Republic Act No. 36 | Senate of the Philippines Legislative Reference Bureau

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:SECTION 1. A population census of the Philippines and such other related data as may be decided upon by the President of the Philippines shall be taken not later than January 1, 1947. The President shall, by executive order proclaim any day selected for census-taking as Census Day, and from that time on the enumeration shall proceed on consecutive days from daylight to darkness including Sundays and Holidays, until completed: Provided, That the census of population shall be completed, proclaimed and published within one year after January 1, 1947.SEC. 2. All data prescribed to be gathered by this Act or by regulations issued under this Act shall be as of twelve o'clock of the night preceding Census Day: Provided, That if it shall be deemed necessary to require that the enumeration of any part or parts of the Philippines should begin before Census Day, the President shall, by proclamation, fix the time when enumeration shall begin.SEC. 3. The direct execution of the provisions of this Act shall be entrusted to the Office of the President, through the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, with the cooperation of the Department of the Interior.SEC. 4. The persons to be enumerated shall comprise all those persons who spent the night preceding Census Day within the jurisdiction of the Philippines, including all those who have subsequently died or departed therefore, and all persons who spent the said night on any ship within the jurisdiction of the Philippines: Provided, That persons belonging to the armed forces of the United States in the Philippines shall be separately recorded and except in the case of the citizens of the Philippines, shall not be included in any official statement of the population of the Philippines when such population is given as a part of the total population of the United States: And provided, further, That no enumeration of the persons belonging to such armed forces of the United States in the Philippines shall be undertaken without the consent of the officers commanding the military and naval forces, respectively.SEC. 5. The supervisors, enumerators and other subordinate personnel for this census work shall be drafted mostly from the personnel of the Government, including provincial, city and municipal officials and employees, school teachers, field forces of the different bureaus and offices, city and municipal police forces, and members of the Philippine Army: Provided, however, That such officers and employees of the Government as may be designated Census Officers may be given a recess from their ordinary duties by the President of the Philippines.SEC. 6. Every officer or employee of the National or of any provincial or municipal government who may be designated by the President of the Philippines to perform any duties in connection with census operation is hereby required to accept such designation and to perform such duties, and it shall be the duty of every head or chief of department, bureau, office, division, or service, or of the Chief executive of any provincial or municipal government, to authorize any necessary detail and to relieve any officer or employee from his regular duties for such period, if any, as may be required for the purposes of this section: Provided, That during the designation of such persons they shall continue to receive, their salaries in full but not from census: funds, and they shall not be entitled to any additional compensation except such per diems and traveling expenses as are authorized by this act.SEC. 7. No head or chief of department, bureau, office, division or service shall order the, transfer of any, officer or employee. under him, who may have, been detailed to the Census in any locality to another locality until the work of such person in connection therewith is completed, or Without advising the Office of the President of such proposed transfer at least fifteen days before such proposed transfer is to become effective.SEC. 8. The duties of all persons appointed pr designated under this Act shall begin at such times as shall be fixed by the President of the Philippines and shall continue until such persons are relieved of such duties; Provided, however, That subsequent to such relief persons so appointed or designated may be required to perform such further services as may be necessary for the carrying out of the purposes of this Act.SEC. 9. Every officer and employee whose services are engaged for the census work shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to do and perform accurately: and to the best of his ability such duties as may he required of him. An oath or affirmation prescribed by this Act to be taken by any officer or employee of the Office of., the President or of the Department of the Interior in connection with his duties there under may be, taken: and subscribed to before superior officers of such departments, who are hereby authorized to administer oaths for the; purposes of this Act, or before any national, provincial, or municipal official authorized to administer oaths, and all such officials are hereby required to administer such oaths on request: Provided, that no such person shall receive any fee or compensation for the administration of such oaths: And Provided, further, that such oath of office should be exempt from documentary stamp tax.SEC. 10. There shall be Provincial, City and Municipal" Census Boards which shall direct the enumeration work within their respective jurisdictions and which shall assume full responsibility for assembling and consolidating