An Act Abolishing the Offices of Provincial Supervisor and Supervisor-Treasurer in the Provinces Organized under the Provincial Government Act, Providing that Certain Duties heretofore Performed by Provincial Supervisors shall Devolve Upon the Provincial Treasurers, and that the Division Superintendent of Schools shall be a Member of the Provincial Board, and Creating the Office of District Engineer and Fixing his Powers and Duties

October 4, 1905

ACT NO. 1401

AN ACT ABOLISHING THE OFFICES OF PROVINCIAL SUPERVISOR AND SUPERVISOR-TREASURER IN THE PROVINCES ORGANIZED UNDER THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACT, PROVIDING THAT CERTAIN DUTIES HERETOFORE PERFORMED BY PROVINCIAL SUPERVISORS SHALL DEVOLVE UPON THE PROVINCIAL TREASURERS, AND THAT THE DIVISION SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS SHALL BE A MEMBER OF THE PROVINCIAL BOARD, AND CREATING THE OFFICE OF DISTRICT ENGINEER AND FIXING HIS POWERS AND DUTIES

SECTION 1. The offices of provincial supervisor and supervisor-treasurer, provided for by the Provincial Government Act and the Acts organizing various provinces thereunder and Acts amendatory thereof, shall be abolished on January first, nineteen hundred and six, and the officers now known as supervisor-treasurers shall after said date be known as provincial treasurers of their respective provinces.

All the powers, responsibilities, and duties heretofore vested in the provincial supervisor shall thereupon be transferred to the provincial treasurer, and shall thereafter be assumed by that officer, except such powers, responsibilities, and duties as are hereinafter specified.

Upon said date the division superintendents of schools for the provinces above referred to shall become members of the respective provincial boards. Each division superintendent of schools shall, subject to the approval of the Governor-General, designate a teacher of the public schools resident at the capital of his province, who shall act as a member of the provincial board in case of the sickness or absence from the province of such division superintendent and in cases in which the latter has not his official residence in the province. Neither the division superintendent nor the teacher of public schools acting as a member of the provincial board shall receive any additional compensation therefor.

SECTION 2. The provinces organized under the Provincial Government Act shall be divided into engineering districts by the Consulting Engineer to the Commission, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, which districts may be subsequently rearranged or modified by the Consulting Engineer, with like approval, when the public interest so requires. The engineers heretofore designated as supervisors shall be transferred to the Bureau of Engineering, and, together with any regularly appointed civil engineers, shall be assigned, in so far as may be necessary, by the Consulting Engineer, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, to the engineering districts herein provided for, and when so assigned and approved they shall be designated district engineers, and shall be placed under bonds in an amount approved by the Auditor for the Philippine Islands. The Consulting Engineer shall have authority, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, when the public interest so requires, to change the assignment of any district engineer or to assign such engineer to other engineering duty. The provincial boards of the provinces comprising the different engineering districts shall be notified of the district organization herein provided for and of any subsequent changes therein, and of the assignment of district engineers to said districts, and their headquarters in each instance. The Consulting Engineer shall designate the headquarters of the district engineers, and when such headquarters is the capital of a province, the provincial board of such province shall provide, free of charge, suitable office quarters. CAIHTE

SECTION 3. It shall be the duty of the district engineer to prepare a comprehensive scheme of roads for all of the provinces and municipalities in his district, which shall be submitted, with his recommendations, to the provincial and municipal governments interested.

SECTION 4. The district engineer shall have general supervision over the construction, maintenance, and repair of all provincial public works in the provinces of the district to which he is assigned which exceed in estimated cost the sum of five hundred pesos, and over all contracts connected with such works, under regulations which shall be prepared by the Consulting Engineer to the Commission and approved by the Secretary of Commerce and Police. No contract for public works exceeding a cost of five hundred pesos shall be undertaken by a provincial board before the plans have been examined and approved by the district engineer. Upon request of any provincial board in his district, the district engineer shall make investigations and surveys of proposed construction or repair of public works, and shall submit to said provincial board reports and estimates of the cost of construction or repair of such proposed works with his recommendations, and he shall, when necessary, prepare plans and specifications for such public works as may be required by the provincial board. It shall be the duty of the district engineer, by agreement with the president of each municipality, to fix the territory within which the duty of repairing, constructing, and maintaining roads, bridges, and ferries shall fall upon the municipal government and that in which such duty shall fall upon the provincial government, and in case of disagreement the issue shall be settled by reference to the provincial board, whose decision shall be final.

SECTION 5. The duties heretofore performed by the provincial supervisor in regard to the letting of contracts for provincial public works shall, after January first, nineteen hundred and six, be performed by the provincial treasurer, with the approval of the provincial board, but all tenders for contracts for public works costing more than five hundred pesos shall be examined by the district engineer or his representative and his recommendation obtained before the same is signed by the contracting parties. No payments, partial or final, shall be made on such contracts without the certificate of the district engineer, or that of his duly authorized representative, specifying the work accomplished and that such payments are due. No contract shall be entered into before funds equal to the estimated cost of such works have been appropriated therefor.

