[ Act No. 2354, February 28, 1914 ]
AN ACT MAKING THE OFFICE OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR ELECTIVE IN THE SUBPROVINCES OF MARINDUQUE, TAYABAS; CATANDUANES, ALBAY; ABRA, ILOCOS SUR; SIQUIJOR, ORIENTAL NEGROS; MASBATE, SORSOGON; AND EOMBLON, CAPIZ, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Legislature, that:
SECTION 1. From and after the date on which this Act takes effect, the office of lieutenant-governor in the sub-provinces of Marinduque, Province of Tayabas; Catanduanes, Province of Albay; Abra, Province of Ilocos Sur; Siquijor, Province of Oriental Negros; Masbate, Province of Sorsogon; and Romblon, Province of Capiz, shall be filled by said subprovinces by election.
SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the provincial board in Method of election each province organized under Act Numbered Eighty-three, where a subprovince of those mentioned in this Act exists, within sixty days after the passage of this Act, to call a convention of all the municipal presidents, vice-presidents, and councilors of the subprovince at the capital of the same, which convention shall, upon finding a quorum to be present, proceed to the election by secret ballot of the lieutenant-governor made elective by this Act, by a plurality of the votes of said municipal presidents, vice-presidents, and councilors, the provincial board acting as board of canvassers, and to communicate the result of the ballot immediately to the Governor-General, for confirmation by him; and in default thereof, a new election shall be held, in the same manner, until such confirmation shall be secured, in which case the lieutenant-governor so elected shall, after taking the proper oath, assume charge of his office and perform the duties thereof until the next general election at which his successor is duly elected and qualified; it being understood that at the next general election the office of lieutenant-governor shall be filled in the same form and manner as provided in the existing Election Law for provincial offices.
SEC. 3. To be eligible as lieutenant-governor of a sub-province, it shall be necessary to have all the qualifications required by the Election Law of candidates for provincial offices; it being understood that if the present lieutenant-governors of the subprovinces mentioned or any other provincial or municipal employees desire to be candidates for the special election to be held sixty days after the passage of this Act, they shall be obliged to resign from office at least forty-five days before the date of said special election.
SEC. 4. The lieutenant-governors mentioned in the preceding sections may be suspended or removed from office under the same circumstances, with the same effect, in the same manner, and for the same reasons as specified in section nineteen of Act Numbered Eighty-three, as amended, and the provisions of law relative to the suspension or removal of elective provincial officers and the confirmation of their election are hereby declared applicable to the suspension or removal of said lieutenant-governors and the confirmation of their election. The provisions of Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and eighty-two, as amended, shall be applicable in so far as possible, to the lieutenant-governors of the subprovinces mentioned in section one of this Act.
SEC. 5. Section six of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and six, entitled "An Act annexing the Province of Abra to the Province of Ilocos Sur," and so forth, is hereby amended by adding, at the end thereof, the following paragraph:
SEC. 7. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the same shall take effect on its passage, in accordance with section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and forty-five of the Philippine Legislature.
Enacted, February 28, 1914.
SECTION 1. From and after the date on which this Act takes effect, the office of lieutenant-governor in the sub-provinces of Marinduque, Province of Tayabas; Catanduanes, Province of Albay; Abra, Province of Ilocos Sur; Siquijor, Province of Oriental Negros; Masbate, Province of Sorsogon; and Romblon, Province of Capiz, shall be filled by said subprovinces by election.
SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the provincial board in Method of election each province organized under Act Numbered Eighty-three, where a subprovince of those mentioned in this Act exists, within sixty days after the passage of this Act, to call a convention of all the municipal presidents, vice-presidents, and councilors of the subprovince at the capital of the same, which convention shall, upon finding a quorum to be present, proceed to the election by secret ballot of the lieutenant-governor made elective by this Act, by a plurality of the votes of said municipal presidents, vice-presidents, and councilors, the provincial board acting as board of canvassers, and to communicate the result of the ballot immediately to the Governor-General, for confirmation by him; and in default thereof, a new election shall be held, in the same manner, until such confirmation shall be secured, in which case the lieutenant-governor so elected shall, after taking the proper oath, assume charge of his office and perform the duties thereof until the next general election at which his successor is duly elected and qualified; it being understood that at the next general election the office of lieutenant-governor shall be filled in the same form and manner as provided in the existing Election Law for provincial offices.
SEC. 3. To be eligible as lieutenant-governor of a sub-province, it shall be necessary to have all the qualifications required by the Election Law of candidates for provincial offices; it being understood that if the present lieutenant-governors of the subprovinces mentioned or any other provincial or municipal employees desire to be candidates for the special election to be held sixty days after the passage of this Act, they shall be obliged to resign from office at least forty-five days before the date of said special election.
SEC. 4. The lieutenant-governors mentioned in the preceding sections may be suspended or removed from office under the same circumstances, with the same effect, in the same manner, and for the same reasons as specified in section nineteen of Act Numbered Eighty-three, as amended, and the provisions of law relative to the suspension or removal of elective provincial officers and the confirmation of their election are hereby declared applicable to the suspension or removal of said lieutenant-governors and the confirmation of their election. The provisions of Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and eighty-two, as amended, shall be applicable in so far as possible, to the lieutenant-governors of the subprovinces mentioned in section one of this Act.
SEC. 5. Section six of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and six, entitled "An Act annexing the Province of Abra to the Province of Ilocos Sur," and so forth, is hereby amended by adding, at the end thereof, the following paragraph:
"Seventy per centum of all taxes or fines collected by the subprovince of Abra or of those hereafter established, funds, shall be set aside for public improvements, public works repair and erection of public buildings in the subprovince, and the remaining thirty per centum shall be applied to the general funds of the province. Seventy per centum of the proportional share of the subprovince of Abra of the internal-revenue taxes belonging to the Province of Ilocos Sur by law, on the basis of the number of inhabitants of said subprovince, as regards the population participating, according to the last official census, shall be set aside for the use and exclusive benefit of the inhabitants of the subprovince of Abra. The funds so set aside for the subprovince of Abra shall be expended upon resolutions of the provincial board of Ilocos Sur, and the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall disburse said funds only upon order of the lieutenant-governor of the said subprovince, accompanied by a certified copy of the resolution of the provincial board authorizing the expenditure."SEC. 6. The provincial government of Ilocos Sur is hereby authorized to establish a permanent suboffice of the provincial treasurer of Ilocos Sur at Bangued, subprovince of Abra, and to provide suitable quarters for such suboffice.
SEC. 7. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the same shall take effect on its passage, in accordance with section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and forty-five of the Philippine Legislature.
Enacted, February 28, 1914.