census returns and forwarding them through channels as herein provided to the Department of the Interior. The Provincial Census Boards shall be composed of the members of the provincial board, and the City or Municipal Census Boards, of the members of the city or municipal councils, as the case may be.SEC. 11. Census returns shall be prepared in duplicate, the original of which shall be forwarded to the Department of the Interior and the duplicate kept in the city or town of origin as part of the permanent record therein City census returns shall be forwarded direct to the Department of the Interior, while the returns from each municipality or municipal district shall be coursed through the Provincial Census Board which shall review and consolidate therein contained for the purpose of preparing a census report for the province.SEC. 12. There shall be in each representative district a District Census Supervisor and in each municipality or municipal district a Municipal Census Supervisor who shall act as technical advisers to the census boards and who shall supervise the work of the census enumerators to facilitate filling of census schedules in accordance with rules and regulations issued by higher census authorities and within the time prescribed for census-taking. Their compensations shall be determined by the President of the Philippines, but in no case shall a District Census Supervisor draw more than two hundred pesos a month, and a Municipal Census Supervisor more than one hundred pesos a month: Provided, That during: their term of employment they shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses.SEC. 13. Each enumerator or other employee detailed to service as an enumerator shall be charged with the collection in his subdivision of the facts as the Office of the President may, direct him to do, which may include the fingerprints of both hands of all persons to he enumerated, it shall be his duty to visit personally each dwelling house, in his subdivision, and each family therein, and each individual living out of a family in any place of abode, and, by inquiry made of the head of each family, or of the; member thereof deemed most competent and. trustworthy; or of such individual living, out of a family, to obtain each, and every item of information and all particulars required . for the Census; and in case no person shall be found at the usual place of abode of such family, or individual living out of a family competent to answer the inquiries, then it shall be lawful for the census employee to obtain the required information as nearly as may be practicable from the family or families or person or persons living nearest to such place of abode who may be competent to answer such inquiries. Each enumerator is required to prepare the returns and forward the same to the supervisor of his district, within thirty days unless by some unavoidable causes he is prevented from submitting the same within the period mentioned in which case an extension of time not exceeding fifteen days may be authorized by the Director.SEC. 14. The President of the Philippines is hereby authorized to do and to require to be done any and all acts, or things necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act and to delegate any and all authority in him vested in this Act to any official in charge of census work.SEC. 15. Partial or complete returns, reports, and other information may be published from time to time by order of the President of the Philippines and the returns shall be so prepared as to show the population and other statistics by provinces, sub-provinces, district, municipalities, barrios, and other subdivisions,SEC. 16. If in the judgment of the President of the Philippines, it shall appear that a more completely accurate, and economical census of the inhabitants of any of the: areas, institutions, or establishments enumerated in the next following section of this Act, can be secured by the owners, occupants, or persons in charge thereof than by the regular enumerators, he may direct that the census of such areas, institutions or establishments shall be made by such owners occupants, or persons in charge, who shall thereupon take the oath prescribed for enumerators, or a modified form thereof, in the discretion of the President of the Philippines, and shall be subject to the penalties provided in this Act for the nonperformance or improper performance of the duties required of enumerators, and shall have the powers conferred upon enumerators. Said owners, occupants, or persons in charge shall be required to complete such enumeration in a satisfactory manner and in accordance with the instruction given them, and to deliver the schedules within the time prescribed; and for such service as enumerators, they shall not receive any compensation: Provided, That when such areas, institutions, or establish-ments are the property of, or when the persons in charge of them are the employees of, the Government of the United States or of the Philippines, such service shall not be required, except with the prior approval of the head or chief of the department, bureau, office, division or service concerned, of the Commanding General of the Army or the commandants of naval stations, or of such other persons who have power to authorize such service: And provided, further, That if any officer or employee making enumeration is charged with the collection of such schedules, he shall revise them and require the correction of all errors, and cause all data and information omitted to be supplied; and if there is reasonable ground to believe that such enumeration is incomplete or inaccurate, he may, if specifically