REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4645 June 1, 1966 CREATING THE CITY OF OLONGAPO

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4645 June 1, 1966

AN ACT CREATING THE CITY OF OLONGAPO

ARTICLE I. Title of Act

Sec. 1. Title of Act. This Act shall be known as the Charter of the City of Olongapo.

ARTICLE II. General Provisions

Sec. 2. Territory of the City of Olongapo. The City of Olongapo, which is hereby created, shall comprise the present territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of Olongapo, Province of Zambales. The boundaries and limits of the City of Olongapo are established and described as follows:

Bounded on the NW and N. by the Municipality of Subic; on the E. by the Municipality of Subic and Subic Naval Base (Swo-40367, Parcel 1); on the S. by the U.S. Naval Base (Swo-40367, Parcel 1); and on the W. by U.S. Naval Base, Swo-40367, Parcel 8 (Subic Bay).

Beginning at the point marked "1" on the southern bank of Matain River, at the mouth entering Subic Bay at a point 0339-4360; thence following northeasterly direction along the southern bank of the Matain River to the southern line of the Philippine National Highway No. 7 at a point 0445-4380; thence following a northeasterly direction along the eastern bank of Matain River at a point 0980-5220; thence due East, 2529.81 m. on Mt. Balakibok at a point 1230-5220; thence due east up to the provincial boundary of Zambales and Bataan; thence due Southwest along the provincial boundary of Zambales Province and Bataan Province, up to the Philippine National Highway No. 7; thence following a westerly direction of the southern line of the Philippine National Highway No. 7 at a point 0870-5320; thence following a southerly direction along the 50 contour to the western bank of the drainage canal at a point 0815-4230; thence following the southerly direction along the north bank of the drainage to a point of the Saluysuy River at a point 0820-4100; thence following the westerly direction along the north bank of the drainage canal to a portion of Manila Avenue, Community of Olongapo at a point 0700-4100; thence following the northwesterly direction along the north bank of the drainage canal to a point on the eastern bank of the Kalaklan River at a point 0635-4125; thence following a southwesterly direction of the northern bank of Kalaklan River to the north line of the Philippine National Highway No. 7 at a point 0615-4095; thence following the westerly direction of the northern line of the Philippine National Highway No. 7 across the Kalaklan River on the western bank at a point 0610-4100; thence following the seaward line of the Philippine National Highway No. 7 to the westernmost promontory north of the Olongapo Cemetery at a point 0565-4140; thence following the northwesterly direction along the coast of Subic Bay to the southern bank of Matain River, at the mouth of Subic Bay, point of beginning, containing an approximate area of eighteen thousand five hundred hectares.

The territory of the City of Olongapo shall also include, subject to existing treaties and executive agreements entered into between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America, the islands of Mayanga, Grande and Chiquita, as well as that area within the Province of Zambales indicated in plan Swo-40367, parcel one of the Bureau of Lands.

Sec. 3. Corporate character of the City. The City of Olongapo constitutes a political body corporate and as such is endowed with the attribute of perpetual succession and possessed of the powers which pertain to a municipal corporation, to be exercised in conformity with the provisions of this Charter.

Sec. 4. Seal and General Powers of the City. The city shall have a common seal, and may alter the same at pleasure. It may take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for public use, contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred.

Sec. 5. The City not liable for damages. The City shall not be liable or held for damages or injuries to persons or property arising from failure of the city council, the Mayor or any other city officer or employee, to enforce the provisions of this Charter, or any other law or ordinance, or from negligence of said city council, Mayor or city officers or employees while enforcing or attempting to enforce the provisions thereof: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prevent any aggrieved party from filing personal action in the proper court against any official or employee in the city government for any action or omission in the performance of his duties.

Sec. 6. Jurisdiction of the City. The jurisdiction of the City of Olongapo for police purposes shall be co-extensive with its territorial jurisdiction; shall extend to six miles from the shore of the city; and for the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of water supply of the city, such police jurisdiction shall also extend over all territories within the watershed area of such water supply, or within two hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct or pumping station used in connection with the city water service. The City Court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the municipal or city courts of the respective municipalities or cities, to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within said watershed area, or within said spaces of two hundred meters. The court first taking jurisdiction of such an offense shall thereafter retain exclusive jurisdiction thereof. The police forces of the several municipalities and cities concerned shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the police force of the city for the maintenance of good order and the enforcement of ordinances throughout said zone, area, and spaces. But any license that may be issued within said zone, area or spaces shall be granted by the proper authorities of the city or municipality concerned, and the fees arising therefrom shall accrue to the treasury of the said city or municipality concerned and not to the City of Olongapo.

Sec. 7. Income, receipts and profits derived from sale and/or administration of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain. All incomes, receipts, and profits derived from the sale, disposition and/or administration of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain within the City of Olongapo shall accrue to the city notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary.

ARTICLE III. The Mayor

Sec. 8. The Mayor. The Mayor shall be elected at large by qualified voters of the city. He shall be at least twenty-five years of age, a resident of the City for at least three years prior to his election, and a qualified voter therein: Provided, That the first election for Mayor shall be held at the general elections for provincial and municipal officials next following the approval of this Act. He shall hold office for four years, unless sooner removed for cause as provided by law and with due process.

He shall receive a salary provided for by existing laws. Through an ordinance approved by the city council, the Mayor may be provided, in addition to his salary, a commutable allowance of not exceeding six thousand pesos per annum.

Sec. 9. The Vice-Mayor. There shall be a vice-mayor who shall be chosen in the same manner as the City Mayor, and shall possess the same qualifications as that of the City Mayor. He shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the City Mayor in the event of death, sickness, absence or other temporary incapacity of the incumbent, or in the event of a permanent vacancy in the position of city mayor.

If, for any reason, the Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated in the performance of the duties of the City Mayor, or said office of the vice-mayor is vacant, the duties and powers of the City Mayor shall be performed and executed by the councilor who obtained the highest number of votes during the election for members of the city council.

The Vice-Mayor shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the City Mayor or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall receive a salary provided for by existing laws.

Sec. 10. General powers and duties of the Mayor. Unless otherwise provided by law, the Mayor shall have immediate control over the executive and administrative functions of the different departments of the City, subject to the authority and supervision of the President. He shall have the following general powers and duties:

(a) To comply with and enforce and give the necessary orders for the faithful enforcement and execution of the provisions of this Charter and other laws and ordinances in effect within the jurisdiction of the city.

(b) To safeguard all the lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits and other property and rights of the City, and, subject to the provisions of this Charter, have control over all its property.

(c) To see that all taxes and other revenues of the city are collected, and applied in accordance with appropriations to the payment of the city expenses.

(d) To cause to be instituted judicial proceedings to recover property and funds of the City wherever found, to cause to be defended all suits against the City, and otherwise to protect the interest of the City.

(e) To see that the executive officers and employees of the City properly discharge their respective duties.

(f) To examine and inspect the books, records, and papers of all officers, agents, and employees of the city over whom he has executive supervision and control of least twice a year, and whenever occasion arises. For this purpose he shall be provided by the City Council with such clerical or other assistance as may be necessary.

(g) To give such information and recommend such measures to the City Council as he shall deem advantageous to the City.

(h) To represent the City in all its business matters and sign in its behalf all its bonds, contracts, and obligations made in accordance with law or ordinance.

(i) To submit to the city council at least two months before the beginning of each fiscal year a budget of receipts and expenditures of the city.

(j) To receive, hear, and decide, as he may deem proper, the petitions, complaints, and claims of the residents concerning all classes of city matters of an administrative or executive character.

(k) To grant or refuse municipal licenses or permits of all classes and to revoke the same for violation of the conditions upon which they were granted, or if acts prohibited by law or city ordinance are being committed under the protection of such licenses or in the premises in which the business for which the same have been granted is carried on, or for any other good reason of general interest.

(l) To exempt, with the concurrence of the division superintendent of schools, deserving poor pupils from paying of school fees or of any part thereof.

(m) To submit an annual report to the President of the Philippines.

(n) To take such emergency measures as may be necessary to avoid fires and floods and to mitigate the effects or storms and other public calamities.

(o) Subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law, to appoint all officers and employees of the City of Olongapo whose salaries are paid fully or partly from city funds, any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, except those whose appointments are vested in the President, or otherwise provided for in the charter. Officers and employees appointed by the mayor may be suspended or removed by him in accordance with law. The mayor shall have also the power to appoint employees whose duties are strictly confidential in nature, and who shall hold office at his pleasure.

(p) To attend, if he wishes to do so, the sessions of the city council and participate in the discussions, but not to vote.

(q) To perform such other duties and exercise such other executive powers as may be prescribed by law or ordinances.

Sec. 11. Secretary to the Mayor. The Mayor shall appoint one secretary who shall hold office at the pleasure of the Mayor and who shall receive a compensation as provided for by existing laws.

The secretary shall have charge and custody of all records and documents of the city and any office or department thereof for which provision is not otherwise made; shall keep the corporate seal and affix the same with his signature to all ordinances and resolutions signed by the Mayor and to all other official documents and papers of the government of the City as may be required by law or ordinance; shall attest all executive orders, proclamations, ordinances, and resolutions signed by the mayor; shall, upon request, furnish certified copies of all city records and documents in his charge which are not of a confidential character for which he shall charge twenty centavos for each one hundred words or fraction thereof, including the certificate, such fees to be paid directly to the city treasurer; and shall perform such other duties as the Mayor may require of him.

