Supreme Court E-Library
Information At Your Fingertips

  View printer friendly version

Be it enacted by the National Assembly of the Philippines:

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Charter of the Four Special Municipalities of the Province of Romblon," and the special municipalities of Tablas, Sibuyan, Romblon, and Maghali, are created thereunder, and the existing provincial government and the governments of die eleven municipalities of the Province of Romblon are abolished.

TITLE I. - GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 2. Territory of each special municipality. - The special municipality of Tablas shall include all the territory of die municipalities of Radajoz, Despujols, Odiongan, and Looc; that of Sibuyan shall include all the territory of all the municipalities of Cajidiocan, Magdiwang, and San Fernando; that of Romblon shall include all the territory now belonging to the municipality of Romblon; and that of Maghalis shall include all the territory of the municipalities of Jones, Concepcion, and Corcuera.

SEC. 3. Corporate character of each special municipality. - Each special municipality constitutes a political body corporate endowed with the attribute of perpetual succession, and upon its organization, it shall possess and exercise, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, all the powers and authority which pertain to a municipal corporation .

SEC. 4. Seal and general powers of each special municipality. - Each special municipality shall have a seal and may alter the same at pleasure.

It may take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey and dispose of real and personal property for the general interests of the special municipality, condemn private property for public use, enter into contracts, sue and be sued, prosecute aid defend itself to final judgnent and execution, and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred.

SEC. 5. The four special municipalities are not liable for damages. - The special municipalities shall notbeliable for damages or injuries to persons or property arising from the failure of their mayors, municipal councils or any other municipal officer, to enforce the provisions of this Charter, or any other law or ordinance or for die negligence of said mayors, municipal councils or any other municipal officer while enforcing or attempting to enforce said provisions.

SEC. 6. Police jurisdiction of the special municipality.- The jurisdiction of each special municipality, exclusively for police purposes, shall extend three mile from the shore in tn the sea.

SEC. 7. Province of Romblon - Assembly District. Its ex-officio Governor.- The four special municipalities shall continue to form the Province of Romblon and its only Assembly Ed strict to the National Assembly. The Secretary of the Interior shall be the ex-officio governor of the Province.

The Province of Romblon as a territorial unit, shall continue to enjoy and receive the same limits, privileges, and emoluments granted by the National Government to any other provinces, which shall be distributed proportionately and equitably among the four special municipalities on the basis of the number of their inhabitants. For this purpose, the present services shall be maintained and continued to be rendered by: (a) The Office of the Engineer of the Bureau of Public Works; (b) that of the Superintends of the Bureau of Education; and (c) the Constabulary detachment, as well as the respective subordinate personnel now existing, the salary of which is paid out of the funds of the National Government.

The appointment of all the officers and employees of these offices shall be dane in the sane manner as it is done at the present time.

There shall be a Register of Deeds for the Province of Romblon.who shall act at the sane time as provincial fiscal appointed by the President. His salary shall not exceed P3,000 annually, which shall be appropriated annually in the General Appropriation Act of the National Government aid included in the appropriations for the Department of Justice.

The above-mentioned officers shall have their residences and hold office in the special municipality of Romblon.

All the obligations of the Province of Romblon and the present municipalities of the same which are outstanding at the time of the organization of the special municipalities created by this Act, shall be assumed by the latter on the basis of an equitable distribution to be made by the Auditor General with the approval of the President of the Philippines.

TITLE II. - THE MAYOR

SEC. 8. Appointment and compensation. - Each special municipality shall have a mayor who shall be its chief executive and shall reside in the respective special municipality, shall be appointed by the President, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, and shall hold office at the discretion of the President, unless in the general elections for local officers following his appointment, a majority of the electorate of his municipality should vote against his continuation in office.

This form of recall shall be undertaken successively in all the general elections for the election of local officers. The official ballots to be used in these special municipalities shall contain the following question:

Do you accept the continuation in office of the Mayor?

The answer, 'Yes' or 'No' shall be written within the rectangle appearing opposite the question, and the boards of election inspectors shall make the counting of the votes cast aid thereafter shall make the affirmative and negative votes appear in their separate returns, which shall be sent or delivered to the Secretary of the Municipal Council not later than twenty-four hours after they are signed by the election inspectors.

The Municipal Council shall make the final counting of the votes appearing in the election returns received from the boards of inspectors arid shall certify the result thereof to the President of the Philippines who will appoint another mayor, if the result of the election is adverse to the incumbent.

The mayor of the municipality of Tablas shall receive a salary not exceeding one thousand eight hundred pesos annually.

Those of the special municipalities of Sibuyan, Bomblon, and Maghali, shall each receive a salary not exceeding one thousand two hundred pesos annually.

At the time of the organization of the special municipalities, the Secretary of the Interior shall recommend to the President of die Philippines the salary each mayor of these four special municipalities shall receive temporarily until the respective municipal councils, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, have appropriated and approved in their general appropriation ordinance the respective salary.

SEC. 9. The acting mayor. - In the event of inability or absence of the mayor, or in die event of a definite vacancy in die position, the municipal treasurer shall perform the duties of the mayor until the position is filled in accordance with law. In the even t of inability of this officer to perform die duties of the mayor, die President shall appoint one for the position. The acting mayor shall have die same powers and duties as the mayor and if die person appointed is not an officer of the Government he shall receive the same compensation.

