AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF COMMONWEALTH ACT NUMBERED FIFTY-ONE, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DAVAO.

• Number: Republic Act No. 1368
• Sections: 14

Section 1

SECTION 1. Section seven of Commonwealth Act Numbered Fifty-one, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. Election and compensation.—The Mayor shall be the chief executive of the city.

"The Mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city during every regular election for provincial and municipal officials in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Election Code: Provided, That the first election for Mayor shall be held simultaneously with the regular elections for provincial and municipal officials to be held following the approval of this Act. Pending the said next regular elections, the incumbent Mayor of the city at the time of the approval of this Act shall continue to hold office and in case said office be vacant at the time this Act takes effect, the President shall appoint a person to act as Mayor until his successor shall have been elected and have qualified.

"No person shall be elected Mayor unless he has been a citizen of the Philippines for at least five years, is at least twenty-five years of age at the time of his election, a resident of the city for not less than one year immediately prior to his election and a qualified voter therein.

"The Mayor shall receive a salary of eight thousand four hundred pesos a year. With the approval of the proper Head of Department, he may receive, in addition to his salary, a non-commutable allowance of two thousand pesos per annum. He shall also be entitled, at the discretion of the City Council, to quarters allowance."

Section 2 Section eight of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 8. Vice-Mayor.

SEC. 2. Section eight of the same Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 8. Vice-Mayor.—There shall be a vice-mayor who shall perform the duties of the Mayor, in the event of the sickness, absence or other temporary incapacity of the Mayor, or in the event of a definitive vacancy in the position of Mayor, until said office shall be filled in accordance with law. If, for any reason, the vice-mayor is temporarily incapacitated for the performance of the duties of the office of the Mayor, or said office of the vice-mayor is vacant, the duties of the Mayor shall be performed by the city engineer. The acting mayor shall have the same powers and duties as the Mayor.

"The vice-mayor shall be the presiding officer of the City Council and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Mayor or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall be elected in the same manner as the Mayor and shall at the time of his election possess the same qualifications as the Mayor. He shall receive a salary of five thousand four hundred pesos a year."

Section 3 Section ten of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 10. City Secretary.

SEC. 3. Section ten of the same Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 10. City Secretary.—There shall be a city secretary who shall be appointed by the Mayor; and who shall receive a salary of four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall be considered as head of a city department and as such he shall have the following duties:

"(a) He shall act as secretary of the Board of Tax Appeals, and such other boards or committees as may hereafter be created by law or ordinance, and shall keep a journal of their proceedings.

"(b) He shall have charge of all records and documents of the city for which provision is not otherwise made.

"(c) He shall keep the corporate seal and affix the same with his signature to all official acts of the Mayor and to all other official documents and papers of the government of the city as may be required by custom, in the discretion of the Mayor.

"(d) He shall be the local civil registrar and shall keep a civil register for the city and record therein all births, marriages, and deaths with their respective dates.

"(e) He shall perform such other duties as the Mayor may direct or as may be required of him by law or ordinance.

"(f) He shall attest all orders, proclamations, ordinances and resolutions signed by the Mayor.

"(g) He shall, on demand, furnish certified copies of all records and documents in his charge which are not of a confidential character and shall collect twenty centavos for each one hundred words including the certificate, and all receipts shall be paid into the city treasury. He shall likewise perform with respect to his office, the duties similar to those imposed on heads of departments of the city government by section thirty-three hereof."

Section 4

SEC. 4. The provisions of section twelve of the same Act are repealed, and, in lieu thereof, the following new provisions are inserted:

"SEC. 12. Constitution and organization of the City Council.—The City Council shall be the legislative body of the city, and shall be composed of the vice-mayor, as the presiding officer, and ten councilors, who shall be elected at large by the voters of the city, in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code, and shall hold office for four years unless sooner removed. The ten candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected.

