Republic Act No. 1350

The following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are appropriated out of any funds in the Philippine Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines during the period from July first, nineteen hundred and fifty-five to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and fifty-six, except where otherwise specifically provided:

General Provisions

Authority to pay salaries not in conformity with the prescribed grades or rates of compensation. Payment to incumbent employees of salaries the rates of which are not in conformity with the schedule of grades or rates of compensation provided in section three of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, as amended, is hereby authorized: Provided, That new appointments, whether original or promotional, to positions not carrying the salary rates prescribed in Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, as amended, shall be made only at rates authorized in the said Act.

The adoption of the budgetary system based on functions, activities and projects in terms of expected results in the Bureau of Civil Service, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Land Registration Commission, Bureau of Lands, Bureau of Telecommunications, Bureau of Public Libraries, Bureau of Labor, Wage Administration Service, Industrial Safety Division, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Health and Bureau of Commerce, shall neither result in any manner in the laying off of personnel in the classified Civil Service except for cause as provided by law nor in the reduction of actual salaries of incumbent.

The appendix containing the plantillas of personnel in the different bureaus and offices whose budgets are presented pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 992, is hereby made part of this Act.

Authority to use savings in appropriations for "personal services," for "maintenance and other operating expenses," and for "furniture and equipment" to cover deficits. -Except as otherwise provided in this Act, any savings in the regular appropriations authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments for personal services, for maintenance and other operating expenses, and for furniture and equipment of the bureaus and offices under any Department, may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of the regular appropriations, except for personal services, under the same Department. Likewise, any savings in the appropriations for personal services, for maintenance and other operating expenses, and for furniture and equipment of any item under "special purposes," may with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of appropriation, except for personal services, : Provided, That, whenever authorized positions are transferred from one program or project to another program or project under the performance budgets, the corresponding amounts appropriated for personal services are also deemed transferred, without increasing the total outlay for personal services of the office concerned. In no case, however, shall any item in the regular appropriations and appropriations for "special purposes" be augmented, pursuant to the authority granted in this section, by more than forty per centum of the original appropriation provided in this Act for such item.

Quarterly report to Congress on transfers of appropriations and accomplishments of bureaus and offices whose appropriations are based on Performance Budget. -The Auditor General and the Commissioner of the Budget shall submit separately to the Congress a quarterly report of any transfer of appropriation made to cover a deficit, the report to specify the items and the amounts involved and shall furnish copies to each member of Congress in his office: Provided, That the heads of bureaus or offices whose appropriations provided for in this Act are based on the Performance Budget shall likewise submit separately to the Congress a quarterly report of their accomplishments in the various projects as set forth in their respective performance budget.

The President of the Philippines is authorized to use any savings in the appropriations provided in this Act for the Executive Departments for the settlement of the following obligations incurred during the current fiscal year and/or previous fiscal years, the limitation in section 7-I (27) of Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred forty-six, as amended, notwithstanding:

Except as otherwise provided in this Act and whenever in his judgment the public interest so requires, the President is authorized to suspend or otherwise stop the expenditure of any amount herein appropriated in any item or items for the Executive Departments for any purpose, except those for salaries of positions with incumbents, and thereupon the funds affected by such action shall become available for any other expenditures authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments as the President may determine, except for personal services: Provided, That, whenever authorized positions are transferred from one program or project to another program or project under the performance budgets, the corresponding amounts appropriated for personal services are also deemed transferred, without increasing the total outlay for personal services of the office concerned. In no case, however, shall any item of appropriation be augmented, pursuant to the authority granted in this section, by more than forty per centum of the original appropriation provided in this Act for such item. The Auditor General and the Commissioner of the Budget shall report separately to the Congress within a period of thirty days any suspension or transfer of funds made by the President during the previous quarter and shall furnish copies to each member of Congress in his office.

Appropriations provided in this Act may be used for payment of excess of actual salaries to the incumbent of a position to which said "excess" pertains who is actually receiving the same "excess" as part of the salary granted to him upon his appointment to the said position before the reduction of the basic pay thereof to the amount provided: Provided, However, That if the position be vacated and the successor to its previous incumbent shall have previously received an equal salary plus the "excess of actual salary" in the same or any other branch of the government service, such excess shall be allowable to him.

