[ Commonwealth Act No. 246, December 17, 1937 ]

AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE FORM OF THE BUDGET AND REGULATING THE EXPENDITURE OF AUTHORIZED AP­PROPRIATIONS.

Be it enacted by the National Assembly:    

SECTION 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Budget Act."

SEC. 2.    Definition of terms used in this Act. — The Budget is the financial program of the National Govern­ment for a designated fiscal year, consisting of state­ments of estimated receipts and expenditures for the fis­cal year for which it is intended to be effective, based on the results of operations during the preceding fiscal years.

Ordinary income consists of the proceeds of the col­lection of taxes and other kinds of revenues and receipts regularly accruing to the Philippine Treasury by virtue of the operation of existing laws. Receipts which do not regularly accrue to the Government, the collection of which is indefinite, or does not depend entirely on the authority of the Government of Commonwealth of the Philippines shall be classified as extraordinary income.

Ordinary expenditures are those that are necessary for the ordinary operation of the Government and are continuous or recurring in nature. All other kinds of of expenditures shall be classified as extraordinary expenditures,  including' public works  constructions, special projects, and investments.

SEC. 3. Form of the Budget. — The Budget which shall be prepared and submitted to the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions of section 9, Article VI of the Constitution, shall comprise the general fund and all classes of special and trust funds under the care and control of the different branches or offices of the Na­tional Government.

The receipts accruing to any fund and the expendi­tures therefrom shall be shown in detail in conformity with the classification of accounts prescribed by the Au­ditor General, segregated into ordinary and extraordinary income and expenditures.

The appropriations for salaries and wages shall spe­cify the positions, the number of each class, the respective designations, the salary rates authorized for the current year and those proposed for the ensuing year, and the items shall be grouped by bureaus and offices. The items of appropriations for each class of sundry expenses, fur­niture and equipment, and those for special purposes for the different bureaus and offices shall be consolidated for each corresponding department. Together with the pro­posed appropriations for each department, there shall be shown the amount of the actual expenditures for the pre­ceding year and the estimated expenditures for the cur­rent and ensuing years from appropriations that are authorized by existing laws and from the special and trust funds.

SEC. 4. Authority of the President to change the form of the Budget. — The President is authorized to change, subject to the requirement of the Constitution, , the form of the Budget or any feature thereof, to sup­press any existing feature and to add any new feature, data or information which in his opinion,, may help to­ward a clearer presentation of the needs of the Govern­ment and the condition of its finances: Provided, That such changes shall be valid and subsisting while the As­sembly does not provide otherwise.

SEC. 5. Budget to be balanced. — The ordinary in­come shall be used primarily to provide for the ordinary operating expenses of the Government. Except in case of a national emergency or serious financial stress, the existence of which has been duly proclaimed by the Pres­ident, the total authorized appropriations for the ordinary expenditures shall not exceed the ordinary income; and,f' unless extraordinary circumstances justify it, the total estimated ordinary income shall not only cover the total estimated ordinary expenditures, but it shall leave a reasonable surplus besides. No appropriations for the ordi­nary operating expenses of the Government may be pro­posed, unless the amount thereof is covered l5y the or­dinary income, and, likewise, no appropriation for any extraordinary expenditure, the amount of which is not covered by the estimated income from the existing sources of revenues or available current surplus, may be proposed, unless it be supported by a proposal creating an additional source of fund sufficient to cover the same.

SEC. 6. Accrual of income to unappropriated gen­eral fund of the National Government. — Unless other­wise specifically provided by law, all income accruing to bureaus, offices, and other units of the National Go­vernment by virtue of the provisions of existing laws, orders, and regulations shall be deposited in the Philippine Treasury or in any duly authorized depository of the Government by the officers or employees receiving them, and, except the receipts pertaining to special and trust funds, shall accrue to the unappropriated general fund of the National Government.

All receipts due the Government by virtue of the pro­visions of section two thousand and fifty-three of the Administrative Code, section ten of Act Numbered Forty-one hundred and sixty-six, and section forty-three of Commonwealth Act Numbered Eighty-three, shall accrue to the unappropriated general funds in the Philippine Treasury, any provision of law to the contrary notwith­standing.

Except  in  the  case  cf  receipts  accruing to  special funds derived from proceeds of taxes and fees specially imposed for specific purposes and to the revolving funds created by law, all unexpended balances of receipts collected by bureaus and offices of the National Government by virtue of laws which authorize expenditures payable therefrom, shall revert to the unappropriated general fund in the Philippine Treasury at the end of the fiscal year in which collected.

SEC. 7. Provisions governing the expenditure of authorized appropriations. — Unless otherwise expressly provided in the law authorizing an appropriation, the fol­lowing general and special provisions shall govern the expenditure of appropriations authorized by any annual General Appropriation Act and other acts:

I. — GENERAL PROVISION'S

(1) Appropriations to be spent only for purposes for which   appropriated.  —   Unless   otherwise  expressly provided,  all  sums  set  aside  in   the  appropriations shall be expended solely for the specific purpose for which appropriated, and for no other.

(2) Reduction of expenditures. — The President may order the reduction of the expenditures chargeable to appropriations authorized for the executive departments and their respective bureaus, offices, and dependencies whenever, in his opinion, the public interest so requires: Provided, however. That in case of reduction of salaries 2nd wages, such reduction shall be general and based on the existing rates of salaries and wages, and the percent­age of reduction shall be uniform for similar rates of salaries and wages.

