[ Act No. 423, June 23, 1902 ]

AN ACT EXTENDING THE PROVISIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACT AND ITS AMENDMENTS TO THE ISLAND OF MINDORO AND INCORPORATING THAT ISLAND WITH THE PROVINCE OF MARINDUQUE.

By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission, that:

SECTION 1. The island of Mindoro and the small islands adjacent thereto, including the island of Lubang, which is hereby detached from the Province of Cavite to which it now belongs, are hereby annexed to the Province of Marinduque as established by Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-five, and the provisions of said Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-five and of the Provincial Government Act and its amendments are hereby extended over the Island of Mindoro and said small adjacent islands, with such exceptions, modifications, and supplementary provisions as are hereinafter contained.

SEC. 2. The provincial secretary, the provincial treasurer, the provincial supervisor, and the provincial fiscal, appointed and now holding office for the existing Province of Marinduque, are hereby declared to be respectively the secretary, treasurer, supervisor, and fiscal of the said province as enlarged by this Act, with salaries at the rate fixed by said Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-five. The provincial governor of the existing Province of Marinduque is hereby continued as governor of the Province of Marinduque as established by said Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-five, but without executive or other power over any portion of the territory incorporated into the Province of Marinduque by this Act.

SEC. 3. There shall be a governor for the Island of Mindoro and the small islands adjacent thereto who shall be an officer of the Army of the United States, to be detailed for that purpose by the Major-General Commanding the Division of the Philippines, and to hold office until a new governor for the consolidated Province of Marinduque shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of the Provincial Government Act, after which time the new governor who shall be thus elected shall have jurisdiction over the whole Province of Marinduque as established by this Act. The governor of the Island of Mindoro and its small adjacent islands, until the election of the new governor as in this section provided, shall have within the territory last aforesaid all the powers of the governor of any province as defined by the Provincial Government Act and the amendments thereof.

SEC. 4. The provincial board of the original Province of Marinduque shall remain as at present constituted by existing law. The provincial board as to all matters within the Island of Mindoro and its small adjacent islands shall consist of the governor of the Island of Mindoro, the provincial treasurer, and provincial supervisor of the consolidated province. The bond of the provincial treasurer shall be as fixed by Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-five. The presidents of municipalities in the Island of Mindoro and small adjacent islands shall not be required to attend the quarterly meetings of the presidents of the municipalities of the province held as provided in said last-named Act until the election of a provincial governor in February, nineteen hundred and four, as provided by the Provincial Government Act.

SEC. 5. The capital of the consolidated province shall be, as formerly, at the town of Boac, until otherwise ordered by law; but the residence of the governor of the Island of Mindoro provided for by this Act shall be at Puerto Galera in the Island of Mindoro and the business of the provincial board relating to that island shall be transacted there.

SEC. 6. Until the election of a new governor for the consolidated province created by this Act it shall be the duty of the provincial treasurer to keep the revenues accruing from taxation in the Island of Marinduque and those accruing from taxation in the Island of Mindoro as separate funds. The salary of the provincial governor for the existing province of Marinduque shall be paid out of revenues accruing from the Island of Marinduque. The salaries of the provincial secretary, the provincial treasurer, the provincial supervisor, and the provincial fiscal shall be paid out of the two funds in this section provided, each fund contributing thereto in proportion to its own amount. The remainder of the hind accruing from taxes imposed in the Island of Marinduque shall be expended for the general provincial purposes of that island, and the remainder of the fund accruing from revenues in the Island of Mindoro shall be expended for the general provincial purposes in that island. But after the new governor shall be elected for the consolidated province, in accordance with the provisions of the Provincial Government Act, at the expiration of the term of the present governor of the existing Province of Marinduque, the funds accruing from all revenues shall be disbursed for the benefit of the whole consolidated, province in the manner required by the Provincial Government Act.

SEC. 7. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage, of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SEC. 8. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

Enacted, June 23, 1902.