To prevent the incurrence of deficits, authorized appropriations shall be allotted in accordance with the procedure outlined hereunder:

a. No appropriation authorized for any department or agency shall be available for expenditure until the head of such department or agency shall have submitted to the Commissioner of the Budget a request for allotment of funds, showing the estimated amounts needed for each function, activity or purpose for which the funds are to be expended during the applicable allotment period and until the request shall have been approved by the Commissioner of the Budget as hereinafter provided. The form of the request for allotment shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the Budget and shall be submitted to him at least twenty-five days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year showing the proposed quarterly allotments of the whole authorized appropriation for the department or agency. b. For purposes of the administration of the allotment system herein provided, each fiscal year shall be divided into four quarterly allotment periods beginning, respectively, on the first day of July, October, January and April: Provided, That in any case where the quarterly allotment period is found to be impracticable, the Commissioner of the Budget may prescribe a different period suited to the circumstances but not extending beyond the end of the fiscal year. c. Each request for allotment shall be reviewed by the Commissioner of the Budget and the respective amounts therein shall be allotted for expenditures, provided the estimate therein is within the terms of the appropriations as to amount and purpose, having due regard for the probable future needs of the bureau, office or agency for the remainder of the fiscal year or other term for which the appropriation was made, and provided the bureau, office or agency contemplates expenditure of the allotment during the period. Otherwise, the said Commissioner of the Budget shall modify the estimate so as to conform with the terms of the appropriation and the prospective needs of the bureau, office or agency, and shall reduce the amount to be allotted accordingly. The Commissioner of the Budget shall act promptly upon all requests for allotment and shall notify every bureau, office or agency of its allotments at least five days before the beginning of each allotment period. The total amount allotted to any bureau, office or agency for the fiscal year or other term for which the appropriation was made shall not exceed the amount appropriated for said year or term. The notification which will be sufficient authority for the Accounting Officer to enter the allotment in the books, shall include an explanation for any decrease or increase in the request of the head of the department or agency. d. At the end of each quarter, each department or agency must report to the Commissioner the current status of its appropriations, the cumulative allotments, obligations, expenditures, and unliquidated obligations and unobligated and unexpended balances, and the results of expended appropriations. Such department or agency may, at any time, initiate or request for a change in allotments in order to adapt its functions or activities to altered conditions. e. The Commissioner of the Budget shall have authority also at any time to modify or amend any allotment previously made by him. In case he shall find at any time that the probable receipts from taxes or other sources for any fund will be less than were anticipated and that as a consequence the amount available for the remainder of the term of the appropriation, or for any allotment period will be less than the amount estimated or allotted therefor, he shall, with the approval of the President, and after notice to the department or agency concerned, reduce the amount or amounts to be allotted, so as to prevent deficits. f. The Commissioner of the Budget shall promptly transmit records of all allotments and modifications thereof to the Auditor General, the Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of Finance. g. The Commissioner of the Budget shall maintain control records showing quarterly by funds, accounts, and other pertinent classifications, the amounts appropriated, the estimated revenues, the actual revenues or receipts, the amounts allotted and available for expenditures, the unliquidated obligations, actual balances on hand, and the unencumbered balances of the allotments for each agency of the Government. h. No funds shall be disbursed and no expenditures or obligation chargeable against any authorized allotments shall be incurred or authorized by any head of department or agency, without first securing the certification of the corresponding accounting officers of the Budget Commission as to the availability of funds and allotment or appropriation against which the expenditure or obligation may properly be charged, after taking into consideration all previous expenditures and outstanding obligations. i. Every expenditure or obligation authorized or incurred in violation of the provisions of this Act shall be void. Every payment made in violation of said provisions shall be illegal, and every officer of employee authorizing or making such payment, or taking part therein, and every person receiving such payment, or any part thereof, shall be jointly and severally liable to the Government for the full amounts so paid or received. If any officer or employee of the Government shall knowingly incur any obligation or shall authorize or make any expenditure in violation of the provisions of this Act, or take part therein, it shall be ground for his removal by the officer appointing him, and if the appointing officer be other than the President and shall fail to remove such officer or employee, the President shall exercise such power of removal after giving notice of the charges and opportunity for hearing thereon to the accused officer or employee and to the officer appointing him. j. Since the effective operation of the allotment system with respect to the appropriations authorized in this Act is affected by the appropriations authorized in other Acts, the provisions of this section relating to the allotment system are hereby made expressly applicable to other appropriations and funds of all kinds, including standing or continuing appropriations, and special, trust and other funds; but the provisions hereof relating to the allotment system shall not apply to appropriations for the Congress of the Philippines, Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Courts of First Instance and Justice of the Peace Courts nor to appropriations or any other monies made available for the General Auditing Office and the Commission on Elections.