(3)     Certification  as  to availability  of  funds. — No funds shall be disbursed, and no requisition or order for the purchase of supplies and materials and for the pur­chase, manufacture, or repair of furniture and equip­ment chargeable to any appropriation or fund shall be made by any chief of bureau or office without first secur­ing the certification cf the corresponding Accounting Of­ficer as to the availability of funds or appropriation against which the expenditure or obligation may properly be charged.

(4)     Allotment  of lump-sum appropriations and spe­cial and other funds; plantilla of personnel. — The provi­sions of any law to the contrary notwithstanding, expenditures from  lump-sum appropriations authorized for any executive department in any annual General Appropriation Act tor other act and from all special,  bond, trust, and other funds shall be made in accordance with a budget to be approved by the President, which shall include the plantilla of personnel, showing the number of each kind of positions, the designations, the salary proposed for the fiscal year for which the appropriation is intended and the salary actually received.  This provision shall be applicable to all revolving funds, receipts which are automatically made available for expenditure for certain specific purposes, aids and donations for carrying out certain activities, or deposits made to cover the cost of special services to be rendered to private parties.

Except when stipulated otherwise as a condition for the expenditure of an aid or donation, and in the case of officers and employees receiving higher rates at the time of the approval of this Act, no officer or employee whose salary, not being fixed by law, is paid from any lump-sum appropriation or from any special, bond, trust, revolving, or other fund, shall receive a compensation of more than twelve pesos per day or more than three hundred pesos per month. This limitation shall not apply to the appro­priations for "expert and technical personnel" under the Office of the President and the various executive depart­ments.

In the case of any lump-sum appropriation for sala­ries and wages of temporary laborers and employees pro­vided in any General Appropriation Act or other act, the expenditure of such appropriation shall be limited to the employment of laborers paid by the month, by the day, or by the hour, and of emergency employees other than laborers, who, except those authorized for the National Assembly, the office of the President, the Bureau of Health, the craftsmen, helpers, and other employees of the Bureau of Printing, the justices of the peace, the,of­ficers and employees of the Bureau of Public Works whose salaries and wages are payable from appropriations for projects authorized in any act, and the officers and em­ployees cf the Bureau of Quarantine Service, shall, in no case, be paid a salary in excess of forty-pesos per month, nor shall their employment continue for more than six months.

(5) Reversion of unexpended balances of appropria­tions. — Except appropriations for the national defense pursuant to Commonwealth Act Numbered One, the un­expended balances of appropriations authorized in any an­nual General Appropriation Act shall revert to the un-appropriated general fund in the Philippine Treasury at the end of the fiscal year for which such appropriations are authorized, and shall not thereafter be available for expenditure except by subsequent legislative enactment.

SALARIES AND WAGES

(6)     Determination of rate of compensation of posi­tions. — Whenever a specific number of positions is pro­vided in an item of an appropriation authorized in any act, the sum appropriated in such item shall be understood to be equally divided among the positions so provided, and the maximum  rate  of compensation  per annum of each position is thereby determined.

All annual salaries shall be divided into twelve equal installments, one of which shall be the pay for each calendar month; and in making payment for part of a month the amount to be paid each day shall be determined by dividing the monthly pay into as many parts as there are days in the particular month.

(7)          Filling of vacancy by appointment of person or persons in lower grade. — With the prior approval of the President of the Philippines, a vacancy in a position of any grade may be filled by the appointment of one person or more of a lower grade within the same service classifica­tion but in such case the aggregate of salaries paid shall not   be   greater  than  the  salary   authorized   by  law  for that position.

(8)          Authority to receive additional compensation. — Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, officers and employees who are appointed or designated by competent authority to serve as chairman, members, or officers of the committee for the holding of bar examin­ations or of the examining boards mentioned in section ten of Act Numbered Four thousand and seven and the boards that have been established, or may hereafter be established, by law to govern the operation of government owned or controlled enterprises, may, in the discre­tion of the President, be allowed to receive compensations at rates which he shall fix and subject to such condi­tions as he may prescribe, in addition to the salary author­ized for the regular position of each officer or employee concerned,    such  additional  compensation  shall  be payable from the fees collected by the examining boards and from the special funds under the respective control of the other boards, as the case may be.

(9)     Compensation of persons receiving pension. — A person receiving life pension, annuity, or gratuity from the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines or any province, city, municipality, or other subdivision thereof, or from any government owned or controlled en­tity or enterprise, who is reappointed to any position, the appropriation  for  the  salary  of which  is provided from funds   of   the   said   Commonwealth   Government   or   any province,  city,   municipality,  or other subdivision  there­ of,  or from  any  government  owned  or controlled  entity or enterprise, shall have the option to receive either the compensation  for  the  position   or  the  pension,  gratuity, or annuity; but in no case shall he receive both.

(10)     Prohibition from acceptance of voluntary ser­vice. — No person shall be employed or appointed in the government service, under the guise of voluntary service, without   compensation  but   with  privilege  of  reimburse­ment of traveling expenses, or receiving per diems, subsistence,  or quarters  payable  from  public funds,  in  the absence  of a specific position therefor or specific legislation authorizing the creation of such position:    Provided, That, in case of emergency find when authorized by the President, the application of this provision may be waived in the case of voluntary service in the Philippine Army, State Police, Office of .Adult Education, Bureau of Health, hospitals and penal institutions.

