SEC. 91. When ten or more residents of the territory of a former pueblo, which has no lawfully organized government, shall sign and file a petition with the Commission asking for the organization of a municipality under this act, the Commission shall, if it deems it wise, grant the petition by appointing the chairman of a committee of officers to effect the organization of the municipality, as herein after provided; but the Commission may, without a petition, appoint such a chairman for any unorganized pueblo.
SEC. 92. The chairman so appointed shall select and appoint five residents of the pueblo, having the qualifications of electors under this act, who, with the chairman, shall constitute a committee of organization.
SEC. 93. The chairman shall issue a proclamation fixing the time and place of holding an election, specifying the offices to be filled, giving the number of councilors to be allotted to the municipality pending the taking of the official census, and notifying all persons desiring to qualify as electors to appear before the committee during the first fifteen days after the publication of the proclamation, for the purpose of taking the elector's oath, which may be administered by any member of the committee. The proclamation shall be posted by some member of the committee at the main entrance of the municipal building and in one public and conspicuous place in each barrio. The committee shall prepare, publish, and correct, within five days after the expiration of the time when electors are required to qualify, a list of electors having the qualifications set forth in section six of this Act. The committee shall preside at the election as judges thereof, and shall make due return thereof to the Military Governor and also to the provincial governor, if there be one, and shall canvass, declare, and publish the results as prescribed in sections nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen; and the committee shall forthwith proceed, after such declaration and publication, to administer the oath of office to the newly elected officials, as provided in section sixteen.
SEC. 94. The officers elected shall assume the performance of their duties under this Act as soon as they have taken the oath of office.
SEC. 95. Municipalities organized before the date of this Act under General Order Number Forty-three, issued by the Military Governor, August eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, may reorganize under this Act, upon the granting of a petition for such reorganization signed by a majority of all the members of the municipal council and filed with the Commission. Should the Commission deem it wise to grant such a petition, or to order such reorganization of its own motion without petition, it will appoint the chairman of an organization committee. The president and vice-president of the municipality shall he members of this committee, and the chairman shall complete it by appointing three other duly qualified electors of the municipality. The duties of ibis committee shall be identical with those prescribed for the similar committee in section ninety-three.
SEC. 96. (a) Municipalities organized before the date of this Act under General Order Numbered Forty, issued by the Military Governor March twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred, shall continue to exercise the powers conferred upon them by that order, in the manner therein prescribed, until the first day of April, nineteen hundred and one.
(b) On that date this Act shall become operative in such municipalities, and the office of municipal attorney shall he abolished alcaldes and municipal lieutenants,elected or appointed under General Order Numbered Forty, will continue to serve until January first, nineteen hundred and three, and until their successors are duly chosen and qualified. They will be known as presidents and vice-presidents respectively, and will assume the duties herein prescribed for these officers. The remaining municipal officers provided for under General Order Numbered Forty are identical with those provided for by this Act, and shall assume the duties and hold office for the terms herein prescribed for them.
(c) The next general municipal election in towns organized under General Order Numbered Forty shall take place on the first Tuesday of December, nineteen hundred and one and shall be for all elective municipal offices, except those of the councilors with the longest time to serve under General Order Numbered Forty, who shall continue to hold office until January, nineteen hundred and three, and until their successors are duly chosen and qualified.
(d) The municipality and its officers shall thereafter exercise all the powers conferred by this Act under the limitations and in the manner herein provided.
SEC. 97. After April first, nineteen hundred and one, and until March first, nineteen hundred and two, one-half of the internal revenue, including revenue derived from forest products on government lands, collected in each municipality organized under this Act for each month shall be paid into the municipal treasury for the uses of the municipality on or before the fifteenth day of the succeeding month.
SEC. 98. Until the present military government shall be replaced by a civil central government of these Islands, or until the Commission shall otherwise enact, the powers conferred by section thirty-nine, subsection (t) on the municipal council of any municipality organized under this Act to provide a police force for the municipality, shall be exercised only upon the approval of the Military Governor or of the commanding officer of the military district in which the municipality is situate; and this approval shall be necessary to the lawful appointment of members of the police force and to the arming of the same. In case the Military Governor shall deem it necessary, the police force of any such municipality shall be directly subject to the orders of the Military Governor or bis authorized subordinates.
SEC. 99. In all provinces where a civil provincial government has not been established, the duties of the provincial governor, provincial secretary, provincial treasurer, provincial supervisor, and provincial fiscal shall be performed by military officers designated by the Military Governor for these purposes; and the Military Governor shall further have power, through such subordinates as he may designate for the purpose, to inspect and investigate at any time all the official books and records of the municipalities organized in such provinces under this Act. He may summarily suspend any municipal officer for inefficiency, misconduct, or disloyalty to the United States; and if, upon investigation, it shall prove that the officer is inefficient or is guilty of misconduct or disloyalty, the Military Governor shall have power to remove him. Should he deem such a course necessary in the interest of public safety, he may appoint the successor of such an officer so removed; otherwise, the vacancy will be filled as hereinbefore provided in the case of permanent vacancies.
SEC. 100. In provinces where a civil form of provincial government has been established, the Military Governor shall have the power, through his subordinates, summarily to suspend any municipal officer for gross misconduct or for disloyalty to the United States. He shall, upon such suspension, report his action to the Commission, together with the reasons therefor.
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines — Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
