Disciplinary powers of commanding officers.
ART. 105. Disciplinary powers of commanding officers.— Under such regulations as the President may prescribe, the commanding office of any detachment, company, or. higher command may, 'for minor offenses, impose disciplinary punishments upon persons of his command without the intervention of a court-martial, unless the accused demands trial by court-martial.
The disciplinary punishments authorized by this article may include admonition, reprimand, withholding of privileges for not exceeding oneweek, extra fatigue for not exceeding one week, restriction to certain specified limits for not exceeding one week, but shall not include forfeiture of pay or confinement under guard; except that in time of war or grave public emergency a commanding officer of the grade of brigadier .general or of higher grade may, under the provisions of his article, also impose upon an officer of his command be the grade of a major a forfeiture of not more than one half of such officer's monthly pay for one month.
A person punished under authority of this article who deems his punishment unjust or disproportionate to the offense, may, through the proper channel, appeal of the next superior authority, but may in the meantime be required to undergo the punishment adjudged. The commanding officer who Imposes the punishment, his successor in command and superior authority shall have power to mitigate or remit any unexecuted portion of the punishment. The imposition and enforcement of disciplinary punishment under authority of this article for any act or omission shall not be a bar to trial by court-martial for a crime or offense growing out of the same act or omission; but the fact that a disciplinary punishment has been enforced may be shown by the accused upon trials and when so shown shall be considered in determining the measure of punishment to be adjudged in the event of a finding of guilty.
ART. 106. Injuries to property—Redress of.-—Whenever complaint is made to any commanding officer that damage has been done to the property of any person or that his property has been wrongfully taken by persons subject to military law, such complaint shall be investigated by a board consisting of any number of officers from one to three, which board shall be convened by the commanding officer and shall have, for the purpose of such investigation, power to summon witnesses and examine them upon oath or affirmation, to receive depositions or other documentary evidence, and to assess the damages sustained against the responsible parties. The assessment of damages made by such board shall be subject to the approval of the commanding officer, and in amount approved by him shall be stopped against the pay of the offenders. And the order of such commanding officer directing stoppages herein authorized shall be conclusive on any disbursing officer for the payment by him to the injured parties of the stoppages so ordered.
When the offenders cannot be ascertained, but the organization or detachment to which they belong is known, stoppages to the amount of damages inflicted may be made and assessed in such proportion as may be deemed just upon the individual members thereof who are shown to have been present with such organization or detachment at the time the damages complained of were inflicted as determined by the approved findings of the board.
Arrest of deserters by civil officials.
ART. 107. Arrest of deserters by civil officials.—It shall be lawful for any civil officer having. authority under the lawns of the Philippines to arrest, offender summarily to arrest a deserter from the military service of the Philippines and deliver him into the custody of the military authorities.
Soldiers to make good time lost.
ART. 108. Soldiers to make good time lost.—Every soldier or trainee who in an existing or subsequent enlistment or training period deserts the service of the Philippines Army or without proper authority absents himself from his organization, station, or duty for more than one day, or who is confined for more than one day under sentence! or while awaiting trial and disposition of his case, if the trial results in conviction, or through the intemperate use of drugs or alcoholic liquor, or through disease or injury the result of his own misconduct, renders himself unable for more than one day to perform duty, shall be liable to serve, after his return to a full-duty status, for such period as shall, with the time he may have served prior to such desertion, unauthorized absence, confinement or inability to perform duty, amount to the full term of that part of his enlistment or training period which he is required to serve with his organization before being furloughed to the Army reserve.
Soldiers— Separation from the service.
ART. 109. Soldiers— Separation from the service.—No enlisted man, lawfully inducted into the military service of the Philippines shall be discharged from said service without a certificate of discharge, signed by a field officer of the regiment or other organization to which theenlisted man belongs or by the commanding officer when no such field officer is present; and no enlisted man shall be discharged from said service before his term of service has expired, except by order of the President, the Chief of Staff, or byj sentence of a general court-martial.
Oath of enlistment.
ART. 110. Oath of enlistment.—At the time of his enlistment every soldier shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I........................................................... do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Commonwealth of the Philippines; that I will serve it honestly and faithfully against all its enemies whomsoever; that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Philippines ; that I will obey the orders of the President of the Philippines and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles of war; and I hereby declare that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in the Philippines, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; and that I impose this obligation upon myself voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. So HELP ME God." This oath or affirmation may be taken before any officer.