ALLOWANCES

(11)     Subsistence. — No officer or employee of the National Government shall be given subsistence, the cost of which  is  payable  from any public  fund, except the following  and   only   when   an   appropriation   therefor   is specifically provided:

(a)          Marine   officers,   engineers   and   crew   of   the government vessels, launches, and motor boats, who shall take their meals in the mess on board the vessels, launches, or motor boats when on duty during meal time;

(b)          Lightkeepers and other employees in light sta­tions duly authorized by the head of department to receive subsistence, who shall be furnished raw, canned, or preserved food materials;

(c)     Officers   and   employees   who   are  required to render service within the premises of hospitals, prisons, Philippine Army barracks, training- schools, leper institutions, and  other similar institution  during a continuous period covering meal time allowing full subsistence when required to live in said premises to make their services available at any and all time:    Provided, That said sub­sistence shall  be furnished  in  kind,  requiring those en­ titled  thereto to take  their meals  in the mess provided therefor and  maintained at the expense  of the Govern­ment, and under no condition shall the same be commuted or paid in cash, except to the Director and the Assistant Director   of   Prisons   and   employees   of   the   Bureau of Quarantine Service at such rates as may be provided for them in the annual General Appropriation Act; to enlist­ ed men of the Philippine Army as provided in the Army Regulations; and to the following officers and employees who   have,   heretofore,   been   allowed   such   commutation, at  rates  not  exceeding  one-half  of the  maximum  rates per diems authorized  in paragraph   (18),  General Provi­sions,  of this section:

(1)     District nurses of the Bureau of Health and nurse social workers of the Bureau of Public Welfare in Manila while assigned to render service out­ side of hospitals or welfare institutions;

(2)      Officers and employees in leper institutions;

(3)     Physicians,   pharmacists,   dentists,   sanitary in­spectors,   attendants,  and  nurses  of the Bureau of Prisons while no available government quar­ters can be provided for them;

(d)     In those cases where laborers are employed on work located in isolated or unsettled districts, they shall be furnished the usual rations or the equivalent in cash, at the expense of the Government.

(12) Subsistence cf crew of government vessels. — The subsistence allowance for the officers and crew of the coastguard and revenue cutters and lighthouse ten­ders and other large vessels operated by the Government shall be spent for conducting a mess under the charge and administration of one or more members of the complement in each vessel to be designated by the correspond­ing head of department, and in accordance with regula­tions to be issued by him. The person or persons so designated shall keep an account of the advances of funds received by the same and expenditures made therefrom for the operation of the mess and shall render such report to the corresponding Accounting Officer promptly at the end of each month in such form as the Auditor General shall prescribe.

(13)                    Furnished  quarters.  — When  the position  of any officer or employee is provided with "furnished quar­ters," such officer or employee shall be entitled to the use of such government-owned furniture and equipment as are necessary for his board and lodging and those for his wife or her husband, and children below twenty-one years of age.

(14)                    Laundry. — At the discretion of the correspond­ing head of department, any officer or employee of the National Government serving in any hospital, penal insti­tution,  or other institution,  who  is required to wear a uniform  during the performance  of his  duties,  may be granted laundry allowance in kind.

(15)        Expenses for transportation, medicine, and med­ical attendance of employees contracting illness in line of duty. — Employees  engaged  in any authorized work in places where ordinary medical attendance is not available shall be entitled to such necessary expenses for transportation, medicine, and medical attendance, as may be author­ized by the  corresponding department head,  in cases of illness contracted in line of duty.

(16)                    Prohibition against the grant of allowance for use of private automobiles. — No officer or employee of any department,  bureau, office, agency,  or instrumental­ity of the National Government shall be paid any allow­ance, directly or indirectly, for the use of his own auto- mobile on official business, payable from any appropria­tion or fund provided in any General Appropriation Act or other act.

TRAVEL EXPENSES

(17)     Manner of payment of travel expenses. — Tra­vel expenses shall be allowed either in the form of pay­ment of the travel expenses actually and necessarily incurred, or, in the discretion of the chief of bureau or head of office, by the payment of per diems or fractional per diems, in lieu of expenses other than transportation. The expenses actually and necessarily incurred for Subsistence and lodging in excess of the authorized rates of per diems may be reimbursed upon the approval of the proper head of department when the prevailing condi­tions in the places visited so justify.

When travel is done by water and subsistence is not included in the transportation, the amount actually and necessarily expended for subsistence shall be paid, and no per diem shall be allowed in lieu thereof.

Per diems shall not be allowed to members of field parties or others for whom subsistence in kind is supplied or other special provision made to cover travel expense.

The travel expenses of a government official or em­ployee who may be assigned to render a special service to any private person or entity, the expenses for which are payable by such private person or entity, shall be paid, subject to the limitations and requirements herein provided for travel expenses payable from government funds, from the deposit which the private party shall be required to make before the performance of the special service may be commenced.

No officer or employee of the Government who re­mains temporarily at one station for a longer period than one month shall be paid per diems in excess of one month, except upon the approval of the proper head of depart­ment, and. in case his temporary stay in any one place exceeds three months, payment to him of per diems in excess of three months shall be made only upon the pre­vious approval of the President.

(18) Schedule of per diems for officers and employ­ees of the National Government. — Per diems, when allow­ed, shall be fixed with the approval of the corresponding head of department at rates not to exceed the following:

(a)          For officers and employees  receiving a salary of two thousand pesos or less per annum, a per diem of not to exceed two pesos;

(b)          For  those   receiving  more  than  two  thousand pesos per annum, but not exceeding four thousand pesos per annum, a per diem of not' to exceed three pesos;

(c)    For those receiving more than four thousand pesos per annum, but not exceeding four thousand pesos per annum, a per diem of not to exceed four pesos;

(d)     For  those  receiving more  than  six  thousand pesos per annum, a per diem of not to exceed five pesos.