authorized by his superior officer, reënumerate the residents of such area institution or establishment; and he also may, if such proceeding would facilitate the work of reënumeration, and if he is specifically authorized by his superior officer, demand that the resident of the premises be assembled for the verification of such enumeration.SEC. 17. The special areas, institutions, and establishments, which the owner, occupant, or "other person in charge may be required to enumerate without compensation under the provision of the next preceding section of this Act, may include any or all of the following, together with the premises attached to them; private dwelling houses occupied by literate persons who for any reason can be more efficiently enumerated in such manner, to be enumerated by the householder, landlord, or other person in charge; military and naval reservations, to be enumerated by persons detailed by the commanding officers; public and private hospitals, asylums, and charitable institutions, to be enumerated by the persons in charge; prisons, jails, lockups, reform schools, and other penal institutions, to be enumerated by the warden or other person in charge; army and any other police barracks or quarters to be enumerated by persons detailed for such service by the commanding officer; agricultural experiment stations, seed farms, stock farms, breeding stations, and public works in operation or under construction, to be enumerated by the persons in charge; convents and religious schools and seminaries, to be enumerated by persons selected by the ecclesiastical authorities; boarding or other schools, to be enumerated by the persons in charge; hotels, boarding houses, lodging houses, cooperative messes and clubs having members residing on the premises," or other such places or establishments, to be enumerated by the proprietor, landlord, manager, managing director, or person in charge; public civil reservations, to be enumerated by the person in charge; ships in harbor and other boats, vessels, or craft to be enumerated by the master or other person in charge; landed estates, forest concessions, private workshops and construction works, to be enumerated by person in charge; and any other area, institution or establishment of whatsoever character, to be enumerated by the person in charge: Provided, however, That any person required in this section to perform any of the duties indicated may delegate such duties to another, but shall himself subscribe, take oath or otherwise certify to correctness of the enumeration made and shall be responsible for such errors and omissions as may appear therein and shall be subject to the penalties imposed by this Act.SEC. 18. If, in the judgment of the President of the Philippines, it shall appear practicable and desirable to collect in addition to any prescribed facts and statistics relation to the population as individuals, further information relating to general statistics including corporate bodies partnerships, associations, groups of persons having joint or common interest, social and economic institutions industrial and commercial enterprises, and agricultural and other forms of property of whatsoever class, kind or character, he may direct that such information shall be collected and it shall be obligatory on all proprietors, officers, partners, associates, directors, administrators, managers and legal representatives of such corporations, partnerships, associations, groups of persons, institutions, enterprises, and properties, to furnish such information in the manner and within the time which may be prescribed by regulation. The collection of the information may be secured by mailing or delivering the necessary forms and explanatory matter to the persons best qualified to furnish it, in which cases such proprietors, officers, partners, associates, directors, administrators, managers or legal representatives shall be required to complete the schedules or forms themselves or cause them to be completed, on their own responsibility, by their delegates, as provided in the next preceding section. The persons required to complete such schedules may also be required mail or deliver them on completion, and within such time as may be prescribed to a designated Census officer.SEC. 19. No information obtained during the taking of this Census from any person or corporation, association, partnership, institution, business enterprise, or group of persons, having a join or common interest, however established or constituted shall be used in any court or in any public office, either as evidence for or against the person, corporation, association, partnership, institution, enterprise, or group, from which such information emanates or for the purpose of basing thereon any assessment or collection of taxes or public contributions; nor shall any such information be divulged to any person, except to authorized Census officers acting in the performance of their duties; and no Census officer or employee of the Government shall make known to any other person not properly authorized in Census known to any other person not properly authorized information contemplated in this section, which, may have been secured during the Census operations; nor shall any report or publication issued under the provisions of this Act contain any information indicated in this section which would serve to identify the person, corporation, association, partnership, institution, enterprise, group, or property, from which it was secured, without the special consent in writing of the proprietor, officer, director, administrator, manager or legal representative of such