The Forest Act

May 7, 1904

ACT NO. 1148

AN ACT TO REGULATE THE USE OF THE PUBLIC FORESTS AND FOREST RESERVES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND REPEALING GENERAL ORDERS, NUMBERED NINETY-TWO, SERIES OF NINETEEN HUNDRED, ACT NUMBERED TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR, AND SECTIONS TWENTY OF ACT NUMBERED FORTY-NINE, ELEVEN OF ACT NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN, AND ELEVEN OF ACT NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY

SECTION 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The Forest Act."

SECTION 2. The public forests and forest reserves of the Philippine Islands shall be held and administered for the protection of the public interests, the utility and safety of the forests, and the perpetuation thereof in productive condition by wise use; and it is the purpose of this Act to provide for the same.

SECTION 3. The public forests shall include all unreserved public lands covered with trees of whatever age.

SECTION 4. Upon the recommendation of the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Civil Governor may set apart forest reserves from the public lands, and he shall by proclamation declare the establishment of such reserves and the boundaries thereof, and thereafter such forest reserves shall not be entered, sold, or otherwise disposed of, but shall remain as such for forest uses, and shall be administered, except as provided in this section, in like manner as the public forests under this Act: Provided, That the Civil Governor may in like manner by proclamation alter or modify the boundaries of any forest reserve from time to time, or revoke any such proclamation, and upon such revocation such forest reserve shall be and become part of the public lands as though such proclamation had never been made. asiadc

SECTION 5. The public forests and forest reserves and the timber, firewood, gums, and other products thereof shall not be sold, entered, leased, or otherwise disposed of except as herein provided: Provided, That any mining claim, as defined in section one of Act Numbered Six hundred and twenty-four, entitled "An Act prescribing regulations governing the location and manner of recording mining claims, and the amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining claim, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July first, nineteen hundred and two, entitled 'An Act temporarily to provide for the administration of the Affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes,'" in any of the public forests and forest reserves shall be entered only as provided in said Act Numbered Six hundred and twenty-four, and the provisions of this Act shall not be applicable to the entry and location of such claims, but they shall be governed by Act Numbered Six hundred and twenty-four exclusively: And provided further, That the authority given by the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, as hereinafter provided, to issue licenses for the taking of stone and earth from public forests and forest reserves shall be understood to apply only when such stone and earth is taken from lands not more valuable for mining purposes than for other purposes, and therefore not subject to entry as a mining claim.

SECTION 6. No prescriptive right to the use, possession, or enjoyment of any forest product, nor any permanent concession, continuing right, privilege, or easement, of any kind whatsoever, upon or within or respecting the products of the public forests or forest reserves, shall accrue or be granted except as provided in this Act. But the public forests and forest reserves shall be and remain open of access for all lawful purposes to the people of the Philippine Islands except as provided in this Act.

SECTION 7. Lands in public forests, upon the certification of the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry that said lands are better adapted and more valuable for agricultural than for forest purposes and not required by the public interests to be kept under forest, shall be declared by the Secretary of the Interior to be agricultural lands.

When in his opinion the public interests so require, the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry may make application to the Chiefs of the Bureaus of Agriculture and Public Lands for the detail of an official from each of said Bureaus to form, with an official from the Bureau of Forestry, a committee for the purpose of assisting said Chief of the Bureau of Forestry in making this certification, and upon the receipt of said application it shall be the duty of each of said Chiefs of the Bureaus of Agriculture and Public Lands to direct one of his subordinates to render the assistance applied for.

SECTION 8. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall prescribe such regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as may be expedient or necessary for the protection, management, reproduction, occupancy, and use of the public forests and forest reserves, and the said Chief, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, is hereby authorized to alter and revise such regulations. He shall in particular provide for the use of the public forests and forest reserves in such manner as to insure for the future a continued supply of valuable timber and other forest products.

SECTION 9. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may, upon proper terms which he may deem reasonable, lease, as herein provided, tracts of land not exceeding four hectares in extent in the public forests and forest reserves, to any person or to any association of persons holding timber licenses, for occupancy as sites for sawmills or timber depots, and the Secretary of the Interior may grant free rights of way through the public lands to enable such person or association of persons to get access to the lands to which such licenses apply.