Any officer or employee whose compensation is fixed at other than the per annum basis may be given the rate of per diem authorized for that receiving compensation on the corresponding per annum basis.

(19)         Per diems of officers of the United States Ar­ my,   Navy,   Quarantine  Service,   etc.  —  Officers  of  the United States Army, Navy, Quarantine Service and other branches of the Government of the United States detailed for duty with the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, may be paid,  when traveling on official business  of the latter,  the rate of per diems authorized for their regular positions under the regulations in force in the Federal Service to which they respectively pertain.

(20)         Transportation of members of family of an em­ployee transferred from one station to another. — When­ ever, due to the requirement of the service and not at his own request. an officer or employee is transferred from one station to another, said officer or employee and his wife or her husband, and children below twenty-one years of age shall be entitled to transportation, including that of their baggage and household effects, at the expense of the Government, to be paid from the appropriation for traveling expenses of the bureau or office concerned.

RENTAL OF BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS  

(21)     Availability   of   appropriations   for   rental   of buildings and grounds. — An appropriation authorized in any act for rental of buildings and grounds for any de­partment,   bureau,   or  office  shall   be  available  for   ex­penditure only when authorized by the head of  depart­ment concerned.

CONSUMPTION OF SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS 

(22)     Application of appropriation for consumption of supplies and materials. — No part of any appropriation for consumption of supplies and materials authorized in any General Appropriation Act or any other act shall be used for the manufacture of equipment and the construction of new buildings, except buildings of light materials in emergency cases or used in connection with research or experimental purposes, nor for other construction projects requiring special appropriations.

The phrase "buildings of light materials" shall be taken to mean those with (1) posts of bamboo or soft wood,  (2) floor and roof framings of soft wood or bamboo, (3) sidings and partitions of soft wood and windows of sawali, bamboo, nipa, and soft wood, and (4) roof of nipa, cogon, or any other similar material.

(23)     Economy in the use of supplies, materials, and equipment. — Supplies, materials, and equipment purchased from any public fund shall be used only for the necessary and actual requirements of the official or employee con­cerned in the performance of his official duties.    In the case of gasoline and other fuel supplies and lubricating oil for  use of government automobiles, other motor ve­hicles, vessels, and watercrafts, a detailed report shall be submitted monthly to the General Auditing Office by the official or employee responsible for the operation thereof showing the official  trips made, places visited, distance traveled, time consumed, list of passengers, quantities of gasoline, fuel supplies and oil received, quantities on hand, and such other data as may be necessary for the proper determination of the quantities of supplies actually and necessarily consumed in connection with the performance of official  duties.    The  Auditor  General  shall  prescribe such supplementary rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective enforcement of this provision.

The National Assembly and the Executive Office are exempted from submitting the report herein required.

(24)     Restriction of use of appropriation for "other services." — The appropriation for "other services" of any department, bureau, or office shall be available only for minor items of contingent expenses that do not properly fall  under  any of the  other  items  of sundry expenses. In no case shall any part of an  appropriation for this purpose be used for the hire of laborer's services, or for contracting the same, in connection with the construction of any project which should be financed with an appro­priation specially authorized therefor.

(25)    Restriction in the purchase of automobiles find other vehicles. — No fund of the National Government, general or special, and no appropriation or allotment therefrom shall be available, directly or indirectly, for the purchase of any automobile, auto-jitney, or station wagon, unless specifically authorized in the act creating the spe­cial fund or authorizing the appropriation or allotment, as the case may be. Neither shall it be lawful for any province, subprovince, city, or municipality to purchase an automobile, auto-jitney, or station wagon, intended to be donated to any branch of the National Government, without the prior approval of the President of the Phil­ippines. Appropriations for such items as other services, miscellaneous expenses, contributions and gratuities, trans­portation equipment, motor vehicles, other equipment, and other general items shall not be understood to include the purchase of automobiles, auto-jitneys, and/or station wagons.

MISCELLANEOUS

(26)     Scholarships. — Any appropriation for "scholar­ ships in the United States, in foreign countries or in the Philippines" shall be spent in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed by the President.    Such appropriation shall also be available for the expenses of any officer or employee of the Government who may be designated by the President to complete his professional or vocational training or to do further work of investigation or study for the benefit of any branch of the public service or of any matter of interest to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines.

No institution or office receiving financial aid from the National Government shall send any pensionado abroad unless specifically authorized by the President.

(27)                    Payment of prior year's obligations. — Out­ standing obligations not exceeding an aggregate of one hundred pesos for each item of expenditure correspond­ing to any previous year may be paid from any saving to be made from the corresponding item of the current appro­priation of the bureau or office concerned, upon approval of the head of department concerned, but without prejudice to the administrative liability of the officer or employee responsible therefor.

(28)        Allotment  of aid  to specially-organized prov­inces. — The appropriations for aid to the specially-organized provinces for expenses of general administration of the same, shall be allotted by the head of department con­cerned exercising control and supervision over the fi­nances of the said specially-organized provinces in amounts not exceeding the excess of their ordinary operat­ing expenses over their regular income for the correspond­ing year.

(29)    Minor   and   emergency   repairs   on   vessels. —Minor and emergency repairs on vessels away from Ma­nila may be made at the nearest accessible point.