"In case of sickness, absence, suspension or other temporary disability of any member of the council, or if for any reason it becomes necessary to maintain a quorum, the President of the Philippines may appoint a temporary substitute -who shall possess all the rights and perform all the duties of a member of the Council until the return to duty of the regular incumbent.

"If any member of the City Council should be a candidate for office in any election, he shall be incompetent to act with the City Council in the discharge of the duties herein conferred upon it, and in such case the other members of the Council shall discharge said duties without his assistance, or they may choose some disinterested elector of the city to act on the Council in such matters in his stead.

"The members of the council shall each receive an annual compensation of three thousand six hundred pesos."

Section 5

SEC. 5. There are hereby inserted between sections twelve and thirteen of the same Act four sections, to be known as sections 12-A, 12-B, 12-C, and 12-D, which shall read as follows:

"SEC. 12-A. Qualification, election, suspension and removal of members of the Council.—The members of the City Council shall be qualified electors of the city, shall be residents thereof for at least one year, and be not less than twenty-three years of age. The members-elect shall upon qualifying assume office on the date fixed in the Revised Election Code and hold office until their successors are elected and have qualified.

"The members of the City Council may be suspended or removed from office under the same circumstances, in the same manner, and with the same effect, as elective provincial officers, and the provisions of law governing the suspension or removal of elective provincial officers are hereby made applicable to the suspension or removal of said members of the Council."

"SEC. 12-B. The Presiding Officer of the City Council.-The vice-mayor shall be the presiding officer of the Council. In his absence, the Council shall elect one of its members as temporary presiding officer. He shall sign all ordinances, and all resolutions and motions directing the pay ment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the Council."

"SEC. 12-C. Secretary of the City Council.—The City Council shall have a secretary who shall be elected by the Council to serve during the term of office of the members unless sooner removed. His compensation as secretary shall be fixed by the council at not exceeding three thousand six hundred pesos per annum. The secretary shall have the following duties:

"(a) He shall act as secretary of the City Council and shall be in charge of the records thereof.

"(b) He shall keep a full record of the proceedings of the Council and shall file all documents relative thereto.

"(c) He shall record in a book kept for the purpose all ordinances and resolutions and motions directing the payment of money or creating liability enacted or adopted by the Council, with the dates of approval of the same, and of the publication of the ordinances.

"(d) He shall keep a seal, circular in form with the inscription "City Council—City of Davao" and affix the same, with his signature, to all ordinances and official acts of the council, which he shall present for signature to the presiding officer of the Council.

"(e) He shall cause each ordinance passed by the Council to be published.

"(f) He shall furnish on demand, certified copies of all records of public character in his charge, and collect and receive therefor such fees as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution of the Council.

"(g) He shall keep his office and all records therein which are not of a confidential character open to public inspection during the usual business hours."

"SEC. 12-D. Method of transacting business of the Council.—Veto authentication and publication of ordinances.—Unless the proper Head of Department orders otherwise, the Council shall hold one regular session for the transaction of business during each week on a day which it shall fix by resolution, and such special sessions, not exceeding thirty during any one year, as may be called by the Mayor. It shall sit with open doors, unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of six members. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and determine its rules of procedure not herein set forth. Six members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. But a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the immediate attendance of any member absent without good cause by issuing to the police of the city an order for his arrest and production at the session under such penalties as shall have been previously prescribed by ordinance. Six affirmative votes shall be necessary for the passage of any ordinance, or of any resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability but any other measures shall prevail upon the majority votes of the members present at any meeting duly called and held. The ayes and nays shall be taken and recorded upon the passage of all ordinances, upon all resolutions or motions directing the payment of money or creating liability, and, at the request of any member, upon any other resolution or motion. Each approved ordinance, resolution or motion shall be sealed with the sea! of the city, signed by the presiding officer and the secretary of the Council and recorded in a book for the purpose, and shall, on the day following its passage, be posted by the secretary at the main entrance to the city hall, and shall take effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following its passage unless otherwise stated in said ordinance, resolution or motion or vetoed by the Mayor as hereinafter provided. A vetoed ordinance, if repassed, shall take effect ten days after the veto is overridden by the required votes unless otherwise stated in the ordinance or again disapproved by the Mayor within said time.

