary and proper for the enjoyment of the franchise herein granted. The Consulting Engineer shall then forward the petition, with his approval, to the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands, who shall, upon due investigation, determine whether the land sought is public land, and is not in use for any other public purpose, and shall certify the same to the Civil Governor, who, being satisfied of the propriety and legality of granting the petition, shall execute a patent to the railway company for the land described in the petition and plat. The patent shall be recorded in the office of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands and thereafter delivered to the grantee company. The patent shall operate to convey the land described therein to the grantee company fur the uses of the franchise herein granted, but shall contain a clause providing for a reverter of the land to the Insular Government whenever it shall have ceased to be used for the purposes of the franchise.(b) To acquire from provincial governments, municipalities, corporations, or private individuals, by contract or expropriation, land which may be necessary for the construction, maintenance and operation of the railroad, but no lands within the boundaries of any province or town shall be occupied by the grantee if the same is in actual use for provincial or municipal purposes, nor shall any land within the boundary of any town be occupied without the consent of the municipal authorities of such town. No part of a public road shall be occupied by the railroad without the consent of both the low and the provincial authorities, except such part as may he necessary in the crossing of the road by the railroad. The character of the crossing of any road shall be agreed upon by the provincial board of the province and the agents of the grantee company. In case of a difference the question shall be referred to the Consulting Engineer, whose decision shall be final.(c) To appear, to petition, to indicate, continue or discontinue at any stage all proceedings in or out of court; to sue and be sued; and to appoint or separate freely such employees and agents as the business of the corporation shall require, and to allow them a suitable compensation.(d) To acquire for the purposes of the railroad by purchase, voluntary grant, or by any other lawful title, the ownership or possession of lands and other real and personal property, as well as any estate, right, interest or easement therein, and to take, hold, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, sell or dispose of the same or any part thereof in conformity with the law. (e) To construct, alter, substitute, maintain and operate the railway conceded, make or construct all buildings, stations, shops, planes, tunnels, embankments, aqueducts, bridges, or other structures, wharves, roads, ways, passages, conduits, drains, piers, arches, cuttings and fences on lands acquired, or on which the necessary right has been obtained, and to cross any railway, tramway, river, stream, water course, lake, canal, shore, road, and highway, where the necessary right has been obtained from those public or private corporations or individuals whose rights will be affected, also to direct or alter, as well temporarily as permanently, the course of any river, stream, water course or highway, or raise or sink the level thereof, in order the more conveniently to carry the same across, over, under, or by the side of the railroad, when the consent of the owners of rights or interests which may be prejudiced or injured shall have been obtained through contract, or the injury compensated for in the case of expropriation proceedings. (f) To open quarries, to collect stone from the surface of the land, to cut timber, to mine in lands for materials, and to build and operate kilns for lime, gypsum, and brick on lands owned, occupied, leased, or under control for the purposes of the railroad. (g) To conduct water to the railroad for the use of same, and to acquire the necessary land and to make such roads thereon as may be necessary to give access to the situations from public roads in the vicinity. (h) To borrow such sums of money and contract such debts from time to time as may be necessary to construct, complete, maintain, and operate the railroad or for any other lawful purposes; to issue and dispose of promissory notes, debentures or other securities for any amount so borrowed or debt contracted with or without the security of the properties or properly rights of the railroad, and to secure such debts, notes, bonds, debentures or securities by a mortgage deed, creating mortgages, charges and incumbrances upon owned properties and property rights or rights of any kind, or by deeds constituting liens and charges affecting the rents and revenues of the railroad in whole or in pad. The grantee shall not have power to mortgage the railroad, construction of which is authorized herein, to the extent of more than an amount equivalent to fifteen thousand dollars a kilometer, in money of the United States.(i) No real or personal properly of the railroad actually used and necessary for the purposes of the railroad line shall be taxed by any province or municipality for twenty years from the granting of this franchise.(j) In the case of refusal, neglect, or delay in payment of the cost and expenses of transportation and conduction of freight over the whole length or any part of the line, the grantee shall have the right to detain the same until such time as amount due shall be paid. If the payment of rates or transportation on goods should not be effected within fifteen days, the company may apply for their sale at public auction to the justice of the peace for the district wherein the station is situated, who will order the total or partial sale of said goods in sufficient amount to cover expenses, costs, transport, and conduction.