Sec. 12. City Administrator. Upon the recommendation of the Mayor, the City Council may provide, by ordinance approved by a vote of at least three-fourths of all the councilors, for the establishment of the position of city administrator, with the following powers, duties and responsibilities to be exercised under the direction, control and supervision of the Mayor:

(a) To supervise and coordinate the work of all departments and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Mayor, except such as may be expressly excluded in the ordinance establishing the position of the city administrator;

(b) To serve as budget officer of the city;

(c) To be responsible for the development and administration of a sound personnel system for the city consistent with the governing provisions of the Civil Service Law; and to establish and maintain a roster of all employees of the city, whether or not in the classified service, in which there shall be set forth, as to each employee, the class, title of the position held, the salary or pay, any change in class, title, pay or status, and other pertinent data;

(d) Subject to any applicable Civil Service Law or regulation, to prepare and recommend for adoption by the City Council, with the approval of the Mayor first had, a comprehensive pay plan for the appointive officers and employees of the City, which shall be based on the duties, authority and responsibility of the various positions; and to recommend changes in and revisions to such plan from time to time as he may deem necessary or desirable;

(e) To conduct a continuous study of the work and the internal organization and procedures of all offices, departments, and agency under the jurisdiction of the Mayor, and to develop and prescribe accepted administrative procedures, and establish management and work standards therefor;

(f) To analyze and report to the Mayor concerning impending policy decisions affecting the management of the city and its agencies;

(g) To convene the heads of departments and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Mayor, singly or collectively, for the purpose of conference, discussion and report;

(h) To conduct research and prepare reports which give continuing attention to problems involving the effective and economical organization and administration of the city services; and to prepare annual and such other reports as the Mayor or the City Council may require;

(i) To require, provide for, and make arrangement for the installation and maintenance by departments and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Mayor, of such management records and statistical techniques related to the collection and analysis of performance data as may, from time to time, become necessary or desirable;

(j) To develop and prepare materials on management practice for use in in-service training programs and to provide technical assistance and guidance in the conduct of such programs;

(k) To maintain liaison with civic and community groups on matters of governmental management;

(l) To attend meetings of the City Council at its request and make available such information as it may require and submit recommendations on such matter as it may specify;

(m) To attend meetings of the board or committee of which the Mayor is a member, when requested by the Mayor, with the privilege of participating in the discussions and deliberations of such boards or committees as the Mayor's proxy; and

(n) To perform all other duties required of him by ordinance or assigned to him in writing by the Mayor.

The City Administrator shall be appointed by the City Mayor and shall receive the salary equivalent to that of a city department head. Such position shall be within the unclassified civil service but may be filled by appointment by the Mayor in the manner in which classified civil service positions are filled, and, if so filled, the appointee shall be entitled to all the benefits of classified employees, except that he shall hold office only during the term of office of the appointing Mayor, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner separated for or without cause by the Mayor.

ARTICLE IV. The City Council

Sec. 13. Constitution and Organization of the City Council Compensation of Members thereof . The City Council shall be the legislative body of the city and shall be composed of the Vice-Mayor, who shall be its presiding officer, and eight councilors elected at large by popular vote during every election for provincial and municipal officials in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code. In case of sickness, absence, suspension or other temporary disability of any member of the Council, or if necessary to maintain a quorum, the Mayor may designate a temporary substitute from any of the heads of the departments of the city who shall possess all the rights and perform all the duties of a member of the Council without additional compensation and/or remuneration until the return to duty of the regular incumbent.

If any member of the City Council should be a candidate for office in any election, he shall be disqualified to act with the Council in the discharge of the duties conferred upon it relative to election matters, and in such case the other members of the Board shall discharge said duties without his assistance, or they may choose a disinterested elector of the city to act with the Council in such matters in his stead.

The members of the City Council shall receive a salary as provided for by existing laws.

Sec. 14. Qualification, Suspension and Removal of the Members of the Council. The members of the City Council shall be at least twenty-five years of age, qualified electors of the city, and residents therein for at least one year. Upon qualifying, the members-elect shall assume office on the date fixed in the Revised Election Code until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.

The members of the City Council may be suspended or removed from office under the same circumstances, in the same manner, and within the same effect, as elective provincial officers and the provisions of laws providing for the suspension or removal of elective provincial officers are hereby made effective for the suspension or removal of said members of the Council.

Vacancies in the City Council shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Election Code.

Sec. 15. Appointment, Salary and Duties of Secretary of the Council. The Council shall have a secretary who shall be appointed by it to serve during the term of office of the members thereof. The compensation of the secretary shall be in accordance with existing laws. A vacancy in the office of the secretary shall be filled temporarily for the unexpired term in like manner.

The secretary shall be in charge of the records of the city council. He shall keep a complete record of its proceedings and file all documents relating thereto; shall record, in a book kept for that purpose, all ordinances and all resolutions and motions, directing the payment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the council, with the dates of passage of the same, and of the publication of ordinances; shall keep a seal, circular in form, with the inscription "City Council City of Olongapo", in the center of which shall be placed the coat of arms of the city, and affix the same with his signature to all ordinances and other official acts of the Council and shall present the same for signature to the presiding officer; shall cause each ordinance passed to be published as herein provided; shall, upon request, furnish certified copies of all records of public character in his charge under the seal of his office upon payment of such fees as may be prescribed by resolution of the council to be paid directly to the City Treasurer; and shall keep his office and all records therein which are not of confidential nature, open to public inspection during usual business hours.

Sec. 16. Methods of Transacting Business by the Council Veto, Authentication and Publication of Ordinances. Unless the President of the Philippines orders otherwise, the Council shall hold one ordinary session for the transaction of business during each week on a day which it shall fix by resolution, and such extraordinary sessions, not exceeding thirty during any one year as may be called by the Mayor or by a majority of the members of the Council. It shall sit with open doors, unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of five members. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and determine its rules of procedure not herein set forth. Five members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A smaller number may adjourn from day to day but may compel the immediate attendance of any member absent without good cause by issuing to the police of the city an order for his arrest and production at the session under such penalties as shall have been previously prescribed by ordinances. Five affirmative votes shall be necessary for the passage of any ordinance, or of any resolution or motion directing payment of money or creating liability, but any other measure shall prevail upon the majority votes of the members present at any meeting duly called and held. The ayes and nays shall be taken and recorded upon the passage of all ordinances, upon all resolutions or motions directing payment of money or creating liability, and, at the request of any member upon any other resolution or motion. Each approved ordinance, resolution or motion shall be sealed with the seal of the Council and recorded in a book kept for the purpose, and shall, on the day following its passage, be posted by the secretary at the main entrance to the City Hall, and shall take effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following its passage unless otherwise stated in said ordinance, resolution or motion, or vetoed by the Mayor as hereinafter provided. A vetoed ordinance, if repassed, shall take effect ten days after the veto is overridden by the required votes unless otherwise stated in the ordinance or again disapproved by the Mayor within said time.

Each ordinance and resolution or motion directing payment of money or creating liability enacted or adopted by the Council shall be forwarded to the Mayor for approval. Within ten days after the receipt of the ordinance, resolution, or motion, the Mayor shall return it with his approval or veto; if he does not return it within that time, it shall be deemed approved. If he returns it with his veto, his reasons therefor in writing shall accompany it. It may then be again enacted by the affirmative votes of seven members of the Council, and again forwarded to the Mayor for his approval, and if within ten days after its receipt he does not return it with his veto, it shall be deemed approved. If within said time he again returns it with his veto, it shall be forwarded forthwith to the President of the Philippines for approval or disapproval, which then shall be final. The Mayor shall have the power to veto any particular item or items of an appropriation, or of any ordinance, resolution or motion directing payment of money or creating liability, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object. The item or items objected to shall not take effect except in the manner heretofore provided in this section as to ordinances, resolutions, and motions returned to the Council with his veto, but should an item or items in an appropriation ordinance be disapproved by the Mayor, the corresponding item or items in the appropriation ordinance of the previous year shall be deemed restored unless otherwise expressly directed in the veto.

Sec. 17. General powers and duties of the Council. Except as otherwise provided by law, and subject to the conditions and limitations thereof, the City Council shall have the following legislative powers:

(a) To provide for the levy and collection of taxes for general and specific purposes in accordance with law, including specially the power to levy real property tax not to exceed one and one-half per centum ad valorem; Provided, That the said maximum rate of one and one-half per centum shall not be imposed during the first five years of the effectivity of this Act.

(b) To fix with the approval of the department head the number and salaries of officials and employees of the city not otherwise provided for in this Act.

(c) To make all appropriations for the expenses for the government of the city.

(d) To authorize the free distribution of medicine to the employees and laborers of the city whose salary or wage does not exceed one hundred and eighty pesos per month or six pesos per day, and of evaporated or fresh native milk to indigent mothers residing in the city and of bread and light meals to indigent children ten years or less of age residing in the city, the distribution to be made under the direct supervision and control of the Mayor.

(e) To fix the tariff of fees and charges for all services rendered by the city or any of its departments, branches or officials.

