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.  Section eight hundred and  thirty-five of the Administrative Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC.  835. Suspension of police by municipal president.— When the  Provincial  Commander of the Constabulary finds that the officers or men of any body of municipal police are inefficient,  dishonest, disloyal  to  the  United States or the Philippine Government, or  guilty  of misconduct or any violation of law or duty, he shall at once file a  complaint under oath with the president of the municipality, who shall have the power to suspend the accused pending  investigation of the case under the provisions of section twenty-two hundred and seventy-two of the Administrative Code."

SEC. 2. Section twenty-two hundred and seventy-two of the Administrative  Code is hereby  amended to  read as follows:

"SEC.  2272. Suspension and removal of members of  municipal police.—Members of the municipal police shall not be removed and,  except in cases of resignation,  shall not be discharged  except  for misconduct or incompetency,  dishonesty,  disloyalty to the United States or Philippine Government, serious irregularities in the performance of their duties, and violation of law or duty, and in such cases charges shall  be  preferred under oath by the municipal president or by any other person and investigated by the municipal council, or a committee of three councilors designated for said purpose by a majority of the council, in public  hearing, and the  accused shall be given opportunity to make their defense.   In every case filed against a member of the  municipal police,  a copy of the  charges shall be furnished the accused  by  the  municipal president personally or by  registered mail, within five clays from the date of the filing of the charges, and the  council or  its committee  shall try the case within ten clays from  the  date the accused has been notified of the charges, unless the accused, for good reasons, shall ask for a longer period to prepare his defense.   The trial of the  case shall be finished within a reasonable time, and if it is tried by  a committee, the same shall submit its report and  findings to the   council within ten days after the conclusion of the trial, and the council shall decide the case within fifteen  days from the  receipt  of the report of the committee.  If the trial is  conducted by the council itself, it shall decide  the case within  fifteen days after the conclusion  of  the trial.  The decision  of the  council shall in  all cases be appealable  to the provincial  board.   The appellant shall exercise this right by filing with the municipal president  a written  appeal within fifteen days from the date he has been notified of the decision, and if within this period no appeal is taken, the decision shall stand final. In  case  of  appeal,  the municipal president shall  forward the case with all its records to the provincial board within twenty days from the receipt by him of the appeal, and the provincial board shall investigate the case anew and render decision  thereon within thirty days from the receipt of the records  of  the  case and its decision shall be final  and conclusive.

"When charges are filed against a member  of the police under this  section,  the municipal  president may suspend the accused, said suspension as well as the  suspension the municipal president  is bound to decree under  section eight hundred and thirty-five of  the  Administrative Code, shall not be longer than thirty days.  If, during this period of thirty  days, the case  shall  not have  been  decided finally, the accused, if he is suspended, shall ipso facto be reinstated in office  without prejudice to the continuation of  the  case until its  final decision, unless the delay in the disposition of the case is  due  to the fault, negligence, or petition of the accused,  in  which case the  period of  the  delay  shall not be counted in computing the period of suspension  herein provided.

"When a chief or member of the  municipal police is accused in court of any felony or violation of law by the provincial  fiscal, the  municipal  president shall immediately suspend the  accused from office pending final decision of the case by the courts and, in case of acquittal, the accused shall be entitled to payment of the  entire salary he failed to receive  during  his suspension if the  court should so provide in its sentence.

"Failure to observe the provisions of this section shall subject the authorities concerned to such disciplinary action as may be  imposed by the Chief of  the Executive Bureau, who may also issue such  order in the case as would bring about the immediate termination of the  proceedings against the accused."

SEC.  3. Salary during suspension of a member of municipal police.—A member of the municipal police suspended from  duty pending investigation of the  charges  against him shall receive no pay during such suspension, but, upon subsequent exoneration or reinstatement,  the council  may order the payment of the  whole or part  of the salary accruing during the suspension.

SEC.  4. Saving clause.—The provisions of section twenty- one hundred and eighty-eight of the Administrative Code as amended by Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and sixty- seven,  section  twenty-two  hundred and one  and  section twenty-two hundred and  forty-three, paragraph  (a),  shall not apply to chiefs  and members of the  municipal police.

SEC.  5. Repealing clause.—All acts or parts  of acts inconsistent with the provisions hereof are  hereby  repealed.

SEC.  6. This Act shall take  effect on its approval.

Approved, December 4, 1924.