SEC. 10. General powers and duties of the mayor. - As the chief executive of the municipal government, the mayor shall have immediate control of the executive and administrative functions of the Secretary of the Interior, and shall be responsible for the proper administration of the affairs of the municipality. He shall have the following powers and duties:

1. To comply widi, enforce and give the necessary orders for the faithful enforcement and execution of the laws and ordinances in effect within the jurisdiction of the municipality;
   
2. To safeguard all the lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits, and other property aid rights of the municipality and have control of all its property;
   
3. To see that all taxes and other revalues of the municipality are collected and the municipal funds applied in accordance with appropriations to the payment of municipal expenses;
   
4. To cause to be instituted judicial proceedings to recover property and funds of the municipality wherever found.
   
5. To cause to be defended all suits against die municipality, and otherwise to protect the interests of the sane;
   
6. To see that the officials and employees of the municipality properly discharge their respective duties;
   
7. To examine and inspect the books, records, and documents in charge or under the custody of the officers, agents, and anployees of the municipality whenever occasion arises, at least once a year. For this purpose, the municipal council shall provide him with the needed office personnel or assistance that may be necessary;
   
8. To give such information and recommend such measures to the council as he shall deem advantageous to the inhabitants of the municipality;
   
9. To represent the municipality in all its business matters, and sign on its behalf all its bonds, contracts, and obligations made in accordance with law or ordinance;
   
10. To submit to the municipal council before die thirtieth day of April of each year a budget of receipts and expenditures of die municipal government;
    
11. To receive, hear and decide, as he may deem proper, the petitions, canplaints and claims concerning all classes of municipal matters of an administrative or executive character;
    
12. To grant or refuse municipal licenses or permits of all classes and to revoke sane, in conformity with die provisions of law or ordinance, for violation of the conditions upon which they were granted, or i f acts punished by law or municipal ordinance are being committed under the protection of such licenses or in the premises in v-hich the business for which the same had been granted is carried on, or for any other good reason of general interest;
    
13. To determine according to law or ordinance the time, manner and place of payment of the salaries and wages of the officers and employees of the municipality;
    
14. To exempt, with the concurrence of the division superintendent of schools, deserving poor pupils from the payment of school fees or any part thereof;
    
15. To make all appointments, except as otherwise provided in this Charter;
    
16. To take such emergency measures as may be deemed necessary to avoid fires, floods, and the effect of storms and other public calamities;
    
17. To render an annual report to the Secretary of the Interior;
    
18. To exercise the power of veto, bu t any vetoed ordinance or resolution except those appropriating funds, may be repassed by a two-third vote of all the members of the council;
    
19. To veto separate items of die general appropriation ordinance and others appropriating funds, which veto shall be appealable to the ex-officio governor;
    
20. To appoint, at the recommendation of the respective council member, a barrio lieutenant and his substitute in each one of the barrios composing his special municipality;
    
21. To perform such other duties and exercise such other executive powers as are prescribed by law ur ordinance.

The mayor of the special municipality of Tablas shall hold office for the performance of his functions and duties once a week in the municipal building of each one of the existing municipalities of Badajoz, Despujols, Odiongan, and Looc. The mayor of the special municipality of Sibuyan shall hold office for the performance of his functions and duties twice a week in the municipal building of each one of the existing municipalities of San Fernando, Cajidiocan, and Magdiwang. The mayor of die special municipality of Maghali shall hold office for the performance of his duties and functions in the municipal building of each one of the existing municipalities of Concepcion, Corcuera, and Jones, as frequently as possible.

SEC. 11. Secretary to the mayor. - The mayor shall appoint one secretary, with the approval of the municipal council, Who shall have the following duties:

1. He shall act as chief clerk to the mayor;
   
2. He shall act as secretary, without additional compensation, of the Council, 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;
   
3. He shall have the corporate seal under his custody,
   
4. He shall perform such other functions as the mayor or council may direct.

TITLE III. - THE COUNCIL
SEC. 12. Establishment and organization of the council. - The council of the special municipality of Tablas shall be composed of six elective members, and those of Sibuyan, Romblon, and Maghali, four members each, one of whom shall be elected by the electors of the municipality and shall be the president of the council, and the other members shall be elected by the voters of each one of the districts of each special municipality, as follows:

The special municipality of Tablas shall be divided into five districts: the first district shall constitute the municipality of Badajoz, the second district shall constitute the municipality of Despujols, the third district shall constitute the municipality oi Odiongan, the fourth district shall constitute the municipality of Looc.with the exception of the barrios of Agcogon, Agpjo, Guinbirayan, Lanas, and Santa Fe, which shall constitute the fifth district.

The special municipality of Bomblon shall be divided into three municipal districts: the first district shall be composed of the barrios of Mad, Bagacay, Capaclan, Logbon, Nagoso, and the town of Romblon; the second district shall be composed of the barrios of Agnay, Agiipa, Agpanabat, Ginablan, Lonos, Lunas, Macalas, Mapula, Palgi, and Sawang; and the third district shall be composed of the barrios of Agbaluto, Agbudia, Agnaga, Agtongo, Cajimos, Calabogo, Guinpingan, Ilauran, Lamao, Li-o, Sablayan, and Tanbac.

The special municipality of Sibuyan shall be divided in to three districts: the first district shall constitute the municipality of Magdiwang; the second district shall constitute the municipality of Cajidiocan; and the third district shall constitute the municipality of San Fernando.

The special municipality of Maghali shall be divided into three districts: the first district shall constitute the municipality of Concepcion; the second district shall constitute the municipality of Corcuera; and the third district shall constitute the municipali ty of Jones.

Said special municipalities shall be organized on the first day of July, 1940, and for that purpose, the members of each council shall Le appointed by die President, with the consait of the Commission on Appointmen ts of the National Assembly, and shall hold office until their successors shall have been elected and qualified. The election of the manbers of each council shall be held in the general elections for municipal offices in the month of December, 1940, and successively in each general election for municipal officers and shall assume office on the first day of January of the following year.

With the exception of the members of the council of the special municipality of Bomblon, each member of the council of the other special municipalities, shall have, besides his functions as member of the council of his respective district, the following duties:

1. He shall be the chairman of the municipal board on large cattle, which shall have the deputy treasurer and the chief or assistant chief of police as manbers.
   
2. In the absence of the justice of the peace, he shall conduct investigations of urgent character in cases of serious crimes and adninister oath on the sworn statements of witnesses in criminal cases and issue certificates in the absence of the mayor, of the cattle sought to be shipped to any other island of the Philippines.
   
3. To inspect die barrios composing hi s district, and once a month, to call all the barrio lieutenants of his district to a meeting on the date and place he may designate, to consider matters affecting the barrios, and the suggestions and recommendations the meeting may deem wise to transmit to the council through him.

Any member of the council who is a candidate for office in any election,shall not be competent to act with the council in the discharge of its duties, end 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 municipality to act in his stead.

The members shall reside in the jurisdiction of their respective municipality, and shall have the status and rank of provincial officers of a regularly organized province.