(30)         Limitation   on   the   maintenance,   repairs, and minor alterations of buildings to be undertaken by bureau or office concerned. — Whenever any work is to be under­ taken for the maintenance, repairs, and minor alterations of buildings occupied by a bureau or office of the National Government, the cost of which does not exceed five hundred pesos for any one project, the bureau or office concerned may directly undertake the work without the in­tervention of the Bureau of Public Works, after an allotment of the necessary amount has been made by the Sec­retary  of   Public   Works   and   Communications  from the appropriation for the purpose.

(31)         Blankets   and   mosquito   bars   for   members of field parties. — The item "furniture and equipment" shall include blankets and mosquito bars for  use of members of parties in the field who are not entitled to per diems.

(32)                      Additional   compensation   for  overtime service.
Officers and employees of the National Government, except secretaries and undersecretaries of departments, chiefs of bureaus and offices, and those occupying posi­tions of similar category, when working overtime on Sa­turdays, Sundays, holidays, or during half-day sessions, and after five o'clock post meridian on regular working days to finish work that must be completed within a spe­cified time, when authorized by the President, may be paid from any unexpended balance of the appropriation for salaries and wages authorized in any annual General Appropriation Act, compensation at rates to be fixed by the heads of departments concerned, with the approval of the President, which shall not exceed the rate of their regular compensation. Such additional compensation shall not exceed, for any one month, the equivalent of the regular compensation; nor shall it exceed for any one year, fifty per centum of such regular compensation.

Section sixteen hundred and fifty-six of the Adminis­trative Code shall remain in force, the provisions herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding."  

(33) Accounting and auditing personnel for new bu­reaus and offices. — Whenever a new bureau, office, or unit of the National Government is created or established in accordance with law or regulation, the appropriation or allotment for its creation or establishment shall be construed as including the amounts necessary to provide such new bureau, office, or unit with adequate personnel for the work of accounting and auditing under the Budget Office and the General Auditing Office, respectively, to be determined by the President.

II. — SPECIAL PROVISIONS
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 

(1)     Item  for "other services" of the National Assembly. — The item for "other services" of the National Assembly shall include the funeral expenses of Members of the National Assembly and all other expenses not specifically provided for in the appropriations for the same when authorized by resolution.

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

(2)     Additional compensation for the aide-de-camp of the President. — Any officer of the United States Army or the Philippine Army detailed as aide-de-camp of the President shall be paid such additional compensation as the President may fix within the authorized appropriation.

GENERAL PURPOSES

(3)    Expenses for official receptions and entertainments. — The sum set aside under "special appropriations" for "other expenses" may be used for the expenses of the President or, with his approval, of any of the members of the cabinet, for official receptions and entertainments.

DEPARTMENT OF THE  INTERIOR
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR MINDANAO
AND SULU

(4)     Special scholarships.  — The appropriation "for special scholarships" shall include cases of selected indi­ viduals   whose  professional   training  or  inclination may, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, specially tend to facilitate a permanent and complete fusion of the Christian and non-Christian elements populating the prov­inces of the Archipelago.

DEPARTMENT   OF   FINANCE
DIVISION OF PURCHASE AND SUPPLY

(5)     Division of Purchase and Supply surcharge. —   For services rendered and supplies furnished, the Division of Purchase and Supply shall charge the cost thereof, plus, in the case of provinces, subprovinces, cities, munic­ipalities, and government owned or controlled enterprises, a surcharge of not exceeding three per centum. It shall not impose any surcharge for any service rendered by it to the National Government.

BUREAU OF CUSTOMS

(6)     Subsistence  of  employees   of   light   stations. — The corresponding head of department may grant sub­sistence in kind to employees of light stations whenever he shall deem it necessary in the interest of the service.

(7)     Transportation  of wives  and  children  of light- keepers. — The item for "traveling expenses of persons other than government employees" shall be available for covering the cost of transportation of the wives and child­ ren   of  newly   appointed   lightkeepers   from   their  places of residence to their stations.

BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE

(8)     Additional   compensation   for   officers   and  em­ployees proficient in foreign languages. — Any saving of the  appropriations  for  the   Bureau   of  Internal  Revenue for any year may be used for the payment during the same year of additional compensation of ten per centum of the regular salary of officers and employees of the Bureau of Internal Revenue who have demonstrated  proficiency in the examination of books of accounts in  a language other than English,  Spanish,  or native  internal revenue tax purposes,  of merchants  engaged  in  business in the Philippines.    The  granting of the  said  additional  com­pensation shall be made by the Secretary of Finance upon the recommendation of the Collector of Internal Revenue.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BUREAU OF PRISONS

(9)     Various expenses chargeable to "consumption of supplies and materials." — The item for "consumption of supplies and materials" shall include articles for athletic sports and entertainment for the prisoners, and tobacco for the same; clothing and shoes for members of the Bilibid  band,   Bilibid  boy scouts,  and  Bilibid trusty police; clothing and meals for prisoners, and families of penal colonists; and meals of guards rendering not less than twelve hours' service daily.

(10)     Use of appropriation for "traveling expenses of persons not government employees." — The item for "tra­veling  expenses   of  persons   not  government  employees" shall    include    transportation    of    discharged    prisoners. When,   in   the  judgment  of the   Secretary  of  Justice,   a prisoner merits consideration, his wife, family or fiancee may be permitted to join him. and the transportation from their homes to the penal colonies of Twahig, San Ramon, or Davao may be paid under this item.

The transportation of free colonists and their fa­milies, and the transportation of families of employees receiving less than seven hundred and twenty pesos per annum from the colony to their homes and return, may be paid under this head, when, in the judgment of the Secretary of Justice, such free colonists or families of em­ployees merit such consideration.