(k) To make application before the justice of the peace of the district wherein the station is situated for the sale at public auction of all articles of freight or luggage transported by the company, which may have remained at such station for two months or over, and not been called for by the owner or consignee. In the before-mentioned cases or when the owner or consignee can not be found or is unknown or shall refuse to receive the goods transported or pay the cost of transport, application may he made by the company to the justice of the peace for an order to sell at public auction within two days those goods which are of a perishable nature, and within ten days those not subject to deterioration. The proceeds of sale shall go first to defray the cost and expenses of said sale, and then to the account of freight and charges of the railroad company on said goods, and the balance, if there be any, shall be deposited with said judge at the disposition of the person who may have right to the same.SEC. 14. The grantee company shall undertake to provide on its trains the locale which may he necessary for the service of mails, the rate of transportation, terms, and conditions under which same shall be carried being arranged and agreed to between the Director of Posts and the company. In case the Director of Posts and the company shall not agree as to the rate and terms of transportation thereof, the Chief Executive of the Islands, after giving the company opportunity to be board, shall fix the prices, terms, and conditions therefor. Such prices shall not he less for carrying such mails in the regular passenger trains than the amount which the company would realize as freight on a like transport of merchandise and a fair compensation for the post-office car. If the Government of the Islands should require in addition to the ordinary mail service, the transport of mail or urgent orders, at other hours or at higher speed than the passenger trains are run, the transport of troops, ammunition, bullion, or freight, the company shall provide, day or night, special conveyance for same and be allowed extra compensation therefor.SEC. 15. The grantee company shall not put obstacles in the way of the road conceded being crossed by other lines of railroad authorized by the Government of the Islands, where full compensation is made for any damage which may be sustained and the police law of railroads is complied with.SEC. 16. The legal domicile of the grantee company shall be in Manila where there shall also be a duly authorized representative with full powers to carry out the duties and sustain the rights conferred under the concession.SEC. 17. From the time when the whole or part of the railroad shall be opened to public service the grantee company shall run its regular trains for the transportation of passengers and freight as near as practicable at regular hours fixed by public notice and shall furnish sufficient accommodation for the transportation of passengers and property as are within a reasonable time previously thereto offered for transportation at the places of starting.SEC. 18. The company shall concede to all passengers holding first class tickets, the free carriage of fifty kilogrammes of personal baggage and those holding lower-class tickets thirty kilogrammes of personal baggage. By personal baggage is to be understood ordinary wearing apparel, bicycles, and such articles as may be required by persons practicing any profession or trade, it being further understood that such articles shall only be accepted by the company when contained in such receptacles as will safely contain the same for purposes of transportation and that the grantee company shall not be liable beyond the extent of one hundred gold dollars for each fifty kilogrammes of weight of such baggage unless the owner thereof shall, upon offering the same for transportation, declare the contents thereof and pay therefor by way of insurance for the additional amount of responsibility to be assumed by the company in case of loss.SEC. 19. The locomotive used in the working of the line shall be furnished with a bell and with a steam whistle and the bell shall be rung or the whistle sounded at a distance of at least three hundred meters from every place at which the railroad passes any highway and he kept ringing or sounding until the engine has crossed such highway.SEC. 20. It shall be the duty of the grantee company to provide the locomotives used in the operation of the road with the necessary apparatus to prevent sparks or five coals setting fire to any properties adjacent to the line.SEC. 21. The grantee company shall regulate the speed of trains running through the streets of towns or on public highways where Hie line, is not fenced in, or where there are no gates or flagmen at crossings of such streets or highways to the velocity which the municipal councils of the respective towns shall decide on. In case the decision seems unreasonable the company may appeal to the Consulting Engineer, whose decision shall be final.SEC. 22. The company shall oblige every employee working on a passenger train or at a station for passengers, to wear upon his hat or cap a badge which shall indicate his office, and he shall not without such badge be entitled to exercise any of the powers of his office or ask for the help of the guardians of the law if such are necessary.SEC. 23. It shall be obligatory for the company by means of its agents or employees to affix cheeks or lags to every parcel of baggage delivered to such agents or employers for transportation and a duplicate of such check or tag shall be delivered to the passenger delivering same. If the grantee company does not comply with this obligation no fare or toll shall be returned from such passenger, and if such passenger has already paid same it shall be returned on demand.SEC. 24. The company may refuse to transport any package or parcel suspected to contain goods of a dangerous nature or whose transport shall be prohibited by the Government.SEC. 25. The grantee company shall charge for the transport of passengers or freight prices fixed by reasonable tariffs. Such tariffs shall be approved by the Consulting Engineer or by such other officers as may be provided by law. The legislative authority of the Islands may provide for the change and regulation of tariffs so as to make them reasonable.SEC. 26. The tariffs approved by the governmental authority for the conduction and transport of passengers, baggage, packages, freight, and live stock shall be posted by the company in prominent places in its stations before such tariffs shall go into effect and they shall also be published in the papers of Manila for the general