The chairman of the council shall preside at all sessions in which he is present and shall have the right to vote in all matters submitted to it. In his absence, the member designated by him shall preside at the sessions of the council as acting chairman. The Chairman of the council shall sign the ordinances, resolutions and motions directing the payment of money or creating liability. In case of absence or illness of any member of the council, or if, for any reason, it shall become necessary to have a quorum, the President of the Philippines shall appoint temporarily a substitute, who shall hold the office, have the rights, receive, the compensation and emoluments and discharge all the duties of a member of the council until such absent or sick member returns to duty.

The treasurer-assessor of the special municipality shall be ex-officio member of the municipal council without additional compensation. The other members shall each receive a per diem of not less than five pesos nor more than ten pesos for each day of attendance at the sessions of the council which per diem shall be fixed by the council with the approval of the. Secretary of the Interior. In case of disapproval, the Secretary of the Interior shall fix the per diem which he may deen just or reasonable, but in no case shall it be less than five pesos: Provided, That the chairman of the council shall receive twenty-five per cent more than the per diem fixed for each member.

The council shall fix the times and places for its regular meetings, which shall be held once a week, and shall hold special meetings when called by the mayor. Any meeting, regular or special, may, in case the amount of business shall require, be adjourned from day to day until the business is completed.

Meetings shall be open to the public, unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members. The council shall keep a record of its proceedings and determine its rules of procedure not herein set forth. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time. 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 my other motion or resolution.

The affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council of each municipality shall be necessary for the passage of any ordinance, or any resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, but other measures shall be passed by the majority vote of the members present at any meeting duly called aid held.

Each ordinance shall be sealed with the seal of the municipality, signed by the mayor and the secretary of the council, and recorded in a book kept for that purpose. Regarding any ordinance which has been vetoed by the mayor and reapproved by the council, the date of the veto and the date of the reapproval shall be recorded in the book.

Every ordinance shall, on the day following its passage, be posted by the secretary at. the main entrance of the municipal building and the municipal district buildings, and shall take effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following its passage unless otherwise stated in said ordi- nance or resolution or vetoed by the mayor before the expiration of said ten-day period. A vetoed ordinance, if repassed by the council, shall take effect ten days after the veto is overidden by a tvio-third vote of all the members of the council unless another date be fixed in such resolution or ordinance.

SEC. 13. Duties of the secretary of the council. - The secretary of the council shall take charge of the records of the council. He shall keep a complete record of the proceedings of the council and file all the documents regarding the same, end shall record in a book kept for the purpose, all the ordinances and all the resolutions and motions directing the payment of money or creating liability, with the dates of their approval and the publication of the ordinances; shall keep a seal, circular in ibim, with the inscription: "Council of the Municipal Government of and shall affix the same with his signature to all ordinaices and other official resolutions of the council end shall present the same to the chairman for his signature; shall have every approved ordinance published in the national language, and in the dialect generally used, if the council should deem it necessary, as well as in English or Spanish, according to the language employed at the time of its approval by the council; shall furnish, upon request, certified copies of any record of public character which he may have under his custody, and shall collect and receive for the sane the fees vihich the council may, by resolution, prescribe; and shall have his office and all the records thereof, except those of confidential character, open to public inspection during the ordinary office hours.

SEC. 14. Appropriations by the council. - The Council shall make all the appropriations for the expenses of the local government, based oi the budget submitted by the mayor on or before May 31, of the current year. It shall fix the salaries of the municipal officers and employees, except those of the public school teachers. Whenever the council fails to approve an appropriation ordinance for any fiscal year, the appropriation ordinance for the previous fiscal year shall be considered reenacted, and shall take effect on the first day of July of the current year as Eppropriation ordinance until a new appropriation ordinance is duly enacted.

Any appropriation ordinance shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of Finance, whose decision shall be final: Provided, That, if the Secretary of Finance shall fail to act on it before it takes effect, such ordinance shall be considered approved. !

SEC. 15. Method of transacting business by the council -Veto - Authentication and publication of ordinances. - Unless the ex-officio Governor shall order otherwise, the council shall hold regular session once a week, for the transaction of the business of the council, on days which it shall fix by resolution, and such special sessions, not ex-ceeding ten during any one year as may be called by the mayor. It shall sit wi th open doors, unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of the members present. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and determine its rules of procedure. Any ordinance enacted by the council and every resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating a li abili ty 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 tie 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 wiiting shall accompany it. Then it may again be enacted by the affirmative vote of two-thirds oi the members of the council.

SEC. 16. General powers and duties of the council. - Except as otherwise provided by law, and subject to the conditions and limitations thereof, the council shall have the following legislative powers;

1. To levy and collect taxes for general and special purposes in accordance with law.
   
2. To fix the schedule of fees for services rendered by the municipality or any of its departments, branches or offices.
   
3. To provide for the erection, maintenance and rental of the necessary buildings for the use of the special municipality.
   
4. To provide for the establishment and maintenance of free public schools, at least, for intermediate instruction.
   
5. To establish or aid in the establishment and maintenance of vocational schools and institutions of higher learning conducted by the National Government or any of its subdivisions and branches, and with the approval of the Director erf Education, to fix reasonable tuition fees for instruction in the vocational school.
   
6. To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a police force in the municipality and enact the necessary police ordinances, with a view to the confinement and reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons,mendicants, and persons convicted for the violation of any of the ordinances of the special municipality.
   
7. To establish fire zones,determine the kinds of buildings or structures that may be erected within the limits of said zones, regulate the manner of their construction and repair, and fix the fees for permits for the construction, repair or demolition of buildings aid structures.
   
8. To establish aid maintain fire stations,fire engines, hose carts, hooks and ladders and other equipment for the prevention and oxtin guishmen t of fires, to regulate the handling and use of the same and to provide personnel therefor.
   
9. To regulate the use of light in stables, shops and other buildings and places, and to regulate and restrict the issuance of peimits for the building of bonfires and the use of firecrackers, fireworks, torpedoes, candles, skyrockets, and other pyrotechnic displays, and to fix the fees for such permits.
   
10. To issue regulations to protect the public from conflagrations and to prevent and mitigate the effect of fanine, floods, storms and other public calamities, end to provide reliefs for persons suffering from the same.
    
