AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE NECESSARY EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

• Number: Act No. 2875
• Sections: 11

Section 1

SECTION 1. The following sums, or so much thereof as may be respectively necessary, are hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in compensation of the service of the Philippine Government for the fiscal year ending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twenty, unless otherwise stated.

(See Table of ACTS No. 2875 in PUBLIC LAWS PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE VOLUME 15 Page 39 to Page 202)

Section 2

SEC. 2. The bonuses appropriated in this Act shall be granted to the Insular officers and employees whose salaries are fixed by acts of the Philippine Legislature, with the exception of the members of said Legislature, the Department Secretaries, and the officers and employees of the Census Bureau, at the rate of 25 per cent of the salaries actually received if less than P2,400 per annum, and of 15 per cent of the salaries actually received if P2,400 or more per annum: Provided, That the total of the salary and the bonus of an officer or employee receiving a fixed salary of less than P2,400 per annum shall in no case exceed P2,760: Provided, also, That the number of days of vacation and accrued leave provided in section 276 and 284 of the Administrative Code and the amount of the retirement gratification under Act Numbered Twenty-five hundred and eighty-nine shall in no case be deemed to be increased by reason of the bonus provided for in this Act: Provided, further, That the bonus provided for in this Act shall be granted, subject to the limitations herein established, to the Insular officers and employees whose salaries are fixed by the Congress of the United States, at rates not in excess of seven thousand two hundred pesos per annum: Provided, also, That the Secretary of the Interior may authorize the payment, from the proper funds, of bonuses at rates not in excess of those hereinbefore authorized, to officers and employees of the provinces and municipalities and the cities of Manila and Baguio whose salaries are fixed by law: Provided, finally, That the bonuses as established in this section shall only be effective for three months at a time, by resolution of the Council of State, which is hereby authorized to reduce or suspend the same, or any part thereof, as the interest of the public or of the Government may require.

Section 3

SEC. 3. There is hereby created an Emergency Board which shall consist of the Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of Justice, the Insular Auditor, and the Secretary of Finance, with the latter as chairman. In the absence of the Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate or the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, the Senator or Representative designated by the President of the respective House shall act in his stead. The Chairman of the Emergency Board, with the approval of said Board, shall designate a Government employee to act as secretary of the Board, without additional compensation.

Whenever application is made by any officer of the Government in charge of any work of construction or repair, or by the Director of any Bureau or Office of the Government, certifying that the needs of the work, Bureau or Office concerned require the expenditure of a sum of money greater than the amount appropriated by the Legislature for such purpose, and if said application is recommended by the proper Department head, the Emergency Board shall investigate the facts set forth in such application, ascertain whether the applicant has taken the necessary measures to prevent the expenditure of a sum of money greater than that authorized by this Act, hear the evidence presented, and submit a report with its recommendations to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who, upon recommendation of a majority of the Emergency Board aforesaid, may authorize, with the concurrence of the Governor-General, the expenditure of additional funds not specifically appropriated, in such amount as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of the work, Bureau or Office concerned: Provided, That no funds shall be set up on the books of the Auditor under this section until the same shall have been allotted by the presiding officers of both Houses, with the concurrence of the Governor-General.

This Emergency Board shall enter upon the discharge of its functions immediately after the close of the session of the Philippine Legislature in which this Act was approved and shall exist until October sixteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty.

The Secretary of Finance, within the thirty days following the beginning of the next regular session of the Philippine Legislature, shall send to each House thereof a statement of the sums and expenditures authorized tinder the provisions of this section.

Section 4

SEC. 4. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in any position not mentioned in Act Numbered Twenty-six hundred and sixty-eight, for which a salary of three thousand pesos per annum or more has been appropriated in this Acts, such position shall be filled at a salary not to exceed three thousand pesos per annum, unless the Council of State, after due investigation of the actual needs of the service, shall determine otherwise; but such salary shall in no case be greater than that authorized by this Act.

