Department governor; powers and duties.
Section 8
SEC. 8. Department governor; powers and duties.—It shall be the duty and within the power of the department governor: (a) General supervision.—To have supervision and supervision, control over the various offices of the department, the provincial governments, and other political subdivisions thereof. (b) Execution of laws.—To see that the laws are faith- -execution of iaW5. fully executed by all officers of the department, provinces, and municipalities. (c) Provincial and municipal police.—To have control, through the various provincial governors and the municipal presidents, of the provincial and municipal police. (d) Constabulary.—To direct, through the district chief -constabulary, of Constabulary, the, use and control of the Constabulary within the Department of Mindanao and Sulu; and whenever public interests require, to withdraw the Constabulary from one province or municipality for use in another. (e) Inspection of provinces.—To visit at least once in every six months every province within the department. (f) Appointments.—To appoint all department officers, except as herein otherwise provided, and to fix their salaries within the limitations provided by law subject to the approval of the administrative council. (g) Suspensions and removals.—To suspend from office any officer or employee of the department, or political subdivision thereof, subject to the provisions and limitations of paragraph (d) of section six hereof. (h) Governor-General, report to.—To discharge the duties of his office under the general supervision and control of the Governor-General to whom he shall make a report of the conditions of the department at the end of each fiscal year, recommending such measures as he may deem necessary for the betterment of the department, and perform such other duties as the Governor-General may require of him. (i) Land tax, remission of collection.—To remit, subject to the approval of the Governor-General, the collection of the land tax in whole or in part for a period not exceeding one year at a time in any province organized hereunder or any part thereof in which he deems the public interest demands such action, other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding. (j) Appropriations.—To approve or disapprove in whole or in part any provincial appropriation, subject to appeal to the Governor-General. (k) Lawsuits.—To direct, in his discretion, the bringing or defense of suits on behalf of the department, provincial, and municipal governments and to compromise the same upon the recommendation of the attorney and the approval of the judge of first instance for the district. (I) Deposit of public funds in a bank.—To authorize the treasurer to deposit so much of the funds belonging to the department or to provincial and municipal governments as may not be needed in the near future for public use in a bank of deposit of approved standing in the Islands; and any interest paid on such deposits shall inure to the benefit of the respective treasury of the department, province, or municipality, as the case may be. (m) Boundary lines of provinces, and so forth.—Subject to the approval of the Governor-General, to enlarge, contract, or otherwise change, by executive order, whenever in his judgment the public welfare requires it, the boundary of any province, subprovince, municipality, or any other political subdivision within the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, or separate any such subdivision into such portions as may be required as aforesaid, merge any of such subdivisions or portions with another, name any new subdivision so created, change the seat of government within any subdivision, existing or created hereunder, to such place therein as the public interests require, and shall fix in such executive order the date when the change, merger, separation, or other action shall take effect. Whenever such action as aforesaid creates a new political subdivision, the department governor shall appoint such officers for the new subdivision with such powers and duties as may be required by the existing provisions of law applicable to the case and fix their salaries, subject to the limitations provided in this Act. Such equitable distribution of the funds of changed subdivisions between the subdivisions affected shall be made as is recommended by the district auditor and approved by the department governor. (n) Capture of criminals; offer of reward.—To offer, or to grant authority to the provincial governor of any province organized under this Act, or the district chief of Constabulary for the Department of Mindanao and Sulu to offer, a reward not exceeding one thousand pesos, for information leading to the capture and conviction of a member of a band of brigands, or of the perpetrator of any murder or robbery or of any crime, or for information leading to the capture of an escaped convict. (o) Administrative investigations.—To investigate, whenever he deems it necessary for the good of the public service, any action or conduct of any person or persons in the service of the department, or any of the provinces, municipalities, or other political subdivisions therein established, and designate a suitable person to make such investigation and to take the testimony of any person or persons which, in his judgment, may be relevant thereto and may detail or authorize the said person designated to procure stenographers and interpreters to assist in the same. Such person so designated shall have such full power to subpoena witnesses and require the production of documentary evidence and to administer oaths to witnesses as is possessed by Courts of First Instance in criminal actions and may invoke the summary process of such courts for the punishment of contempts in failure, except for good reasons, to appear or to produce documentary evidence or to give testimony. All interpreters acting in any such proceeding shall be sworn well and truly to interpret between the counsel, the witnesses, and the person so designated, and the stenographers shall be sworn to make a true transcript of the testimony given on such proceeding. (p) Parole of prisoners.—To authorize and direct, subject of prisoners, to the approval of the Governor-General, the discharge from custody, whenever he thinks best, of any person convicted of crime in any court within the Department of Mindanao and Sulu and suspend the sentence of such convict without granting a pardon, and prescribe the terms upon which a convict so paroled shall have his sentence suspended. Upon the failure of any convict to observe the conditions of his parole, to be determined by the department governor, the latter shall have authority to direct the arrest and return of such convict to custody, and thereupon said convict shall be required to carry out the sentence of the court as though no parole had been granted him, the time between the parole and subsequent arrest not being taken as a part of the term of his sentence in computing the period of his confinement. (q) Condemnation proceedings.—To determine for and in behalf of the government of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu and of any political subdivision thereof when it is necessary or advantageous to exercise the right of eminent domain. He may, in his discretion, direct the department attorney to cause condemnation proceedings to be begun in the court having jurisdiction. The right of condemnation or eminent domain herein granted shall otherwise be exercised in accordance with general laws at the time being in force. (r) Harbor lines, to harves, and so forth.—To establish by executive order harbor lines in the department beyond which no piers, wharves, bulkheads, or other works shall be extended or deposits made, except under such regulations as he may prescribe from time to time, and to control and regulate the use of, or to operate, all piers, wharves, bulkheads, and other like improvements together with their arrastre plants and other equipment for the public service. (s) Rides for general welfare.—Ho make and prescribe, and from time to time to change, with the approval of the administrative council, such rules and regulations as he in his discretion may deem most conducive to the public interest, the security of life and property, and the general welfare. It shall not be necessary that such rules and regulations be uniform for the entire department, but they may be different for each political subdivision. Such rules and regulations may provide penalties not exceeding a fine of two hundred pesos or six months' imprisonment or both. Such rules and regulations may be suspended, modified, or annulled by the Philippine Commission. (t) Elections, postponed.—To postpone, by executive order, any provincial or municipal election hereinafter provided, subject to the approval of the Governor-General. (u) Assistance of United States troops.—To secure the enforcement of law and order in cases of resistance to lawful authority or disturbances of the peace which in his opinion the Constabulary and municipal police are unable, or find it difficult, to suppress, by notifying the Governor-General who may, in his discretion, request the assistance of the Army of the United States except that in localities where there is no telegraphic communication with Manila, the department governor may, in great emergencies, make a direct call upon the commander of the United States military forces stationed in the province, notifying the Governor-General immediately of such action.