REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1852 - AN ACT
AMENDING AND REPEALING CERTAIN SECTION OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED THREE
HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF
DUMAGUETE |
Section 1.
Section five of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred twenty-seven,
otherwise known as the Charter of the City of Dumaguete, is amended to
read as follows: "Sec. 5. The
City not liable for damages. – The City shall not be liable or held for
damages or injuries to persons or property arising from the failure of
the Municipal Board, the Mayor or any other city officer or employee,
to enforce the provisions of the Charter, or any other law or
ordinance, or from negligence of said Municipal Board, Mayor or other
city officers or employees while enforcing or attempting to enforce the
provisions thereof." Sec. 2. The second paragraph of section seven of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "He shall receive the salary
provided for in Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred forty, and
non-commutable allowance of not exceeding five thousand pesos per
annum." Sec. 3. Section eleven of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Section 11.
Constitution and organization of the Municipal Board; Compensation of
members thereof . – The Municipal Board shall be the legislative body
of the city and shall be composed of the Vice-Mayor, who shall be its
presiding officer, and eight councilors, who shall be elected at large
by popular vote during every election for provincial and municipal
officials in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election
Code. The Vice-Mayor shall have no right to vote except in case of a
tie. In case of sickness, absence, or other temporary incapacity of the
Vice-Mayor, or when he acts as Mayor, the Board shall designate one of
its members to sit as temporary presiding officer, without additional
compensation. In case of sickness, absence, suspension or temporary
disability of any member of the Board, or if necessary to maintain a
quorum, the President of the Philippines may appoint a temporary
substitute who shall possess all the rights and perform all the duties
of a member of the Board until the return to duty of the regular
incumbent. "If any member of the Municipal
Board should be candidate for office in any election, he shall be
disqualified to act with the Board in the discharge of the duties
conferred upon it relative to election matters, and in such case the
other members of the Board shall discharge said duties without his
assistance, or the Mayor may choose some disinterested elector of the
city to act with the Board in such matters in his stead.cralaw "The members of the Municipal Board shall receive twenty-five pesos for each day of attendance of the session of the Board." Sec. 4. The first paragraph of section thirteen of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Section 13.
Appointment, salary, and duties of Secretary of Board. – The Board
shall have a secretary who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the
consent of the Board to serve during the term of office of the members
thereof. The secretary shall receive the salary provided for in
Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred forty. In case of disagreement
between the Board and the Mayor, the Executive Secretary shall decide
and his decision shall be final. A vacancy in the office of the
secretary may be filled temporarily by the Mayor." Sec. 5. Section fourteen of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Section 14.
Method of transacting business by the Board – Veto – Authentication and
publication of ordinances. – The Board shall hold one ordinary session
for the transaction of business during each week on a day which it
shall fix by resolution, and such extraordinary sessions, not exceeding
thirty during any one year, as may be called by the Mayor. It shall sit
with open doors, unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of
five members. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and determine
its rules of procedure not herein set forth. Five members of the Board
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. But a
smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the immediate
attendance of any member absent without good cause by issuing to the
police of the city an order for his arrest and production at the
session under such penalties as shall have been previously prescribed
by ordinance. Five affirmative votes shall be necessary for the passage
of any ordinance, or of any resolution or motion directing the payment
of money or creating liability, but other measures shall prevail upon
the majority votes of the members present at any meeting duly called
and held. The ayes and nays shall be taken and recorded upon the
passage of all ordinances, upon all resolutions or motions directing
the payment of money or creating liability, and at the request of any
member, upon any other resolution or motion. Each approved ordinance,
resolution or motion shall be sealed with the seal of the Board, signed
by the presiding officer and the secretary of the Board and recorded in
a book for the purpose and shall, on the day following its passage, be
posted by the secretary at the main entrance to the city hall, and
shall take effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following
its passage unless otherwise stated in said ordinance, resolution or
motion or vetoed by the Mayor as hereinafter provided. A vetoed
ordinance, if repassed, shall take effect ten days after the veto is
overridden by the required votes unless otherwise stated in the
ordinance. "Each ordinance and each
resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating
liability enacted or adopted by the Board shall be forwarded to the
Mayor for his approval. Within ten days after the receipt of the
ordinance, resolution or motion, the Mayor shall return it with his
approval or veto. If he does not return it within that time, it shall
be deemed to be approved. If he returns it with his veto, his reasons
therefor in writing shall accompany it, otherwise, the veto shall be
null and void and the ordinance, resolution or motion considered as
approved. If after it is validly vetoed, it is again enacted by the
affirmative votes of six members of the Board, it shall be deemed
approved. The Mayor shall have the power to veto any particular item or
items of an appropriation ordinance, or of an ordinance, resolution or
motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, but the
veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object.
