An Act Creating the Province of Agusan and the Subprovinces of Butuan, Bukidnon, and Batanes, Empowering the Provincial Board of Cagayan to Apply the Provisions of "The Township Government Act" to the Municipalities and Settlements of the Babuyanes Islands, and Providing that the Salaries of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Subprovince of Apayao and of Any Duly Authorized Employees of Said Subprovince Shall be Payable from Insular Funds

August 20, 1907

ACT NO. 1693

AN ACT CREATING THE PROVINCE OF AGUSAN AND THE SUBPROVINCES OF BUTUAN, BUKIDNON, AND BATANES, EMPOWERING THE PROVINCIAL BOARD OF CAGAYAN TO APPLY THE PROVISIONS OF "THE TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT ACT" TO THE MUNICIPALITIES AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE BABUYANES ISLANDS, AND PROVIDING THAT THE SALARIES OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE SUBPROVINCE OF APAYAO AND OF ANY DULY AUTHORIZED EMPLOYEES OF SAID SUBPROVINCE SHALL BE PAYABLE FROM INSULAR FUNDS

SECTION 1. There is hereby established a province which shall be known as the Province of Agusan. It shall be composed of two subprovinces, which shall be known as Butuan and Bukidnon, respectively. The boundary line of the subprovince of Butuan shall be a line beginning at the northern point of the present boundary line between the Provinces of Surigao and Misamis, and extending in a general southerly direction along this line to the eighth parallel of north latitude; thence due east along said parallel of latitude to the crest of the watershed between the Agusan River Valley and the Pacific Ocean; thence in a northerly direction along the crest of this watershed to the northern extremity of the Island of Mindanao; thence along the seacoast to its point of origin, the general purpose in establishing this boundary being to include within it all municipalities and settlements in the Agusan River Valley and all settlements west of the crest of the watershed in the northern peninsula of the Province of Surigao. HTcADC

The boundary line of the subprovince of Bukidnon shall be the western boundary line of the subprovince of Butuan from its point of origin to its intersection with the eighth parallel of north latitude; and from this point shall extend in such a way as to separate, so far as may be practicable, the territory inhabited by non-Christian tribes in the Province of Misamis from the territory of the municipalities of that province organized under the Municipal Code. Prior to the survey and adoption of definite boundaries for these subprovinces, the boundaries above described may be more definitely fixed or changed by executive order of the Governor-General.

The municipality of Butuan is hereby designated as the capital of the Province of Agusan: PROVIDED, That should experience demonstrate the desirability of making some other municipality or township the capital of the province, this may be done by executive order of the Governor-General.

SECTION 2. The officers of the provincial government of Agusan shall be a provincial governor, at four thousand pesos per annum, who shall discharge, in addition to his regular duties the duties of provincial supervisor; and a provincial treasurer, at three thousand two hundred pesos per annum, who shall discharge, in addition to his regular duties, the duties of provincial secretary. The provincial treasurer shall give a bond as provided by section four of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "The Special Provincial Government Act." The provincial governor and the provincial treasurer shall be appointed by the Governor-General by and with the consent of the Commission. They shall reside and have their offices at the capital of the province. The provincial governor, the provincial treasurer, and a third member to be appointed by the Governor-General, by and with the consent of the Commission, shall constitute the provincial board. The provincial governor shall be a justice of the peace ex-officio with jurisdiction throughout the province. The fiscal for the Provinces of Surigao and Misamis shall perform, without additional compensation, the duties of provincial fiscal as prescribed by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "The Special Provincial Government Act." The salaries of the officers and employees of the Province of Agusan shall be payable from Insular funds.

SECTION 3. There shall be a lieutenant-governor of the subprovince of Bukidnon, who shall receive compensation at the rate of three thousand two hundred pesos per annum payable from Insular funds. He shall be appointed by the Governor-General by and with the consent of the Commission. Within the limits of his subprovince he shall exercise the powers and perform the duties fixed by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six for the lieutenant-governor of Bontoc. He shall reside and have his office at the capital of the subprovince, which shall be fixed and may be changed by executive order of the Governor-General. He shall be justice of the peace ex-officio with jurisdiction throughout the subprovince.

SECTION 4. The provisions of sections one to twenty-two, inclusive, of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "The Special Provincial Government Act," as amended, and the provisions of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven, entitled "The Township Government Act," as amended, shall apply to the Province of Agusan, and the governor and the provincial board of Agusan shall exercise the powers and discharge the duties relative to the subprovince of Bukidnon fixed for the governor and the provincial board of Lepanto-Bontoc relative to the subprovince of Bontoc by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended. The provincial board may, by resolution approved by the Secretary of the Interior, provide for the organization under "The Township Government Act" of any municipality within the territory of the Province of Agusan.

SECTION 5. There is hereby established a subprovince which shall be known as the subprovince of Batanes. Its territory shall consist of the entire group of islands known as the Batanes Islands and shall form a part of the Province of Cagayan.

