An Act Providing for the Establishment of Municipal Boards of Health and Fixing Their Powers and Duties

December 2, 1901

ACT NO. 308

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MUNICIPAL BOARDS OF HEALTH AND FIXING THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES

SECTION 1. There may be a municipal board of health in each of the several municipalities of the Philippine Islands, which board shall be organized at such time as the provincial board of health for the province in which the municipality is situated may direct, and the provincial board approve.

SECTION 2. Each municipal board of health shall consist of ¾

(a) A president, who shall be a duly qualified physician, or an undergraduate of medicine;

(b) A member, who shall be chosen by a majority vote of the municipal council;

(c) A male school-teacher of the municipality, who shall be appointed by the division superintendent of public instruction for the division in which the municipality is situated;

(d) The municipal secretary, ex officio;

(e) A pharmacist, if there be one resident within the municipality, who shall be appointed an honorary member by the municipal president;

(f) The senior medical officer of the Army or Navy, if there be any such on duty in the municipality, who, with the authority of the proper military or naval commander, shall act as an honorary and consulting member of the board. The municipal secretary, the pharmacist member, and the military or naval member of the board shall not be entitled to vote.

SECTION 3. The president of the municipal board shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Public Health, upon the recommendation of the provincial board of health of the province in which the municipality is situated. His salary shall be fixed by the municipal council, and shall not be less than the salary of the municipal secretary nor greater than the salary of the municipal president. The other members of the board shall serve without compensation.

SECTION 4. The municipal secretary shall be the secretary of the board. He shall keep its records, compile its statistics, and shall render such other clerical assistance in connection with the legitimate work of the board as it may direct.

SECTION 5. The municipal board of health shall hold regular meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, and special meetings at the call of the president, or of a majority of the members. Subject to the supervision and control of the provincial board of health, it shall have the general supervision over the health and sanitary condition of the municipality and of its several barrios. It shall cause to be prosecuted all violations of sanitary laws, and shall enforce the regulations of the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands and of the provincial board of health for the province in which the municipality is situated. It shall have power and authority to abate nuisances endangering the public health, to remove the cause of any special disease or mortality, and to make and enforce such quarantine regulations with reference to its municipality as it shall deem necessary. It shall draft and recommend to the municipal council suitable ordinances for carrying out into effect the provisions of subsections (l), (m), (n), (o), (p), (q), (r), and (s) of section thirty-nine of the Municipal Code. During epidemics of contagious or infectious disease affecting the inhabitants or the domestic animals of the municipality, or of any of its barrios, and at such other times as may be deemed necessary by the municipal council, it shall appoint such sanitary inspectors as the municipal council may authorize. It shall perform such other duties with reference to the health and sanitation of the municipality as the provincial board of health for the province in which the municipality is situated shall direct.

SECTION 6. The president of the municipal board of health shall be its chief executive officer, and shall exercise general supervision and control over the various branches of its work. Subject to the provisions of law with reference to public vaccinations, he shall conduct such vaccinations for the people of his municipality. In a case of emergency, when a quorum of the board can not be obtained, he may exercise the powers conferred upon a municipal board of health by this Act, but he shall report his action to the municipal board of health for ratification at the earliest practicable time. On or before the tenth days of March, June, September, and December he shall prepare and submit to the municipal council quarterly estimates, showing the probable expense of properly conducting the work of the board for the coming three months. He shall make such reports and discharge such other duties with reference to the health and sanitation of the municipality as the provincial board of health for the province in which the municipality is situated, or the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, may direct.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, December 2, 1901.