The item or items objected to shall not take effect except in the
manner heretofore provided in this section as to ordinances,
resolutions, and motions returned to the Board with his veto, but
should an item or items in an appropriation ordinance be disapproved by
the Mayor, the corresponding item or items in the appropriation
ordinance of the previous year shall be deemed restored unless
otherwise expressly directed in the veto." Sec. 6. Sub-section (y), section fifteen of the same Act, is amended to read as follows: "(y) Subject to
the provisions of subsection (f) of section one thousand nine hundred
one of the Administrative Code, to provide for the laying out,
construction, and improvement, and to regulate the use, of streets,
avenues, alleys, sidewalks, wharves, piers, parks, cemeteries, and
other public places; to provide for lighting, cleaning, and sprinkling
of streets and public places; to regulate, fix license fees for, and
prohibit the use of the same for processions, signs, signposts,
awnings, awning posts, the carrying or displaying of banners, placards,
advertisements, or handbills or the flying of signs, flags, or banners,
whether along, across, over or from buildings, along the same; to
prohibit the placing, throwing, depositing, or leaving of obstacles of
any kind, offal, garbage, refuse or other offensive matter or matters
liable to cause damage, in the streets and other public places, and to
provide for the collection and disposition thereof; to provide for the
inspection of, fix the license fees for, and regulate the openings in
the same for the laying of gas, water, sewer, and other pipes, the
buildings and repair of tunnels, sewers, and drains, and all structures
in and under the same, and the erecting of poles and the stringing of
wires therein; to provide for and regulate cross-walks, curbs, and
gutters therein; to name streets without a name and provide for and
regulate and numbering of houses and lots fronting thereon or in the
interior of the blocks; to regulate traffic and sales upon the streets
and other public places; to provide for the abatement of nuisances in
the same and punish the authors or owners thereof; to provide for the
construction and maintenance, and regulate the use of bridges,
viaducts, and culverts; to prohibit or regulate ball playing, kite
flying, hoop rolling, and other amusements which may annoy persons
using the streets and public places, or frighten horses or other
animals; to regulate the speed of horses and other animals, motor and
other vehicles, cars, and locomotives within the limits of the city; to
regulate the locating, constructing, and laying of the track of horse,
electric, and other forms of railroad in the streets or other public
places of the city authorized by law; unless otherwise provided by law,
to provide for and change the location, grade, and crossing of
railroads, and to compel any such railroad to raise or lower its track
to conform to such provisions or charges; to require railroad companies
to fence their property, or any part thereof, and to construct and
repair ditches, drains, sewers, and culverts along and under their
tracks, so that the natural drainage of the streets and adjacent
property shall not be obstructed; and to regulate the location,
installation, and operation of factories and/or other plants run by
motor engines or electricity, giving the owners or operators thereof at
least one year to transfer to such places as may be designated in the
city zonification ordinances. The Board may grant extension of time
within which such transfer shall be effected, provided that such
extension does not exceed one year." Sec. 7. The first paragraph of section nineteen of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Section 19.
Appointment and removal of officials and employees. – The President of
the Philippines shall appoint with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments, the judge and auxiliary judge of the municipal court, the
city treasurer, the city engineer, the city attorney, the chief of
police, and the other heads of such city departments as may be created
and not otherwise provided by law. Except the judge and the auxiliary
judge of the municipal court, said officers shall hold office at the
pleasure of the President: Provided, That the incumbent justice of the
peace shall continue in office as judge of the municipal court without
the necessity of a new appointment." Sec. 8. Sub-section (g), section twenty-two of the same Act, is amended to read as follows: "(g) He shall
have the care and custody of all public docks, wharves, piers, levees,
and handling places owned by the city, and the care and custody,
supervision, administration and control of the Dumaguete pier,
Dumaguete seawall, and all foreshore lands within the territorial
jurisdiction of the city." Sec. 9. The first paragraph of section twenty-four of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 24.
The City Attorney – His powers and duties. – There shall be a city
attorney and one assistant city attorney, who shall be the legal
advisers of the city. The city attorney shall receive the salary
provided for in Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred forty and the
assistant city attorney shall receive a salary not exceeding three
thousand one hundred and twenty pesos per annum. The city attorney
shall have the following powers and duties:" Section 10. The first paragraph of section twenty-five of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 25.
The Chief of Police – His powers, duties and compensation. – There
shall be a chief of police who shall have charge of the police
department. He shall receive the salary provided for in Republic Act
Numbered Eight hundred forty. He shall have the following general
powers and duties:" Section 11. Section twenty-six of the same Act is repealed.cralaw Section 12. The first paragraph of section
twenty-eight of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 28.
Chief of Fire Department – His powers, duties, and compensation. –
There shall be a chief of fire department who shall be appointed by the
Mayor with the consent of the Municipal Board. He shall have charge of
said department. He shall receive the salary provided for in Republic
Act Numbered Eight hundred forty. He shall have the following general
powers and duties:" Section 13. Subsection (a), section thirty of the same Act, is amended to read as follows: "(a) Lands or
buildings owned by the Republic of the Philippines, the Province of
Negros Oriental or the City of Dumaguete and burying grounds, churches,
and their adjacent parsonages and convents, and lands or buildings used
exclusively for, and actually devoted to, religious, charitable,
scientific, or educational purposes, and not for profit; but such
exemption shall not extend to lands or buildings held for investment,
lands and/or buildings not actually utilized and/or devoted to
religious, charitable, scientific or educational purposes although they
are owned by religious, charitable, scientific, or educational
institutions, though the income therefrom be devoted to, and used for,
religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes." Section 14. Section seventy-four of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 74.
