Republic Act No. 673 — Philippine Laws

[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 673, June 28, 1951 ]

AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE PERIOD FRON JULY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE TO JUNE THIRTIETH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in congress assembled:

Section 1. Appropriation of funds

The following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are appropriated out of any funds in the Philippines 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-one to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and fifty-two, except where otherwise specifically provided:

[Itemized portions on salaries and wages and other expenditures are omitted for lack of space.]

Section 2. Allotment of appropriations

The appropriations for sundry expenses, furniture and equipment, and special purpose for the Office of the President shall be allotted by the President among the bureaus and offices under his direct control; those for the Executive Departments, by the Heads of Departments among bureaus and offices under their respective control, as the needs of the service may require.

Section 3. Compulsory forced savings

The items of "sayings to be made" provided in this Act are hereby made compulsory and only the net appropriations remaining after the items of "savings to be made" have been deducted shall be deemed appropriated in this Act. Hence,no expenditures shall be authorized or incurred which will impair the required forced savings, and any expenditure authorized or incurred in violation of this provision shall be deemed a personal liability of the official authorizing or incurring the same as if the transaction involved had been wholly between private parties. The amount of "savings to be made" from the appropriations for the Office of the President shall be distributed by the president among the bureaus and offices under his direct control and those for the Executive Departments, by the Heals of the Departments among the bureaus and offices under their respective control, as the needs and exigencies of the service may require.

Section 4

Authority to pay salaries not in conformity with the prescribed grades or rates of compensation. - Payment 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, due to the consolidation of the salaries authorized for the various positions in Executive Order No. 94, series of 1947, and their corresponding bonuses as provided in section one hundred fifty-nine, paragraph T-2, of the same Executive Order, is hereby authorized, and any employee whose actual salary is in excess of the maximum grade or rate allowed for his civil service eligibility shall be entitled to received such excess, any provision of existing law, rules and regulations to the contrary notwithstanding: PROVIDED, That new appoinments to posotions not carrying the salary rates prescribed in Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, as amended, shall be made only at the rates authorized in the said Act: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That the minimum salary rate shall not be less than P1,140 per annum for employees in the City of Manila; P960 per annum for those in provincial capitals and other chartered cities; and P720 per annum for those in municipalities and municipal districs.

Section 5

Authority to use savings in appropriations for "salaries and wages" for "sundry expenses," and "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 salaries and wages, for sundry expenses, and for furniture and equipment of the bureaus and offices under any Department, after covering fully the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided, may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of the regular appropriation, except for salaries and wages, under the same Department.Likewise, any savings in the appropriation for the salaries and wages, for sundry expenses, and for furniture and equipment of any item under "special purposes," after covering fully the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided, may, with the approval of the president, be used to cover a deficit in any other item in the regular appropriation, except for salaries and wages, under the same purpose. 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 thirty per centum of the original appropriation provided in this Act for such item.

Section 6. Authority to use savings for other purposes

The president of the Philippines is authorized to use any savings in the appropriations authorized in this Act for the Executive Departments, after covering fully the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided,

(1)for the payment of claims under section 699 of the Revised Administrative Code and the Workmen's Compensation Act, whichever is applicable, to officers, employees and laborers who died or were injured in the line of duty;

(2)for the commutation of the money value of the additional leave, extended leave and accrued leave earned by American and deceased Filipino officers and employees, or by Filipino officers and employees separated from the service except for cause, for service rendered prior to November twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and thirty-six;

(3)for the payment of salary increase of officials and employee of the National Government, resulting from the standardization of salaries or reclassification of provinces;

(4)for the purchase of furniture and equipment to replace those that may be lost through accident, fire or other calamity, including the aquisition of new motor vehicles by trade-in of existing ones, the disposal of which is deemed reasonable and necessary to reduce the expenses of repairs thereof;

(5)for the payment of salaries of suspended employees who have subsequently been exonerated; and

(6)for the payment of the share of the National Government in the salaries of national officials in newly created cities and provinces where no appropriation has been provided therefor.

Section 7. Suspension of expenditure of appropriations

Except as otherwise provided in this Act and whenever in his judgment the public interest so requires, the President of the Philippines is authorized 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, except for salaries and wages, as the President may determine. In no case, however, shall any item of appropriation be augmented, pursuant to the authority granted in this section, by more than thirty per centum of the original appropriation provided in this Act for such item.

Section 8. Provision for "excess of actual salary."

The item of appropriation for "excess of actual salary" provided in this Act under "salaries and wages" shall be paid to the incumbent of the position to which said "excess" pertains who 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 herein: 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.

Section 9. Restriction upon limit of disbursements

Disbursements in accordance with the appropriations herein authorized, after deducting the amounts of the "savings to be made," may be made from any funds in the National Treasury, except the Philippine War Damage Funds and special funds derived from taxes levied for special purposes, but the total thereof for any one month shall in no case be in excess of the uncollected estimated revenues accruing to the general fund during the said month: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That in case of an emergency caused by typhoon, earthquake or any other public calamity which may seriously affect the collection of revenues during the year, the President of the Philippines may authorize the Treasurer of the Philippines to continue making disbursement from any fund in his possession not exempted above in excess of the limitation herein provided; but only for such purposes and amounts provided in this Act. Any overdraft which may be incurred at the end of the fiscal year in any fund by virtue of the provisions hereof shall be covered with the first collections of the following fiscal year accruing of the general fund.