person, corporation, association, partnership, institution, enterprise, group, or property. The receipt by any officer, partner, associate, member, or stockholder of any corporation, association, partnership, institution, business enterprise, or group, of any schedule or form contemplated in this section shall constitute delivery to the corporation, association, partnership, business enterprise or group, and the fact that such officer, partner, associate, member, or stockholder is not the person who would ordinarily complete such schedule or form shall not relieve him of responsibility for the redelivery of such schedule or form to the proper person, shall it relieve such proper person from the responsibility for the completion thereof.SEC. 20. Whenever it shall appear to the President of the Philippines that any portion of the enumeration and Census provided for in this Act is incomplete or erroneous, He may cause such incomplete and unsatisfactory enumerations and Census to be amended or, retaken under such methods as may, in his discretion, be practicable. SEC. 21. All residents of the Philippines shall give any required assistance in executing the provisions of this Act by giving all information requested by Census enumerators.SEC. 22. The authority to lease, rent, hire, remodel, furnish, and pay all necessary expenses of such buildings, offices, or other quarters in the Philippines as may be required for Census purposes is hereby conferred upon the Chief of the Executive Office.SEC. 23. No information secured by any Census form shall be divulged to any person other than an officer or employee of the Census acting in the discharge of his duty; nor shall it be published, except in the form of tabulations or summaries having no reference to individuals; and all such forms shall be destroyed when, in the judgment of the President of the Philippines they have served their administrative purpose. No entry in any form, register or record made by a Census officer or by any other person in the discharge of his duty under this Act shall be admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except for the purposes of a prosecution instituted under this Act.SEC. 24. Upon conviction hereof, a fine of not more than one hundred pesos or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court shall be imposed upon:

(1) Any person who refused to supply any prescribed information, or refuses to answer any proper question necessary to secure such information, when asked by an officer or employee of the Census, in regard to himself or any other person of whom he has knowledge: Provided, That no such information need be supplied and no such question answered unless the questioner, on request made at the time of inquiry, exhibits his formal appointment, or other clear evidence of appointment, as a Census officer or employee; or(2) Any person who, being a passenger, guest, boarder, or lodger, inmate, patient, or other resident in any special area, institution, or establishment set apart to be enumerated by the owner, occupant, or person in charge, under the provisions of sections fourteen and fifteen of this Act, refuses or neglects properly to complete and sign any Census schedule: or form delivered to him by the owner, occupant, proprietor, or person in charge of such special area, institution, or establishment, for himself or for his family and dependents; or who, if unable to read and write English or Spanish, refused to supply the required information to the persons responsible for the proper completion thereof ;or(3) Any person who refuses to allow any Census officer or employee to fix on any portion of any dwelling or other property in his possession, in a conspicuous place, any authorized mark, sign, notice, letter or number necessary to the prosecution of the Census work; or who removes such mark, sign, notice, letter or number before the expiration of one month from the Census Day, unless sooner authorized ; or who removes any mark, sign, notice, letter or number placed or reserved to indicate the boundary of an area set apart for Census purposes; or(4) Any person who, on the completion of the Census operations in the locality in which he resides, has not been enumerated or knows that any other person or persons have not been enumerated and neglects to notify the nearest officer or employee of the Census without delay of such facts; or(5) Any person who neglects to notify the nearest officer or employee of the Census of his knowledge that he himself, or any other person or persons, have been enumerated twice; or who has once been enumerated, or knows that any other person or persons have once been enumerated, and neglects to inform of the fact of such prior enumeration, any enumerator or other authorized person who is on the point of enumerating a second time either himself or any other such person or persons; or who fails to present to such enumerator, or other authorized person any pass, ticket, certificate, or other document which may bear evidence to the fact of such prior enumeration; or(6) Any person who, having received from any Census officer any pass, ticket, certificate, or other document showing that he, family or dependents, any area, institution or establishment of which he is the owner, occupant or person in charge, or the inhabitants thereof, have been enumerated by such census officer, fails to preserve such pass, ticket, certificate, or other document in an unmutilated and legible condition for two months from the receipt thereof; or(7) Any person who refuses compliance with the provisions of this Act or with any regulations issued under it and necessary for its execution, when such refusal is not otherwise penalized herein.

