Apportionment and Disposition of Internal-Revenue Taxes Collected in the Philippine Islands from July 1, 1912

February 1, 1912

ACT NO. 2127

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE APPORTIONMENT AND DISPOSITION OF INTERNAL-REVENUE TAXES COLLECTED IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS FROM JULY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWELVE

SECTION 1. The following shall constitute sections one hundred and forty-eight, one hundred and forty-nine, and one hundred and fifty of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "The Internal Revenue Law of Nineteen hundred and four."

"SECTION 148. The proceeds from the following taxes, on and after July first, nineteen hundred and twelve, shall be for the exclusive benefit of the municipality where the same are assessed and collected."

License tax on theaters, museums, cockpits, concert halls, pawnbrokers, circuses, billiard halls, and retail dealer in Tuba, Basi, Tapuy, or like domestic fermented liquors."

"SECTION 149. Of the proceeds of the poll or personal cedula tax one-half shall be for the benefit of the provincial government and the other half for the benefit of the municipal government within the jurisdiction of which the same are assessed and collected: Provided, That in those provinces where the price of cedulas shall have been increased in accordance with the provisions of the Provincial Government Act, as amended by Act Numbered Sixteen hundred and fifty-two, the additional amount collected by virtue thereof shall be applied to the purposes therein specified."

"SECTION 150. From July first, nineteen hundred and twelve, of the revenues accruing to the Insular Treasury by virtue of the provisions of this Act, seven per centum shall be set apart for the benefit of provincial governments for general provincial purposes, and fourteen per centum shall be set apart for the municipal governments for general municipal purposes in accordance with law and for school purposes as hereinafter provided in this Act, and for the purposes of this Act the city of Manila shall be considered to be both a province and a municipality, and shall receive the apportionment pertaining both to a province and a municipality as hereinafter prescribed: Provided, However, That the proportional share of the provinces inhabited by non-Christian tribes and of the municipalities of said provinces shall be deducted from said seven and fourteen per centum, and that no province or municipality shall receive on account of said per centum a sum smaller than that it received during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nine: And Provided, Further, That to such province or provinces as shall, through their provincial boards, accept for one or more calendar years the provisions of section forty-five of Act Numbered Eighty-three, as amended, there shall be allotted, from the revenues accruing to the Insular Treasury by virtue of the provisions of this Act, not only the seven per centum hereinbefore mentioned for general provincial purposes, but also, for each calendar year during which said acceptance continues in effect, seven per centum of said revenues to be paid into the 'road and bridge funds' of such provinces, after deducting the proportional share of the provinces inhabited by non-Christian tribes, said seven per centum to be apportioned according to their respective populations among the provinces so accepting section forty-five of Act Numbered Eighty-three, as amended: Provided, However, That the total sum distributed among such provinces shall in no fiscal year be less than the sum distributed among them during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nine. And for the foregoing purpose the city of Manila, in its status as a province, shall be represented by its Municipal Board, and such funds as may accrue to it by virtue of its acceptance of section forty-five, as aforesaid, shall be used exclusively for the construction, repair, and maintenance of its streets, highways, roads, and bridges. In the case of provinces, the 'road and bridge funds' shall be used, first, in the repair and maintenance of improved roads, second, in the improvement of roads, and bridges now existing, and third, in the construction, repair, improvement, and maintenance of new roads and bridges.

"The amounts by this section set aside shall be apportioned among the several provinces and municipalities in proportion to their respective populations as shown by the official census last taken before the making of such apportionment, and shall be returned to the city of Manila and to the provincial treasurers quarterly, for disbursement and payment to the proper municipalities by warrant drawn by the Collector of Internal Revenue and countersigned by the Insular Auditor, and for this purpose a permanent appropriation of the sums so required is hereby made; Provided, That of the fourteen per centum of the revenues set apart by this section for the benefit of the several municipal governments, one-half thereof shall be utilized solely for the purposes of the maintenance of free public primary schools in the respective municipalities, including the payment of teachers, the building of schoolhouses, and other expenditures appertaining to the maintenance of the public schools: And ProvidedFurther, That in every province organized under the Provincial Government Act which contains non-Christian inhabitants, such proportion of the internal revenue which by law accrues to the municipalities of said province as the number of non-Christian Inhabitants bears to the total population of said province shall be set aside in the provincial treasury as a fund to be known as the "Non-Christian inhabitants' fund,' and such fund shall be expended by the provincial board upon advance approval of the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of such non-Christian inhabitants: And Provided Further, That in provinces organized under The Special Provincial Government Act such part of the internal revenue as would by the Internal Revenue Law accrue to municipalities shall be set aside as a fund to be known as the 'township and settlement fund,' and shall be expended by the provincial board, upon advance approval of the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of the municipalities, townships, and settlements of said province. The approval of an expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior shall be final in the settlement of the accounts."

SECTION 2. When this Act shall have been approved by the Congress of the United States, as provided in section five of the Act of Congress approved August fifth, nineteen hundred and nine, entitled "An Act to raise revenues, equalize duties and promote the industries of the United States," the fact shall be published by proclamation of the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands and this Act shall take effect on the date of said proclamation. aisadc