(f) To provide for the erection and maintenance or the rental in case of need, of the necessary buildings for the use of the city.

(g) To provide for the establishment and maintenance of public schools and, except as otherwise provided by law, to fix, with the approval of the Director of Public Schools, reasonable matriculation and/or tuition fees for intermediate and secondary institution therein, and to acquire sites for schoolhouse for primary and intermediate classes through purchase or conditional or absolute donation.

(h) To establish and maintain or aid in the establishment and maintenance of vocational schools and institutions of higher learning conducted by the National Government or any of its subdivisions or agencies; and, with the approval of the Director of Public Schools or Director of Vocational Education, to fix reasonable tuition fees for instruction in the vocational schools and in the institutions of higher learning supported by the city.

(i) To maintain the city court established by law which shall have jurisdiction over all criminal cases under the ordinances of the city, and such further jurisdiction as may be herein or hereafter conferred.

(j) To provide for and maintain an efficient police force for the maintenance of law and order in the city, and make all necessary police ordinances, with a view to the confinement and reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, prostitution and persons convicted of violating any of the ordinances of the city.

(k) To provide for and maintain a city fire department and to establish and maintain engine houses, fire engines, hose trucks, hooks and ladders, and other equipment for the prevention and extinguishing of fires, and to regulate the management and use of the same.

(l) To establish fire zones, determine the kinds of buildings or structures that may be erected within their limits, regulate the manner of constructing and repairing the same, and fix the fees for permits for the construction, repair, or demolition of buildings and other structures.

(m) To regulate the use of lights in stables, shops, and other buildings and places and to regulate and restrict the issuance of permits for the building of bonfires and rockets, and other pyrotechnic displays, and to fix the fees for such permits.

(n) To make regulations to protect the public from conflagrations and to prevent and mitigate the effects of famine, floods, storms, and other public calamities, and provide relief for victims thereof.

(o) To tax, regulate and fix the amount of license fees for the following: hawkers, peddlers, hucksters or peddlers, barbers, collecting agencies, manicurists, hair dressers, tattooers, jugglers, acrobats, wrestlers and boxers; shooting galleries, merry-go-rounds and other similar riding devices, and the keeping, preparation, and sale of meat, poultry, fish, game, butter, cheese, lard, vegetable, bread and other provisions; and to impose a municipal occupation tax, not to exceed fifty pesos per annum, on lawyers, physicians, dentists, architects, civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical or mining engineers, radio engineers or technicians, certified public accountants, opticians, and optometrists, veterinarians, land surveyors, insurance agents and sub-agents, business agents and business consultants, professional appraisers or connoisseurs of tobacco or other domestic or foreign products, music teachers, piano tuners, nurses and midwives, auctioners, plumbers, electrical contractors, building contractors, massagists, physical culture instructors, chiropodists, money changers, real estate, commercial and other brokers, and persons engaged in the transportation of passengers or freight by hire, including common carriers and transportation contractors: Provided, That persons exercising their profession or occupation only as salaried employees and not as independent practitioners shall be exempt from the municipal occupation tax herein prescribed.

(p) To tax, fix the license fee and regulate the business of hotels, restaurants, refreshment places, cafes, lodging houses, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, laundries, dyeing and cleaning establishments, beauty parlors, physical or beauty culture and fashion schools, clubs, livery garages, public warehouses, pawnshops, theaters, cinematographs, and the letting or subletting of lands and buildings whether used for commercial, industrial or residential purposes; and further to fix the location of, and to tax, fix the license fee on, and regulate the business of livery stables, boarding stables, embalmers, public billiard tables, public pool tables, bowling alleys, dance halls, public dancing halls, cabarets, night clubs and day clubs, circuses and other similar parades, public vehicles, public ferries, cockpits, dealers in second-hand materials or merchandise, junk dealers, theatrical performances, boxing contests, public exhibitions, blacksmith shops, foundries, steam boilers, lumber yards, shipyards, the storage and sale of gunpowder, tar, pitch, resin, coal, oil, gasoline, benzine, turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitroglycerin, petroleum or any of the products thereof and of all other highly combustible or explosive materials and other establishments likely to endanger the public safety or give rise to conflagrations or explosions, and subject to the provisions of law, tanneries, renderies, tallow chandleries, bone factories, soap factories: Provided, That no license shall be granted to any theater or cinematograph unless the applicant for said license agrees to exhibit pictures made in the Philippines to the extent of five per centum of their annual exhibitions: Provided, finally, That any violation of this condition shall cause the revocation of said license.

(q) To tax and fix the license fees on pictures or bookbinders or both, manufacturers of rope, paper, leather goods, including shoes, slippers, sandals, harnesses and valises or bags, sporting goods, rubber goods, plastics and celluloid products, hardware, including glasswares, cooking utensils, electrical goods, and construction materials, chemical products, including drugs, perfumes, toilet articles, paints, dyes and inks, textiles, shell lamps or lamp shades or both, statuettes or tombstones or both, sacks, furniture of all kinds, including rattan goods, wire, brass beds or both, clothing, hats, eyeglasses or optical goods or both, fertilizers or buttons.

(r) To tax and fix the license fee on dealers in general merchandise, including importers and indentors, except those dealers who may be expressly subject to the payment of some other municipal tax under the provisions of this section.

Dealers in general merchandise shall be classified as (a) wholesale dealers and (b) retail dealers. For purposes of the tax on retail dealers, general merchandise shall be classified into four main classes namely: (1) luxury articles, (2) semi-luxury articles, (3) essential commodities, and (4) miscellaneous articles. A separate license shall be prescribed for each class but where commodities of different classes are sold in the same establishment, it shall not be compulsory for the owner to secure more than one license if he pays the higher or highest rate of tax prescribed by ordinance. Wholesale dealers shall pay the license tax as such, as may be provided by ordinance.

For purposes of this section, the "general merchandise" shall include poultry and livestock agricultural products, fish and other allied products.

(s) To tax, fix the license fee on and regulate the sale, trading in or disposal of alcoholic or malt beverages, wines and mixed or fermented liquors, including tuba, basi, tapuy, lambanog, offered for retail sale.

(t) To impose a tax on all products or commodities manufactured or produced in the city and removed therefrom.

(u) To impose a sales tax of not exceeding one per centum of the gross value in money of all articles sold, bartered, exchanged or transferred within the city.

(v) To regulate the method of using steam engines and boilers and all other motive powers other than marine, or belonging to the Government of the Philippines; to Provide for the inspection thereof and fix a reasonable fee for such inspection and to regulate and fix the fees for the licenses of engineers engaged in operating the same.

(w) To provide for the prohibition and suppression of riots, affrays, disturbances, and disorderly assemblies; houses of ill-fame and other disorderly houses; gaming houses, gambling houses and all fraudulent devices for the purpose of obtaining money or property; prostitution, vagrancy, intoxication, fighting, quarrelling, and all disorderly conduct, and printing, circulation, exhibition, possession or sale of obscene pictures, books, or publications thereof and for the maintenance and preservation of peace and morals.

(x) To prohibit or regulate and fix the license fees for the keeping of dogs, and to authorize their impounding and destruction when running at large contrary to ordinances, and to tax and regulate the keeping or training of fighting cocks.

(y) To establish and maintain municipal pounds; to regulate, restrain, and prohibit the running at large of domestic animals, and provide for the distraining, impounding, and sale of the same for penalty incurred, and the cost of the proceedings, and to impose penalties upon the owners of said animals for the violation of any ordinance in relation thereto.

(z) To prohibit, and provide for the punishment of, cruelty to animals.

(aa) To require property owners by ordinance to construct or repair, at their expense, sidewalks along the street or streets adjacent to their lots in accordance with the specifications of the city engineer as to width, the quality, and grade, and subject to his supervision and approval: Provided, That in case of failure or inability of the property owners to comply with the requirement within a specified period of time after demand, the city engineer shall cause the work to be done and the cost thereof collected as a special assessment from such owners who may choose to pay the same in full, or in ten equal yearly installments which shall be due and payable to the City of Olongapo in the same manner as the annual tax levied on real estate and shall be made subject to the same penalties for delinquency, and enforceable by the same remedies, as such annual tax and all said sums and amounts shall, from the day in which they are assessed, constitute liens on the property against which the same were assessed and shall take precedence over any and all other liens which may exist upon such property excepting only such as may have been attached as a result of the nonpayment of said annual tax.

(bb) To regulate the inspection, weighing, and measuring of brick, lumber, coal and other articles or merchandise.

(cc) Subject to the provisions of existing law, to provide for the laying out, construction and improvement, and to regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, wharves, piers, parks, cemeteries and other public places; to provide for lighting, cleaning, and sprinkling of streets, and public places; to regulate, fix the license fees for and prohibit the use of the same for processions, signs, signposts, awnings, awning posts, and the carrying or displaying of banners, placards, advertisements or handbills, or the flying of signs, flags or banners whether along, across, over or from buildings along the same; to prohibit the placing, throwing, depositing, or leaving of obstacles of any kind, garbage, refuse, or other offensive matter or matters liable to cause damage in the streets and other public places and to provide for the collection and disposition thereof; to provide for the inspection of, fix the license fees for and regulate the openings in the same for the laying of water, sewer and other pipes, building and repair of tunnels, sewers and drains, and all structures in and under the same and the erecting of poles and the stringing of wires therein; to provide for and regulate crosswalks, curbs and gutters thereon; to name streets without names and provide for and regulate the numbering of houses and lots fronting thereon or in the interior of the blocks; to regulate traffic and sales upon the streets and other public places; to provide for the abatement of nuisances in the same and punish the authors and owners hereof; to provide for the construction and maintenance and regulate the use of bridges, viaducts, and culverts; to prohibit and regulate ball playing, hoop rolling, and other amusements, which may annoy persons using the streets and public places, or frighten horses or obstruct other vehicles; to regulate the speed of horses and other animal driven vehicles within the limits of the city.