SECTION 10. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may select for sale or disposal, and may sell or dispose of by license, from the public forests and forest reserves, at rates of charge to be established by him in accordance with the provisions of sections eleven and twelve of this Act, any timber, firewood for commercial use, gums, resins, and other forest products, whose removal will not be detrimental to the public forests or forest reserves or to the interests which depend upon them.

SECTION 11. For the purposes of this Act the various provinces in the Philippine Islands are divided into two classes:

Class A shall include the Provinces of Abra, Bataan, Batangas, Benguet, Bulacan, Capiz, Cavite, Cebu, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, La Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Rizal, Romblon, Sorsogon, Tarlac, La Union, and Zambales.

Class B shall include the Provinces of Albay, Ambos Camarines, Antique, Bohol, Cagayan, Isabela, Lepanto-Bontoc, Leyte, Masbate, Mindoro, Misamis, Moro, Nueva Vizcaya, Occidental Negros, Oriental Negros, Paragua, Samar, Surigao, and Tayabas.

For the purposes of this Act the various native trees are divided into four groups:

The first group shall include acle, baticulin, betis, camagon, ebony, ipil, lanete, mancono, molave, narra, tindalo, and yacal.

The second group shall include alupag, aranga, banaba, bansalaguin, banuyo, batitinan, bolongeta, calamansanay, calantas, dungon, guijo, macaasin, malacadios, mangachapuy, palo maria, supa, teak, and tucan-calao.

The third group shall include agoho, amuguis, anubing, apitong, batino, bitanhol, calumpit, catmon, cupang, dalinsi, dita, dungonlate, malacmalac, malapapaya, malasantol, mayapis, nato, palosapis, panao, sacat, santol, tamayuan, and tanguile.

The fourth group shall include anahao, anam, apuit, bacao, balacat, balinhasay, batete, bayoc, bonga, bulao, lauan, malaanonang, malabalac, malabonga, mangasinoro, manicnic, pagatpat, and pagsainguin.

SECTION 12. The metric system of weights and measures, as adopted by sections thirty-five hundred and sixty-nine and thirty-five hundred and seventy of the Revised Statutes of the United States, shall be used.

On each cubic meter of timber which may be cut in any public forest or forest reserve in any of the provinces of the Philippine Islands for domestic sale or consumption, or for export, there shall be paid, within thirty days from date of the receipt by the owner or his agent of the order of payment of the government charge on the same, into the Insular Treasury, as provided by existing law, the following sums:

On all timber included in the first group cut in any province in Class A, five pesos; when cut in any province included in Class B, two pesos and fifty centavos.

On all timber included in the second group cut in any province included in Class A, three pesos; when cut in any province included in Class B, one peso and fifty centavos.

On all timber included in the third group cut in any province included in Class A, one peso and fifty centavos; when cut in any province included in Class B, one peso.

On all timber included in the fourth group and on all non-enumerated timber cut in any province included in Class A, one peso; when cut in any province included in Class B, fifty centavos: Provided, That when timber cut in provinces included in Class A has been selected for felling by duly authorized forest officials, the rates on such timber shall be only such as are fixed in this section to timber cut in provinces included in Class B: And provided further, That the taxes imposed in this section on ebony and camagon shall be charged on said timbers when presented for measurement and appraisal with the sapwood still attached; and the number of cubic meters in each piece of timber so measured shall include the sapwood attached to the same, and when ebony or camagon timber from which the sapwood has been stripped is presented for measurement and appraisal, there shall be assessed and collected the following sums:

On each cubic meter of ebony cut in any province included in Class A, thirteen pesos and fifty centavos; when cut in any province in Class B, six pesos. On each cubic meter of camagon cut in any province included in Class A, eight pesos; when cut in any province in Class B, four pesos and fifty centavos.

 

The volume of all round timber shall be ascertained by multiplying the area of the small end by the length of the log. The volume of all squared timber shall be ascertained by multiplying the average cross section by the length, to which twenty-five per centum shall be added for loss in squaring. The volume of all sawn timber shall be ascertained by multiplying the average cross section by the length, to which fifteen per centum shall be added for loss in sawing.