11.   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, onbalmers, 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, circus other similar parades, public vehicles, race tracks,horse races, bowling alleys, shooting galleries, slot machines, merry-go-rounds, pawnshops, dealers in second haid merchandise, junk dealers, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, money changers aid brokers, public femes, theaters, theatrical performaices, 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. To levy taxes and fix the license fees for (a) dealers in new automobiles or accessories thereof, or both; and (b) retail dealers in new merchandise not yet subject to the payment of any municipal tax. For taxation purposes, these retail dealers shall be divided into the following classes: (1) retail dealers engaged exclusively in the sale of (a) textiles, including kni tted wares; (b) hardwares, including glass wares, cooking utensils, electrical goods and construction materials; (c) groceries; (d) drugs, including medicines and perfumery; (e) books, including stationery, paper and office supplies; ( f) jewelry; (g) slippers; (h) aims, munitions and sporting goods.
    
12. To tax, fix the license fee for, regulate the business and fix the location of, match factories, blacksmith shops, foundries, steam boilers, lumber-yards, shipyards, the storage and sale of gun powder, tar, pitch, resin, coal, oil, gasoline, benzine, turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitroglicerine, petroleum, or any of the products thereof, and of all other highly combustible or explosive materials, and other establishments likely to endanger the public safety or give rise to conflagrations or explosions, and, subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Bureai of Health, in accordance with law, tanneries, lard factories, tallow chandleries, bone factories and soap factories.
    
13.   To impose tax on automobiles aid other vehicles, and draft animals not paying any national tax: Provided, That all automobiles and trucks belonging to the National Government or to any provincial or municipal government, shall be exenpt from such tax.
    
14. To regulate the method of using stean engines and boilers, and all other motive powers other than marine or not belonging to the Governments of the United States or of the Philippines; to provide for the inspection thereof, and fix a reasonable fee for such inspection and to regulate and fix the fees for the licenses of the engineers engaged in operating the same.
    
15. To enact ordinances for the maintenance and preservavation of peace and good morals.
    
16. To regulate aid fix the license fees for the keeping of dogs and authorize, their impounding and destruction when running at large contrary to ordinances, and to tax and regulate the keeping or training of fighting cocks.
    
17. To establish and maintain municipal pounds; to regulate, restrain and prohibit the running at large of domestic animals, and provide for the distraining, impounding aid sale of the same for the penalty incurred and the costs of the proceedings; aid to impose penalties upon the owners of said animals for the violation of any ordinance in relation thereto.
    
18. To prohibit and pit)vide for the punishment of cruelty to animals.
    
19. To regulate the inspection, weighing and measuring of brick, lumber, coal and other articles of merchandise.
    
20. To provide for the laying out, construction and improvement and to regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, wharves, piers, parks, cemeteries end other public places; to provide for lighting, cleaning and sprinkling of streets aid public places; to regulate and fix the license fees for setting signs, signposts, awning posts, the carrying or displaying of banners, placards, advertisements or handbills,or the flying of signs, flags or banners, whether along, across, over or from buildings, or along the same; to prohibit the placing, throwing, depositing or leaving of obstacles of any kind, offal, garbage, refuse or other matters liable to cause damage in the streets and other public places; aid to provide for the collection and disposition thereof; to provide for the inspection of, fix the license fees for, and regulate the opening in the same for the laying of gas, water, sewer, end other pipes, the building and repair of tunnels, sewers and drains and all structures in and under the sane, and the erecting of poles and the stringing of wires therein; to provide for and regulate crosswalks, curbs and gjtters therein; to name streets without a name and provide for aid regulate the numbering of houses and lots fronting thereon or in the interior of the Wocks; to regulate traffic aid sales upon the streets and other public places, to provide for the abatenent of nuisaices in the same and punish the authors or owners thereof; to provide for the construction and maintenance and regulate the use of bridges, viaducts and culverts; to prohibit or regulate ball playing, kite flying, hoop rolling and other amusements which may annoy persons using the streets and public places, or frighten horses or other animals within the limits of the special municipality; to regulate the lights used on vehicles, cars and locomotives; to regulate the locating, constructing and laying of the track of horse, electric, and other forms of railroad in the streets and other public places of the municipality authorized by law; to provide for and change the location, grade and crossings of railroads and to compel any such railroad to raise or lower its tracks to conform to such provisions or changes; and to require railroad companies to fence their property, or any part thereof, to provide suitable protection against injury to persons or property, and to construct and repair ditches, drains, sewers and culverts along and under their tracks so that the natural drainage of the streets and adjacent property shall not be obstructed.
    
21. To provide for the construction and maintenance of canals and regulate die navigation on water courses within the municipality end provide for the clearing and purification of the same; to provide for the construction and maintenance, and regulate the use, of public landing places, wharves, piers, docks and levees, and of those of private ownership; and to provide for and regulate the drainage and filling of private pranises whai necessary in the enforcement of sanitary ordinances approved in accordance with law.
    
22. To fix the charges to be paid by all water craft landing at or using public wharves, docks, levees, or landing places.
    
23. To provide for the maintenance of waterworks for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the special municipality, and for the purification of the source of supply and the places through which the sane passes, and to regulate the consumption and use of the water; to fix and provide for the collection of the rents or charges therefor, and to regulate the construction, repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns and reservoirs.
    
24. To provide for the establishment and maintenance and to reflate the use of public drains, sewers, latrines and cesspools.
    
25. Subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Bureau of Health in accordance with law, to provide for the establishment and maintenance, fix the fees for the use of and regulate, public stables, laundries and baths, aid public markets and slaughterhouses, and prohibit the establishment or operation within the limits of the municipality of public markets and slaughterhouses by aiy person, eitity, association or corporation other than the municipality.
    
    (aa) To regulate, inspect and provide measures preventing any discrimination or the exclusion of any race or races in or from any institution, establishmmt or service open to the public within the special municipality or in the sale or supply of gas, electricity or in the telephone and street railway service; to fix and regulate the rates thereof when they have not been so fixed and regulated by Acts of the National Asseubly; to reflate and provide for the inspection of oil gas, electric, telephone, and street railway conduits, mans, meters, and other apparatus and equipment, and provide for the condemnation, substitution or removal of the same when defective or dangerous.
    