(dd) To provide for the construction and maintenance of, and regulate the navigation on, canals and water courses within the city and provide for the cleaning and purification of the same; unless otherwise provided by law, to provide for the construction and maintenance, and regulate the use of public landing places, wharves, piers, docks and levies, and those of private ownership; and to provide for or regulate the drainage and filling of private premises when necessary in the enforcement of sanitary rules and regulations issued in accordance with law.

To undertake and carry out the reclamation of submerged land from the sea adjoining the city limits at the expense of the city the area thus reclaimed to belong exclusively to the city, or to cause to be undertaken by private contractors such reclamation work on terms and conditions approved by the city council and the Mayor.

(ee) Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, to provide for the maintenance of waterworks for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the city, and for the purification of the source of water supply and the places through which the same passes, and to regulate the consumption and use of water; to fix subject to the provisions of the Public Service Law, and provide for the collection of rents therefor and to regulate the construction, repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns, and reservoirs.

(ff) To provide for the establishment and maintenance and regulate the use of public drains, sewers, latrines and cesspools.

(gg) Subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Director of Health Services in accordance with law, to provide for the establishment, maintenance and to fix the fees for the use of, and regulate public stables, laundries and baths, and public markets by any person, entity, association, or corporation other than the city.

(hh) To establish or authorize the establishment of slaughterhouses, to provide for their veterinary or sanitary inspection, to regulate the use of the same, and to charge reasonable slaughter fees. No fees shall be charged for veterinary or sanitary inspection of meat from large cattle or domestic animals slaughtered outside the city, when such inspection was had at the place where the animals were slaughtered.

(ii) To regulate, inspect and provide measures preventing any discrimination or the exclusion of any race or races in or from any institution, establishment or service open to the public within the city limits, or in the sale and supply of gas or electricity, or in the telephone service; to fix and regulate charges therefor where the same has not been fixed by the national law, to regulate and provide for inspection of all gas, electric and telephone conduits, mains, meters and other apparatus, and provide for the condemnation, substitution or removal of the same when defective or dangerous.

(jj) To declare, prevent and provide for the abatement of nuisances; to regulate the ringing of bells and the making of loud and unusual noises; to provide that owners, agents, or tenants of buildings or premises keep and maintain the same in sanitary condition, and that, in case of failure to do so, within sixty days from the date a written notice is served, the city health officer shall cause the same to be kept in a sanitary condition, and the cost thereof to be assessed against the owner to the extent of not to exceed sixty per centum of the assessed value, which cost shall constitute a lien against the property; and to regulate and/or prohibit, or fix the license fees for the use of property on or near public ways, grounds, or places, or elsewhere within the city, or display by electric signs or the erection or maintenance of billboards or structures of whatever materials erected, maintained, or used for the display of posters, signs, or other pictorial or reading matter, except signs displayed at the place or places where the profession or business advertised thereby is in whole or in part conducted.

(kk) To provide for the enforcement of rules and regulations issued by the Director of Health Services; and by ordinance to prescribe penalties for violation of such rules and regulations.

(ll) To extend its ordinances over all waters within the city and over any boat or other floating structures thereon and for the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply of the city, over all territory within the drainage area of such water supply, and within two hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct or pumping station used in connection with the city water service.

(mm) To regulate any other business or occupation being conducted within the city not specifically mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, and to impose a license fee upon all persons engaged in the same or who enjoy privileges in the city.

(nn) To fix and regulate the size, speed, and operation of motor and other vehicles within the city; to regulate the light used on such vehicles; to establish bus stops and terminals; and prohibit and regulate the entrance of provincial public utility vehicles into the city, except those passing through the city.

(oo) To grant fishing and fishery privileges subject to the provisions of the Fisheries Act.

(pp) To enact all ordinances it may deem necessary and proper for the sanitation and safety, the furtherance of prosperity and the promotion of morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, and such others as may be necessary to carry into effect and discharge the powers and duties conferred by this Charter; and to fix penalties for the violation of ordinances, which shall not exceed a two-hundred-peso fine or six months imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment for a single offense.

(qq) Subject to the provisions of existing law, to exercise the power of eminent domain for the following purposes; the construction or extension of roads, streets, sidewalks, boulevards, seawalls, bridges, ferries, levees, wharves, or piers, airfields, the construction of public buildings including schoolhouses and the making of necessary improvements in connection therewith; the establishment of parks, playgrounds, plazas, market places, artesian wells, or systems for the supply of water, irrigation, canals and dams, and the establishment of nurseries, breeding centers for animals, health centers, hospitals, cemeteries, drainage systems, cesspools, or sewage systems and arbattoirs.

(rr) To dispose by lease or otherwise all lands of the public domain ceded to it by the National Government pursuant to the provisions of this Charter.

Sec. 18. Restrictive Provisions. No commercial sign, signboard or billboard shall be erected or displayed on public lands, premises or buildings. If after due investigation, and having given the owners an opportunity to be heard, the Mayor shall decide that any sign, signboard or billboard displayed or exposed to public view is offensive to the sight or is otherwise a nuisance, he may order the removal of such sign, signboard, or billboard, and if the same is not removed within ten days from receipt of the order issued by him, he may himself cause its removal, and the sign, signboard, or billboard shall thereupon be forfeited to the city, and the expenses incident to the removal of the same shall become a lawful charge against any person or property liable for the creation or display thereof.

ARTICLE V. Departments and Offices of the City

Sec. 19. City Departments. There shall be a finance department, a law department, an engineering department, a health department, a police department, a fire department and an assessment department. Any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Mayor shall have direct control and supervision over all the city departments.

Consistent with law, the City Council may, from time to time, make such readjustment of the duties of the several departments as the public interest may demand, and, with the approval of the City Mayor, may create, merge and/or consolidate any department, division or office of the city with any other department, division or office.

Sec. 20. Powers and duties of heads of departments. Each head of department of the City Government shall be in control of such department and shall possess such powers as may be prescribed herein or by ordinance. He shall certify to the correctness of all payrolls and vouchers of his department covering the payment of money before payment, except as herein otherwise expressly provided. At least four months before the beginning of each fiscal year, he shall prepare and present to the Mayor an estimate of the appropriations necessary for the operation of his department during the ensuing fiscal year, and shall submit therewith such information for purposes of comparison as the Mayor may desire. He shall submit to the Mayor, as often as required, reports covering the operations of his department.

In case of the absence or sickness, or inability to act for any other reasons, of the head of any of the city departments, the officer next in charge of that department shall act in his place with authority to sign all necessary papers, vouchers, requisitions, and similar documents.

Sec. 21. Appointment and removal of officials and employees. The President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, shall appoint the city judges, the city treasurer, the city fiscal and assistant city fiscals, the city engineer, the city health officer, the chief of police, the chief of the fire department, the city assessor, and other heads of such city departments as may be created. Said officers shall not be suspended nor removed except in the manner and for causes provided by law: Provided, however, That the chief of police and the members of the police force department shall be suspended or removed in accordance with existing law.

Sec. 22. Officers not to engage in certain transactions. It shall be unlawful for any city officer, directly or indirectly, individually or as a member of a firm, to engage in any business transaction, with the city or with any of its authorized officials, boards, agents, or attorneys, whereby money is to be paid, directly or indirectly, out of the resources of the city to such person or firm; or to purchase any real estate or other property belonging to the city.

Sec. 23. Statement of Assets. Before assuming office, every official and regular or temporary employee of the city government shall file a sworn statement of his assets and property holdings.

ARTICLE VI. Finance Department

Sec. 24. The City Treasurer His powers, duties and compensation. There shall be a city treasurer, who shall have charge of the department of finance and shall act as chief fiscal officer and financial adviser of the city and custodian of its funds. He shall receive a salary in accordance with existing laws. He shall have the following general powers and duties:

(a) He shall collect all taxes due the city, all licenses authorized by law or ordinance, all rents due for lands, markets, and other property owned by the city, all further charges, of whatever nature fixed by law or ordinance, and shall receive and issue receipt for all costs, fees, fines and forfeitures imposed by the City Court.

(b) He shall collect all miscellaneous charges made by the engineering department and by the other departments of the city government, and all charges made by the city engineer for inspection, permits, licenses, and the installation, maintenance, and services rendered in the operation of private privy system.

(c) Unless otherwise specifically provided by law or resolution, he shall perform in and for the city duties imposed by law or resolution upon provincial treasurers in general, as well as, the other duties imposed upon him by law.

(d) He shall purchase and issue all supplies, equipment or other property required by the city, through the purchasing agent, or otherwise as may be authorized, subject to the general provisions of law relating thereto.