All timber included in the preceding section in the third and fourth groups and all nonenumerated timber cut in any province, known in the market under the name of "raja" and which shall not exceed one and one-half meters in length and fifteen centimeters in diameter, shall be classed as firewood, and the following taxes shall be collected thereon;

On all firewood consisting of "rajas" from sixty centimeters to one and one-half meters in length, and from seven centimeters to fifteen centimeters in diameter, one peso for each one thousand "rajas."

On all firewood consisting of pieces of timber less than sixty centimeters in length and less than seven centimeters in diameter, ten centavos per cubic meter: Provided, That whenever in the opinion of the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry the preservation and use of the public forests and forest reserves shall render necessary the removal of the tops of fallen timber, said tops when removed in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, shall be exempted from the payment of any tax imposed in this section on timber or firewood or other forest products.

On all gums and resins and other forest products gathered or removed from any province there shall be paid on the actual market value thereof ten per centum. The Collector of Internal Revenue and the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry shall upon the passage of this Act, and from time to time thereafter, make a joint assessment of the actual market value of the various products on which taxes are imposed in this section; said assessments shall be made from the most reliable data available and shall be published in the Official Gazette for the information of taxpayers.

SECTION 13. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may, as herein provided, issue licenses for the cutting, collection, and removal of timber, firewood, gums, resins, and other forest products from the public forests and forest reserves. Every license so issued shall specify in detail the rights to which it entitles the holder and shall provide, whenever practicable, for exclusive territory in similar products to each licensee. All licenses for timber shall provide for the selection of said timber before cutting: Provided, That when absolutely necessary the selection of timber or the granting of exclusive territory may, in the discretion of the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, be omitted in any license terminating not later than June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eight, after which date the selection of timber and the granting of exclusive territory whenever practicable shall be required.

SECTION 14. No license granted under the provisions of this Act shall continue in force for more than twenty years. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may, in granting any exclusive license, prescribe such terms, conditions, and limitations not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, including a minimum amount of timber to be cut within a specified period or periods of time, as may be deemed by the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry and Secretary of the Interior to be in the public interest, and may provide in such licenses for forfeiture thereof in case of violation of such terms, conditions, or limitations.

SECTION 15. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall publicly announce what classes of licenses shall be issued.

SECTION 16. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry may, for violations of the Forest Act or of the regulations, to be determined and declared by him, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, revoke or temporarily suspend any license.

SECTION 17. A gratuitous license to cut and use timber for mining purposes shall be granted on application to the holder, locator, owner, lessee, or operator of a mining claim. Said license shall be limited to the claim on which the timber is cut, and no timber shall be used under such license except in the development of the claim upon which it is cut. Said license shall specify the kinds and uses of the timber to which it entitles the holder, and the territorial limits within which it is valid. A miner's timber license to cut timber in the public forests or forest reserves other than that standing on the claim and desired for the development of said claim may be obtained on application by the holder, locator, owner, lessee, or operator of a mining claim. Said license shall specify the kinds and uses of the timber to which it entitles the holder and the territorial limits within which it is valid. The government charge on timber thus used under a miner's timber license shall be one-half the rate prescribed for the province within which said timber is cut.

SECTION 18. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may designate for sale or disposal, and may sell or dispose of by license from the public forests and forest reserves, stone or earth the removal of which will not be detrimental to the public forests or forest reserves or to the interests which depend upon them. The rates of charge shall be determined by him in each case with like approval.

The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, grant licenses for the removal of such stone or earth, and in such licenses may prescribed such terms, conditions, and limitations, including a minimum amount of stone or earth to be removed within a specified period or periods of time as may be deemed by the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry and the Secretary of the Interior in the public interest, and may provide in such licenses for forfeiture thereof in case of violation of such terms.

SECTION 19. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, under regulations to be prescribed by him, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may grant gratuitous licenses for the free use of timber, firewood, gums, resins, and other forest products, and of stone and earth, in reasonable quantities and within definite territorial limits, for domestic purposes, and not for sale, barter, or any other use whatsoever. He may also, within definite territorial limits, similarly prescribed the free use of forest products and of stone and earth for public works: Provided, That a gratuitous license for woods of the first group shall not be issued.