Section 10. Purchase of locally manufactured furniture, equipment, supplies and material

All aprropriation for the purchase of furniture, equipment, supplies and materials authorized in this Act shall be available only for locally manufactured furniture, equipment, supllies and materials except when none is available in the market.

Section 11

Rentings of automobiles, jitneys or trucks for a continous 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 continuous period exceeding fifteen days.

Section 12. Authority to purchase motor vehicles

No approriation 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.

Section 13. Officials entitled to government motor transportation

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

1.The President of the Philippines,

2.The Vice-President of the Philippines,

3.The President of the Senate,

4.The Speaker of the House of Representatives,

5.The President Pro-Tempore of the Senate,

6.The Majority Floor Leader of the Senate,

7.The Chairman, Committee of Finace, of the Senate,

8.The Chairman, Committee on Accounts, of the Senate,

9.The Chairman, Committee on foreign Relations, of the Senate,

10.The Secretary of the Senate,

11.The Speaker Pro-Tempore of the House of Representative,

12.The Majority Floor Leader of the House of Representative,

13.The Chairman, Committee on Accounts, of the House of Representative,

14.The Chairman. Committee on Appropriations, of the House of Representatives,

15.The Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, of the House of Representative,

16.The Secretary of the House of Representatives,

17.The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,

18.The Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals,

19.The Auditor General,

20.The Ambassadors, Ministers Plenipotentiary and Consuls in charge of consulates while in their respective stations abroad, and

21.The Chief of Staff and the Vice-Chief of Staff and the Commanding Officers of the other Major Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Section 14

Officials entitled to transportation allowance.- The Department of Heads and the Commissioner of the Budget are hereby granted a commutable transportation allowance of two hundred fifty pesos each per month and the Undersecretaries of Departments and officials with the same rank, two hundred pesos ach per month, chargeable against the appropriations authorized in this Act for their respective offices.

Section 15

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, speed boats, motorcycles, etc., except the following:

1.The Social Welfare Administration, for ministering relief, during military actions against dissidents, to evacuees, the injured and incapacitated and to the victims of typhoons, earthquakes, fires and other calamities; and for conducting the inmates of Welfareville to and from the Courts, hospitals and other offices, procuring materials and food supplies for their subsistence, and delivering food to the various units within the Welfareville compound, including collection and disposal of garbage;

2.The Budget Commission, for the gathering from the various government offices and instrumentalities of such data and information as are essentially material or pertinent to the exercise of authority over budget operations and control, and for the performance of duties connected with the preparation of the National Budget;

3.The Bureau of Printing, for the delivery and/or shipment of printed matters, books and/or forms to various offices;

4.The Department of Foreign Affairs, for carrying out protocol duties in connection with the arrival or visit in the Philippines of high dignitaries and officials or accredited representatives of foreign governments, and for the delivery of diplomatic pouches to and from points of embakation or shipment;

5.The Bureau of Customs, for carrying out detective and police duties of its Secret Service and Harbor Police Division;

6.The National Bureau of Investigation, for detection and investigation of crimes and criminals and other law violation;

7.The Bureau of Prisons, for conducting prisoners to and from the Bureau of Prisons, inspection of prison institutions and stations, procuring food supplies and materials, and delivering products and/or manufactures of the Prison Industries in Muntinlupa and in the penal colonies;

8.The Bureau of Fisheries, for the collection of marine specimens, inspection of experimental fish farms and distribution of seedlings;

9.The Bureau of Plant Insdustry, for the control of abaca mosaic and other plant pests and diseases, including demonstration and extension work;

10.The Bureau of Forestry, for the distribution of seedlings and transportation of supplies and materials and cinchona barks to ports of shipment;

11.The Bureau of Animal Industry, for the distribution of animal products and transportation of animals and feeds, including insemination work;

12.The Bureau of Public Works, for undertaking the construction of public works projects, inspection and supervision thereof, and for the procurement of construction supplies and materials;

13.The Bureau of Posts, for the transportation of strictly mail matters;

14.The Bureau of Telecommunications, for the construction, repair, transfer and maintenance of telegraph and radio stations and circuits and distribution and delivery of telegrams and radiograms;

15.The Motor Vehivles Office, for the enforcement of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Law;

16.The vocational schools, for instructional purposes requiring the use, demonstration and/or operation of motor vehicles;

17.The Armed Forces of the Philippines, when on military operations or on active duty in the restoration and maintenance of peace and order;

18.The Department of Health, for the use of the Division of Tuberculosis in BCG Vaccination and Travelling X-Ray Examination Units, the Division of Health Education and Information in exhibitng health films and dissemination of health information in rural areas, and for the use of the Public Health Research Laboratories, including the distribution of vaccines, sera and other biological preparations;