    (bb) To declare, prevait and provide for the abatoiioit of nuisances; to regulate the ringing of bells and making of loud or unusual noises; to provide that owners, agents or tenants of buildings or premises keep and maintain the same in solitary condition, and that, in case of failure to do so after sixty days from the date of serving a written notice, the cost thereof to be assessed to the owner to the extent of not to exceed sixty per centum of the assessed value, which cost shall constitute a lien against the property; aid to regulate or prohibit or fix the license fees for the use of property on or near public ways, grounds or place, or elsewhere within the municipality, for a display of electric signs or the erection or maintenance of billboards or structures of whatever material, erected, maintained or used for the display of posters, sigis or other pictorial or reading matter, except signs displayed at the place or places where the profession or business advertised thereby is in whole or in part conducted.
    
    (cc) To provide for the enforcement of the rules and regulations of the Bureau of Health, and by ordinance, to prescribe penalties for violations of such rules and regulations.
    
    (dd) To extend its ordinances over all water courses within the special municipality, and three miles into the sea from the limits of said municipality, over any boat or other floating structures over its waters and, for the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply of the municipality, over all territory within the drainage area of such water supply and within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with the water service of the municipality.
    
    (ee) To regulate and levy taxes on cock fighting within the special municipality including the prohibition of admission into the establishments or places where cockfightings are held of minor children under the age of eighteen years: Provided, That no establishment for cockfighting shall be allowed to be built or constructed within the radius of two kilometers from the seat of the municipal government: Provided, further, That in the old municipalities now forming the four special municipalities of the Province of Romblon, cockfighting for three consecutive days shall be allowed to be held during the days of the celebration of their patron saints.
    
    (ff) To enact all ordinances it may deem necessary and proper for the sanitation and safety, the furth erance o f the prosperity and the promotion of the morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants, and such others as may be necessary to carry into effect and discharge the powers and duties conferred by this Charter, and to fix the penalties for the violation of ordinances, which shall not exceed a fine of two hundred pesos or six months imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment, for a single of tense.

SEC. 17. Restrictive provisions. - No commercial sign, signboard or billboard shall be erected or displayed on public lands, premises or buildings. If after due investigation and having given the owners an opportunity to be heard, the mayor shall decide that any sigi, signboard or billboard displayed or exposed to the public view is offensive to the sight or is otherwise a nuisance, he may order the removal of such sign, signboard or billboard, and if sane is not removed within ten days after lie has given such order, he may himself cause its removal, and the sign, sign-board or billboard shall thereupon be forfeited to the municipality, and the expenses incident to the removal thereof, I shall become a lawful charge against any person or property liable for the erection or display thereof.

SEC. 18. Other offices and their officers. - The existing justice of the peace courts shall be maintained and until provided by law, the judges presiding the same shall receive the sane compensation they are now receiving. There shall be a department of finance in charge of the municipal treasurer, who shall appoint his deputy treasurers end their respective personnel for the municipal districts, which were the old municipalities, including the ibnner municipality of Santa Fe, and in other places where the council may decide to establish; and a police department in charge of the chief of police, as well as other departments which may be established from time to time by law or ordinance duly enacted and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. While such departments have not been organized, the present officers of the municipal governments shall continue to discharge their respective duties and to receive their present compensation.

SEC. 19. Powers and duties of the engineer of the Province of Bomblon. - The engineer of the Province of Bomblon shall have charge of the department of engineering and public works of each special municipality. He shall have charge of all the surveying and engineering work of each special municipality and shall perfbim such services in connection with the national aid municipal public improvements in the province and special municipalities, or in connection with any work entered upon or projected by the special muncipality.or my department thereof, as may recjnre die skill and experience of a civil engineer. He shall ascertain, record, and establish the monuments for the survey of the municipality, and from these as s tarting point, he shall establish the boundaries and survey all the property of the municipality and also private property abutting on the same, whenever directed by the mayor; shall prepare and submit plans, maps, specifications and estimates for buildings, streets, bridges, docks and other public works, and supervise the construction and repair of the same; shall make such tests and inspection of engineering materials used in the construction and repair, as may be necessary to protect the municipality from the use of materials of a poor or dangerous quality; shall inspect and report upon the condition of public property and public works whenever reqiired by the mayor; shall have the care and custody of all public buildings viien erected, including markets and slaughterhouses and all buildings rented for the use of the municipality, and of any system now or hereafter established for lighting the streets, public places and public buildings of the municipality; shall prevent the encroachment of private buildings and fences on the streets and public places of the municipality; shall inspect and supervise the construction, repair, removal and safety of private buildings, and regulate and enforce the. numbering of houses in accordance with the ordinance of the municipality; shall have the care of all public streets, parks, and bridges; their maintenance, cleaning and sprinkling, and regulate the use of the same for all purposes as provided by ordinance; shall collect and dispose of all garbage, refuse, the contents of closets, vaults and cesspools and all other offensive and dangerous substances within the municipality; shall have the care and custody of all public docks, wharves, piers, levees and lending places when erected; shall have general supervision and inspection of all private cbeks, wharves, piers, levees and landing places and other property bordering on the harbor, rivers, creeks and waterways of the municipality, and shall issue permits for the construction, repair and removal of the same and enforce all ordinances relating thereto; shall have the care and custody of the public system of waterworks, sewers and all sources of water supply of the municipality, and shall maintain and regulate the use of the same in accordance with the ordinances relating thereto; shall inspect end regulate, subject to the approval of the mayor, the use of all private systems for supplying water to the municipality and its inhabitants, and all private sewers and their connections with the public sewer system. He shall file and preserve all maps, plans, notes of surveys and other papers and documents pertaining to his office. He shall have power, subject to the approval of the mayor, to cause buildings dangerous to the public to be made secure or torn down, and shall supervise and regulate the location and use of engines, boilers, forges and other maiufacturing end heating appliances in accordance with the law and ordinance relating thereto. He is authorized to charge at rates to be fixed by the council, with the approval of the Department Head, for sanitation and transportation services and supplies famished by his department.

