SEC. 29. The council shall, by a majority vote of all its members: Fix the salaries of all duly authorized employees, except the township treasurer and teachers in the public schools, subject to the provisions of section twenty-three.
Fill a permanent vacancy in the office of vice-president or of councilor from among persons having the necessary qualifications. A person thus substituted as vice-president or councilor shall serve only for the unexpired portion of the term for which his predecessor was elected and until his successor shall have been chosen and shall have qualified. The provincial governor, with the advice and consent of the provincial board, shall fill temporary vacancies in the office of vice-president, secretary, or councilor, and, whenever a president, vice-president, or councilor is suspended, shall appoint some person to discharge his duties until he is reinstated or until he is removed and the vacancy thus occasioned is filled.
Make appropriations for lawful and necessary expenditures, subject to the approval of the provincial board.
Manage the property of the township.
Under the general supervision and control of the provincial supervisor, erect all needful buildings for the use of the township and construct all necessary trails, roads, streets, and bridges within the township, but in case the estimated cost of any building or improvement exceeds one thousand pesos it shall request special plans or surveys through the Executive Secretary before appropriating funds for such works.
Provide regulations for the sanitation of the township, and order the removal of nuisances and causes of disease.
Regulate the running at large of domestic animals.
Adopt such measures to prevent the introduction and spread of disease as may from time to time he necessary.
Prohibit gambling, opium smoking, or the sale of opium for smoking.
Establish, regulate, and maintain a police, department.
Establish, maintain, and regulate township prisons.
Establish and maintain primary schools, subject to the approval and supervision of the division superintendent.
Establish a post-office and provide for the collection and delivery of mail; but such regulations must be in harmony with the postal service and rules established by the General Government.
Provide by ordinance for the levy of taxes for township purposes, within the limitations of law, as hereinafter provided in section forty-three.
License and regulate or prohibit the selling, giving away, or disposing in any manner of any intoxicating, malt, vinous, mixed, or fermented liquors, at retail in quantities of not more than five gallons, except native fermented liquors, and determine the amount to be paid for such licenses, subject to such limitations of general law as may hereafter the enacted.
Provide for inspection of weights and measures, and enforce the keeping of proper weights and measures by vendors, but without the power to exact fees for such inspection.
Fix penalties for violation of ordinances, but no single penalty shall exceed a fine of two hundred pesos or imprisonment for six months, or both; imprisonment shall be imposed in lieu of unpaid fines at the rate of one day's imprisonment for each peso of the fine. An appeal shall lie to the Court of First Instance, next to be held within the province, in all cases where the judgment shall be for a fine exceeding fifteen pesos or for imprisonment exceeding fifteen days; and it shall be the duty of the provincial fiscal to appear for and represent the prosecution and the appellant m such appeal cases to the end that justice may be done. Pending the appeal the defendant shall remain in custody unless released upon sufficient bail, in accordance with the general provisions of law, to await the judgment of the appellate court.
Make such ordinances and regulations, not repugnant to law as may be necessary to carry into effect and discharge the powers " and duties conferred by this Act, and such as shall seem necessary and proper to provide for the health and safety, promote the prosperity, improve the morals, peace, good order, comfort, and convenience of the township and the inhabitants thereof, and for the protection of property therein; and enforce obedience thereto with" such lawful lines or penalties as the council may prescribe under provisions of subsection (q) of this section.
SEC. 30. (a) The council shall prescribe the time and place of holding its meetings. Regular meetings shall be held once in every a two weeks, and special meetings as often as occasion may demand. Any meeting, regular or special, may, in case the amount of business shall require, be adjourned from day to day until the business is completed.
(b) The president, or any two members of the council, may call a special meeting by giving written notice of it to each member of the council, which notice shall be served personally or left at his usual place of abode.
SEC. 31. The majority of the council elected shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from" lime to time and may compel the attendance of absentees, under such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance.
SEC. 32. (a) The regular sessions or meetings of the council shall he public, and the person presiding has the authority to exact from all present due respect and proper deportment, to prevent disturbances and disorder, and to order the room cleared of any or all present who give reason for such action by improper behavior.
(b) The council may hold special sessions with closed doors to consider and vote upon appointments submitted to it by the president.
SEC. 33. The township council shall determine its own rules of procedure, punish its members for disorderly conduct, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members, the council may suspend or, subject to the approval of the provincial board, may expel a member for cause, electing his successor by a majority vote of all the members.
