[ Commonwealth Act No. 111, October 31, 1936 ]

AN ACT TO CREATE A PUBLIC CORPORATION TO BE KNOWN AS THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE PHILIPPINES, AND TO DEFINE ITS POWERS AND PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the National Assembly of the Philippines:

SECTION 1. J. E. H. Stevenot, A. N. Luz, G. P. Romulo, Vicente Lim, Manuel Camus, Jorge B. Vargas and G. A. Daza, all of Manila, Philippines, their associates and successors, are hereby created a body corporate and politic in deed and in law, by the name, style, and title of “Boy Scouts of the Philippines" (hereinafter called the corporation). The principal office of the corporation shall be in the City of Manila, Philippines.

SEC. 2. The said corporation shall have perpetual succession, with power to sue and be sued; to hold such real and personal estate as shall be necessary for corporate purposes, and to receive real and personal property by gift, devise, or bequest; to adopt a seal, and the same to alter or destroy at pleasure; to have offices and conduct its business and affairs in the City of Manila and in the several provinces, cities, municipalities and barrios of the Philippines; to make and adopt by-laws, rules and regulations not inconsistent with the laws of the Philippines, and generally to do all such acts and things (including the establishment of regulations for the election of associates and successors) as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act and promote the purposes of said corporation.

SEC. 3. The purpose of this corporation shall be to promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods which are now in common use by boy scouts.

SEC. 4. Until such time as the corporation shall have acquired by purchase, gift or other equitable arrangement from and with the Boy Scouts of America all of the existing assets and properties of the aforesaid Boy Scouts of America in the Philippines, it shall carry on its operations in accordance with such arrangements as it may make with said Boy Scouts of America; and the corporation created by this Act shall defray and provide for any debts or liabilities to the discharge of which said assets of the Boy Scouts of America shall be applicable, but said corporation shall have no power to issue certificates of stock or to declare or pay dividends, its objects and purposes being solely of a benevolent character and not for pecuniary profit by its members.

SEC. 5. The governing body of the said corporation shall consist of an executive board composed of residents of the Philippines. The number, qualifications, and terms of office of members of the executive board shall be prescribed by the by-laws. The persons mentioned in section one of this Act shall constitute the first executive board and shall serve until their successors are elected and have qualified. Vacancies in the executive board shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members thereof. The by-laws may prescribe the number of members of the executive board necessary to constitute a quorum of the board, which number may be less than a majority of the whole number of the board. The executive board shall have power to make and to amend the by-laws, and, by a two-thirds vote of the whole board at a meeting called for this purpose, may authorize and cause to be executed mortgages and liens upon the property of the corporation. The executive board may, by resolution passed by a majority of the whole board, designate three or more of their number to constitute an executive or governing committee, of which a majority shall constitute a quorum, which committee, to the extent provided in said resolution or in the by-laws of the corporation, shall have and exercise the powers of the executive board in the management of the business affairs of the corporation, and may have power to authorize the seal of the corporation to be affixed to all papers which may require it. The executive board, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the whole board, may appoint any other standing committees, and such standing committees shall have and may exercise such powers as shall be conferred or authorized by the by-laws. With the consent in writing and pursuant to an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of said corporation, the executive board shall have authority to dispose in any manner of the whole property of the corporation.

SEC. 6. An annual meeting of the incorporators, their associates and successors, shall be held once in every year after the year of incorporation, at such time and place as shall be prescribed in the by-laws, when the annual reports of the officers and executive board shall be presented and embers of the executive board elected for the ensuing year. Special meetings of the corporation may be called upon such notice as may be prescribed in the by-laws: The number of members which shall constitute a quorum at any annual or special meeting shall be prescribed in the by-laws.

The members and executive board shall have power to hold their meetings and keep the seals, books, documents, and papers of the corporation within or without the City of Manila.

SEC. 7. Until the corporation created by this Act shall have adopted distinctive badges, uniforms and insignia for the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, it may continue to utilize for its purposes the badges, uniforms and insignia of the Boy Scouts of America; and once adopted, it shall have the sole and exclusive right in the Philippines to have and to use the titles, emblems, uniforms, badges, insignia, descriptive or designating marks, words and phrases used by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in carrying out its program in accordance with the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 8. Any donation or contribution which from time to time may be made to the Boy Scouts of the Philippines by the Government or any of its subdivisions, branches, offices, agencies or instrumentalities shall be expended by the Executive Board in pursuance of this Act.

SEC. 9. On or before the first day of April of each year, the said corporation shall make and transmit to the President of the Philippines a report of its proceedings for the year ending December thirty-first preceding, including a full, complete, and itemized report of receipts and expenditures of whatever kind.

SEC. 10. From and after the passage of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any person within the jurisdiction of the Philippines to falsely and fraudulently call himself out as, or represent himself to be, a member of, or an agent for, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines; and any person who violates any of the provisions of this Act shall be punished by imprisonment of not to exceed six months or a fine not exceeding five hundred pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court.

SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, October 31, 1936.