(e) He shall be accountable for all funds and property of the city and shall render such accounts in connection therewith as may be prescribed by the Auditor General.

(f) He shall deposit all city funds and collections in any bank duly designated as government depository, in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations.

(g) He shall disburse the funds of the city in accordance with duly authorized appropriations, upon properly executed vouchers bearing the approval of the chief of the department concerned, and on or before the twentieth day of each month he shall furnish the Mayor and the City Council for their administrative information a statement of the appropriation, expenditures and balances of all funds and accounts as of the last day of the month preceding.

ARTICLE VII. Law Department

Sec. 25. The city fiscal His powers, duties and compensation. There shall be a city fiscal, who shall be the chief legal adviser of the city. There shall be four assistant city fiscals, who shall be known as the first, second, third and fourth assistant city fiscals, respectively. The city fiscal and his assistants shall each receive the salary provided for in existing laws to be payable from national funds: Provided, however, That their salaries shall be paid from city funds until such time as the appropriation for the same has been included in the said annual appropriations act. The city fiscal shall, subject to the general supervision of the Secretary of Justice, have the following general powers and duties:

(a) He shall personally or through any assistant represent the city in all civil cases wherein the city, or any officer thereof, in his official capacity, is a party; and shall prosecute and defend all civil actions related to or connected with any city officer or interest.

(b) He shall, when directed by the Mayor, institute and prosecute in the city's interest, a suit on any bond, lease, or other contract and upon any breach or violation thereof.

(c) He shall, when requested, attend meetings of the Council, draw ordinances, contracts, bonds, leases and other instruments involving any interest of the city, and inspect and pass upon any such instrument already drawn.

(d) He shall give his opinion in writing, when requested by the Mayor or the Council or any of the heads of the city departments, upon any question relating to the city or the rights or duties of any city officer thereof.

(e) He shall, whenever it is brought to his knowledge that any city officer or employee is guilty of neglect or misconduct in office, or that any person, firm, or corporation holding or exercising any franchise or public privilege from the city, has failed to comply with any condition, or to pay any consideration mentioned in the grant of such franchise or privilege, investigate or cause to be investigated the same and report to the Mayor.

(f) He shall investigate all charges of crimes, misdemeanors, and violations of laws and city ordinances and prepare the necessary information or make the necessary complaints against the persons accused. He may conduct such investigation by taking oral evidence of reputed witnesses and for this purpose may, by subpoena or subpoena duces tecum, summon witnesses to appear and testify under oath before him, or produce documents and other evidence before him, and the attendance of, or the production of documents and other evidence by an absent or recalcitrant witness may be enforced by application for warrant of arrest to the city court or the Court of First Instance.

(g) He shall have charge of the prosecution of all crimes, misdemeanors and violations of laws and city ordinances triable in the Court of First Instance of Zambales and the city court, and shall discharge all the duties in respect to criminal prosecution enjoined by law upon provincial fiscals.

(h) He shall cause to be investigated the causes of sudden deaths which have not been satisfactorily explained and when there is suspicion that the cause arose from unlawful acts or omissions of other persons or from foul play. For that purpose he may cause autopsies to be made in case it is deemed necessary and shall be entitled to demand and receive for the purpose of such investigations or autopsies the aid of the city health officer.

(i) He shall at all times render such professional services as the Mayor or City Council may require, and shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law or ordinance.

ARTICLE VIII. Engineering Department

Sec. 26. The City Engineer His powers, duties and compensation. There shall be a city engineer who shall receive a salary in accordance with existing laws. He shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) He shall have charge of all the surveying and engineering work of the city, and shall perform such services in connection with public improvements, or any work entered upon or proposed by the city or any department thereof as may require the skill and experience of a civil engineer.

(b) He shall ascertain, record, and establish monuments of the city survey and from thence extend the survey of the city, locate, establish, and survey all city property and also private property abutting on the same, whenever directed by the Mayor.

(c) He shall prepare and submit plans, maps, specifications, and estimates for buildings, streets, bridges, docks and other public works and supervise the construction and repair of the same.

(d) He shall make such tests and inspection of engineering materials used in construction and repair as may be necessary to protect the city from use of materials of a pool or dangerous quality.

(e) He shall have the care of all public buildings, when erected, including markets and slaughterhouses and all buildings rented for city purposes, and of any system now or hereafter established by the city for lighting the streets, public places, and public buildings.

(f) He shall take inventory and have the care of all public streets, parks, and bridges, and shall maintain, clean, sprinkle, and regulate the use of the same for all purposes as provided by ordinance.

(g) He shall have the care and custody of all public docks, wharves, piers, levees, and landing places owned by the city.

(h) He shall have the general supervision and inspection of all private docks, wharves, piers, levees, and landing places, and other property bordering on the harbor, river, esteros, and waterways of the city, and shall issue permits for the construction, repair or removal of the same, and enforce all ordinances relating to the same.

(i) He shall prevent the encroachment of private buildings and fences on the streets and public places of the city.

(j) He shall have the care and custody of the public system of waterworks and sewers, and all sources of water supply, and shall control, maintain, and regulate the use of the same, in accordance with the ordinances relating thereto; shall inspect and regulate the use of all private systems for supplying water to the city and its inhabitants, and all private sewers and their connections with the public sewer system.

(k) He shall have the management, care and custody of the electrical system, and shall control, maintain and regulate the use of the same in accordance with the ordinances relating thereto, and shall issue permits for power and electrical connections and/or installations.

(l) He shall have the management, care and custody of the telephone system, and shall control, maintain and regulate the use of the same, in accordance with ordinances relating thereto, and shall issue permits for telephone installations and/or connections.

(m) He shall supervise the laying of mains and connections for supplying gas to the inhabitants of the city.

(n) He shall inspect and report upon the conditions of public property and public works whenever required by the Mayor.

(o) He shall supervise and regulate the location and use of engines, boilers, forges, and other manufacturing and heating appliances, in accordance with laws and ordinances relating thereto. He is authorized to charge, at rates to be fixed by the Council with the approval of the Department Head, for sanitation and transportation services and supplies furnished by his department.

(p) He shall inspect and supervise the construction, repair, removal, and safety of private buildings, and regulate and enforce the numbering of houses, in accordance with the ordinances of the city.

(q) With the previous approval of the Mayor in each case, he shall order the removal of buildings and structures erected in violation of the ordinances; shall order the removal of the materials employed in the construction or repair of any building or structure made in violation of said ordinances; and shall cause buildings or structures dangerous to the public to be made secure or torn down.

(r) He shall file and preserve all maps, plans, notes, surveys, and other papers and documents pertaining to his office.

(s) He shall have authority to charge at rates to be fixed by the City Council, fees for public services and supplies furnished by his department to private parties, including such public services which are subject to the approval of the Public Service Commission.

Sec. 27. Execution of authorized public works and improvements. All public works constructions, repair and improvement of the city shall be carried out by administration by the Office of the City Engineer under the direct supervision and direction of the City Mayor. The approval of plans and specifications thereof by the City Mayor with the favorable recommendation of the City Council and the City Engineer shall constitute sufficient warrant for the undertaking and execution of said projects. For justifiable reasons, the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the City Council, may also have said work done totally or partially by contract, upon advertising for bids, therefor: Provided, That in the case where the funds are borrowed from private persons or institutions and not obtained from taxes or any other governmental source, public bidding may be dispensed with.

ARTICLE IX. Health Department

Sec. 28. The City Health Officer His powers and duties. There shall be a city health officer who shall have charge of the department of health and shall receive a salary in accordance with existing laws. He shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) He shall have general supervision over the health and sanitary conditions of the city, including the cleaning of crematories, cemeteries, stockyards, slaughterhouses, and markets.

(b) He shall execute and enforce all laws, ordinances and regulations relating to public health.

(c) He shall recommend to the City Council the passage of such ordinances as he may deem necessary for the preservation of public health.

(d) He shall cause to be prosecuted all violations of sanitary laws, ordinances, or regulations.

(e) He shall make sanitary inspections and may be aided therein by such members of the police force of the city or the National Police, as shall be designated as sanitary police by the chief of police or proper national police officer and such sanitary inspectors as may be authorized by law.

(f) He shall have charge of the collection and disposal of all garbage, refuse, the contents of closets, vaults, and cesspools and all other offensive and dangerous substances within the city and, in the event the disposal and collection of such garbage, refuse and other offensive substances has been awarded to a private contractor, the disposal and collection thereof shall be under the supervision of the city health officer.

(g) He shall administer the city cemeteries; and shall have charge of the duties relative to the issuance of burial and transfer permits and of permits for the conveyance of body to sea for burial.

(h) He shall have control and supervision over puericulture centers and social services of the city.

(i) He shall keep a city register for recording the civil status of persons in which shall be entered: (a) births, (b) deaths, (c) marriages, (d) annulments of marriages, (e) legitimations, (f) adoptions, (g) acknowledgments of natural children, (h) naturalization, and (i) changes of name. He shall also perform such other duties as are required of local civil registrars by the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-seven hundred and fifty-three, entitled "An Act to establish a Civil Register".