With the previous approval of the mayor in each case, he may order the removal of buildings and structures erected in violation of the ordinances, or the removal of die materials employed in the construction or repair of any building or structure made in violation of said ordinances.

He shall supervise and direct for the account of die National Government the maintenance and repair works of the present national roads and those which may, from time to time, be declared as such by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications and die construction of other new roads.

SEC. 20. The chief of police. - There shall be in each special municipality a chief of police, who shall have the following general powers and duties:

1. He shall have charge of the organization, gavemmait, discipline and command of the police force aid that of the detective, if any.
   
2. He shall quell riots, disorders, disturbances of the peace, and shall arrest and prosecute violators of any law or ordinance; shall exercise poli ce supervi sion over all land and water within the jurisdiction of the municipality; shall have charge of the protection of the rights of persons and property wherever found within the jurisdiction of the municipality, and shall arrest when necessary to prevent the escape of the offender, violators of any law or ordinance, and all who obstruct or interfere with him in the discharge of his duty; shall have charge of the prison of the municipality and municipal districts, and be responsible for the safekeeping of all prisoners until they are released from custody in accordance with law, or delivered to the warden of the province.
   
3. He may take good and sufficient bail for the appearance before the justice of the peace of any person arrested for the violation of any municipal ordinance.
   
4. He shall have authority within the limits of the municipality to serve and execute criminal processes of any court; shall attend all sessions of the justice of the peace court,and shall, promptly and faithfully, execute all orders of the mayor and writs and processes of the justice of the peace court when placed in his hands for that purpose.

Assistant chiefs. - The special municipality of Tables shall have four assistant chiefs; that of Sibuyan, two, and that of Maghali,. These assistant chiefs may be delegated to perform the duties specified in the preceding paragraphs by the chief of police when the latter is in the performancei of his duties in the municipal districts.

SEC. 21- Peace officers. - The chief of police, assistant chiefs, all the municipal officers and all the members of the police force and the secret service shall be peace officers and all are authorized to serve and execute all processes of court to whomsoever directed within the jurisdiction or police limits of each municipality; and within the same territory, they may pursue and arrest any person found in suspicious places or under suspicious circumstances reasonably tending to show that such person has conraitted, or is about to commit, any crime or breach of peace; may arrest or cause to be arrested any offender when the offense is committed in the presence of a peace officer or within his view, and, in such pursuit or arrest, may enter any building or take into custody any person therein suspected of being concerned in such crime or breach of the peace, and any property suspected of having been stolen; they shall detain such person only until he can be brought before the proper court, and shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by lew or ordinance.

Whenever the mayor shall deem it necessary, to avert danger or to protect life and property, in case of riot, disturbance, or public calamity, or when he has reason to fear any violation of law and order, he shall have power to swear in a special police, in such numbers as the occasion may demand. Such special police shall have the same powers, while on dity, as menbers of the regular force.

SEC. 22- The treasurer-assessor of the special municipality. - There shall be a treasurer-assessor of the municipality, who shall have the following general powers and duties:

1. He shall collect all taxes due the municipality, all licenses authorized by law or ordinance,all rents for lands, markets and other property owned by the municipality, all further charges of whatever nature fixed by law or ordinance, and shall receive for the Governmmt of the Commonwealth and issued receipts for all fines, forfeitures, fees and costs imposed by the justice of the peace court.
   
2. He shall receive and safely keep all moneys derived from the revenues of the'municipality and shall expand and disburse the sane upon lawful warrants. ,
   
3. He shall perform in the municipality the duties prescribed by the Internal heveiue Law and such further duties prescribed by law for provincial treasurers as are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter.
   
4. He shall discharge his dities in accordance with the provisions of law relating to Government accounts and accounting. ;
   
5. He shall render his accounts in such manner as the Auditor General may prescribe.
   
6. He shall annually assess and value for taxation the real estate of the municipality in accordance with Act No. 470 of the Cortm on wealth, known as the Assessment Act and shall exercise and perfonn the powers and duties conferred by said Act to provincial assessors and municipal treasurers.
   
7. He shall appoint his deputy treasurers and the clerical staff of his office and those of his deputies.

SEC. 23. Deputy treasurers. - There shall be in each special municipality as many deputy treasurers as there are old municipalities forming each speci al municipality, including the fifth municipal district of Tablas, Which for merly was the municipality of Santa p'e, and those that the municipal councils may organize by ordinance, with the approval of the ex-officio Governor. They shall exercise and perform the powers and duties that may be assigned to them by the treasurer-assessor.

SEC. 24. The board of tax appeals. - There shall be a board of tax appeals to be composed of the members of the municipal council, with the mayor as its chairman.

(a) The menbers of the board, before organizing as such, shall take the following oath before the justice of the peace or some other officer authorized to administer oaths:

"I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will well and truly hear and determine all matters and issues between the assessor of the municipality and the taxpayers submitted for my decision. So help me Cod. (In case of affirmation, the last four words are to be stricken out.)

(Signature)

Subscribed and swo rn to (or affirmed) beforemethis

---day of---------, 19-_.

(Signature of officer administering oath)

(b) The board of tax appeals shall meet beginning the first Monday after the fifteenth of June of each year, and shall hear all appeals duly transmitted to i t by the filing of a written notice, and shall decide the same forthwith. It shall have authority to cause to be amended the listing and valuation of the property in respect to which any complaint is made in an order signed by the board or the majority thereof, and transmit it to the assessor of the municipality, who shall amend the tax list in conformity with said order.

SEC. 25. Exemptions from taxation. - Lands and buildings omed by the United States of America, the Government of the Philippines, the special municipalities of the Province of Romblon, and burying grounds, churches, end their: adjacent parsonages and convents, and lands or buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific or education purposes, and not for profit, shall be exempt from taxation; but such exemption shall not extend to lands or buildings held for investment, though the income therefrom be devoted to religious, charitable, scientific or educational purposes.