(11)     Use   of   appropriation   for   "contributions   and gratuities."  —  The  appropriation  for  "contributions  and gratuities" shall be used for furnishing each discharged prisoner   with   an   outfit   of   clothing   costing   not   mere than   ten   pesos,   find   a   gratuity  not   to   exceed   fifteen pesos    on    his    release    for    furnishing    clothing    and gratuities to deported  prisoners  if,  in the discretion of the Secretary of Justice, the taking of such step is neces­sary; and for payment of gratuities to prisoners or co­lonists performing duties of trust, at a rate not to exceed ten pesos per month each.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND
COMMERCE

(12)                     Quarters for officers and employees under the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. — The Secretary   of   Agriculture   and   Commerce   may   authorize  the following officers  and  employees  of  bureaus  and offices of the department to lodge free of charge in government buildings   controlled   by   the   same;   the   superintendents, officers, and employees of the seed farms, nurseries, ex­perimentation    and    propagation    stations,    stock   farms, slaughterhouses,  breeding  and  quarantine  stations, prov­incial land and forest offices and stations, Alabang labo­ratories and experiment stations whose salaries and wages are payable from the appropriations provided in any Gen­eral   Appropriation   Act   or  other   act.    The   officers  and employees herein mentioned shall  not be allowed to lodge in rented buildings without requiring them to reimburse to the  Government  their  corresponding  reasonable share of the rent.

(13)                     Use of appropriation for contributions and gra­tuities  for  entertainment   purposes.  —  The   Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce may authorize the expenditure of the appropriations for "contributions and gratuities" for the entertainment of foreign or local scientists and agricul­turists visiting propagation stations, sped farms, nurseries, stock   farms,   slaughterhouses,   breeding   and   Quarantine stations of the bureaus under the said department.

BUREAU  OF LANDS

(14)      Unexpended   balance   of   annual   appropriations for Bureau of Lands available for reimbursement of cost of surveys. — Any unexpended balance of the appropria­tions made in any annual General Appropriation Act for the Bureau of Lands may be used  for reimbursement of the cost   of  surveys   as   required   by   section   92   (b)   of  Act No. 2874.

WEATHER  BUREAU

(15)     Transportation   of  family   of  any  employee de­tailed to a Weather or Meteorological Station. — The Di­ rector of  the  Weather Bureau,  subject  to   the  approval of the head of department, may pay from the appropria­tion   authorized   "traveling  expenses,"   for  the   transportation, both ways, of the family of any employee from his residence to the weather or meteorological  station  in or outside of the Philippines, to which he may be detailed.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND
COMMUNICATIONS

(16)     Limitation of the use of appropriation "for con­tracting vessels for the coastwise trade." — Any appro­priation "for contracting vessels for the coastwise trade" shall   be   available   only   for   the    coastwise   trade    of the Philippines for the purpose of establishing or main­taining the service on such lines as may be necessary, or of assuring the transportation  of government cargo and messengers on such  terms as may be deemed advisable, said contracts  not to extend  beyond the thirty-first day of December of the year for which the appropriations are authorized, and to be approved by the President, on re­ commendation of the Secretary of Public Works and Com­munications.

BUREAU OF PUBLIC WORKS

(17)    Bureau of Public Works surcharge. — All ex­penses of the Bureau of Public Works for services which can be allocated shall be charged to the projects or works concerned:    Provided, That when the services of the Bu­reau of Public Works in connection with any project per­taining to any provincial, city, or municipal government or government   owned   or   controlled   enterprises   are   purely administrative or supervisory, the charges for said services shall not exceed three per centum of the total cost of the project.

The Bureau of Public Works shall not impose any surcharge for any work undertaken by it for any branch of tho National Government, nor for any project at least fifty per centum of the appropriation for which comes from the National Government.

(18)    Supervision of the Bureau of Public Works over all national and provincial public works projects.—All na­tional and provincial public works projects shall be carried on under the supervision of the Bureau of Public Works, unless otherwise directed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.

The compensation of employees used temporarily on any special project shall be paid only from the funds of such project.

(19)    Operation of a Central Garage.—With the ex­ception  of ambulances,   mail  delivery  trucks  and  motor­ cycles, all motor transportation equipment owned  by the different departments, bureaus, offices, and dependencies of the National Government in the City of Manila, together with the their corresponding personnel, other equipment, accessories, spare parts, supplies, materials, and appropriations   shall,   beginning   January   first,   nineteen   hundred and thirty-eight, be transferred to, and kept in, a General Garage, to be operated and maintained under the control and management of the Bureau of Public Works, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Public Works and Communications may prescribe.

Upon the request of the chief of any bureau or office or his authorized representative, the Central Garage shall furnish motor transportation for official business to any officer  or employee  of  the  National  Government in the City of Manila, charging the cost of such service against the corresponding bureau or office, at rates to be fixed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications. The appropriations and assets to be transferred to the Central Garage in conformity with the provision of the preceding paragraph, together with such additional appro­priation as may be authorized for the operation and main­tenance of the same, shall constitute a revolving fund to be used exclusively for the purpose. All the income de­rived from the operation of the Central Garage shall accrue to the said revolving fund and shall be used only for the same purpose. The revolving fund herein created may be spent for necessary replacement of worn out or unserviceable equipment, and or acquisition of additional equipment, including automobiles, auto-jitneys and sta­tion wagons.

Except in cases of emergency, or when the Central Garage is unable to supply the demand for motor transport­ation, no officer or employee of the National Government shall use for official business in the City of Manila motor vehicle transportation facilities other than those operated by the Central Garage.