SEC. 34. The council shall keep a journal of its proceedings. The ayes and noes shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances, upon all propositions to create any liability against the township, and upon any other proposition, upon the request of any member, and they shall be entered upon the journal. The affirmative vote, of a majority of all the members of the council shall be necessary to the passage of any ordinance or other action creating indebtedness; but other measures, except as otherwise specially provided in this Act, or by due authority, shall prevail upon the majority vote of the members present at any meeting duly called and held.
SEC. 35. (a) Until a time to be hereafter determined by the Insular Government, when the township councils of the province1 shall have gained sufficient knowledge and experience properly to exercise, without intervention, the powers herein conferred, all resolutions, ordinances, appointments, and other acts of the council shall be subject to the approval of the provincial board, and without such approval shall be invalid.
(b) Every ordinance, resolution, or other act of the council shall, he transmitted by the township secretary to the provincial board ; immediately after its passage. The provincial board shall either, approve or' disapprove such resolution, ordinance, or other act of the council, or amend the same in such manner and to such extent as the board may deem to be for the best interests of the township,
and return the same to the township secretary. In case such act, ordinance, or resolution is approved or amended by the provincial board and such' amendment is accepted by the township council, such act. ordinance, or resolution shall be immediately posted at the door of the township building for the information of the public, and shall take effect ten days after its receipt from tin; provincial board ; by the township secretary: Provided, That failure to post .the same shall not render it invalid. In case it is impracticable, by reason of the remoteness or inaccessibility of the township, for such act, ordinance, or resolution to be transmitted to the provincial board. and returned by the board as herein provided within a reasonable time, and it is" deemed by the board desirable for the provincial governor to pass upon the same at the time of his periodical visit : to the township, the board may. with the approval of the Secretary . of the Interior first had. delegate to the provincial governor, with respect to such township, the powers conferred upon the board by paragraph (I) of section seventeen of Act Numbered Thirteen . hundred and ninety-six.
SEC. 36. At the first regular meeting after the election and qualification of a new president the council shall pass on his nominations to nonelective township offices and shall prescribe the duties of all appointed officers and employees, when not determined'1: by the provisions of this Act. It shall also choose, by a majority . vote of all its members, two of the councilors to serve with the president as members of the court provided for in section eighteen, subsection (g).
SEC. 37. The council shall definitely fix the limits of the barrios ; of the township, prescribing for them such boundaries that the barrios, taken collectively, shall include the entire territory of the township.
SEC. 38. The council may, by a majority vote of all its members:
Order the suspension or removal at any time, for cause, of any nonelective officer or employee other than the township treasurer.
Make such provisions for the care of the poor, the sick, orphans, or those of unsound mind as it may deem necessary.
Purchase, receive, hold, sell, lease, convey. and dispose of property, real and personal, for the benefit of the township: Provided, That the express authorization of the provincial governor shall be necessary to alienate or constitute any lien upon any real property of the township.
Employ a lawyer or lawyers, with the approval of: the provincial board, when necessary, in order to defend the interests of the township, but ordinary legal questions shall be submitted to the provincial fiscal, who shall answer the same in writing free of. Charge.
Provide for the erection of markets, public stables, public-bathing establishments, wharves, and township cemeteries, and for the establishment of ferries, and fix reasonable fees for the use of the same.
Provide for the establishment and maintenance of special and professional institutions of learning other than primary schools, and charge and collect matriculation and tuition fees from persons who attend such institutions.
Construct and maintain waterworks for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of the township with water, and control the use of said water within the township and fix uniform and reasonable charges for the use of the water supplied by the waterworks constructed and maintained by the township.
Name streets, avenues, and other public places, or change the names thereof.
License, tax, regulate, or prohibit the keeping of dogs and authorize the killing of- the same when at large contrary to ordinance.
Regulate and permit or prohibit cockfighting and the keeping or training of fighting cocks, and close cockpits: Provided, That cockfighting in such cockpit shall take place only on legal holidays and during a period not to exceed three days on the occasion of the a celebration of the patron saint's day of the township: Provided fur liter, That in the case of townships which were separate upon the date of enactment of Act Numbered Three hundred and eighty-seven, which have been subsequently fused, or which may be fused, the township resulting from such fusion having no patron saint, cockfighting in the cockpits of each such originally distinct township -may take place for a period not to exceed three days on the celebration of the patron saint's day of such formerly distinct township: And provided further, That no game of chance be permitted on the premises.
License public carriages, carts, and hearses kept for hire; cafes, restaurants, hotels, inns, and lodging houses; and horse races.
SEC. 39. Questions which may arise relative to the constitution or attributes of the township government shall be submitted to the provincial fiscal for decision.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
