An Act to Reorganize the Executive Departments of the Government of the Philippine Islands

November 18, 1916

ACT NO. 2666

AN ACT TO REORGANIZE THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

SECTION 1. Executive Departments. — There shall hereafter be in addition to the Departments of the Interior and of Public Instruction, a Department of Finance, a Department of Justice, a Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and a Department of Commerce and Communications, and all executive functions of the Government provided for in this Act shall be under the direct control of said six Departments, subject to the general supervision and control of the Governor-General.

The Departments of the Interior and of Public Instruction shall continue as heretofore under the executive authority of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Public Instruction, respectively. The Department of Finance shall perform its functions under the executive authority of a Secretary of Finance. The Department of Justice shall perform its functions under the executive authority of a Secretary of Justice. The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall perform its functions under the executive authority of a Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Department of Commerce and Communications shall perform its functions under the executive authority of a Secretary of Commerce and Communications.

With the exception of the Secretary of Public Instruction, all Secretaries shall have the following qualifications: Be a citizen of the Philippine Islands and have resided in the Islands continuously during the three years next preceding his appointment and be not less than thirty years of age. They shall be appointed at the beginning of each Legislature by the Governor-General, by and with the consent of the Senate, and shall hold office, unless removed sooner, until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified.

There shall be in each Department an Under Secretary, appointed by the Governor-General, by and with the consent of the Senate, who shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of the Department and as may hereafter be imposed upon him by law. cACTaI

Whenever a Department Secretary is unable to perform his duties owing to illness, absence, or other cause, or in case of a vacancy in the office, the respective Under Secretary shall temporarily perform the duties of said office.

SECTION 2. Appearance in Either House. — The Secretaries may be called, and shall be entitled to be heard, by either of the two Houses of the Legislature, for the purpose of reporting on matters pertaining to their Departments, unless the public interest shall require otherwise and the Governor-General shall so state in writing.

SECTION 3. Bureaus and Offices under the Department of the Interior. — The Department of the Interior shall, as heretofore, have the direct executive control, direction, and supervision of matters pertaining to the non-Christian tribes, the Philippine General Hospital, and the Boards of Pharmaceutical, Medical, and Dental Examiners, and also of the Executive Bureau, the provinces and cities governed by special laws, the Philippine Constabulary, and any other office or executive function that may hereafter be assigned to it by law.

SECTION 4. Bureaus and Offices under the Department of Public Instruction. — The Department of Public Instruction shall, as heretofore, have the direct executive control, direction, and supervision of the Bureau of Education and also the Philippine Health Service and the Quarantine Service.

SECTION 5. Bureaus and Offices under the Department of Finance. — The Department of Finance shall have the direct executive control, direction, and supervision of the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of the Treasury, and the Bureau of Printing, and any other office or executive function that may hereafter be assigned to it by law. It shall also have the general supervision over banks, banking transactions, coinage, currency, and funds the investment of which may be authorized by existing law.

SECTION 6. Bureaus and Offices under the Department of Justice. — The Department of Justice shall have the direct executive control, direction, and supervision of the Bureau of Justice, the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, the Code Committee, the Courts of First Instance and inferior courts, the Philippine Library and Museum, and the Bureau of Prisons, and such other as may hereafter be assigned to it by law.

SECTION 7. Bureaus and Offices under the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. — The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall have the direct executive control, direction, and supervision of the Bureau of Agriculture, the Bureau of Forestry, the Bureau of Lands, matters pertaining to colonies and plantations on public lands, the Bureau of Science, the Weather Bureau, and matters concerning hunting, fisheries, sponges and other sea products, and such other as may hereafter be assigned to it by law.

SECTION 8. Bureaus and Offices under the Department of Commerce and Communications. — The Department of Commerce and Communications shall have the direct executive control, direction, and supervision of the Bureau of Public Works, the Bureau of Posts, the Bureau of Supply, the Bureau of Labor, the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey, and such other as may hereafter be assigned to it by law.

SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. — Sections ninety-five to ninety-nine, inclusive, of the Administrative Code, and all Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed. acHDTE

SECTION 10. Date When This Act Shall Take Effect. — This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, November 18, 1916.