The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the National Assembly.

When the interest of the service requires, the Pres­ident may exempt any bureau, office, or officer from the application of the provisions of this subsection.

(20) Allotment of appropriations for maintenance and repair of public buildings, etc. — Whenever not other­wise specifically provided,  appropriations  which  may be authorized for the maintenance and repair of public build­ings, monuments and adjacent grounds, roads, trails and bridges; cable and telegraphic lines and radio stations; and for investigation of applications for the use of water, for adjudication of water rights, for gaging streams, and for maintenance and operation of any irrigation system shall be allotted by the Secretary of Public Works and Com­munications.

(21)         Charging of traveling expenses of district en­gineers. — The traveling expenses of district engineers assigned to provinces shall be paid from the funds avail­ able for authorized works within the province.

(22) Telephone installations for bureaus and offices. Bureaus and offices of the National Government may directly deal with a telephone company for the installation, transfer, or removal of telephones in their respective of­fices, without the intervention of the Bureau of Public Works.

BUREAU OF POSTS

(23)     Quarters and light for operator and engineman assigned to radio stations. — Any operator or engineman of the Bureau of Posts assigned to any radio station oc­cupying  a  government  owned  building shall  be  entitled to quarters and light.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

(24)    Subsistence and quarters for teachers assigned to special school or dormitory duty. — The Secretary of Public Instruction may allow quarters in kind to teachers assigned  to dormitory  duty,   and  also  subsistence  equal to  that  furnished  to  students  at  such  dormitories.    He may,   likewise,   authorize  teachers   assigned  to  farm  or agricultural schools under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Education to lodge free of charge in buildings owned by the national, provincial, or municipal governments un­der the control of the Department of Public Instruction in the  localities  where the  farm or  agricultural  schools are  situated.    In  the  case  of  buildings   not  under the control   of  the   Department   of   Public   Instruction,   the authority  herein   conferred   upon   the   head  of  this   department shall be exercised only after securing the con­ sent of the head of department having control thereof.

(25)         Honoraria for teachers giving instruction dur­ing vacation periods. — Teachers designated to give in­struction in the annual vacation assemblies, and in the arts and trades, agricultural, and commercial schools dur­ing the vacation period, may be paid honoraria at rates not  exceeding three-fourths  of  their  respective monthly salaries, provided there is appropriation available there­ for.

(26)                     Collection   of  tuition   fees   in   annual  teachers' vacation  assemblies.  —  When  the  authorized appropria­ tion for the payment of honoraria to teachers giving in­struction in the annual  vacation  assemblies  is not suffi­cient   to   secure   the   needed   personnel,   the   Director of Education,  with the approval  of the  Secretary of Public Instruction, may charge such tuition  fees  for admission into said assemblies as are necessary to cover the deficiency,

(27)         Use of proceeds of matriculation fees. — What­ ever amount is derived from matriculation fees in prov­inces, cities, and municipalities shall accrue to the school funds of the province, city, or municipality concerned and shall  be  appropriated   by  the   respective   provincial, city or municipal board or council primarily for the purchase of library books and periodicals and for athletic purposes. Any  amount  rot  needed   for  the  said  purposes  may be used to meet other school needs.

(28) Subsistance for students  at  the School of the Deaf   and   the   Blind,   the   Central    Luzon    Agricultural School, and the Philippine Nautical School. — In the dis­cretion of the Secretary of Public Instruction, subsistence in kind while in attendance at the school may be furnished to the pupils  of the School  for the  Deaf and  the Blind and  the  Central  Luzon  Agricultural   School,  and to stu­dents of the Philippine Nautical  School  detailed to com­plete their studies in the practice of navigation on vessels owned by the National Government, payment to be effect­ ed from the funds provided by the current appropriation for consumption  of supplies  and  materials  for the De­partment of Public Instruction.    In lieu of such subsis­tence, the students attending the Central Luzon Agricultural   School  may  be  granted,   in   the   discretion  of the Secretary of Public Instruction, the use of animals, equipment and land not exceeding one and one-half hectares.

BUREAU OF HEALTH

(29)         Reimbursement by provinces of one-half of the salaries of district health officers. — The amounts paid by provinces  for the reimbursement of one-half of the salaries of district health officers in accordance with Act Numbered Thirty-two hundred and ninety-seven shall ac­crue to the unappropriated surplus of the general fund in the Philippine Treasury.

(30)         Payment of traveling expenses of local health officers and employees. — In case of emergency and upon approval of the Secretary of Public Instruction, any part of the item for "traveling expenses of personnel" which may be allotted for use of the Bureau of Health shall be available for traveling expenses of local health officers and employees.

(31)         Expenses chargeable to appropriation for "con­sumption of supplies and materials." —- The item for "con­sumption  of supplies  and  materials"  for the Bureau  of Health  shall   include  first  uniform  for  newly appointed sanitary inspectors: uniforms for minor employees of hospitals and the Culion Leper Colony; and aid to poor prov­inces in the form of medicines for the treatment of yaws and   extract   of  tiki-tiki   for  the   treatment  of  ben-ben. The   cost   of   antitoxins,    sera,    vaccines,    and    tiki-tiki which the Bureau of Health shall obtain from the Univer­sity of the Philippines shall be charged against this item.

In any case in which the College of Pharmacy and the School of Hygiene and Public Health of the University of the Philippines are unable to supply the demand of the Bureau of Health for tiki-tiki, anti-toxins, vaccines, rera, and other biological products, the Bureau of Health may purchase the deficiency in the open market.