(j) He shall perform such other duties, not repugnant to law or ordinance, with reference to the health and sanitation of the city as the Secretary of Health shall direct. In case of epidemic or when the inhabitants of the city are menaced by any infectious or contagious diseases, the Secretary of Health shall designate the proper health official who shall assume full control of the health and sanitation services of the city until such condition shall have ceased to exist.

ARTICLE X. Police Department

Sec. 29. The Chief of Police His powers and duties. There shall be a chief of police who shall have charge of the police department and shall receive a salary as provided for in existing laws for chiefs of police. he shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) He may issue supplementary regulations not incompatible with law or general regulations promulgated by the proper department head of the National Government, in accordance with law, for the government of the city police and detective force.

(b) He shall quell riots, disorders, disturbances of the peace, and shall arrest and prosecute through the city attorney, violators of laws or ordinances; shall exercise exclusive police supervision over all land and water within the police jurisdiction of the city; shall be charged with the protection of the rights of persons and property wherever found within the jurisdiction of the city, and shall arrest, when necessary to prevent the escape of offenders and violators of any law or ordinance, all who obstruct or interfere with him in the discharge of his duties; shall have charge of the city prison; and shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all prisoners until they shall be released from custody, in accordance with law, or delivered to the warden of the proper prison or penitentiary.

(c) He may take good and sufficient bail for the appearance before the judge of the municipal court of any person arrested for violation of any city ordinance: Provided, however, That he shall not exercise this power in cases of violations of any penal law, except when the fiscal of the city shall so recommend and fix the bail to be required for the person arrested.

(d) He shall have authority, within the police limits of the city, to serve and execute criminal processes of court.

(e) He shall exercise supervision over the police training school as may be established in accordance with the rules and regulations of the police department.

(f) He shall have such further powers and perform such further duties as may be prescribed by law or ordinance.

Sec. 30. The Deputy Chief of Police. There shall be a deputy chief of police whose duties shall be to act as chief in the absence or incapacity of the chief of police, and under the direction of the chief of police to look after the discipline of the police force and perform such other duties as may be imposed upon him by the chief or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall receive a compensation of not more than four thousand two hundred pesos per annum.

Sec. 31. Chief of secret service. There shall be a chief of secret service who shall, under the chief of police, have charge of the detective work of the department and of the detective force of the city, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the chief of police or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall receive a compensation of not less than three thousand six hundred pesos per annum.

Sec. 32. Peace Officers Their powers and duties. The Mayor, the chief of police, the deputy chief of police, the chief of the secret service, and all officers and members of the city police and detective force shall be peace officers. Such peace officers are authorized to serve and execute all processes of the city court and criminal processes of all other courts to whomsoever directed within the jurisdictional limits of the city or within the police limits as hereinbefore defined; within the same territory, to pursue and arrest, without warrant, any person found in suspicious places or under suspicious circumstances reasonably tending to show that such person has committed, or is about to commit, a crime or breach of peace; to arrest or cause to be arrested, without warrant, any offender when the offense is committed in the presence of a peace officer or within his view; and in such pursuit or arrest, to enter any building, boat or vessel or take into custody any person therein suspected of having committed theft; and to exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law or ordinance. They shall detain an arrested person only in accordance with the provisions of existing laws relative to such detention. Whenever the Mayor shall deem it necessary to avert danger or to protect life and property, in case of riot, disturbance, or public calamity, or when he has reason to fear any serious violation of law and order, he may request the assistance of the Philippine Constabulary or other members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and/or other police agencies. Except only in such cases of specific requests made, police jurisdiction and supervision and the preservation of peace and order shall pertain exclusively to the peace officers herein mentioned, existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 33. When a member of the city police is accused in Court. When a member of the city police is accused in court of any felony or violation of law or ordinance by the city fiscal, the Mayor shall immediately suspend the accused from office in accordance with existing laws pending the final decision of the case by the court. In case of acquittal, the accused shall be entitled to payment of the entire salary he failed to receive during his suspension.

ARTICLE XI. Fire Department

Sec. 34. Chief of Fire Department. There shall be a chief of the fire department who shall have the management and control of all matters relating to the administration, organization, government, discipline and disposition of the fire force. He shall receive a salary in accordance with existing laws, and shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) He shall issue supplementary regulations not incompatible with law or general regulations issued by the proper department head of the National Government in accordance with law, for the government of the fire force.

(b) He shall have charge of the fire-engine houses, the fire engines, hose trucks, hooks and ladders, trucks and all other fire apparatus.

(c) He shall have full police powers in the vicinity of fires.

(d) He shall have the authority to remove or demolish any building or other property whenever it shall become necessary to prevent the spread of fire or to protect adjacent property.

(e) He shall investigate and report to the Mayor on the origin and cause of all fires occurring within the city.

(f) He shall inspect all buildings erected or under construction or repair within the City and determine whether they provide sufficient protection against fire and comply with the ordinance relating thereto.

(g) He shall have charge of the city fire alarm service.

(h) He shall have exclusive power, any law to the contrary notwithstanding, to supervise and regulate the stringing, grounding, and installation of wires for all electrical connections with a view to avoiding conflagrations, interference with public traffic or safety, or the necessary operation of the fire department.

(i) He shall condemn all defective electrical installations and shall take the necessary steps to effect immediate corrective action, informing the Mayor of the action thus taken.

(j) He shall supervise the manufacture, storage, and use of petroleum, gas, acetylene, gunpowder, and other highly combustible matter and explosives.

(k) No permit for the construction or repair of buildings within the city shall be granted unless the plans relative thereto have been approved by the chief of fire department. He shall have the power to alter or disapprove such plans as do not provide for adequate protection against the occurrence of fires.

(l) He shall have such powers and perform such duties as may further be prescribed by law or ordinance.

Sec. 35. Deputy Chief of the Fire Department. There shall be a deputy chief of the fire department whose duties shall be to act as chief in the absence or incapacity of the chief of the fire department, and, under the direction of the chief of the fire department, to look after the discipline of the fire force and perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by the chief or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall receive a compensation of not more than four thousand two hundred pesos per annum.

ARTICLE XII. Assessment Department

Sec. 36. The City Assessor His powers and duties. The city assessor shall have charge of the department of assessment. He shall receive a salary as provided for in existing laws. He and his authorized deputies are empowered to administer any oath authorized in connection with the valuation of real estate for the assessment and collection of taxes. He shall make a list of taxable real estate in the city, arranging in the order of the lot and block numbers the names of the owners thereof, with a brief description of the property opposite each such name and the cash value thereof. In making this list, the city assessor shall take into consideration any sworn statement made by the owners of the property, but shall not be prevented thereby from considering other evidences on the subject and exercising his own judgment in respect thereto. For the purpose of completing this list, he and his representatives may enter upon the real estate for the purpose of examining and measuring it, and may summon witnesses, administer oaths to them, and subject them to examination concerning the ownership and the amount of real estate and its cash value. He may, if necessary examine the records of the Office of the Register of Deeds and of the Office of the Provincial Treasurer in the Province of Zambales showing the ownership of real estate in the city. The city treasurer shall act as city assessor until the city council by ordinance approved by the Department Head, provides otherwise.

Sec. 37. Real estate exempt from taxation. The following shall be exempt from taxation:

(a) Lands or buildings owned by the Republic of the Philippines, the Province of Zambales or the City of Olongapo, burying grounds, churches, and their adjacent parsonages and convents, lands or buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes, and not for profit; but such exemption shall not extend to lands or buildings held for investment, though income therefrom be devoted to religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes.

(b) Lands or buildings which are the only real property of the owner, and the value of which do not exceed two hundred pesos.

Sec. 38. Declaration to be made by persons acquiring or improving real estate. It shall be the duty of each person who, at any time, acquires real estate in the city, and of each person who constructs or adds to any improvements on real estate owned by him in the city, to prepare and present to the city assessor within a period of sixty days next succeeding such acquisition, construction or addition, a sworn declaration setting forth the value of the real estate acquired or the improvement constructed or addition made by him and a description of such property sufficient to enable the city assessor readily to identify the same. Any person having acquired real estate who fails to make and present the declaration herein required within the said period of sixty days shall be deemed to have waived his right to notice of the assessment of such property, and the assessment of the same in the name of the former owner shall, in all such cases, be valid and binding on all persons interested, and for all purposes, as though the same has been assessed in the name of its present owner.

Sec. 39. Action when owner makes no returns or is unknown, or ownership is in dispute or in doubt, or when land and improvements are separately owned. If the owner of any parcel of real estate shall fail to make a return thereof, or if the city assessor is unable to discover the owner of any real estate, he shall nevertheless list the same for taxation, and charge the tax against the true owner, if known, and if unknown then, as against an unknown owner. In case of doubt or dispute as to ownership of real estate, the taxes shall be levied against the possessor or possessors thereof. When it shall appear that there are separate owners of the land and the improvements thereon, a separate assessment of the property of each shall be made.

Sec. 40. Action in case estate has escaped taxation. If it shall come to the knowledge of the city assessor that any taxable real estate in the city has escaped listing, it shall be his duty to list and value the same at the time and in the manner provided in the next succeeding section and to charge against the owner thereof the taxes due for the current year and the last preceding one year, and the taxes thus assessed shall be legal and collectible by all the remedies herein provided, and if failure of the city assessor to assess was due to any fault or negligence on the part of the owner of such property, the penalties shall be added to such back taxes as though they had been assessed at the time when they should have been assessed.