SECTION 20. The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of Secretary of the Interior, may, when the public interests so require, make requisition upon the Bureau charged with public surveys, to proceed to demarcate, establish on the ground, and erect monuments along the boundaries of any public forest or forest reserves; and it shall be the duty of the last-named Bureau to comply with said requisition: Provided, That no duplicate of work shall be caused by such demarcation: And provided further, That the cost of such demarcation shall be defrayed from the revenues of the public forests or forest reserves.

SECTION 21. In order to promote uniformity and cooperation in the forest work of the Philippine Islands and the United States, and to facilitate the comparison of results, the methods of the Philippine Bureau of Forestry in forest measurement, timber tests, silvicultural observations, and other forest work, shall, so far as practicable, and in the discretion of the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, be based upon the corresponding methods of the Bureau of Forestry of the United States Department of Agriculture.

SECTION 22. No officer or employee of the Bureau of Forestry shall have any pecuniary interest in any forest or in any business in lumber, firewood, gums, resins, or other forest products, or stone or earth, in the Philippine Islands: Provided, That this prohibition shall not apply to guards or assistant guards, or to persons temporarily acting as guards or assistant guards.

SECTION 23. Every official, employee, or agent of the Bureau of Forestry is empowered to make arrests without process in or upon the public forests or forest reserves, or territory adjacent thereto, of any person who is committing or attempting to commit any violation of this Act or the regulations established thereunder, and it shall be the duties of governors of provinces, the Philippine Constabulary, and of municipal presidents to assist in making the arrests prescribed in this section when called upon to do so. Where the person or persons found violating the provisions of this Act are members of a non-Christian tribe, they shall be dismissed with a warning in the case of a first offense, but upon conviction of a second offense shall be punished as in this Act provided for violations hereof. When any arrest is made under the provisions of this section without warrant, the official, employee, or agent of the Bureau of Forestry shall obtain a warrant from competent authority at the earliest practicable moment under the circumstances. Prisoners with or without warrant shall in all cases within twenty-four hours, if reasonably practicable, be brought before a judge or justice of the peace having jurisdiction over the offense for examination and release under bail if the offense is bailable.

SECTION 24. Every private owner of forest land shall register his title to the same with the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry. In the absence of such registration, wood cut from alleged private lands and not from public forests or forest reserves shall be considered as cut under license from public forests or forest reserves, and shall be subject to all provisions of this Act and of the regulations established thereunder in such case applicable.

 

When in his opinion the public interests so require, the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry may make application to the examiner of the Court of Land Registration or the fiscal of the province in which the land lies, for such assistance as may be necessary in the examination of the titles thereof, with a view to their registration in the Bureau of Forestry, and upon the receipt of such application it shall be the duty of the fiscal or examiner of titles, as the case may be, to render the assistance applied for by the Bureau of Forestry.

SECTION 25. The cutting, clearing, or destroying of the public forests or forest reserves, or any part thereof, for the purpose of making caingins, without lawful authority, is hereby prohibited, and whoever, in violation of this provision, shall cut, clear, or destroy the same, for such purpose, or shall wilfully or negligently set fire thereto, shall, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, be punished by a fine not exceeding a sum equivalent to twice the regular government charge upon the timber so cut, cleared, or destroyed, and, in addition thereto, by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, in the discretion of the court.

The cutting, collecting, destroying, or removing of timber or other forest products, stone, or earth from the public forests or forest reserves for any other purpose than making a caingin, without license, permit, or other sufficient authority, is hereby prohibited, and any person who, in violation of this provision, shall so cut, collect, destroy, or remove the same, by himself, through an agent or employee, or for account of another, shall, in addition to the payment of the regular government charge on such timber, forest products, stone, or earth, be subject to the payment of an additional sum equivalent to the regular government charge thereon, which shall be collected as in this Act provided in the case of other government charges.

SECTION 26. Whenever an exclusive license of any class shall have been issued to any person, company, corporation, or other association for the cutting or removing, from the public forests or forest reserves, of timber, firewood, or other forest products, stone, or earth, it shall be unlawful for any other person, company, corporation, or association, while such license is in force, to enter or operate within the territory covered by such exclusive license contrary to the terms thereof: Provided, That the residents within or adjacent to said territory may be permitted to cut or remove timber, firewood, other forest products, stone, or earth for domestic purposes.