(32)     Expenses chargeable to appropriation for "other services." — The part of the appropriation for "other ser­vices"   of  the   Department   of   Public   Instruction,   which may be allotted for use of the  Bureau of Health,  shall include expenses of the Bureau of Health for educational exhibits;   occasional   health   campaigns;   participation   in expositions and fairs; practical training school for sani­ tary inspectors: and payment of not exceeding five centavos   (P0.05)   for  each  mouse   or  rat  presented   to   the Bureau of Health by any person, not an employee cf said Bureau, caught in connection with the campaign for the extermination of mice and rats in the City of Manila.

(33)         Sale of medical and sanitary supplies and other supplies and materials. — The Director of Health, when­ ever, in his opinion, the public good requires it, may sell medical and sanitary supplies at cost price, and may like­ wise sell to government employees supplies and materials not   obtainable  at  the  place   where  such   employees are stationed.

(34)         Subsistence and  quarters for persons confined in communicable disease camps and employees in the Culion Leper Colony. — The Director of Health is hereby author­ized to furnish  subsistence and  quarters to persons con­ fined   in   communicable   disease   camps   or   hospitals,  and to grant  subsistence  and  quarters  to  employees on duty in the Culion  Leper Colony.

(35)         Purchase of anti-toxins, tiki-tiki, vaccines, sera, etc. — Whenever the portion of the appropriation of the Department   of   Public   Instruction   for   "consumption of supplies and materials" provided for the purchase of tiki- tiki, anti-toxins, vaccines, sera, and  other biological pro­ ducts   becomes   insufficient,   the   Secretary   of   Public In­struction may authorize the use of any savings from the different  items  of  appropriations  of  the  Department of Public Instruction  and  the bureaus and offices under it for the purpose.

(36)    Use of savings to control and eradicate epide­mics. — Upon certification to the President by the Secretary of  Public  Instruction  that  an  epidemic of a dangerous and contagious  disease exists  in  any part of the Philippines and the appropriations at the disposal of his department are insufficient to control and eradicate the epidemic,   the   President   may  authorize  the   use  of any savings  from the  appropriations  of  any  other  executive department,  not only for the  purchase of tiki-tiki, anti­ toxins,  vaccines,  sera,  and  other  biological  products, but also for other expenses necessary to control and eradicate the epidemic.

BUREAU OF PUBLIC WELFARE

(37)    Subsistence, clothing, and articles of instruction for orphans. — The item for "consumption of supplies and materials" may be used for subsistence and clothing of the orphans committed to the institutions under the Bureau of Public Welfare and shall include materials and other necessary articles of instruction.

(38)    Quarters allowance for employees under the Bu­reau of Public Welfare. — Officers and employees detail­ ed for duty requiring residence in an institution under the supervision of the Director of Public Welfare shall be furnished with quarters in kind.

PHILIPPINE GENERAL HOSPITAL

(39)                    Purchase of uniforms. — The appropriation for "consumption of supplies and materials," of the Depart­ment  of  Public  Instruction   which  may be  allotted  for use of the Philippine General Hospital shall be available for the purchase of uniforms or the materials necessary for the same, to be worn by the employees of the hospital who are required to  use such  uniforms while on duty, and by the patients in the same.

(40)        Retention   of   monthly   allowance   of   student nurse. — The Superintendent of the Philippine General Hospital may order the retention of the monthly allow­ance granted to each student of the School of Nursing and the withholding of its payment until the conditions of the contract signed at the time of his or her 'admission to the school shall have been complied with.

(41)        Share in fees collected from services of physi­cians. — The resident physicians of the Philippine General Hospital designated by the Superintendent of the hospital to attend to pay patients and whose fees for medical services collected by the hospital amount to a sum in excess of the salary, subsistence, and laundry allowances assigned to them by law, may, upon recommendation of the Superin­tendent of the hospital, approved by the department head, in addition to their salary, subsistence, and laundry allowances, be paid twenty per centum of the amount of such fees collected in excess of the said salary, subsistence, and laundry allowances.

BUREAU OF QUARANTINE SERVICE

(42)     Use of unexpended balance of appropriation for salaries and wages for additional personnel. — Any unex­ pended  balance   of the  appropriation  for  "salaries  and wages" of the Bureau of Quarantine Service may be used, in the discretion of the Secretary of Public Instruction, for the hire of temporary employees, assistant disinfectors, and laborers assisting the regular force in disinfection work or in handling supplies, necessitated by the presence of quarantinable diseases; for the payment of fees, not to exceed twenty pesos per vessel, to qualified physicians for quarantine inspection  of vessels at ports of every entry where no officer of the United States Public Health  Service  is  available;  and   for  wages of persons employed for the maintenance of the grounds and equipment of the quarantine stations.

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

(43)    Financial report of the University of the Philippines. — The Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines  shall   render,   through  the   President, to the National Assembly a detailed account of the disbursement of the funds appropriated  as aid to the said university, as well as of the receipts  accruing to same, with such additional data and information as it may deem necessary. Such report shall be submitted not later than thirty days after the close of the fiscal year to which it pertains.

SEC. 8. Repealing clause. — All provisions of Act Numbered Twenty-nine hundred and thirty-five and other general appropriation acts which were declared permanent legislation  are  repealed.

SEC. 9. Effective date. — This Act shall take effect on January first,  nineteen  hundred and thirty-eight.

APPROVED, December 17,  1937.

Annotations:    Amended   by   C.A.   Nos.   374,   435.    See  also R.A.  Nos.  433,  992.