An Act Making Appropriations for Public Works and Permanent Improvements

March 10, 1917

ACT NO. 2704

AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS

SECTION 1. The following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury from the sale of bonds for public works or permanent improvements, and in default thereof, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for public works and permanent improvements as mentioned hereunder, and for other purposes of the Insular Government.

	PUBLIC WORKS.
(a)	For the construction, improvement, and, where
	necessary, for the maintenance of roads and
	bridges in such provinces as shall accept the
	provisions of Act Numbered Sixteen hundred
	and fifty-two, or which by a resolution of the
	provincial board shall guarantee by continuing
	annual appropriations the establishment of such
	a system of maintenance as may be necessary in
	the opinion of the Director of Public Works, on
	all first-class roads at present constructed or which
	in future may be constructed, and are so declared
	by the Director of Public Works, including the
	construction, improvement, and maintenance of
	roads and bridges in the provinces of Mindoro,
	Palawan and Batanes organized under the Special
	Provincial Government Act, to be apportioned in
	proportion to the number of cedulas issued in
	each province in the year 1916	P1,000,000.00
(b)	For the construction, improvement, and, where
	necessary, the maintenance of roads and bridges
	in the provinces accepting the provisions of Act
	Numbered Sixteen hundred and fifty-two, and
	that by resolution of the provincial board shall
	guarantee by continuing annual appropriation the
	establishment of such a system of maintenance as
	may be necessary in the judgment of the Director
	of Public Works on all first-class roads now
	constructed or which may be constructed in the
	future and declared as such by the Director of
	Public Works and in the provinces of Mindoro,
	Palawan and Batanes, organized under the
	Special Provincial Government Act, to be
	apportioned in the discretion of the Secretary
	of Commerce and Communications	1,500,000.00
(c)	For the construction, improvement and, where
	necessary, for the maintenance of interprovincial
	roads and bridges, including roads and bridges
	connecting one coast with another on the same
	province, between the provinces accepting the
	provisions of Act Numbered Sixteen hundred
	and fifty-two, and that by resolutions of the
	provincial boards concerned shall guarantee
	by continuing annual appropriations the
	establishment of such a system of maintenance
	as may be necessary in the judgment of the
	Director of Public Works on all first-class roads
	now constructed or which may be constructed
	in the future and declared as such by the
	Director of Public Works, to be apportioned in
	the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and
	Communications	500,000.00
	Provided, That the appropriations made by paragraphs
	(a), (b) and (c) may be made available with the
	approval of the Secretary of Commerce and
	Communications, for the construction, repair, and
	maintenance of roads and bridges in harmony with
	the general plan of communications and to coöperate
	with the Government railroads wherever there are
	such: Provided, further, That in provinces where
	communication is principally by sea, the funds
	allotted to the same under this Act may be expended
	for the acquisition and maintenance of steamers or
	launches when expressly authorized by the Secretary
	of the Interior.
(d)	For the construction, reconstruction, improvement,
	investigations, and surveys of ports, wharves, piers,
	retaining walls, jetties, dams and dredgings in the
	different districts of the Archipelago, including the
	purchase of necessary equipment, the continuation
	of wharves and other improvements projected by
	former laws, construction and maintenance of roads
	across Insular lands adjacent to wharves and of roads
	leading to such lands, to be apportioned in the
	discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and
	Communications and including also the construction
	of sheds for the storage of goods on Insular
	Government wharves	P500,000.00
	Provided, That subject to the approval of the
	Secretary of Commerce and Communications and
	with such security as the same may require, material
	derived from dredging may be used for filling in
	private property at the request of any landowner,
	upon the condition that the cost thereof shall be paid
	by the owner of the land in annual payments not to
	extend over more than five years.
(e)	For the drilling of artesian wells including the purchase
	of necessary equipment; for the study and construction
	of municipal systems of waterworks and for the
	investigation, construction, reconstruction, and
	extension of baths and other sanitary improvements for
	the development and exploitation of properly tested and
	approved mineral springs in places of public resort,
	whenever the provinces or municipalities concerned
	including those organized under the Special Provincial
	Government Act shall adopt resolutions for the
	appropriation of funds covering the cost of one-third
	part of the work, to be apportioned in the discretion of
	the Secretary of Commerce and Communications:
	Provided, That the funds appropriated by provinces or
	municipalities to cover the cost of one-third part of the
	work shall be covered into the Insular Treasury when
	the Director of Public Works shall have fixed the
	amount thereof: Provided, further, That any
	municipality or province which by virtue of the
	provisions of this Act shall incur the expense of an
	artesian well resulting in a failure shall have the
	amounts expended returned to it	P550,000.00
(f)	For the expenses in the investigation of applications
	for irrigation or water rights and river control
	investigations submitted to the Irrigation Council	30,000.00
(g)	For the reconstruction and improvement of public
	buildings	60,000.00
(h)	For the continuation of the permanent improvements
	on the grounds and building of the Iloilo custom-house	33,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of Public Works	4,173,000.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF EDUCATION.
(i)	For the construction of central, intermediate, and
	agricultural school buildings in municipalities
	organized under Act Numbered Eighty-two in
	provinces organized under Act Numbered Eighty-
	three, to be distributed in the discretion of the
	Secretary of Public Instruction	P250,000.00
(j)	For the grading and improvement of the land
	occupied by the Normal School, the Girls' Dormitory,
	and the new plant of the Trade School in Manila	15,000.00
(k)	For the construction of a dining room and dormitory
	in the Muñoz Agricultural School	20,000.00
(l)	For an irrigation system in the Central School of
	Luzon, Nueva Ecija, estimated at P60,000, in three
	annual allotments	20,000.00
(m)	For the purchase of a site, in case the Government
	has not a suitable one, for the construction of a
	building for the Philippine Nautical School	60,000.00
(n)	For the construction of provincial schools and
	farming schools, conditioned upon the appropriation
	by each province receiving such aid of a sum equal to
	or greater than that given by the Insular Government,
	to be distributed in the discretion of the Secretary of
	Public Instruction	P50,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for Bureau of Education.	415,000.00
		===========
	PHILIPPINE GENERAL HOSPITAL.
(o)	For the purchase of the lot and building of the
	bakery "La España," adjacent to the Hospital	36,000.00
(p)	For the artesian well water service, its elevation
	and distribution in the hospital	1,500.00
(q)	For the installation and operation of a cold storage
	machine and room	10,000.00
(r)	For the drainage, filling-in, and grading of the
	hospital grounds	7,000.00
(s)	For the maintenance and repair of the main building
	and all the annexes	20,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Philippine General Hospital	74,500.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF CONSTABULARY.
(t)	For the completion of the kitchen and dining room
	and the construction of a septic vault at the
	Constabulary building in Bontoc	2,670.00
(u)	For the completion of the barracks at Dansalan, Lanao	1,650.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of Constabulary	4,320.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE.
(v)	For fencing at the La Carlota experimental station	2,500.00
(w)	For the construction of a crematory at the Sisiman
	slaughterhouse	1,250.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of Agriculture	3,750.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF HEALTH.
(x)	For the construction of a contagious disease
	ward at the San Lazaro Hospital	57,000.00
(y)	For the construction of an insane ward at the
	San Lazaro Hospital	60,000.00
(z)	For the construction of dwellings at the Culion
	Leper Colony	10,000.00
(aa)	For the construction of a kitchen, pantry, morgue,
	and laundry, and the completion of the dispensary
	building for the Southern Islands Hospital, Cebu	15,000.00
(bb)	For the construction of an administration building
	for the Butuan Hospital	P5,000.00
(cc)	For the completion of the construction and
	improvement of the Leyte Hospital at Tacloban	7,500.00
(dd)	For the completion of the sum required in
	connection with the construction of a hospital at
	Cuyo, Palawan, as provided by Act Numbered
	Twenty-five hundred and eighty-three	4,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of Health	158,500.00
		===========
	UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES.
(ee)	For the construction of a kitchen and dining room,
	the improvement of the road leading to the school,
	the installation of a water supply system, and the
	completion of the students' camp at the Forestry
	School, Los Baños	7,500.00
(ff)	For grading the land occupied by the building of
	the University of the Philippines	10,500.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the University of the Philippines	18,000.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF POSTS.
(gg)	For the construction, repair, and maintenance of
	telegraph lines and submarine cables, and for the
	construction, reconstruction, repair, and
	maintenance of wireless telegraph stations	100,000.00
	Provided, however, That whenever it may be more
	desirable for the public interest and the provincial
	boards of provinces organized under Act Numbered
	Eighty-three, including the Provinces of Batanes,
	Mindoro and Palawan, shall appropriate funds for
	the establishment of telephone lines, the
	appropriation herein made shall be available to
	aid such provinces in a sum not to exceed two-
	thirds of the cost of each project.
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of Posts	100,000.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF SCIENCE.
(hh)	For the construction of a room for the bleeding and
	operation of animals used for making vaccine virus
	and for a sanitary roadway to the serum laboratory	8,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of Science	8,000.00
		===========
	BUREAU OF THE TREASURY.
(ii)	For the extension and improvement of the vault
	on Corregidor	P25,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total for the Bureau of the Treasury	25,000.00
		––––––––––––
	Total of appropriations by this section	4,980,070.00
		===========

