Section 18
SEC. 18. The president shall be the chief executive of the municipality. (a) He shall cause the ordinances of the municipality to be executed, and shall supervise the discharge of official duties by all subordinates. (b) He shall examine and inspect the books, records, and papers of every officer or agent employed by the municipality. (c) He shall issue orders relating to the police or to public safety, and orders for the purpose of avoiding conflagrations, floods, and the effects of storms or other public calamities. (d) He shall draw warrants upon the municipal treasurer for the legitimate payments authorized by the council. (e) He shall assist the provincial treasurer and his deputies in the collection of taxes. (f) He shall, with the assistance of the municipal treasurer, one councilor, and the secretary, hold such public auctions as may be authorized by the council. (g) He shall hold a court to hear and adjudge alleged violations of public ordinances, upon complaint filed by his direction, or by a police officer, or a private citizen; and, after due trial in which the accused and his witnesses shall be heard, shall, upon conviction, impose such punishment, either by admonition or by fine and imprisonment, or both, in his discretion, as is provided in subsection (dd) of section thirty-nine. (h) Fines shall be paid in coin to the treasurer of the municipality, upon the order of the president, and the municipal officer shall issue a receipt therefor, which shall be countersigned by the president, who shall, upon countersigning it, record the payment of the same in the docket hereinafter prescribed in paragraph (j). (i) Provided, That if the charge be against a municipal officer or employee for violating his official duty, the president shall have jurisdiction to suspend him, pending action on such violation by the municipal council; and if a line is imposed against such officer, it may be collected by withholding the requisite amount from such salary as is or may hereafter become due to him. (j) The president shall keep a docket of the trials held under the preceding paragraph, in which shall be recorded in a summary manner the name of the defendant, the charge against; him and the name of the prosecuting witness, the date of the arrest, the date of the trial, the presence of the defendant, and the nature of the judgment, together with the tines collected, if any, in accordance with the judgment, A docket with proper blanks for entry of required details shall be furnished to the president by the provincial governor, and the cost of the same shall be paid out of the treasury of the municipality. (k) He shall recommend to the municipal council at, any time such measures connected with the public health, cleanliness, or ornament of the municipality or the improvement of its finances as he shall deem expedient. He shall preside at all meetings of the municipal council and shall sign its journal; but he shall not vote, except in case of a tie, when he shall give the casting vote. He shall approve ordinances adopted by the municipal council, unless he shall consider them prejudicial to the public welfare, in which case he shall veto them; but the council may pass an ordinance over the veto of the president by a two-thirds vote of all its members, in which case it shall be valid without the signature of the president. If the president shall not either approve or veto an ordinance within five days of its adoption, it shall become a law. (l) He shall appoint, by and with the consent of the majority of all the members of the council, the municipal treasurer, municipal secretary and all non-elective officers and employees that may be provided for by law or by ordinance; and at any time, for cause, he may suspend any such officer or employee for a period not exceeding ten days, which suspension may be continued for a longer period by the council; and, by and with the consent of a majority of all the members of the council, he may discharge any such officer or employee. (m) He shall make all nominations at the first meeting of the council after his election, except for those offices in which a vacancy may occur during his term. In case the council shall reject any of the nominations made by him, then it shall he his duty, at the next regular meeting of the council, to submit the names of other persons for appointment. In case a vacancy occurs in any of the above-named offices during the term of office of the president, he shall submit a nomination to the council at the first regular meeting after the occurrence of the vacancy. (n) During the month of December of each year the president shall prepare and make out in duplicate an annual report, in which he shall set forth the most important events which have occurred in the municipality within the current year. One copy of the report shall be filed in the office of the municipal secretary and the other shall be submitted to the council and thereafter forwarded to the provincial governor on or before the fifteenth day of the following January. (o) He is authorized to use as a symbol of office a black cylindrical cane, with gold head, gilt ferule and silver cord and tassels.