Certain articles to be read and explained.
ART. 111. Certain articles to be read and explained.— Articles 1, 2 and 28, 54 to 97, inclusive, and 105 to 110, inclusive, shall be read and explained to every soldier at the time of his enlistment or muster in, or within six days thereafter, and shall be read and explained once every six months to the soldiers of every garrison, regiment, or company in the service of the Philippines.
Copy of record of trial.
ART. 112. Copy of record of trial.—Every person tried by a general court-martial shall, on demand therefor, made by himself or by any person in his behalf, be entitled to a copy of the record of the trial.
Inquests.
ART. 113. Inquests.—When at any post, fort, camp, or other place garrisoned by the military forces of the Philippines any person shall have been found dead under circumstances which appear to require investigation, the commanding officer will designate and direct a summary court-martial to investigate the circumstances attending the death; and, for this purpose, such summary court-martial shall have power to summon witnesses and examine them upon oath or affirmation. He shall promptly transmit to the post or other commander a report of his investigation and of his findings as to the cause of the death.
Authority to administer oaths.
ART. 114. Authority to administer oaths.—Any judge advocate or acting judge advocate, the president of a general or special courts-martial, any summary courts-martial, the trial judge advocate or any assistant trial judge advocate of a general or special court-martial, the president or the recorder of a court of inquiry or of a military board, any officer designated to take a deposition, any officer detailed to conduct an investigation, and the adjutant of any command shall have power to administer oaths for the purposes of the administration of military justice and for other purposes of military administration.
Appointment of reporters and interpreters.
ART. 115. Appointment of reporters and interpreters.— Under such regulations as the President of the Philippines may from time to time prescribe, the president of a court-martial or military commission or a court of inquiry shall have power to appoint a reporter, who shall record the proceedings of and testimony taken before such court or commission and may set down the same, in the first instance, in shorthand. Under like regulations the president of a court-martial or military commission, or court of inquiry, or a summary court, may appoint an interpreter, who shall interpret for the court or commission.
Powers of assistant trial judge advocate and of assistant defense counsel.
ART. 116. Powers of assistant trial judge advocate and of assistant defense counsel.—An assistant trial judge advocate of a general court-martial shall be competent to perform any duty devolved by law, regulation, or the custom of the service upon the trial judge advocate of the court. An assistant defense counsel shall be competent likewise to perform any duty devolved by law, regulation, or the custom of the service upon counsel for the accused.
Officers, separation from service.
ART. 117. Officers, separation from service.—No officer shall be discharged or dismissed from the service except by order of the President or by sentence of a general court-martial; and in time of peace no officer shall be dismissed except in pursuance of the sentence of a general court-martial or in mitigation thereof; but the President may at any time drop from the rolls of the Army any officer who has been absent from duty three months without leave or who has been absent in confinement in a prison or penitentiary for three months after final conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Rank and precedence among regulars and reserves.
ART. 118. Rank and precedence among regulars and reserves.—In time of war or public danger, when two or more officers of the same grade are on duty in the same field, or command, or of organizations thereof, the President may assign the command of the forces of such field, or command, or of any organization thereof, without regard to seniority of rank in the same grade.
Command when different corps or commands happen to join.
ART. 119. Command when different corps or commands happen to join.—When different corps or commands of the military forces of the Philippines happen to join or do duty together, the officer highest in rank of the line of the Regular Army," or Reserve Force shall, subject to the provisions of the last preceding article, command the whole and give orders for what is needful in the service, unless otherwise directed by the President.
Complaints of wrongs.
ART. 120. Complaints of wrongs.—Any officer or soldier who believes himself wronged by his commanding officer, ;and, upon due application to such commander, is refused redress, may complain to the District Commander or general commanding in the locality where the officer against whom the complaint is made is stationed. The general shall examine into said complaint and take proper measures for redressing the wrong complained of; and he shall as soon as possible, transmit to Army Headquarters a true statement of said complaint, with the proceedings had thereof.
SEC. 2. All offenses committed prior to the date of effectiveness of this Act shall be punished in accordance with the laws and regulations in force at the time of their commission.
SEC. 3. All laws and parts of laws in so far as they are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.
SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved, September 14, 1938.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
