Republic Act No. 123

The name of the Bureau of Quarantine Service shall be changed to Bureau of Quarantine and shall have the category of a first-class bureau. It shall function under the Department of Health and Public Welfare and shall be administered by the Director of Quarantine. The Director of Quarantine shall be appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.

The examination at ports of entry and airports of entry of the Philippines of incoming and outgoing vessels and aircraft, the necessary surveillance over their sanitary conditions, as well as over their cargoes, passengers, crews, and all personal effects, and the issuing of quarantine certificates, bills of health, or other equivalent documents shall be vested in and be conducted by the Bureau of Quarantine. This Bureau shall have authority over incoming vessels, including those of the army and navy, both domestic and foreign, their wharfage and anchorage, and over aircraft and airports, insofar as is necessary for the proper enforcement of the provisions of this Act.

The Secretary of Health and Public Welfare is hereby authorized, upon the recommendation of the Director of Quarantine, to reorganize the Bureau of Quarantine and to promulgate rules and regulations for the operation of the said Bureau: Provided, however, That in the reorganization, all the officers and employees of the United States Public Health Service engaged in quarantine work in the Philippines, notwithstanding civil service eligibility, shall be automatically transferred since July fourth, nineteen hundred forty-six, and appointed to the positions authorized for them in the budget for the Bureau of Quarantine, and their services under the United States Public Health Service shall be considered as a continuation of service in the Bureau of Quarantine when determining the scope and extent of any privileges, benefits, emoluments, allowances, etc., granted or which may be granted by the Government, and for all purposes when the length of services becomes a base or factor for the maximum computation of a claim. They shall have the same rights and privileges allowed or which hereafter may be allowed to Civil Service employees, such as the right to Government insurance, pension, retirement, gratuity, bonus, allowances, etc., in the capacity of classified Civil Service officers and employees at the time of the enactment of the law or measure granting the benefit.

The Director of Quarantine shall have the rank of a colonel or higher and all quarantine officers under him shall have the ranks of lieutenant colonels, majors, captains and lieutenants, and such officers shall be commissioned by the President upon recommendation of the Director of Quarantine with the approval of the Secretary of Health and Public Welfare.

Authority to promulgate and enforce rules and regulations and provide penalties for their violations. -

Whenever the Director of Quarantine determines that by reason of the existence of any quarantinable disease in a foreign country there is imminent danger of its introduction into the Philippines, and that this danger may be enhanced by the introduction of persons or property from such country and that a suspension of the right to introduce such persons and property is required in the interest of public health, the Director of Quarantine may recommend to the President, through the Secretary of Health and Public Welfare, the issuance of an executive order prohibiting, in whole or in part, the introduction of persons and properties from such countries into the Philippines.

The Director of Quarantine shall control, direct, and manage all Philippine quarantine stations, grounds, and anchorages, designating their boundaries. With the approval of the Secretary of Health and Public Welfare, he shall from time to time select suitable sites for and establish such additional stations, grounds, anchorages, hospitals, dispensaries, and treatment stations in the Philippines as in his judgment are necessary to prevent the introduction of quarantinable diseases into the Philippines.

Any vessel or aircraft at any foreign port or place clearing or departing for any port of the Philippines shall be required to obtain from officers designated by the Director of Quarantine such forms as may be prescribed by regulations. These certificates shall be delivered to the quarantine boarding officer at the ports of entry.

It shall be unlawful for any vessel or aircraft from a foreign country to call at any seaport or airport in the Philippines, to discharge its cargo, or land its passengers except when certified by the quarantine officer that the regulations prescribed under this Act have in all respects been complied with by such vessel or aircraft. This certificate of quarantine discharge shall be a prerequisite to Customs clearance.

No vessel or aircraft shall leave any seaport or airport of the Philippines without procuring a sanitary port statement certifying, among other things, compliance with quarantine laws and regulations. This certificate shall be a prerequisite to Customs clearance of outgoing vessels or aircraft.

All the provisions of sections eleven hundred and thirty, eleven hundred and thirty-one, eleven hundred and thirty-two, eleven hundred and thirty-three, eleven hundred and thirty-four, eleven hundred and thirty-five and eleven hundred and thirty-six of the Revised Administrative Code of nineteen hundred and seventeen, and all acts, rules and regulations regarding foreign and local quarantine not consistent with this Act are hereby repealed.

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.