Section 5

SEC. 5. Whenever the Secretary of Finance shall be of the opinion that there is good reason for believing that the probable revenues of the Insular Treasury will not be sufficient to cover the expenditures provided for in this Act, he shall resort the fact to the Governor-General who may direct the Emergency Board to consider the condition of fund existing in the Insular Treasury, the expenditures already made and to be made, and the probable revenues until the end of the current focal year, and to propose adequate measures to reduce the expenditures in order that they may be met out of the funds in the Insular Treasury and the probable revenues for the rest of the year. The board shall make such recommendations as it may deem wise. In accordance with the report of the board, the Secretary of Finance may propose the temporary or definitive suspension to the end of the fiscal year for which this law has been enacted, of the payment of the expenses of any Bureau or Office, to an amount not to exceed thirty per centum of the sum appropriated for such Bureau or Office, and such proposition shall have the effect of law as soon as it shall have been approved by the presiding officers of both Houses and concurred in by the Governor-General.

Section 6

SEC. 6. Unless otherwise authorized by this Act, all sums appropriated by this Act for the various Bureaus, Offices, and provinces shall be expended solely for the specific purposes for which appropriated, and for no other, and no amount appropriated for salaries and wages shall be available for the payment of miscellaneous expenses nor shall any amount appropriated for miscellaneous expenses be available for the payment of salaries and wages: Provided, That at the request of any Bureau or office, approved by the proper Department head, the Emergency Board may authorize the transfer of all or part of the unexpended balance under any item of miscellaneous expense, to increase the amount under any other heading of miscellaneous expenses in said Bureau or office, if the interest of the public service requires it: And provided, further, That the appropriations herein made for each Bureau, Office, or province shall be available for payment of such expenses as may accrue to said Bureaus, Offices, or provinces by reason of the operation of sections two hundred and fifty-seven, three hundred and five, three hundred and six, and three hundred and eight of the Revised Administrative Code and the part thereof entitled the Public Bonding Law and Civil Service Law.

Section 7

SEC. 7. Unless otherwise provided by this Act, all income accruing to Bureaus and Offices by virtue of the provisions of existing law shall be deposited with the general unappropriated funds of the Insular Government.

All funds collected by virtue of the provisions of Act Numbered Twenty-one hundred and fifty-nine, as amended by Act Numbered Twenty-five hundred and eighty-seven, shall be deposited with the unappropriated general funds of the Insular Government, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Section 8

SEC. 8. The net surplus of all appropriations herein made shall revert to the general funds as of December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twenty, and shall not thereafter be available for expenditure except by subsequent legislative enactment.

The net surplus of all appropriations made in the Special Acts Numbered Twenty-three hundred and seventy-six, Twenty-seven hundred and fourteen, Twenty-seven hundred and forty-four, Twenty-four hundred and seventy-nine, Twenty-four hundred and ninety-two, Twenty-seven hundred and sixty-six, Twenty-five hundred and forty-eight, Twenty-six hundred and fifty-one, Twenty-six hundred and seventy-nine, Twenty-five hundred and fifteen Twenty-five hundred and ninety-eight, Twenty-six hundred and forty-nine, Twenty-six hundred and ninety-five Twenty-six hundred and ninety-six, Twenty-seven hundred and fifteen, Twenty-seven hundred and eighty-four, Twenty-seven hundred and nineteen, Twenty-seven hundred and thirty-eight, Twenty-seven hundred and thirty-nine, Twenty-seven hundred and forty-three, Twenty-eight hundred and twenty-three, Twenty-eight hundred and fifty, Twenty-eight hundred and fifty-one, Twenty-eight hundred and fifty-nine, and Twenty-eight hundred and sixty-five, shall revert to the general funds as of December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and nineteen, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, and shall not thereafter be available for expenditure except by subsequent legislative enactment.

The permanent annual appropriations created by section eighteen of Act Numbered Twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine and section ten of Act Numbered Twenty-three hundred and eighty-one are hereby abolished, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Section 9

SEC. 9. Hereafter no allowance shall be paid to any employee for the maintenance of means of transportation owned by him but used on official business, in excess of twenty pesos per month in the case of a horse, or forty pesos per month in the case of motorcycles, or fifty pesos per month in the case of automobiles or motor launches.

Section 10

SEC. 10. No sum appropriated for contingent expenses, transportation equipment, motor vehicles, and other equipment shall be available for the purchase of automobiles, unless expressly authorized in this Act.

Section 11

SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and twenty.

Approved, December 28, 1919.