There shall be a lieutenant-governor of the subprovince of Batanes, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General by and with the consent of the Commission. He shall receive compensation at the rate of three thousand six hundred pesos per annum. Within the limits of his subprovince he shall exercise the powers and perform the duties fixed for the lieutenant-governor of Bontoc by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "The Special Provincial Government Act." He shall be a justice of the peace ex-officio with jurisdiction throughout the subprovince. He shall reside at Santo Domingo de Basco on the Island of Batan, which shall be the capital of the subprovince, and shall have his office in the former provincial building at that place. If, after supplying the necessary office room for the offices of the subprovince and for the station of the Weather Bureau, and the residence of the lieutenant-governor for the residence of the lieutenant-governor, he may occupy it for this purpose. The assignment of rooms in said building for the offices of the subprovince, the station of the Weather Bureau, and the residence of the lieutenant-governor shall be made by the provincial board of Cagayan.

The salaries of the lieutenant-governor and such subordinate employees as may be duly authorized for the subprovince of Batanes shall be payable from Insular funds.

SECTION 6. Any unexpended balance of "Non-Christian inhabitants' funds" of Surigao and Misamis shall be expendable in the Province of Agusan or the subprovince of Bukidnon, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to ascertain and certify to the Insular Auditor as soon as practicable the approximate number of inhabitants of the subprovince of Butuan, of the subprovince of Bukidnon, and of the subprovince of Batanes; and upon such certification the Insular Auditor shall redistribute internal-revenue funds in such manner that thereafter the amount proportionate to the number of inhabitants removed from the territorial jurisdiction of the Province of Surigao and Misamis and transferred to that of the Province of Agusan by the establishment of said province shall be deducted from the funds of the former provinces and added to the "Non-Christian inhabitants' fund" of Agusan; and the amount proportionate to the number of inhabitants included within the subprovince of Batanes shall be deducted from the internal-revenue funds of the Province of Cagayan and shall constitute a "township and settlement fund" for the benefit of the inhabitants of the subprovince of Batanes as provided by Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and twenty-eight. aScITE

There is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Province of Misamis a sum equivalent to the amount actually derived by said province from taxes collected in the territory comprised in the subprovince of Bukidnon during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seven; and for the Province of Surigao an amount equal to the amount actually derived by said province from taxes collected in the territory comprised in the subprovince of Butuan during the same period; as certified by the provincial treasurers of the Provinces of Surigao and Misamis as such provinces existed prior to the passage of this Act.

SECTION 7. The provisions of sections one to twenty-two, inclusive, of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "The Special Provincial Government Act," as amended, and the provisions of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven, entitled "The Township Government Act," as amended, shall apply to the subprovince of Batanes: PROVIDED, That subject to the approval of the Governor-General, the governor and the provincial board of Cagayan shall exercise the powers and discharge the duties relative to the subprovince of Batanes fixed for the governor and the provincial board of Lepanto-Bontoc relative to the subprovince of Bontoc by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninetey-six. The provincial board may, by resolution approved by the Governor-General, provide for the reorganization of any organized municipality within the territory of the subprovince of Batanes under "The Township Government Act."

SECTION 8. Subject to the approval of the Governor-General, the provincial hoard of Cagayan is hereby authorized to apply, by resolution, to municipalities, settlements, and barrios of the Babuyanes Islands the provisions of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven, entitled "The Township Government Act," as amended.

SECTION 9. Section five of Act Numbered Sixteen hundred and forty-two, entitled "An Act providing for the establishment of two subprovinces to be known as the subprovince of Kalinga and the subprovince of Apayao," is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. There shall be a lieutenant-governor of the subprovince of Apayao, who shall receive compensation at the rate of three thousand two hundred pesos per annum payable from the insular funds. Within the limits of his subprovince he shall exercise the powers and perform the duties fixed by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-six for the lieutenant-governor of Bontoc. He shall reside and have his office at the capital of the subprovince." DETACa

SECTION 10. There is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum which shall be necessary to pay, during the remainder of the current fiscal year, the salary of the governor and treasurer of Agusan, the salary of the lieutenant-governor of Bukdnon the salary of the lieutenant-governor of the subprovince of Batanes, and, from the date of his appointment, the salary of the lieutenant-governor of the subprovince of Apayao, together with the salaries of such subordinate employees as may be duly authorized in the Province of Agusan and the subprovinces of Butuan, Bukidnon, Batanes, and Apayao, and the reimbursement of any salary paid out of provincial funds by the Province of Cagayan to the lieutenant-governor of the subprovince of Apayao is hereby authorized.

SECTION 11. 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 law," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 12. This Act shall take effect in the Province of Agusan upon the appointment of the provincial governor; and in the subprovince of Batanes upon the appointment of a lieutenant-governor therefor. Sections eight, nine, and ten shall take effect upon the passage of this Act.

ENACTED, August 20, 1907.