June 17, 1950

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 563

AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE PERIOD FROM JULY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY TO JUNE THIRTIETH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. Appropriation of Funds. — The following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are appropriated out of any funds in the Philippine Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines during the period from July first, nineteen hundred and fifty to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and fifty-one, except where otherwise specifically provided:

[Itemized portions on salaries and wages and other expenditures omitted for lack of space]

SECTION 2. Allotment of Appropriations. — The appropriations for sundry expenses, furniture and equipment, and special purposes for the Office of the President shall be allotted by the President among the bureaus and offices under his direct control; those for the Executive Departments, by the Heads of Departments among the bureaus and offices under their respective control, as the needs of the service may require.

SECTION 3. Authority to Pay Salaries Not in Conformity with the Prescribed Grades or Rates of Compensation. — Payment of salaries the rates of which are not in conformity with the schedule of grades or rates of compensation provided in section three of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, as amended, due to the consolidation of the salaries authorized for the various positions in Executive Order No. 94, series of 1947, and their corresponding bonuses as provided in paragraph T-2 of the same Executive Order, is hereby authorized, and any employee whose actual salary is in excess of the maximum grade or rate allowed for his civil service eligibility shall be entitled to receive such excess, any provision of existing law, rules and regulations to the contrary notwithstanding: PROVIDED, That new appointments to positions not carrying the salary rates prescribed in Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, as amended, shall be made only at the rates authorized in the said Act: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That the minimum salary rate shall not be less than P1,140 per annum for employees in the City of Manila; P960 per annum for those in provincial capitals and other chartered cities; and P720 per annum for those in municipalities and municipal districts.

SECTION 4. Authority to Use Savings in Appropriations for "Salaries and Wages," for "Sundry Expenses," and for "Furniture and Equipment" to Cover Deficits. — Except as otherwise provided in this Act, any savings in the regular appropriations authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments for salaries and wages, for sundry expenses, and for furniture and equipment of the bureaus and offices under any Department may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of the regular appropriations, except for salaries and wages, under the same Department. Likewise, any savings in the appropriations for salaries and wages, for sundry expenses, and for furniture and equipment of any item under "Special Purposes," may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of appropriations, except for salaries and wages, under the same purpose. In no case, however, shall any item in the regular appropriations and appropriations for "Special Purposes" be augmented, pursuant to the authority granted in this section, by more than fifty per centum of the original appropriation provided in this Act for such item.

SECTION 5. Authority to Use Savings. — The President of the Philippines is authorized to use any savings in the appropriations authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments, (1) for the payment of claims under section 699 of the Revised Administrative Code and the Workmen's Compensation Act, whichever is applicable, to officers, employees and laborers who died or were injured in line of duty; (2) for the commutation of the money value of the additional leave, extended leave, and accrued leave earned by American and deceased Filipino officers and employees, or by Filipino officers and employees separated from the service except for cause, for service rendered prior to November twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and thirty-six; (3) for the payment of salary increases of officials and employees of the National Government, resulting from the standardization of salaries or reclassification of provinces; (4) for the purchase of furniture and equipment to replace those that may be lost through accident, fire or other calamity; and (5) for the payment of gratuity equivalent to one month salary for every year of continuous satisfactory service rendered but not exceeding twelve months on the basis of the highest salary received, to officials and employees who are separated from the service by reason of the abolition of their positions in this Act.

SECTION 6. Authority to Fill New Positions Required. — No new positions authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments shall be filled without the previous approval of the President of the Philippines.

SECTION 7. Renting of Automobiles, Jitneys, or Trucks for a Continuous Period Exceeding One Month Prohibited. — No appropriation provided in this Act for the Executive Departments shall be used for renting automobiles, jitneys, or trucks on the monthly basis nor on the daily basis for a continuous period exceeding one month.

SECTION 8. Suspension of Expenditures of Appropriations. — Except as otherwise provided in this Act and whenever in his judgment the public interest so requires, the President of the Philippines is authorized to suspend or otherwise stop the expenditure of any amount herein appropriated in any item or items for the Executive Departments for any purpose, except those for salaries of positions with incumbents, and thereupon the funds affected by such action shall become available for any other expenditures authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments, except for salaries and wages, as the President may determine. In no case, however, shall any item of appropriation be augmented, pursuant to the authority granted in this section, by more than fifty per centum of the original appropriation provided in this Act for such item.