SECTION 2. Authority is hereby granted for the construction of a building for legislative offices and chambers and for such other Government offices as the Governor-General may designate, to be located on Plaza McKinley, in the city of Manila, and be built with funds derived from loans from the Gold Standard Fund, in conformity with subsection (c) of section three of Act Numbered Two thousand and eighty-three, as amended: Provided, That during the year nineteen hundred and seventeen, the expenditures for this purpose shall not exceed five hundred thousand pesos: And provided further, That the Director of Public Works, subject to the direction, supervision, and control of the Secretary of Commerce and Communications, may undertake the construction of said building, either by contract or administration, whether or not the total amount of the funds necessary for the completion of said building is immediately available, any existing provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding: And provided, finally, That one-tenth of the sum required for said work and the interest thereon shall, for a period of ten years, be considered as appropriated annually out of the general surplus of the Insular Government.

SECTION 3. All balances of the several appropriations made by this Act unexpended on the thirtieth of June, nineteen hundred and eighteen, shall be reverted to the unappropriated funds in the Insular Treasury, and thereafter shall not be available for withdrawal or expenditure except upon appropriation by the Legislature.

SECTION 4. Whenever the Secretary of Finance shall believe that the probable revenues of the Insular Government will not be sufficient to cover the projects provided for in this Act, he shall so report to the Governor-General, who is hereby authorized to suspend in whole or in part temporarily or definitely to the end of the fiscal year the construction of any specified project, or projects provided for in this Act until otherwise ordered by the Legislature.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, March 10, 1917.