[ Act No. 3239, November 27, 1925 ]

AN ACT ACCEPTING THE OFFER OF PEDRO CUI AND BENIGNA CUI TO ESTABLISH A HOME FOR THE CARE, FREE OF CHARGE, OF INVALIDS, MAKING THE HOME SO CREATED A LEGAL ENTITY, VESTING IT WITH CERTAIN POWERS AND GRANTING IT CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the  same:

SECTION 1. The  offer  of  Pedro Cui and Benigna Cui to establish, maintain, and support in the Province of Cebu, Philippine Islands, a Home for the care and  support, free of charge, of indigent invalids and incapacitated and helpless persons, to be known as Hospicio de San Jose de Barili, is hereby accepted.  The  Home so created shall be  maintained with the revenues of the personal and real property with which its founders and other donators shall endow the same, and  upon  its organization in  the  special  manner provided for in section  eight of this Act, said Home shall have its legal domicile in the pueblo of Barili, in the province mentioned, shall be a body corporate for an indefinite period and endowed with the right of succession in its corporate name and competent to sue and be sued and to acquire and convey personal and real property, and shall be considered as a real corporation and vested in general with all the powers granted to and vested in corporations organized in accordance with Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, and be subject to the provisions of said Act in so far as the same are not inconsistent herewith.

SEC. 2. The Home organized in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the personal and real property  owned by it and donated to  it by  its founders,  Pedro Cui and Bunigna Cui, and any other property it may hereafter acquire by donation or any other legal  method, shall be managed by said founders during their life-time, and, in case of  their  incapacity or death, by such persons as they may nominate or designate, in the order prescribed by them.  In case of the absolute incapacity of the persons designated by the founders of the institution, the administration of all the personal and real property of the same shall devolve upon the provincial government of Cebu, which shall manage the  Home through the provincial board, in accordance with this Act,  for the original  purpose contemplated by its founders.

SEC.  3. The managers or trustees  of  the Home shall—

(a) Organize  and appoint the  personnel necessary for its administration.

(b) Fix  the salaries, functions, and  authority of said personnel.

(c) Make regulations for the government of said institution.

(d) Prescribe the conditions  subject  to which invalids and  incapacitated  and  destitute persons may be admitted into  the institution: Provided, however,  That no discriminations  on account of religion shall be made in the  admission  of  such  persons.

(e) Insure all the property of the Home with reputable insurance  companies, in such manner as  may best safeguard the existence of  the institution, in case such precaution is necessary.   Whenever the income of the Home shall exceed its operating expense, the managers or trustees shall invest the surplus in the purchase of additional revenue producing real estate wherewith the institution may extend its activities  on behalf of the  helpless and destitute.

(f) After  providing for the purposes  of sections six and seven, maintain at  all times such number of places as the income from  the property of the Home  may permit, and  admit all qualified  destitute persons  for whom  a vacancy exists.

In the performance of the duties prescribed in this section, the rules and  conditions of admission promulgated shall be  valid only" in so far as they  are not in conflict with the provisions  of  this  Act and the  conditions stipulated  by the founders  of  the  institution in the instruments  of donation.

SEC. 4. The personal and  real property donated to the Home  by its founders  or by other persons shall not be sold under  any consideration:  Provided,  however,  That this prohibition  shall not prevent the  managers or trustees of  the  Home  from  selling or  alienating  personal property belonging to it, which  sale or alienation  shall be made in  the ordinary process of  the operation or business of the Home.  In connection with the administration of the Home, the Public  Welfare  Commissioner  shall have power  to audit the  accounts and watch over, the proper and adequate investment of  the  revenues  of the property. of the Home, and to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act are being complied with; but this power of supervision  shall be  exercised  without prejudice to  the discretional powers of administration conferred by this Act.

SEC. 5. All real  property of the Home and the revenues. thereof shall be exempt from the payment of the land tax, the income  tax, and  any other tax now  or hereafter established by law.

SEC. 6. The managers or trustees of the Home  may establish and  operate  a pharmacy for the  preparation and dispensing of  the  medicines  necessary  for the  use of the Home  and the  public, and  the  Home  shall be authorized; to charge reasonable prices for medicine sold to the public. The income  from this source shall be paid into the  funds of the  Home: Provided,  That the pharmacy so  established may sell medicine  to the public only so long as there shall be  no  other privately owned pharmacy in the  pueblo of Barili, Province of Cebu.

SEC. 7. The managers or  trustees of the Home shall set aside a part of the  income  thereof for the support of a young  man  or woman graduate  of the  public high school of the  City of Cebu, selected by  the faculty thereof, while studying medicine, and of a young man  or woman graduate, of the  Colegio de San Carlos, Cebu, selected by  the faculty of  the  latter, while studying pharmacy.   These pensionados  shall  continue  their studies  in  Manila in  the University of the Philippines, or in such  other university as the Government may maintain in lieu thereof.

The managers or trustees of the Home shall also support, a boy or girl graduate of the public elementary schools of the Province of Cebu,  selected by the superintendent of schools of said province, until the' completion of the highschool course in the  City of Cebu.  All such pensionados shall  be  natives of Cebu without sufficient means to continue their  studies.

The three scholarships authorized in this section shall be  permanent and shall be  filled as soon  as any  of them becomes vacant  by  the  death  or  incapacitation  of the beneficiary or the completion of the studies contemplated.

SEC.  8. As  prerequisite for  the organization and legal recognition  of this Home, the founders thereof or, in case of their death, their executors, bind themselves to endow the same  with  personal  and  real property  of a market value of not less than half a million  pesos, the revenues of which shall be used exclusively for  the purposes of the Home mentioned in this  Act.  The  Public  Welfare  Commissioner  of the Philippine Government is hereby authorized  to  accept the  donation mentioned in  this section on behalf of the Home; and  as soon  as said  donation has been made  and  accepted  by  the  Public  Welfare Commissioner,  the  institution  hereby authorized, known  as  Hospicio de San  Jose de Barili, shall  be understood to be organized and have  entered upon its legal existence.   Upon its legal foundation as  provided in this section, all powers and  functions thereof shall be exercised by the managers trustees,  in accordance  with the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 9. Nothing in this Act provided shall be understood to authorize the  institution hereby  created to engage in any business other than that herein authorized,  or to exempt it  from the  revocation of  its rights and privileges in case the violation by it of  the provisions of this Act  or of any other law to which it may be subject.

SEC. 10.  The  privileges  granted by this Act to the Hospicio de San Jose de Barili shall be understood to be subject to the  provisions  concerning the granting  of privileges and franchises of the Act of Congress  of the  United States of August  twenty-ninth,   nineteen  hundred  and  sixteen, commonly known as the Jones Law.

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

Approved, November 27, 1925.