19.Government hospitals, for ambulance service and procuring food supplies and materials for the subsistence of patients and personnel entitled thereto;

20.The Bureau of Health, for health, sanitation and prevention and control of epidemics;

21.The Bureau of Quarantine, whenever used by quarantine officers exclusively for quarantine work;

22.The Civil Aeronautics Administration, for the operation and maintenance of its landing fields, including supervision and direction of signaling equipment located thereat;

23.The Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey, for carrying out field reconnaissance, triangulations, precise leveling and magnetic and gravity measurement;

24.The Weather Bureau, for the inspection of its meteorological stations, including the Manila International Airport Forecasting Center and the Diliman Microseismic Station and delivery of supplies thereto;

25.The General Auditing Office, for the inspection of the delivery of equipment and supplies and materials to the various bureaus and offices of the Government, as well as to sites of public works constructions, and for surprise examinations of disbursing officers;

26.The Bureau of Mines, for the transportaion of mineral samples to and from the office for the geological, mineralogical and mineral land survey parties operating in the different parts of the Philippines;

27.The National Food Campaign Office, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, for the transportation, hauling og palay seeds, vegetable seeds and other plantig materials and the delivery of chemicals and equipment needed in the control of plant pests and diseases and fertilizers;

28.The Fiber Inspection Service, for carrying out its work of inspection and supervision of fiber grading-baling establishments, fiber improvements and demonstration work; and

29.The Institute of Science and Technology, for visit and inspection of factories, for the colection of forest, plant, animal and marine by-products and agricultural wastes for use in research and laboratory investigations with a view to finding their possible industrial utilization, and survey of availability of raw materials in different regions.

Section 16

Proper use of government motor vehicles,-The use of government motor vehicles by bureaus and offices for the purposes enumerated in section 15 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 which shall be used strictly for official business shall bear government plates only and shall after office hours be kept in the garage provided therefor by the bureau or office to which they belong, except those for essential services, such as military police, experimental, mail and health service.

Section 17

Use of more than one motor vehicle prohibited.-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 provision hereof.1a⍵⍴h!1

Section 18

Disposition of motor vehicles not used by a bureau or office.-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 13 and 15 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 a price equal to that of the highest bid by others.

Section 19

Prohibition against the use of appropriations for the payment of salaries and wages of officers or employees engaged in a strike against the Govenment.-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.

Section 20

Gratuity for officials and employees whose positions are abolished under this Act.-Official and employees who shall be separated from the service by reason of the abolition of their positions shall be entitled to a grantuity equivalent to one month's salary for every year of continuous and satisfactory service rendered but not exceeding twelve months on the basis of the highest salary received, payable from any savings to be made from any item of appropriation provided in this Act: PROVIDED, That temporary employees so separated shall be entitled to a gratuity equivalent to one-half of their monthly salary for every year of continuous and satisfactory service rendered but not exceeding twelve months: AND PROVIDED, FURTHER, That casual or emergency employees who have rendered not less than six months and not more than six months and not more than one year of continuous and satisfactory service prior to abolition of their positions shall be entitled to a gratuity of not less than one month's salary. In case of reemployment of any official or employees in the government service, whether National, provincial, city or municipal, or corporations owned and/or controlled by the Government, the official or employee so reinstated shall be required to refund only the unexpired portion of the gratuity received. However, in the event that such unexpired portion cannot be refunded in one lump sum, refund thereof by monthly installment may be allowed within a period not exceeding one year.

Section 21

Policy to be followed in laying off officials and employees.-In selecting the officials and employees who shall be separated from the service by reason of the abolition of their position provided in Excecutive Order No. 392, series of 1951, merit, firness, efficiency, experience and training and seniority in the service shall be considered. The following priorities should, therefore, be adhered to as closely as possible:

a. Officials and employees who had been charged with administrative and/or other offenses are still in the service on account of the lenient disciplinary action taken against them or of the lighter penalties imposed;

b. Officials and employees who are not civil service eligibles, except those who are occupying positions the duties of which are policy determining, primarily confidential and highly technical in nature; and

c. Officials and employees who are handicapped by old age, physical infirmity or otherwise suffering from some incurable disease.

Section 22

Payment of leave earned by employees to be laid off.- The money value of the accumulated vacation and sick leave earned by the officials and employees up to the date of their separation from the service shall be paid simultaneously with the payment of the gratuity herein authorized.

Section 23

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

Approved, June 28, 1951, with the exception of the following:

B.-OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

"Philippines Charity Sweepstakes Office," (pages 79-85)

E.-DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

(2)BUREAU OF CUSTOMS

Manila Customhouse

"80. collector of Customs, item 1," (page 139)

I.-DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

IV.-SPECIAL PURPOSES

"31. For the expenses of the Medical and Dental Services-P1,955,000," (pages 361-364)

J.-DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Title "(5) Bureau of Industrial Safety" and item "2," (page 380)

K.-DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE

VI.-SPECIAL PROVISIONS

Item "20," (page 427)

O.-GENERAL AUDITING OFFICE