The chiefs of bureaus and offices shall establish reserves of not less than five per centum of the total appropriations of their respective bureaus and offices to provide for contingencies and emergencies which would otherwise require a deficiency appropriation. All or a portion of an appropriation may be reserved when it is determined that the amounts involved may not be needed. Should conditions change during the fiscal year which would justify the use of the reserve, the necessary adjustment may be made by the Commissioner of the Budget when requested by the bureau or office affected.

Purchase of locally manufactured furniture, equipment, parts, accessories, supplies and materials. -All appropriations for the purchase of furniture, equipment, supplies and materials authorized in this Act shall be available only for locally manufactured furniture, equipment, parts, accessories, supplies and materials, except when none is available in the market, or when the prices of the locally manufactured article exceed those determined by the Flag Law by ten per cent.

Renting of automobiles, jitneys or trucks for a continuous period exceeding fifteen days prohibited. -No appropriation provided in this Act for the Executive Departments shall be used for renting automobiles, jitneys or trucks on the monthly basis nor on the daily basis for a continuous period exceeding fifteen days.

No appropriation authorized in this Act shall be used for the purchase of automobiles, jitneys, jeeps, station wagons, motorcycles and other motor vehicles unless otherwise specifically provided in this Act.

The following officials are entitled to use government motor transportation chargeable against the appropriations authorized in this Act:

The Department Heads, including the Administrator of Economic Coordination, the Commissioner of the Budget, the Chairman of the Commission on Elections, and the Social Welfare Administrator are hereby granted a commutable transportation allowance of two hundred fifty pesos each per month; the Undersecretaries of Departments and officials with the same rank, the Public Service Commissioner, the Legislative Secretary, the Legislative Liaison Officer, the Presiding Judge of the Court of Industrial Relations, and the Presiding Judge of the Court of Tax Appeals, two hundred pesos each per month, and the following Directors or chiefs of bureaus and offices, and the Sergeant At Arms of the House of Representatives, one hundred pesos each per month, chargeable against the appropriations authorized in this Act for their respective offices:

Bureaus and offices entitled to use, operate and maintain government motor vehicles and launches. -No bureau or office shall use, operate or maintain from the appropriations authorized in this Act government service cars, jeeps, station wagons, vans, service trucks, pick-up trucks, launches, speedboats, motorcycles, etc., except the following:

The use of government motor vehicles by bureaus and offices for the purposes enumerated in section seventeen hereof shall be authorized only through the issuance for each trip of a serially numbered ticket, duly signed by the chief or the administrative officer of the bureau or office concerned. These motor vehicles shall be used strictly for official business, bear government plates only and after office hours kept in the garage provided therefor by the bureau of office to which they belong, except when in use for strictly official business outside office hours.

With the exception of the President, no government official or employee authorized to use any vehicle operated and maintained from the funds appropriated in this Act shall be allowed to use more than one such motor vehicle: Provided, However, That the Vice-President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may be allowed to use two motor vehicles each: And Provided, finally, That no official who has been furnished motor transportation by any government corporation shall be allowed to use motor vehicle transportation operated and maintained from funds appropriated in this Act.

The Auditor General is hereby empowered to issue rules and regulations for the proper implementation and enforcement of the provisions of this section and sections 16, 17 and 18.

All motor vehicles owned by or assigned to the different departments, bureaus, offices and branches of the National Government not needed by the officials and for the purposes enumerated in section fifteen and seventeen of this Act shall be disposed of to the highest bidder at public auction sales announced in newspapers of general circulation at least ten days before the sale: Provided, That the former user thereof shall be given preference if he offers and pays a price equal to that of the highest bid by others.