SECTION 9. Purchase of Furniture and Equipment. — All appropriations for the purchase of furniture and equipment authorized in this Act shall be available only for locally manufactured furniture and equipment except when none is available in the market.

SECTION 10. Authority for Officers and Employees to Receive Payment from the Government of the United States for Service Rendered Thereto. — Officers and employees of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines who may be entitled to receive payment from the Government of the United States for services rendered thereto shall not be barred from receiving any salaries or payments that may be due them from the Republic of the Philippines as provided in this Act, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.

SECTION 11. Provision for "Excess of Actual Salary." — The item of appropriation for "excess of actual salary" provided in this Act under "Salaries and Wages" shall be paid to the incumbent of the position to which said "excess" pertains who is actually receiving the same "excess" as part of the salary granted to him upon his appointment to the said position before the reduction of the basic pay thereof to the amount provided herein: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That if the position be vacated and the successor to its previous incumbent shall have previously received and equal salary plus the "excess of actual salary" in the same or any other branch of the government service, such excess shall be allowable to him.

SECTION 12. Authority to Purchase Motor Vehicles and Restriction on the Use Thereof. — No appropriation authorized in this Act shall be used for the purchase of automobiles, jitneys, jeeps, station wagons, motorcycles and other motor vehicles: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That expenses for the operation and maintenance of motor vehicles shall be authorized only for official use by the following: those for the President of the Philippines, the Vice-President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate, the President Pro-Tempore, the Majority Floor Leader, the Chairman, Committee on Finance, and the Chairman, Committee on Accounts, of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Speaker Pro-Tempore, the Majority Floor Leader, the Chairman, Committee on Accounts, and the Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, of the House of Representatives; the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals, the Department Heads, the Auditor General, the Commissioner of the Budget, the Undersecretaries of Departments and officials with the rank of Undersecretary of Department, the Ambassadors and Ministers Plenipotentiary, principal consular officers, the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Chief of Constabulary and Commanding Officers of the other Major Commands, the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when on active military operations or on active duty in the restoration and maintenance of peace and order, the personnel of the National Bureau of Investigation when on investigation, the personnel of the Customs Patrol Service of the Bureau of Customs in the performance of their official duties, the inspectors and agents of the Motor Vehicles Office for use in the enforcement of the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Law, the personnel of government hospitals whenever used for purposes of such hospitals, the postal personnel whenever used for the transportation of strictly mail matters, the personnel of the Bureau of Telecommunications, for the construction, repair and maintenance of telegraph and radio circuits, and the delivery of telegrams, the Prisons personnel whenever used for purposes strictly official of this institution, the personnel of vocational schools whenever used for instructional purposes of these schools, the personnel of the Bureau of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine whenever used for health, sanitation and quarantine work for the prevention and control of epidemics: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That, with the exception of the President, the Vice-President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, no official or employee of the Government authorized to use any automobile, jitney, jeep and other motor vehicles operated and maintained from the funds appropriated in this Act shall be allowed to use more than one such motor vehicle: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That no official or employee who has been furnished motor transportation by any government corporation shall be allowed to use motor vehicle transportation operated and maintained from funds appropriated in this Act.

SECTION 13. Restriction upon Limit of Disbursements. — Disbursements in accordance with the appropriations herein authorized may be made from any funds in the National Treasury, except the Philippine War Damage Funds, but the total thereof shall in no case be in excess of the actual collections plus seventy-fire per centum of the uncollected estimated revenues accruing to the general fund: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That in case of an emergency caused by typhoon, earthquake or any other public calamity which may seriously affect the collection of revenues during the year, the President of the Philippines may authorize the Treasurer of the Philippines to continue making disbursement from any fund in his possession in excess of the limitation herein provided; but only for such purposes and amounts provided in this Act. Any overdraft which may be incurred at the end of the fiscal year in any fund by virtue of the provisions hereof shall be covered with the first collections of the following fiscal year accruing to the general fund.

SECTION 14. Effective Date. — This Act shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and fifty, except where otherwise stated.

Approved, June 17, 1950.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 46, No. 11, page 5370 on November, 1950.