"Each ordinance and each resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability enacted or adopted by the council shall be forwarded to the Mayor for his approval. Within ten days after the receipt of the ordinance, resolution or motion, the Mayor shall return it with his approval or veto. If he does not return it within that time, it shall be deemed to be approved. If he returns it with his veto, his reasons therefor in writing shall accompany it. It may then be again enacted by the affirmative votes of seven members of the Council, and again forwarded to the Mayor for his approval, and if within ten days after its receipt he does not again return it with his veto, it shall be deemed to be approved. If within said time he again returns it with his veto, it shall be forwarded forthwith to the proper head of department for his approval or disapproval, which shall be final. The Mayor shall have the power to veto any particular item or items of an appropriation ordinance, or of an ordinance, resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object. The item or items objected to shall not take effect except in the manner heretofore provided in this section as to ordinances, resolutions, and motions returned to the council with his veto, but should an item or items in an appropriation ordinance be disapproved by the Mayor, the corresponding item or items in the appropriation ordinance of the previous year shall be restored unless otherwise expressly directed in the veto."

Section 6

SEC. 6. Sub-section (l) of section fourteen of the same Act is amended to read as follows:

"(l) To regulate and fix the amount of license fees for the following: hawkers, peddlers, hucksters, not including hucksters or peddlers who sell only native vegetables, fruits, or goods, personally carried by the hucksters or peddlers, auctioneers, plumbers, barbers, embalmers, collecting agencies, mercantile agencies, shipping and intelligence offices, private detective agencies, advertising agencies, massagists, tattooers, jugglers, acrobats, hotels, clubs, restaurants, cafes, lodging houses, boarding houses, dealers in large cattle, public billiard tables, laundries, cleaning and dyeing establishments, public warehouses, dance halls, cabarets, circuses and other similar parades, public vehicles, ice tracks, horse races, bowling alleys, shooting galleries, slot machines, merry-go-rounds, pawnshops, dealers in second-hand merchandise, junk dealers, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, money changers and brokers, jewelry dealers owners or proprietors of bodegas or warehouses, owners or dealers of real estate for rent, public ferries, theaters, theatrical performances, cinematographs, public exhibitions, circuses, and all other performances and places of amusement, and the keeping, preparation, and sale of meat, poultry, fish, game, butter, cheese, lard, vegetables, bread, and other provisions."

Section 7

SEC. 7. Section sixteen of the same Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 16. City departments—Municipal Court.—There shall be a department of engineering and public works headed by the city engineer; a law department headed by the city attorney; a finance department headed by the city treasurer; a police department headed by the chief of police; and a fire department headed by the chief of the fire department, and such other departments as may from time to time be established by law or ordinance approved by the proper Head of Department. Pending the establishment of such departments, the existing officials who perform functions for or in behalf of the municipal government of Davao shall continue to perform their respective functions and receive their present compensation.

"The City Council may, by ordinance, approved by the proper Head of Department, make from time to time such readjustment of the duties of the several departments, as the public interest may demand, or alter, consolidate or abolish them.

"There shall be a Municipal Court which shall have three branches, for which three judges shall be appointed, who shall be known, respectively, as judge of the first, second and third branch."

Section 8 Section twenty of the same Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 20. The Assistant City Attorneys.

SEC. 8. Section twenty of the same Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 20. The Assistant City Attorneys.—The city attorney shall have two assistants who shall each receive a compensation as follows: the first assistant, three thousand six hundred pesos, and the second assistant, three thousand pesos."