SEC. 25. Upon conviction hereof, a fine of not more than six hundred pesos, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, in the discretion of the court shall be imposed upon:

(1) Any person, who being the owner, occupant, or person in charge of any special area, institution, or establishment set apart to be enumerated under the provisions of sections fourteen and fifteen of this Act, or an officer, director, partner, associate, manager or local representative of any corporation, partnership, association, institution, industrial or commercial establishment or enterprise, group of persons having a joint or common interest, or other property, in regard to which the collection of statistics is prescribed under the provisions of section fifteen of this Act, refuses or neglects properly to complete, any Census form mailed or delivered to him and to subscribe the same; or(2) Any person who, being a resident of such area, institution, or establishment, or an officer, director, manager, associate, partner, or employee or any such corporation, partnership, association, institution, industrial or commercial establishment, group of persons having a joint or common interest, or any other property, refuses or neglects, in the absence of the owner, occupant, or person in charge, or of an officer, director, manager, or local representative to receive such form and make delivery thereof to owner, occupant, person in charge, officer, director, manager, or local representative; or(3) Any person who, being the owner occupant, or person in charge of such special area, institution or establishment, refuses or neglects to distribute the necessary schedules or forms to the passengers, guests, boarders, lodgers, inmates, patients, or other residents of the, premises entitled thereto, and to report to the nearest officer or employee of the Census the names of those who refuse to receive or complete them; or;(4) Any person Who refuses or neglects to deliver or transmit to the addressees any Census form mailed or delivered to him, in the manner and within the time prescribed ; or(5) Any person who refuses any Census officer or employee, acting in the discharge of his duty, entrance to any premises under his control, except portions of a private dwelling other than the room in which such officer or employee would naturally be received: Provided, That such entrance be not demanded to an extent beyond that necessary to secure the prescribed facts and statistics or to verify them after they have been entered upon the schedules by other persons; or(6) Any person who obstructs any Census officer or employee in the discharge of his duty, or refuses or neglects to render him reasonable assistance, when called upon to do so; or(7) Any person who misrepresents or attempts in any way to misrepresent the objects of the Census or to arouse hostility against it; or(8) Any person who, being the owner of any animal, vehicle, ship, or vessel of any kind, and such animal, vehicle, ship or vessel being needed, in the absence of any other satisfactory facility, for the transportation of any Census officer or employee or, the transmission of any form, correspondence or supplies shall refuse without adequate reason to permit the use of such animal, vehicle, ship or vessel, on the request of the officer or employee of the Census responsible for such transportation or for the transmission of such forms, correspondence, or supplies, to the extent necessary for such transmission; or shall refuse to render such reasonable personal services as may be necessary in connection with the use of such animal, vehicle, ship or vessel; or shall demand an unusual or extortionate price or sum for the use of such means of transportation or for any service in connection therewith; or(9) Any person who knowingly gives oral or written answers to any question upon a Census form or to any proper question asked by a Census officer or employee in the discharge of his duty, which shall prove to be materially untrue in any particular; or who alters or falsifies any Census form or declaration before or after it has been completed; or who signs any Census form or declaration after it has been completed in the knowledge that it is materially untrue in any particular; or who pays, compels, advises, or induces any other person to make or sign any such untrue statement or form; or who forges any Census form, completed or uncompleted.

SEC. 26. Upon conviction hereof, a fine not exceeding two thousand pesos, or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both, in the discretion of the court shall be imposed upon:

(1) Any person who impersonates a Census officer or employee; or(2) Any person who offers a reward, fee, or gratuity to any Census officer or employee for the purpose of inducing such officer or employee to alter or omit any portion of the census record or returns; or(3) Any person who commits any fraud, makes any false statement, or compels, pays, requests, or induces any other, person to commit such fraud or make such false statement with the object of enabling him to secure a position in the employ of the Census.

