[ Act No. 3146, March 06, 1924 ]

AN ACT AUTHORIZING PROVINCIAL BOARDS TO ESTABLISH A LOCUST EXTERMINATION TAX, UPON RECOMMENDATION OF THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE, AND PROVIDING FOR THE COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF THE SAME; ESTABLISHING PENALTIES FOR DELINQUENCY IN THE PAYMENT OF SAID TAX, AND AUTHORIZING JUSTICES OF THE PEACE TO IMPOSE THE PROPER PENALTY UPON DELINQUENTS, 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.  Upon recommendation of the Director of Agriculture, the provincial board of each province is hereby authorized to create a tax which shall be set aside for the extermination of the locusts in said province, which tax shall not be less than twenty nor more than sixty centavos per individual  and shall be  payable by every male from sixteen to sixty years of age: Provided, That in provinces where this tax is established,  the provisions of section four- teen of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred  and seventy-two shall  not apply; but said section shall remain in force in all other provinces.

SEC. 2. The tax provided for in the preceding section shall be collected by the municipal treasurers of the municipalities, under the direction of  the provincial treasurer, once each year; but  provincial boards are authorized to suspend or refrain from enforcing the collection of the tax for one or more years when, in their  judgment, sufficient funds are on hand for the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 3. The money collected for the tax herein established shall be in the custody and charge of the provincial treasurer, who shall make disbursements in accordance with the orders given by the Locust Board created by Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and  seventy-two,  in the exercise  of the powers hereby conferred upon  said board.

SEC. 4. The  Locust Board is hereby authorized to dispose of the funds collected under this Act: (a)  for the payment of wages for each day of labor to the persons engaged in locust extermination  work;  (b) for payment for locusts killed or caught, in such form and manner as said board may determine; (c) for the  acquisition of instruments  or apparatus required for catching or exterminating locusts.

SEC. 5.  The provincial board, upon resolving to create the tax established  by this  Act, shall fix the  time within which such tax shall be paid.

SEC. 6. Any  person liable  to the payment of the  tax  established  by the provincial  board of a province who becomes delinquent,  shall pay  double  the amount of the tax if delinquent for not more than one week.

SEC. 7.  Any  person  delinquent for  one week or more shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to work one day in the extermination  of locusts at  a locust-infested  place.  However, the delinquent may pay  the tax and one-half  of the costs before the trial of the proceedings against him, in which case said proceedings shall  be  dismissed.

SEC. 8.  The justices of  the  peace of the municipalities where violators of the provisions of the foregoing sections reside are hereby authorized  to try and decide cases against such violators,  and their decisions in  such cases  shall  be final, and the sentences imposed shall be executed when the province  concerned or any part thereof is locust-infested.

SEC. 9.  The words "locust" and "locust-infested" as used in this Act shall have the meaning defined in Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and  seventy-two.

SEC. 10. This Act shall take  effect on its approval.

Approved, March 6,  1924.