Section 9

SEC. 9. A new section is inserted between sections twenty-three and twenty-four of the same Act, to be known as section 23-A, which shall read as follows:

"SEC. 23-A. The Chief of the Fire Department.—There shall be a chief of the fire department who shall have charge of said department, and who shall have the following powers and duties:

"(a) He may issue supplementary regulations not incompatible with law or general regulations issued by the proper Department Head of the National Government in accordance with law, for the governance of the force.

"(b) He shall have charge of the fire-engine houses, fire-engines, hose carts, hooks and ladders, trucks, and all other fire-fighting apparatus.

"(c) He shall have police powers in the vicinity of fires.

"(d) He shall have authority to remove or demolish any building or other property whenever it shall become necessary to prevent the spreading of fire or to protect adjacent property.

"(e) He shall inspect all buildings erected or under construction or repair within the city and determine whether they provide sufficient protection against fire and comply with the ordinances relating thereto.

"'(f) He shall have charge of the city fire alarm service.

"(g) He shall supervise the manufacture, storage and use of petroleum, gas, acetylene, gun powder, and other highly combustible matter and explosives.

"(h) He shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law or ordinance."

Section 10

SEC. 10. Section thirty-four of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 34. Appointment and removal of officials and employees—Compensation.—The President shall appoint, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments! the judges and auxiliary judges of the Municipal Court! the city engineer, the city treasurer, the city assessor, the city attorney and his assistants, the chief of police, the chief of the fire department and the other heads of the city departments as may be created from time to time, and he may remove at pleasure any of the said appointive officers, except the judges and auxiliary judges of the Municipal Court, who may be removed only according to law.

"Subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law, the Mayor shall appoint all other officers and employees of the city whose appointment is not otherwise provided for by law. The Mayor may suspend and remove any appointive city officer or employee not appointed by the President, and may recommend to the President the suspension or removal of any city officer or employee appointed by him. Any suspension or removal by the Mayor shall be appealable to the proper Head of Department, whose determination on the matter shall be final.

"The municipal judges and city attorney shall each receive six thousand pesos per annum. The city engineer and the city treasurer, whether acting or not as city assessor, shall each receive six thousand pesos per annum. The chief of police, the city superintendent of schools and the chief of the fire department shall each receive a compensation of not more than five thousand one hundred pesos per annum.

"The compensation of other officers and employees of the city shall be determined by ordinance and approved by the proper Head of Department."

Section 11

SEC. 11. Sections thirty-six and thirty-eight of the same Act are amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 36. The General Auditing Office.—The Auditor General, shall, directly or through an auditor for the City of Davao, who shall be appointed by him, receive and audit all accounts of the city, in accordance with the provisions of law relating to the Government accounts and accounting. Said city auditor shall have the rank of a city department head and shall receive a salary of not more than five thousand four hundred pesos per annum, payable from the funds of the city."

"SEC. 38. The Bureau of Public Schools.—The Director of Public Schools shall have the same jurisdiction and exercise the same powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines, and the city superintendent of schools shall have all the powers and duties in respect to the schools of the city as are vested in division superintendents in respect to the schools of their divisions.

"A city school board of six members, two of whom shall be women, and who shall serve without salary, shall be selected and removed in the same manner, and shall have the same powers and duties, as local school boards in municipalities.

"The City Council shall have the same powers in respect to the establishment of schools in the City of Davao as are conferred by law on municipal councils."

Section 12

SEC. 12. A new section is inserted between sections forty-seven and forty-eight of the same Act, to be known as section 47-A, which shall read as follows:

"SEC. 47-A. Right of city to vote in election of Governor and Members of the Provincial Board of the Province of Davao.—The qualified voters of the City of Davao shall be entitled to vote in the election of the Provincial Governor and Members of the Provincial Board of the Province of Davao."

Section 13

SEC. 13. The provisions of Commonwealth Acts Numbered Four hundred and nine and Four hundred and twenty-four to the contrary notwithstanding, there shall be a city attorney and a city engineer for the City of Davao.

Section 14

SEC. 14. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 18, 1955.