Sec. 41. When assessment may be increased or reduced. The city assessor shall, during the first fifteen days of January of each year, add to his list of taxable real estate such property during the preceding year, and any property which is taxable and which has theretofore escaped taxation. He may, during the same period, revise and correct the assessed value of any or all parcels of real estate in the city which are not assessed at their true money value, by reducing or increasing the existing assessment as the case may be.

Sec. 42. Publication of complete list and proceedings thereon. The city assessor shall, after the list has been completed, inform the public by notice published for seven days in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, if any, and by notice posted for seven days at the main entrance to the city hall, that the list is on file in his office and may be examined by any person interested therein, and that upon the date fixed in the notice, which shall not be later than the tenth day of February, the city assessor will be in his office for the purpose of hearing complaints as to the accuracy of the listing of the property and the assessed value thereof. He shall further notify in writing each person the amount of whose tax will be changed by such proposed revision, by delivering or mailing such notification to such person or his authorized agent at the last known address of said owner or agent in the Philippines, sometime in the month of January. It shall be his duty to carefully preserve and record in his office copies of said notice. On the day fixed in the notice, and for five days thereafter, he shall be present in his office to hear all complaints filed within the period by persons against whom taxes have been assessed as owners of real estate, and he shall make his decision forthwith and enter the same in a well bound book, to be kept by him for that purpose; if he shall determine that injustice had been done or errors have been committed, he is authorized to amend the list in accordance with his findings.

Sec. 43. City Assessor to authenticate list of real estate assessed. The city assessor shall authenticate each list of real estate valued and assessed by him as soon as the same is completed, by signing the following certificate at the foot thereof:

"I hereby certify that the foregoing list contains a true statement of the piece or pieces of taxable real estate belonging to each person named in the list, and its true cash value, and that no real estate taxable by law in the City of Olongapo has been omitted from the list, according to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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(Signature) City Assessor"

Sec. 44. Time and manner of appealing to Board of Tax Appeals. In case an owner of real estate, or his authorized agent, shall feel aggrieved by any decision of the city assessor under the preceding sections of this article, such owner or agent, may, within thirty days after the entry of such decision, appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals. The appeal shall be perfected by filing a written notice of the same with the city assessor and it shall be the duty of that officer forthwith to transmit the appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals with all the written evidence in his possession relating to such assessment and valuation.

Sec. 45. Constitution and compensation of Board of Tax Appeals. There shall be a Board of Tax Appeals which shall be composed of five members to be appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. Three members of the Board shall be selected from among government officials in the city other than those in charge of assessment and they shall serve without additional compensation. The two other members shall be selected from among property owners in the city and they shall each receive a compensation of ten pesos for each day of session actually attended. The Chairman of the Board shall be designated in the appointment and shall have the power to designate any city official or employee to serve as the secretary of the board without additional compensation.

The members of the Board of Tax Appeals shall hold office for two years unless sooner removed by the President of the Philippines.

Sec. 46. Oath to be taken by members of the Board of Tax Appeals. Before organizing as such, the members of the Board of Tax Appeals shall take the following oath before the city judge or some other officer authorized to administer oaths;

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will hear and determine well and truly all matters and issues between taxpayers and the city treasurer submitted for my decision. So help me God." (In case of affirmation the last four words are to be taken out.)

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(Signature)

Member of the Board of Tax Appeals

Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this _____ day of ______________, 196__

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(Signature and title of officer

Administering Oath)

Sec. 47. Proceedings before Board of Tax Appeals and the Department Head. The Board of Tax Appeals shall hold such number of sessions as may be authorized by the Secretary of Finance, shall hear all appeals duly transmitted to it and shall decide the same forthwith. It shall have authority to cause to be amended the listing and valuation of the property in respect to which any appeal has been perfected by order signed by the Board or a majority thereof, and transmit same to the city assessor who shall amend the tax list in conformity with said order. It shall also have the power to revise and correct, with the approval of the Secretary of Finance first had, any and all erroneous or unjust assessments and valuations for taxation, and make a correct and just assessment and state the true valuation, in each case when it decides that the assessment previously made is erroneous or unjust. The assessment when so corrected shall be as lawful and valid for all purposes as though the assessment had been made within the time herein prescribed. Such reassessment and revaluation shall be made on due notice to the individual concerned who shall be entitled to be heard by the Board of Tax Appeals before any reassessment or revaluation is made. The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals shall be final unless the Department Head declares the decision reopened for review by him in which case he may make such revision or revaluation as in his opinion the circumstances justify. Such revision when approved by the President of the Philippines shall be final.

Sec. 48. Taxes on real estate Extension and Remission of the Tax. A tax, the rate of which shall not exceed one and one-half per centum ad valorem to be determined by the City Council, shall be levied annually on or before the second Monday of January on the assessed value of all real estate in the city subject to taxation. All taxes on real estate for any year shall be due and payable annually on the first day of June and from this date such taxes together with all penalties accruing thereto shall constitute a lien on the property subject to such taxation.

Such lien shall be superior to all other liens, mortgages or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever; and shall be enforceable against the property whether in the possession of the delinquent or any subsequent owner, and can only be removed by the payment of the tax and penalty.

At the option of the taxpayer, the tax for any year may be paid in two installments to be fixed annually by the City Council simultaneously with the rate per centum of ad valorem taxation: Provided, That the time limit for the first and second installments shall be set at not later than the thirty-first day of May and the thirtieth day of October of each year, respectively.

Any person , who on the last day for the payment of the real estate tax as provided in the preceding paragraphs, shall be within the premises of the City Hall willing and ready to pay the tax but is unable to effect it on account of the large number of taxpayers therein present, shall be furnished a properly prescribed card which will entitle him to pay the tax without penalty on the following day.

The words "paid under protest" shall be written upon the face of the real estate tax receipt upon the request of any person willing to pay the tax under protest. Confirmation in writing of an oral protest shall be made within thirty days.

At the expiration of the time for the payment of the real estate tax without penalty, the taxpayer shall be subject, from the first day of delinquency, to the payment of a penalty at the rate of two per centum for each full month of delinquency that has expired, on the amount of original tax due, until the tax shall have been paid in full or until the property shall have been forfeited to the city as provided in this Act: Provided, That in no case shall the total penalty exceed twenty-four per centum of the original tax due. In the event that the crop is extensively damaged or that a great lowering of the prices of products is registered in any year, or that a similar disaster extends throughout the province, or for other good and sufficient reason, the City Council may, by resolution passed on or before the thirty-first day of December of such year, extend the time for the collection of the tax on real estate in the City of Olongapo for a period not to exceed three months, or remit wholly or in part the payment of the tax or penalty for the ensuing year, but such resolution shall have to specify clearly the grounds for such extension or remission and shall not take effect until it shall have been approved by the Department Head.

The President of the Philippines may, in his discretion, remit or reduce the real estate taxes for any year in the city if he deems this to be in the public interest.

Sec. 49. Seizure of the personal property for delinquency in the payment of taxes. After a property shall have become delinquent in the payment of taxes and said taxes and corresponding penalties shall remain unpaid ninety days after payment thereof shall have become due, the city treasurer or his deputy, if he desires to compel payment through seizure of any personal property of any delinquent person or persons, shall issue a duly authenticated certificate, based on the records of his office, showing the fact of delinquency and the amount of the tax and penalty due from said delinquent person or persons or from each of them. Such certificate shall be sufficient warrant for the seizure of the personal property belonging to the delinquent person or persons in question not exempt from seizure; and those proceedings may be carried out by the city treasurer, his deputy, or any other officer, authorized to carry out legal proceedings.

Sec. 50. Personal property exempt from seizure and sale for delinquency. The following personal property shall be exempt from seizure, sale and execution for delinquency in the payment of the real estate tax:

(a) Tools and implements necessarily used by the delinquent in his trade or employment.

(b) One horse, cow or carabao, or other beast of burden, such as the delinquent may select, and necessarily used by him in his ordinary occupation.

(c) His necessary clothing and that of his family.

(d) Household furniture and utensils necessary for housekeeping and used for that purpose by the delinquent, such as he may select of a value not exceeding one thousand pesos.

(e) Provisions for individual or family use sufficient for four months.

(f) The professional libraries of lawyers, judges, clergymen, physicians, engineers, schoolteachers, and music teachers, not exceeding three thousand pesos in value.

(g) The fishing boat and net, not exceeding the total value of one thousand pesos, the property of any fisherman, by the lawful use of which he earns a livelihood.

(h) Any article or material which forms part of a home or of any improvement on any real estate.

Sec. 51. The owner may redeem personal property before sale. The owner of the personal property seized may redeem the same from the collecting officer at any time after seizure and before sale by tendering to the latter the amount of the tax, the penalty, and the costs incurred up to the time of tender. The costs to be charged in making such seizure and sale shall only embrace the actual expense of seizure and preservation of the property pending the sale, and no charge shall be imposed for the services of the collecting officer or his deputy.