SEC. 26- Taxes on real estate. -A tax shall be levied annually on the assessed value of all the real estate subject to the provisions of Act No. 470 of the Commonwealth and other existing laws on the subject and the same shall be collected in the same form and manner prescribed in such laws. The powers and oilier functions as well as the duties imposed by the said Act No. 470 to provincial boards, shall be, performed by the respective councils of the special municipalities: Provided, That the provisions of Act No. 470 of the Commonwealth, regarding the general assessment of properties, are hereby postponed until the first day of January, nineteen hundred and forty-one, which may be done by the same personnel of the office of the treasurer-assessor and his deputy treasurers, and if they were not sufficient to do the work, he shall appoint others, whose compensation shall be determined by the respective municipal council.

SEC. 27. Appointment and removal of officers and employees - Compensation. - The. President shall appoint, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, the justices of the peace, the treasurer-assessor of the municipality, the chief of police and the other chiefs of departments of the municipality which may be created from time to time, and the President may remove at his discretion any of said appointive officers with the exception of the justices of the peace, 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 municipality whose appointments are not otherwise provided by law. The mayor may suspend and remove any appointive officer or employee of the municipality not appointed by the President and may recommend to the President the suspension or removal of any officer or employee of the municipality appointed by him. Any suspension or removal by the mayor shall be appealable to the Secretary of the Interior, whose determination on the matter shall be final.

The treasurer-assessor of the special municipality of Tablas shall receive a compensation not to exceed one thousand six hundred pesos a year; those of SLbuyan, Romblon and Maghali, not to exceed one thousand and eighty pesos a year each. The chief of police of the special municipality of Tablas shall receive a compensation not to exceed one thousand two hundred pesos, and the chiefs of police of the special municipalities of Silxiyan, Romblon, and Maghali, not to exceed nine hundred and sixty pesos a year each. The assistant chiefs of police shall receive an annual compensation not exceeding six hundred pesos each: Provided, however, That the municipal council shall determine and fix by ordinance the compensation of such officers and the salaries of other officers and employees of the municipality.

SEC. 28. The officers shall not engage in certain transactions nor receive favors or benefits. - It shall be unlawful for any officer of the municipality, directly or indirectly, individually or as a member of a firm, to engage in any business transaction with the municipality or with any of its authorized officers, boards, agents or attorneys, whereby money is to be paid, directly or indirectly out of the resources of the municipality to such person or firm; or to purchase any real estate or other property belonging to the special municipality, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessment or by virtue of legal process at the suit of the municipality or to be surety for any person having a contract with the municipality.

TITLE IV. - BUREAUS PERFORMING MUNICIPAL DUTIES
SEC. 29. Auditor General's Office. - The Auditor General shall receive aid audit all accounts of each special municipality, in accordance with the provisions of law relating to the Government's accounts and accounting.

SEC. 30. The division of purchase and supply. - The Purchasing Agent shall purchase and supply, in accordance with law, all supplies, equipment, material, and property of every kind, except real estate for the use of each special municipality or of any of its departments and offices. But contracts for completed work of any kind for the use of the municipality or of any of its departments and offices, involving both labor aid materials where materials are furnished by the contractors, shall not be deemed to be within the provisions of this section.

SEC. 31. The Bureau of Education. - The Director of Education shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in each municipality as elsewhere in the Philippines, End the division sap erin ten dent of schools for the Province of Romblon shall have all the powers and duties in respect to the spools of each municipality as are vested in division superintendents in respect to the schools of their divisions.

A school board ibr each special municipality composed of six members, two of whom shall be women, and all of whom shall serve without compensation, shall be elected and removed in the sane manner, and shall have the sane powers and duties as the local school boards of regilar municipalities.

The municipal councils of these special municipalities shall have the same powers in respect to the establishment of schools, as are conferred by law on municipal councils of regular municipalities.

SEC. 32. Reports of the mayor concerning schools - Construction end custody of school buildings. - The division superintendent of schools shall make an annual report of the ; condition of the schools and school buildings of the municipality to each mayor, and shall make such recommendations as may seen to him wise in respect to the number of teachers, their salaries, new buildings to be erected aid all other similar matters, together with the amount of municipal , revenues which should be expended in paying teachers, and improving the schools or school buildings of the municipality. The local school board shall make a similar annual report to the mayor.

SEC. 33. The municipal health officer. - There shall be a health officer, vho shall have the following general powers and duties:

1. He shall have general supervision over the health and sanitary condition of his special municipality.
   
2. He shall execute and enforce all laws, ordinances and regulations relating to public health.
   
3. He shall recommend to the municipal council the passage of such ordinances as he may deem necessary for the preservation of public health.
   
4. He shall cause to be prosecuted all violations of sanitary laws, ordinances or regulations.
   
5. He shall make sanitary inspections and may be aided therein by such menbers of the police force of the municipality or of the Philippine Army as shall be designated as sanitary police by the chief of police or the proper Army officer and such sanitary inspectors as may be authorized by law.
   
6. He shall perfoim sich other duties, not repugnant to law or ordinance, with reference to the health and sanitation of the municipality as the Director of Health shall direct.

The office expenses of the health officer in each special municipality shall be paid, half by the National Government and half by the municipal government.

SEC. 34. Offices to be maintained. - The following offices shall be maintained:

1. The office of the clerk of the Court of First Instance of th e Province of Romblon.
   
2. The office of the provincial sheriff and his two deputies.
   
3. The office of the warden and his guards.

All these officers and employees shall discharge their duties and functions in the same form and manner provided in the existing laws. The clerk of court shall be the immediate chief of the officers and employees of these three offices, over which he shall exercise control and supervision: Provided, That the salaries of the warden and his guards and die other expenses of the provincial jail shall be paid proportionately by the four special municipalities based on the number of their inhabitants: Provided, further, That the subsistence of each prisoner or detained prisoner the provincial jail shall be charged to and paid by the special municipality where the prisoner or detained prisoner has been prosecuted.

It shall be the duty of the. clerk of court to submit annually, through the mayor, to each municipal council to be included in the appropriation ordinance, the amount corresponding to each municipality to coverits proportionate share of all the expenses of the provincial jail and the salaries of the warden aid his guards. Hie treasurer-assessor of the special municipality of Fomblon shall pay such expenses and salaries to be charged against the funds delivered and deposited in his office by the other three special municipalities.

SEC. 35. Service of the Bureau of Posts. - The post offices established by the Bureau of Posts in the various municipalities of the Province of Pomblon, including the telegraph, wireless and mail service now existing between its municipalities, shall be kept and maintained by the Bureau of Pasts.