Failure to enact an appropriation ordinance. – Whenever the Board fails
to enact an appropriation ordinance for any fiscal year before the end
of the previous fiscal year, the several sums appropriated in the last
appropriation ordinance for the objects and purposes therein specified,
so far as they may be done, shall be deemed to be reappropriated for
the several objects and purposes specified in said last appropriation
ordinance, and shall go into effect on the first day of the new fiscal
year in the appropriation ordinance for that year, until a
reappropriation ordinance is duly enacted.cralaw "Any provision of existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the budget shall be submitted to the Department of Finance only in case of conflict between the Municipal Board and the City Mayor." Section 15. The second and fourth paragraphs of section seventy-five of the same Act are amended to read as follows: "The municipal judge shall be
allowed a vacation of not more than thirty days every year with salary,
which vacation may be cumulated. The auxiliary municipal judge shall
discharge the duties in case of absence, incapacity or inability of the
municipal judge until he resumes his post, or until a new judge shall
have been appointed. During his incumbency the auxiliary municipal
judge shall enjoy the powers, emoluments and privileges of the
municipal judge who shall not receive any remuneration therefor except
the salary to which he is entitled by reason of his vacation provided
for in this Act.cralaw "The municipal judge shall receive the salary provided for in Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred forty." Section 16. The first paragraph of section seventy-six of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 76.
Clerk and employees of the municipal court. – There shall be a clerk of
the municipal court who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Justice
in accordance with Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, and who
shall receive a compensation not exceeding two thousand four hundred
pesos per annum. He shall keep the seal of the court and affix it to
all orders, judgments, certificates, records, and other documents
issued by the court. He shall keep a docket of the trials in the court,
in which he shall record in a summary manner the names of the parties
and the various proceedings in civil cases, and in criminal cases, the
name of the defendant, the charge against him the names of the
witnesses, the date of the arrest, the appearance of the defendant,
together with the fines and costs adjudged or collected in accordance
with the judgment. He shall have the power to administer oath and to
act as notary public ex officio." Section 17. Section eighty-three of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 83.
The General Auditing Office – City Auditor. – The City Auditor, under
the supervision of the Auditor General shall receive and audit all
accounts of the city, in accordance with the provisions of law relating
to government accounts and accounting. He shall be appointed by the
Auditor General and shall receive a salary of not exceeding four
thousand eight hundred pesos per annum, fifty per cent of which salary
shall be payable from the funds of the city, and the remaining fifty
per cent, from national funds." Section 18. Section eighty-five of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 85.
The Bureau of Public Schools. – The Director of Public Schools shall
exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in
the Philippines. There shall be a city superintendent of schools who
shall be appointed by the Secretary of Education, and who shall receive
a salary of not exceeding four thousand eight hundred pesos per annum.
He shall have all the powers and duties in respect to the schools of
the city as are vested in division superintendents in respect to
schools of their divisions.cralaw "A city school board of six members, two of whom shall be women and who shall serve without salary, shall be selected and removed in the same manner, and shall have the same powers and duties, as local school boards in the municipalities. "The municipal board shall have
the same powers in respect to the establishment of schools as are
conferred by law on municipal councils." Section 19. A new section, to be known as section eighty-nine-A, is inserted between sections eighty-nine and ninety of the same Act, to read as follows: "Sec. 89-A. Relations between the City of Dumaguete and the Provincial Government of Negros Oriental. – The City of Dumaguete shall remain the capital of the Province of Negros Oriental, unless otherwise provided by law. "All qualified voters of the City
of Dumaguete shall be entitled to vote and to be voted upon in all
provincial elective positions in accordance with the Revised Election
Code.cralaw "The Provincial Board of Negros Oriental shall have the right to appeal to the President of the Philippines any or all ordinances approved by the Municipal Board which affect the interests of the province.cralaw "In consideration of the privileges and exemptions enjoyed by the Provincial Government within the City and of the responsibilities imposed upon the said city by its continuance as capital of the province, the Provincial Board of Negros Oriental shall create a permanent and continuing annual appropriation of not less than ten thousand pesos to be credited to the general funds of the city. The Auditor General shall enforce the foregoing provision by causing to be transferred to be credit of the City of Dumaguete at the beginning of each year, from any funds in the Provincial Treasury of Negros Oriental, not otherwise appropriated, the sum of ten thousand pesos, unless the Provincial Government shall have previously voted a greater sum." Sec. 20. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.cralaw Approved: June 22, 1957 |