information of the public.SEC. 27. The franchise conferred herein to construct, maintain, and operate a railroad from Guiguinto to Cabanatuan is, subject to the right of Congress to amend, modify, or repeal the same under the Philippine Act, made perpetual.SEC. 28. The tariffs for transport of public and Government freight and passengers which shall be applied for the working of the line from Guiguinto to Cabanatuan shall be those approved by the Government of the Islands for the Manila and Dagupan Railroad. These tariffs shall be revised by the proper governmental authority when a standard currency shall be established for these Islands in the place of the Mexican dollars to-day in circulation or a law fixing the monetary basis in the Islands lie enacted.SEC. 29. Before inaugurating the first district of the line con-r ceded the grantee company shall submit for the approval of the proper governmental authority of the Islands the working rules and regulations for the government of its train and station service, for the condition of its traffic, for the proper care of its tracks, bridges, and other appurtenances and for the guidance of its employees, and the Government having given the company opportunity to be heard thereon, shall make in said working rides and regulations the additions and alterations which shall be considered necessary. These working rules and regulations, after being approved by the proper governmental authority, shall have the force of law, but they shall be subject to modification at any time at petition of the company, said, modifications being subject, after giving the company opportunity to be heard, to alteration by the proper authority, and when approved in presented or modified form shall have the force of law.SEC. 30. Within the term of fifteen days from the date of the acceptance of the concession as hereinafter provided, the grantee company shall deposit in the office of the Insular Treasurer in Manila, a sum, in money of the United States, equal to three hundred dollars for each kilometer of the concession; said deposit shall be returned to the grantee company in proportion and as the work be terminated and for lengths which shall not be less than ten kilometers. The grantee company shall lose all or part of said deposit in favor of the Insular Government if more than six months shall elapse without having begun the railroad, or more than three years shall elapse before it is terminated. The deposit shall not be forfeited when the termination of the works shall have been partially or totally interrupted by force majeure or by fortuitous causes. In case the grantee company desires to do so, the deposit herein required may, with the approval of the Civil Governor, be made in interest bearing' bonds, or other securities, at least equivalent, both in par and actual value, to the money deposits above required, and the interest due on the bonds or other securities shall, as it accrues, be paid to the grantee company or its order.SEC. 31. The Legislature of the Islands after hearing the grantee company shall have the power to declare the forfeiture of the concession in the following cases:If the works are not commenced or the road finished within the period prescribed in the concession except in cases fortuitous or force majeure; when such cases shall occur the Legislature of the Islands shall have the power to extend as considered necessary the period fixed for the execution of the works. At the termination of the extension of time, the concession shall be forfeited. If on the opening to public traffic of the total length of line the grantee company interrupts the public service for a longer period than one month when such interruption shall not he due to force majeure or to the carrying out of repairs as considered necessary for the security of the public by the inspector named by the Government or by the company.SEC. 32. Against the declaration of forfeiture of the concession made by the Legislature of the Islands, the grantee company may apply in the first instance to the courts of the Islands and on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. If the grantee company should got appeal against the declaration of forfeiture within a period of two months after the same has been communicated, it shall be understood that the above privilege is renounced. The forfeiture of the concession implies the loss of the deposit.SEC. 33. Once that the declaration of forfeiture of the concession is signed all works which shall have been completed shall be put up to public auction and the concession shall be adjudicated to the highest bidder who shall pay to the original grantee the amount obtained in such auction for said works, deducting costs and expenses which the same may occasion. The basis of the auction shall be the estimated value of the technical study for the execution of the work, the lands bought, works completed, the existing plant and material for the execution of the works and the working of the line. The valuation shall be made by two experts, one to be named by the Government and the other by the grantee company, and a third who shall be named by common consent in case of disagreement.SEC. 34. Nothing herein contained shall be used to prejudice the Insular Government or the Government of the United States in the issues pending between the Manila Railway Company. Limited, and the United States or the Insular Government as to claims for damages or the forfeiture of the right to present such claims by the Manila Railway Company, Limited.SEC. 35. The granting of this charter shall be subject in all respects to the limitations upon corporations and the granting of franchises contained in the Act of Congress approved July first, nineteen hundred and two, entitled "An Act temporarily to provide for the administration of affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands and for other purposes."SEC. 36. This Act shall take effect on its passage, but the grant of the franchise shall not become operative unless the grantee company shall, within sixty days after the passage hereof, file with the Civil Governor its acceptance of the franchise and its agreement to comply with all the terms of this act.Enacted, December 8, 1902.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library