TITLE V. - TAX ALLOTMENTS AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FOR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
SEC. 36. Allotments of internal revenue and other taxes.- Of the internal revenue accruing to the National Treasury under section four hundred and ninety of the Administrative Code and other taxes collected by the National Government and allotted to the various provinces and municipalities, the four special municipalities of Tablas, Sibuyan, Romblon and Maghali, shall receive proportionately, acoording to the number of their inhabitants, the share which would correspond to the Province of Romblon aid that of its eleven municipalities, in accordance with sections 491, 492, 493, and 494 of die Administrative Code: Provided, That the ordinary expenses of the high school of the Province of Romblon shall be charged against these funds in equal proportion, not to exceed those appropriated by the provincial board for the school year 1939-1940, excluding the amount collected as matriculation fees from its students.

SEC. 37. Power to levy special assessments for certain Purposes. - The municipal council may, by ordinance duly approved, provide for the levying and collection, by special assessments, of the real estate comprised within the district or section of the municipality specially benefited, of a part not to exceed sixty per centum, of the cost of laying out, opening, constructing, straightening, widening, extending, grading, paving, curbing, walling, deepening or otherwise establishing, repairing, enlarging or improving public avenues, roads, streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks, plazas, bridges, landing places, wharves, piers, docks, levees, reservoirs, water mains, water courses, esteros, canals, drains aid sewers, including the cost of acquiring the necessary land. All the real estate comprised within the district benefited, except lands or buildings owned by the United States of Anerica, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, shall be subject to the payment of the special assessnen based upon the valuation of such real estate, as shown by the books of the treasurer-assessor of the municipality, or its present value, as fixed by said officer in the first instance, if the property does not appear of record in his books, according to the valuation whereof the special tax has to be made, computed and assessed.

SEC. 38. Contents of a special assessment ordinance. - The ordinance providing for the levying and collection of special assessnent shall describe in terms of reasonable accuracy, the nature, extent and location of the proposed improvement; the probable cost of the improvement; the rate per centum oi the cost to be defrayed by special assessment; the district which shall be subject to the payment of the said per centum of the proposed improvement, delimiting the same by metes and bounds, and the number of annual installments, which shall not be less than five, in which such special assessment shall be paid without any interest. The municipal council shall not be required to fix an equal rate per centum for all the taxable real estate in the entire district, but may fix different rates for real estate in different parts or sections of die saiie, according as said property will derive greater or less benefit from the contemplated improvement.

SEC. 39. Publication of the proposed special assessment ordinance and public hearing on the same. - The proposed special assessment ordinance shall be published for a period of one week in the Official Gazette and in two newspaper, of general circulation in the Province of Romblon, one in the native language generally spoken in the province and the other in English or Spanish before its passage by the municipal council. The secretary of the municipal council shall, upon request, furnish a copy of the proposed ordinance, of charge to each property ower affected or his agent, shall, in so far as possible, send a ospy of said proposed ordinance by ordinary mail or otherwise. At the request 'A any property owner, made within three days the just publication of the proposed ordinance, or at. it waned nation, the municipal council or the there charge of the project shall hold a public hearing on then same and hear all pertinent arguments and evidence shall by the persons interested or their: attorneys, and such arguments and evidence shall be attached to the project.

SEC. 40. Assessment of the special tax against tax against the real estate affected. - Upon the approval of the special assessment ordinance, tre official whose duty it is to assess taxable property within the special municipalities, shall forthwith proceed to determine the special tax payable by each realty each year during the period fixed by the ordinance, upon the basis of the extimated coast of the work and the total and parcel value of the real estate comprised within the district specially benefited and shall notify each owner by registered mail of the special tax assessed against each property owned by him in the district benefited; but if upon the completion of the improvement, it should appear appear that the cost has been less or more, the engineer of the special municipalities shall so certify forthwith to the official who made the assessment, who shall thereupon proceed to rectify the assessment, reducing or increasing, as the case may be, the special tax to be collected upon each property for the unpaid fixing the amount to be credited to the additional tax to be collected from the realty, as the case may be, and shall notify the persons interested of such rectifications.

SEC. 41. Payment of the special assessments. - All sums and amounts due from any owier or owners as a result of any action taken by virtue of the authority conferred herein shall be due and payable to the treasurer of the municipality in the same manner as the annual tax levied on real estate and shall be subject to the same penalties for delinquency, and enforceable by the same renedies, as such annual tax, and all such sums and amounts, together with any such penalties incurred shall, from the date on which they were assessed, constitute liens on the property against which the same were assessed, and shall take precedence over any and all other liens which may exist upon such property excepting only those which have been attached for nonpayment of said annual tax.

TITLE VI. - TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
SEC. 42- Conduct of elections. -To carry out the purposes of the Election Cbde, the duties provided by the same as corresponding to provincial boards and municipal councils, shall be discharged by each respective municipal council and the duties imposed by said Code to provincial treasirers and municipal secretaries, shall be performed by the treasurer assessor of the municipality.

Regarding the election of the assemblyman and other national offices, there shall be a board of canvassers composed of the provincial fiscal, the division superintendent of schools and the clerk of court, which shall be in charge of the counting of die votes of each of the candidates in accordance with the votes appearing in the election returns from the board of inspectors of the province. The clerk of court shall perform the functions imposed by the Election Code to the provincial treasurer.

SEC. 43. Seat of the Government of each special municipality. - The Government of the special municipality of Tablas shall ranain in the present municipal building of the municipality of Idiongan until the municipal council shall provide otherwise. That of Romblon, in the present seat of the municipal building of Jones and that of Sibuyan shall be temporarily in the municipal building of Cajidiocan until the President of the Philippines shall designated another place.

SEC. 44. Provincial buildings and property. - The custody and administration of all the properties of the Province of Romblon shall be transferred to the Office of the Engineer of Public Works in the provice. The Provincial building for the  construction of which the province is still indebted to the National Government, is transferred to the latter in payment of said obligation.

TITLE VII. - EFFECTIVITY OF THIS ACT
SEC. 45. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Enacted, without Executive approval, June 8, 1940.