Of the auxiliary judges, their duties, residences and salaries.
Section 4
SEC. 4. Of the auxiliary judges, their duties, residences and salaries.—There are hereby created, in addition to the positions of district judges, seven positions of auxiliary judges of Courts of First Instance who shall receive compensation at the rate of seven thousand pesos per annum each, payable monthly, and whose duty it shall be to assist the district judges in the dispatch of all cases of the competency of the judges of Courts of First Instance under existing law, as well as in the dispatch of land registration cases, as provided for in this Act, and to substitute the district judges in cases of absence, illness, or incapacity of the same. All acts, proceedings, and sentences executed or pronounced by the auxiliary judges in the performance of their duties shall be as valid as if they had been executed by the judge of the district in whose place they are acting: Provided, That each of the said auxiliary judges shall be appointed for one of the groups of judicial districts hereinafter established, and shall not act in any district not included within the group designated in his commission, except in cases of substitution hereinafter provided in this section: Provided, further, That the auxiliary judges shall hold Courts of First Instance, like the district judges, in their respective places of residence for the dispatch of cases assigned to them by the proper district judges, so long as their services are not required outside of their respective residences: Provided, further, That no special designation by the Secretary of Finance and Justice shall be required in order that an auxiliary judge may act in any district in the proper group, but a request by any of the district judges requiring his services, or notification in cases of absence, illness, or incapacity of the same, shall be sufficient, a report to be made of it in each case to the Secretary of Finance and Justice: And provided, lastly, That in cases of absence or illness of an auxiliary judge, his duties may be performed by any of the other auxiliary judges upon the written order of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, only so long as the cause resulting in such substitution shall last. For the purposes of the distribution of the auxiliary of Courts of First Instance, seven groups shall be formed of the judicial districts created by virtue of this Act: The first group shall be composed of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Judicial Districts; the second group, of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth districts; the third group, of the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Districts; the fourth group of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Districts; the fifth group of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Districts; the sixth group of the Seventeenth, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Districts; and the seventh group of the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Districts. The auxiliary judge of the Courts of First Instance of the first group shall have his legal residence in the capital of the Province of Ilocos Sur; the auxiliary judge of the Courts of First Instance of the second group shall have his legal residence in the capital of the Province of Pangasinan; the one of the third group, in the city of Manila; the one of the fourth, in the capital of the Province of Albay; the one of the fifth, in the city of Cebu; the one of the sixth, in the city of Iloilo; and the one of the seventh, in the municipality of Zamboanga, Department of Mindanao and Sulu.