[ Commonwealth Act No. 430, May 31, 1939 ]

AN ACT TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND PUBLIC WELFARE.

Be it enacted by the National Assembly of the Philippines:Sec. 1. The Department of National Defense and the Department of Health and Public Welfare are created. The President of the Philippines is authorized to effectuate, by Executive Order, the organization of the aforesaid Departments on or before July first, nineteen hundred and forty-one.Sec. 2. The Department of National Defense shall be charged with the duty of supervising the national defense program of the country, and for this purpose, it shall have executive supervision over those bureaus, offices, and services which the President may determine to be properly under the jurisdiction of the said Department.Sec. 3. The Department of Health and Public Welfare shall be charged with the protection of the health of the people, the maintenance of sanitary conditions, and the proper enforcement of laws relative to health, sanitation, and social services, and for these purposes it shall exercise executive supervision over those bureaus, offices and services, which, in the opinion of the President, are properly within the jurisdiction of the said Department.Sec. 4. Upon the creation of the Department of Health and Public,Welfare, the office of the:Commissioner of Health and Welfare and the Council of Hygiene shall be abolished and their functions aid duties transferred to said, Department.Sec. 5. The necessary funds for the organization and establishment of these departments shall be taken from the forced savings in salaries and wages and sundry expenses of the offices and bureaus under the office of the President and the bureaus and offices under the Department of Public Instruction as provided for in the General Appropriation Act for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and forty.Sec. 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.Approved, May 31, 1939.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library