If, contrary to the provisions of this section, any person, company, corporation, or other association shall enter upon, and shall cut or remove, or attempt to cut or remove, timber, firewood, other forest products, stone, or earth, said property so attempted to be cut or removed shall be seized as government property, by the local forest official or other representative of the Forestry Bureau, and the person making the seizure shall promptly notify the holder of the exclusive license affected thereby, and the said property so seized shall be surrendered to him upon the payment of the proper government charges thereon. Should, however, acceptance of said property and the payment of the charges thereon be refused, it shall be disposed of in the manner provided in section thirty-two of this Act for the disposition of forest products, stone, or earth on which the government charges have not been paid, and the proceeds turned over to the proper official to whom the government charges thereon should have been paid.

SECTION 27. No fire for clearing shall be started on private forests, woodlands, or fields adjoining public forests or forest reserves, without written permission first obtained from the local forest officer, or, in the absence of such officer, from the president of the municipality or settlement in which such forests, woodlands, or fields are situated. A copy of said written permission, when given by a president, shall be furnished by him to the local forest officer prior to the burning contemplated, when practicable; and said fire shall, when practicable, be lighted in the presence of such forest officer, president, or duly authorized municipal official. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not exceeding one hundred pesos or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or both.

SECTION 28. Whoever, without authority of law, shall cut, make, manufacture, or have in his possession any government marking hatchet or other marking implement, or any mark, poster, or other device officially used by officers of the Bureau of Forestry for the marking or identification of timber or other forest products, or any duplicate, counterfeit, or imitation thereof, or who shall fraudulently make or apply a government mark to timber or any other forest product by means of any authentic or counterfeit government marking hatchet, implement, mark, poster, or other device, or who shall fraudulently alter, deface, or remove government marks from logs, stumps, firewood, or other forest products, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred pesos or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.

SECTION 29. Neglect, unreasonable delay, or falsification in the making of reports, presentation of papers, or in other acts required by the provisions of this Act or the Forestry Regulations, or refusal to make reports, present papers, or to perform other acts required by this Act or the Forestry Regulations, shall, upon conviction, unless otherwise specially provided by law, be punished by a fine not to exceed two hundred pesos.

SECTION 30. Whoever, in violation of the provisions of this Act or of the Forestry Regulations or orders made in accordance herewith, transports, removes, or discharges from any ship, boat, raft, car, cart, or other means of transportation, forest products, or stone or earth, or fails to pay the amounts due the Government on forest products, stone, or earth for a period of more than thirty days from the date of the receipt by him or his agent of the order directing the payment of the same, shall, in addition to the regular government charges thereon, be subject to the payment of the sum of fifty per centum thereof, to be collected as in this Act provided for the collection of other government charges.

SECTION 31. In the absence of a local forest officer the president of the municipality or settlement within which timber or other forest products are cut or collected shall act in his stead. Any president who, in the absence of a local forest officer, shall neglect, refuse, or unreasonably delay to prepare and sign a statement of timber or other forest products, stone, or earth cut or collected within the territory under his authority, or to inspect firewood or other forest products cut or collected for local use in said territory, or to perform other acts required by the provisions of this Act, shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not to exceed fifty pesos; and the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall prepare and furnish to local presidents the necessary instructions defining their duties under this Act.

SECTION 32. Forest products, stone, or earth on which the government charges have not been paid as prescribed by law, and which have been seized in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall be offered for sale at public auction, unless redeemed as hereinafter provided.