SEC. 27. Upon conviction hereof, a fine not exceeding six hundred pesos, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, in the discretion of the court shall be imposed upon:

(1) Any person who, having accepted any position in the employ of the Census and taken oath thereof, and not having been duly released, refuses to perform the duties of such position, or neglects to use due diligence in bringing such Census work as is entrusted to him to a satisfactory termination, or disregards proper and necessary orders and instructions coming from his superior; or(2) Any officer or employee of the Census who, whether during, or after the termination of his service divulges or communicates the contents of any Census form, record, return or document, to any person not authorized by the President of the Philippines to receive the same; or(3) Any officer or employee of the Census who solicits or receives any reward, fee, or gratuity from any person, other than his usual salary and his regular compensation from Census funds, whether or not conditioned upon the altering or committing by him of any portion of the Census return; or(4) Any officer or employee of the Census who attempts to secure any information not prescribed by the President of the Philippines or who asks offensive or improper questions in the process of securing any information, authorized or unauthorized; or who willfully and maliciously attempts to enter any portion of any private dwelling except the room in which he would naturally be received, or any portion of any other premises an inspection of which is not essential to the performance of his duties.

SEC. 28. Any executive official or employee of the Government who refuses to accept a position in the employ of the Census when tendered him by an authorized officer of the Census, with the sanction of his superiors in office, shall be punished by such disciplinary measures, as may be imposed by the proper department head.SEC. 29. Any person who, being the owner, occupant, or person in charge of any special area, institution, or establishment set apart to be enumerated under the provisions of sections fourteen, and fifteen, of this Act, shall perform the, enumeration: required thereby, in a manners, so incomplete or erroneous as to necessitate its being done anew by an officer or employee of the Census, shall be punished upon conviction, in addition to any other penalties herein elsewhere provided, by a fine of every person enumerated as resident within such area institution or establishment, when such persons are enumerated anew.SEC. 30. Concurrent jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon Courts of First Instance over all offenses punishable under this Act, which but for this provision would be exclusively cognizable by justices of the peace.SEC. 31. The Chief of the Executive Office shall prepare the budget of expenses incident to the enforcement of the provisions of this Act and he shall submit said budget to the President for approval.SEC. 32. Whenever it shall appear that any person appointed, detailed, or designated to a position in connection with the Census is performing or has performed his duties in an inefficient or dilatory manner, or at an unnecessary cost to Census funds, or whenever any such person shall contravene any of the provisions of this Act or of any regulations or instructions issued there under, the President of the Philippines may in his discretion authorize the imposition of a fine; and the amount of such fine shall be deducted from the compensation due such person on the termination of census operations.SEC. 33. All fines, whether administrative or judicial, which may be imposed on any person for offenses against the provisions of this Act, or of regulations issued there under and all funds accruing for the sale of any property; purchased from Census funds or of any salable document issued in connection with Census shall be covered into general funds of the Philippine Treasury.SEC. 34 Whenever the Office of the President shall terminate the appointment, detail or designation of any person to a position in connection with the Census for cause, he may in his discretion authorize the payment to such person of such compensation at the rate of payment agreed upon at the time of his designation, as he may deem to constitute a fair remuneration for the service rendered.SEC. 35. The allowance of per diems and traveling expenses to officers and employees used for census-taking shall be governed by existing laws: Provided, That the President of the Philippines may by general regulations determine in what cases or classes of cases such per diems and expenses may be allowed; and may fix a maximum less than that allowed by existing laws: And provided, further, That in the case of officers or employees detailed for Census work from another department, bureau, office, division or service and continuing to receive their usual salaries there from; the amount of their per diems may be paid from Census funds.SEC. 36. No surcharge shall be imposed, nor shall any charge be made by any department, bureau, office, division, or service of the Government for any services rendered or supplies furnished or purchased in connection with the Census, over and above the actual cost of such services or supplies.SEC. 37. The sum of four hundred eighty thousand pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the Philippine Treasury not otherwise appropriated to carry out the provisions of this Act: Provided, That no amount shall be set up on the books of the Auditor until it has been allotted by the President of the Philippines.SEC. 38. After the publication of the Census which shall include a segregated report on war damages ;in the Philippines, all records, documents used in the preparation taking and publication of such Census; shall be kept or disposed of by the Bureau of Census and Statistics according to law.SEC. 39. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.Approved, September 30, 1946.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library