In case the district engineer shall recommend the rejection of all bids, he may be authorized by the provincial board to take charge of the work and to prosecute the same in behalf of the province by day labor.

SECTION 6. The provincial boards may undertake public works costing less than five hundred pesos, by contract, after proper advertising, or by day labor, without the prior examination and recommendation of the district engineer: Provided, That the district engineer shall have authority to examine the books and accounts of the provinces in his district in so far as they relate to public works.

SECTION 7. The district engineer shall act in a purely advisory capacity to the municipalities. Upon request by any municipal council, it shall be his duty to make investigations and surveys for the proposed construction or repair of public works, and to submit to the president of the municipality reports and estimates of the cost of such construction or repair, with his recommendations. Upon request of any municipal council, he shall prepare plans and specifications for such public works as may be required; and upon like request he shall be charged with the supervision of the construction or repair of the same.

SECTION 8. Upon being requested or authorized by any provincial board or municipal council to make any investigations or surveys, or proceed with the construction or repair of any public works, the district engineer shall give his memorandum receipt for such available provincial or municipal property as shall be necessary for the prosecution of the work to the provincial or municipal officer accountable for the property, by whom it shall be issued to said engineer, and he shall be responsible on his official bond to return the same to said accountable officer or to present to said officer a certificate satisfactory to the Insular Auditor that the same has been properly expended or accounted for, and he shall have supervision over such provincial or municipal employees, tools, supplies, transportation, and material as may be assigned to him for projects authorized by said provincial or municipal governments.

Such additional supplies, tools, and material as may be necessary for the satisfactory completion of authorized works shall be secured for the district engineer by the proper provincial or municipal officer in the usual manner, and the provincial and municipal government authorizing such works shall make appropriations to pay for the same.

The Consulting Engineer to the Commission, whenever he shall deem the same to be in the interests of the public service, may place at the disposal of the district engineers, upon proper memorandum receipt, property under his control belonging to the Insular Government, and shall fix a reasonable charge to pay for the necessary expenses connected therewith and the wear and tear thereon, and said charge shall appear in the statement of the district engineer and shall be paid by the provincial or municipal government interested, as hereinafter provided. DETACa

SECTION 9. The Consulting Engineer to the Commission shall appoint such permanent employees as may be authorized by law or as may be required to assist the district engineer in the discharge of his duties, or may temporarily assign such additional engineers or other assistants to any district as may seem to his advisable. The district engineer shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Consulting Engineer, such temporary employees as may be necessary for the prosecution of the authorized surveys, investigations, and constructions. Such temporary employees shall not necessarily be subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Act and Acts amendatory thereof, but employees belonging to the classified service may be transferred to such work without losing their status in the classified service. The salaries of the district engineer and other employees provided for in this section shall be paid by the Insular Government from funds appropriated for the Bureau of Engineering, except in the case of temporary employees engaged in some specific provincial or municipal public works where their salaries and wages are properly payable from provincial or municipal funds, in which case such salaries and wages shall be covered by appropriations of the province or municipality, as the case may be.

SECTION 10. The district engineer and the employees herein provided for, when absent from their assigned headquarters traveling on official business, shall be allowed a per diem not exceeding four pesos, under the provisions of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty-seven.

SECTION 11. The district engineer shall submit to the Consulting Engineer to the Commission a statement showing the cost of authorized surveys and investigations made by him and of the superintendence of construction, repair, and maintenance of public works rendered by him for provinces and municipalities, and such cost shall be chargeable against the province or municipality for which such projects were accomplished, under such rules and regulations as may be jointly prepared by the Insular Auditor and the Consulting Engineer: Provided, That in no case shall the chargeable cost of the superintendence of construction, repair, and maintenance exceed ten per centum of the total cost of such works, It shall be the duty of the provincial or municipal government incurring charges to make appropriations providing for the payment of the same, and moneys so paid shall revert to the general funds in the Insular Treasury.

SECTION 12. The Consulting Engineer to the Commission, upon the request of the provincial board of any province organized under the Special Provincial Government Act, and with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, shall assign from the engineering force under his control an engineer to prepare plans and estimates for engineering work desired by such provincial board, or to supervise the construction of engineering work which has been duly authorized. In case of such assignment the provisions of the next preceding section with regard to payment of the expense of such service shall apply to the interested province, municipality, or township.

SECTION 13. In addition to the duties herein provided for, the district engineer shall perform such other lawful duties as may be assigned to him from time to time by the Consulting Engineer.

SECTION 14. All Acts or parts of Acts in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

SECTION 15. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 16. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, October 4, 1905.