Fifteen days after any tax on any forest products, stone, or earth shall have become due and remains unpaid the local forest officer shall prepare and sign a certified copy of the records of his office showing the person or persons delinquent in payment of such taxes, the amounts thereof, and of the costs and additional charges, respectively due from him or them. The forest officer thereupon shall proceed at once to seize the forest products, stone, or earth of the delinquent, and, unless redeemed as hereinafter provided, to sell at public auction, at some public place near where such property is seized, as the local forest officer shall determine, so much of the same as shall satisfy the tax, additional charges, and costs of seizure and sale, to the highest bidder for cash, after due advertisement by notice posted at the main entrance of the municipal building in the municipality in which such seizure is made and at a public and conspicuous place in the barrio in which the property was seized, stating the time, place, and cause of sale. The certified copy of the local forest officer's record of delinquents, attested by the secretary of the municipality within which the forest products were seized, approved by the forest inspector or forester in charge of the forest or inspection district, shall be his warrant for thus proceeding, and the purchaser at such sale shall acquire an indefeasible title to the property sold. Within two days after the sale the local forest officer shall make return of his proceedings in writing to the Bureau of Forestry and shall reserve a copy thereof to be kept by him as an official record, which shall also be attested by the municipal secretary: Provided, That if there is no bidder, or if the highest bid is only equal to or less than the sum total of the taxes, costs, and additional charges, the Chief of the Bureau of Forestry shall have discretionary power to declare the same sold to the Government in satisfaction of such taxes, costs, and charges, and to invoice said products to the provincial supervisor or to any other public official charged with similar duties, for use in public works. The proceeds of such auction sales shall be paid to the official to whom the government charges on the same should have been paid, who shall pay any surplus resulting from the sale over and above the tax, costs, and additional charges to the person on account of whose delinquency the sale has been made.

 

SECTION 33. The owner of forest products seized may deem the same from the local forest officer or collecting officer at any time after seizure and before sale by tendering to him the amount of the taxes, costs, and additional charges incurred up to the time of tender. The costs to be charged in making such seizure and sale shall embrace only the actual expense of seizure and preservation of the property pending the sale, and no charge shall be imposed for the services of the local forest officer or collecting officer or his deputy.

SECTION 34. Whenever authority is given in this Act for the imposition of any additional charge administratively, any person aggrieved by the imposition of such additional charge may, within twenty days after payment thereof, appeal therefrom to the Court of First Instance of the province in which the additional charge was imposed, and that court shall have jurisdiction, after due hearing, to confirm the imposition of the additional charge or to reverse or modify the same. Judgments of the Courts of First Instance in such cases shall be certified to the Bureau of Forestry, and, when in favor of the taxpayer, such judgment shall also be certified to the Auditor for the Philippine Islands, who shall issue a certificate for payment by settlement warrant upon the Insular Treasurer, under the provisions of Act Numbered three hundred and fifty-seven, and shall charge the amount of the warrant against the forestry collections of the province and municipality from which the timber was cut or the forest product obtained: Provided, That if an appeal from the judgment of the Court of First Instance is taken by the Bureau of Forestry, the Chief of said Bureau shall immediately notify the Auditor, who shall withhold settlement of the account pending final decision of the court.

SECTION 35. From and after May twentieth, nineteen hundred and four, there shall be paid on all timber, firewood, gums, resins, and other forest products, and stone and earth cut, gathered, or removed from all public forests or forest reserves on and after May twentieth, nineteen hundred and four, the respective taxes, costs, and additional charges imposed on such products in this Act. The payment of all such taxes shall be made within thirty days after the date of the receipt by the owner or his agent of the order directing payment, and the payment of the proceeds of auction sales, and of all charges and costs imposed by officers or employees of the Bureau of Forestry, shall be made immediately upon the receipt of the order directing payment, to collectors of internal revenue or to provincial or municipal treasurers, as provided by law. The charges prescribed by General Orders, Numbered Ninety-two, series of nineteen hundred, office of the United States Military Governor of the Philippine Islands, shall be collected on all forest products cut, gathered, or removed prior to May twentieth, nineteen hundred and four.

SECTION 36. All sums of money mentioned in this Act shall be deemed to be in Philippine currency.

SECTION 37. General Orders, Numbered Ninety-two, series of nineteen hundred, issued by the Military Governor of the Philippine Islands; Act Numbered Two hundred and seventy-four, entitled "An Act prohibiting the unauthorized destruction of timber on public lands;" section twenty of Act Numbered Forty-nine, entitled "An Act providing for the establishment of a civil government for the Province of Benguet;" section eleven of Act Numbered One hundred and nineteen, entitled "An Act extending the provisions of the Provincial Government Act and the Municipal Code to the Province of Occidental Negros;" and section eleven of Act Numbered One hundred and twenty, entitled "An Act extending the provisions of the Provincial Government Act and the Municipal Code to the Province of Oriental Negros," are hereby repealed.

SECTION 38. This Act shall take effect on its passage, except sections eleven, twelve, and thirty-seven, which shall take effect May twentieth, nineteen hundred and four.

Enacted, May 7, 1904