Prohibition against the use of appropriations for the payment of salaries and wages of officers or employees engaged in a strike against the Government. -Subject to existing civil service rules and regulations and the proper administrative proceedings, no part of the funds of, or available for expenditure by, any agency included in this Act shall be used to pay the salary or wages of any officer or employee who engages in a strike against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines or who is a member of an organization of government employees that in the opinion of the Secretary of Justice asserts the right to strike against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, or who in the opinion of said Secretary of Justice advocates, or is a member of an organization that advocates, the overthrow of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines by force or violence; Provided, That for the purposes hereof an affidavit shall be considered sufficient evidence that the person making the affidavit has not, contrary to the provisions of this section, engaged in a strike against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, is not a member of any organization of government employees that asserts the right to strike against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, or that such person does not advocate, and is not a member of an organization that advocates, the overthrow of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines by force or violence.

No per diems in excess of fifty pesos shall be paid to any official or employee traveling outside of the Philippines.

The provisions of Republic Act No. 660 to the contrary notwithstanding, no savings from personal services under the general fund and the special, revolving, trust, depository and other funds shall be transferred to the Government Service Insurance System.

Reinsurance of government buildings to be equitably distributed among private insurance companies in the Philippines. -In all cases where appropriations are provided in this Act for payment of premiums covering the insurance of government buildings with the Property Insurance Fund, reinsurance shall be equitably distributed among private insurance companies doing business in the Philippines on uniform terms, conditions and rates of premiums.

The provisions of section eight of this Act to the contrary notwithstanding, no amount appropriated for the Department of National Defense shall be transferred to any other Executive Department.

Any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, no portion of any appropriation provided for in this Act shall be made available for the payment of salaries of officials or employees who are not actually performing the duties and functions pertaining to their positions and assigned to the place of employment as specified in this Act: Provided, That this shall not apply to special assignments for a period not exceeding one hundred eighty days which shall not be renewed or extended. Any official who shall allow the payment of salaries to officials or employees who are not in their designated place of employment and performing their assigned tasks shall be required to refund to the government such sums as may have been paid to such officials or employees.

Authority to harmonize the appropriation structure with new terminology of classification of accounts. -The Commissioner of the Budget is hereby authorized to harmonize the appropriation structure with the new terminology of classification of accounts that may be prescribed by law or regulations: Provided, That such reclassification shall not increase or decrease the aggregate sum appropriated in this Act for the various objects affected under each Department, bureau or office.

The Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives to look into all matters relating to public expenditures. -The Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives are hereby authorized to look at any time into all matters relating to funds for the expenditures of the National Government and for the payment of public indebtedness; auditing of accounts and expenditures of the National Government; claims against the Government; and in general all matters relating to public expenditures.

No expenditure shall be incurred, nor any disbursement made, out of the appropriations authorized in this Act from special, revolving and trust funds and from receipts automatically appropriated which will exceed at any one time either the fund itself or the cash in the National Treasury pertaining to such fund, except when, in the opinion of the President, such expenditure or disbursement is required by the exigency of the service, and sufficient income or receipts are expected to accrue to such funds to cover said expenditure or disbursement, in which case the necessary amount may be advanced from the general fund.

The appropriations provided in this Act for carrying out the activities heretofore financed from the receipts of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Fund shall continue to be charged against the said Fund, and the Board of Directors of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes shall allot the amounts thereof in the distribution of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Fund.

In order to insure the immediate collection of income due any bureau or office for services rendered or sale of any commodity or article produced or manufactured by the same, no such service shall be rendered or sale made except on the cash basis. Any official or employee who allows such service to be rendered or sale to be made on account shall be held personally liable therefor and such act shall be considered sufficient ground for his removal from office; Provided, That the provision of this section shall apply only to transactions of the government with private parties.

Incumbents of positions whose designations or titles were modified or otherwise changed in this Act shall not be laid off, nor the salaries authorized in this Act for such positions increased by reason of such change in designation or title the provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.

This Act shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and fifty-five, except where otherwise stated.