Sec. 52. Sale of seized personal property. Unless redeemed as herein before provided, the property seized through proceedings under Section forty-nine hereof, shall, after due advertisement, be exhibited for sale at public auction and so much of the same as shall satisfy the tax, penalty, and cost of seizure and sale shall be sold to the highest bidder. The purchaser at such sale shall acquire an indefeasible title to the property sold. The advertisement shall state the time, place and cause of sale, and be posted for ten days prior to the date of the auction, at the main entrance to the City Hall and at a public and conspicuous place in the district where the property was seized.

Sec. 53. Return of officer Disposal of surplus. The officer directing the sale under the preceding section shall forthwith make return of his proceedings and note thereof shall be made by the city treasurer upon his records. Any surplus resulting from the sale over and above the tax, penalty and cost, any property remaining in possession of the officer, shall be returned to the taxpayer on account of whose delinquency the sale has been made.

Sec. 54. Vesting title to real estate in City Government. Upon the expiration of one year from the date on which the taxpayer became delinquent, and in the event of continued default in payment of the tax and penalty, all private rights, titles and interest in and to the real estate on which said tax is delinquent shall be indefeasibly vested in the City Government subject only to the rights of redemption and repurchase provided for hereinbelow: Provided, That the title acquired by said City Government on real estate shall not be superior to the title thereto of the original owner prior to the seizure thereof.

Sec. 55. Redemption of real estate before seizure. At any time after the delinquency shall have occurred, but not after the expiration of ninety days from the date of the publication of the advertisement provided for in the next succeeding section, the owner, or his lawful representative, or any person having any lien, right or any other legal or equitable interest in said property, may pay the taxes and penalties accrued and thus redeem the property. Such redemption shall operate to divest the City Government of its title to the property in question and to revert the same to the original owner, but when such redemption shall be made by a person other than the owner, the payment shall constitute a lien on the property, and the person making such payment shall be entitled to recover the same from the original owner, or if he be a lessee, he may retain the amount of said payment from the proceeds of any income due to the owner of such property: Provided, That the person exercising the right of redemption shall not acquire a title to said property better than that of the original owner prior to the seizure.

Sec. 56. Notice and seizure of the real estate. Notice of the seizure of the real estate shall be given by posting notices at the main entrance to the City Hall, the provincial building and all municipal buildings in the Province of Zambales, in the English and Spanish and in the dialect commonly used in the locality. A copy of said notice shall also be posted on the property subject to seizure. Such notices shall state the name of the delinquent persons, the date on which such delinquency commenced, the amount of the taxes and penalties then due from each, and shall state that unless such taxes and penalties are paid within ninety days from the date of the publication of such notice, the forfeiture of the delinquent real estate to the City Government shall become absolute.

Sec. 57. Ejectment of occupants of seized property. After the expiration of ninety days from the date of the publication of the notice of delinquency provided for in the next preceding section, the city treasurer, or his deputy, may issue to the Mayor or to other officers authorized by law to execute and enforce the laws a certificate describing the parcel of real estate on which the taxes have been declared delinquent, stating the amount of taxes due, and the penalties and costs accrued by reason of the delinquent, and requesting him to eject from said property all the tenants and occupants thereof. Upon receiving such certificate, the Mayor or any other officer authorized to enforce the law, shall forthwith have all the tenants and occupants who refuse to recognize the title to the city expelled from the property in question, and to that end he may use the police force: Provided, however, That if the property so seized is or includes, a residential home, the occupant thereof shall be given sufficient time not exceeding ten days from the date of the notice of ejectment to vacate the premises.

Sec. 58. Redemption of real property before sale. After the title to the property shall have become vested in the City Government in the manner provided for in Sections fifty-two and fifty-four hereof, and at any time prior to the sale or execution of the contract of sale by the city treasurer to a third party, the original owner or his representative or any person having any lien, right or other legal interest or equity in said property, shall have the right to redeem the entire property in question by paying the full amount of taxes and penalties due thereon at the time of the seizure, and if the city treasurer shall have entered into a lease of the property; the redemption shall be made subject to said lease: Provided, That the payment of the price of sale may, at the discretion of the purchaser, be made in installments, extending over a period not exceeding twelve months, but the initial payment, which must be made on the date of the filing of the application for redemption, and every subsequent payment, shall not be less than twenty-five per centum of the entire sum due, and shall, in no case, be less than two pesos, unless the total or the balance of the amount due on all seized property in the name of the taxpayer is less than two pesos. The purchaser may occupy the property after paying the first installment, and the usual taxes on the property shall be payable in the year after that in which the application for redemption was approved. Any failure of the purchaser to pay any installment on the date it is due shall have the effect of a forfeiture to the city government of any partial payment made by said purchaser, and in case he has taken possession of the property, he shall forthwith surrender the same to the City Government. In case the purchaser should fail to relinquish possession of said property, the city treasurer or his deputy shall forthwith adopt measures to eject therefrom all the tenants or occupants thereof as provided for in this Act: Provided, however, That the original owner of any real estate, seized prior to the approval of this Act, who redeems the same within six months subsequent to its approval, is hereby released from any obligation he may have to the Government for rent for the use of such property: Provided, finally, That the provisions of this section shall apply to redemption of real estate seized for delinquency in the payment of taxes and not redeemed up to the date of the approval of this Act.

Sec. 59. Notice of sale of real estate of public auction. At any time after the forfeiture of any real estate shall have become absolute, the treasurer, pursuant to the rules of procedure to be promulgated by the Department Head, may announce the sale of the real estate seized on account of delinquency in the payment of taxes thereon, for the redemption of which no application has been filed. Such announcement shall be made by posting a notice for three consecutive weeks at the main entrance to the City Hall and of all the municipal buildings of the province, in either English or Spanish, and in the dialect commonly used in the locality and by publishing the same once a week during three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. Copies of such notice shall be sent immediately by registered mail to the delinquent taxpayer at the latter's address, if known. The notice shall state the amount of taxes and penalties so due, the time and place of sale, the name of the taxpayer against whom the taxes are levied, and the approximate area, the lot number and the location by district and street and the street number and district or barrio where the real estate to be sold is located.

Sec. 60. Sale of Real estate Conditions. At any time during the sale or prior thereto, the taxpayer may stay the proceedings by paying the taxes and penalties to the city treasurer or his deputy. Otherwise the sale shall proceed and shall be held either at the main entrance to the City Hall or on the premises of the real estate to be sold as the city treasurer or his deputy may determine.

The payment of the sale price may, at the option of the purchaser, be made in installments covering a period not exceeding twelve months, but the initial payment shall be made at the time of the sale, and each subsequent payment shall not be less than twenty-five per centum of the sale price, and shall, in no case, be less than two pesos. The purchaser may occupy the property after paying the first installment, and the usual taxes on the property shall be payable in the year following that in which the sale took place. Any failure of the purchaser to pay the total price of the sale within twelve months from the date thereof, shall be sufficient ground for its cancellation, and any part payment made shall revert to the City Government and if the purchaser has taken possession of the property he shall forthwith surrender the same to the City Government. In case the purchaser should fail to relinquish possession of the property, the city treasurer or his deputy shall immediately take steps to eject the tenants or occupants of the property, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Section fifty-seven of this Act.

The city treasurer or his deputy shall make a report of the sale to the City Council within five days after the sale and shall make the same appear on its records. The purchaser at this sale shall receive from the city treasurer or his deputy a certificate showing the proceedings of the sale, describing the property sold, stating the name of the purchaser, the sale price, the condition of payment, the amount paid, and the exact amount of the taxes and penalties.

Sec. 61. Redemption of real estate after sale. Within one year from and after the date of sale, the delinquent taxpayer or any other person in his behalf shall have the right to redeem the property sold by paying to the city treasurer or his deputy the amount of the taxes, penalties, costs and interest at the rate of twelve per centum per annum on the purchase price, if paid in whole, or on any portion thereof as may have been paid by the purchasers, and such payment shall invalidate the certificate of sale issued to the purchaser, if any, and shall entitle the person making such payment to a certificate to be issued by the city treasurer or his deputy, stating that he has thus redeemed the property, and the city treasurer or his deputy, upon the return by the purchaser of the certificate of sale previously issued to him, shall forthwith refund the purchaser the entire sum paid by him with interest at twelve per centum per annum, as provided for herein, and such property shall thereafter be free from the lien of such taxes and penalties.

Sec. 62. Execution of deed of final sale. In case the delinquent taxpayer shall not redeem the property sold as herein provided within one year from the date of the sale, and the purchaser shall then have paid the total purchase price, the city treasurer, as grantor, shall execute a deed in form and effect sufficient to convey to the purchaser so much of the real estate against which the taxes have been assessed as has been sold, free from all liens or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever, and said deed shall succinctly recite all the proceedings upon which the validity of the sale depends. Any balance remaining from the proceeds of the sale after deducting the amount of the taxes and penalties due, and the cost, if any, shall be returned to the original owner or his representatives.

Sec. 63. Taxes and penalties which shall be paid upon redemption or repurchase. The taxes and penalties to be paid by way of redemption or repurchase shall comprise in all cases only the original tax by virtue of the failure to pay which the seizure was made, and its incidental penalties, up to the date of the forfeiture of the real estate to the Government.

Sec. 64. Taxes Legal procedure. (a) The assessment of a tax shall constitute a lawful indebtedness of the taxpayer to the City which may be enforced by a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, and this remedy shall be in addition to all remedies provided by law.

(b) No court shall entertain any suit assailing the validity of a tax assessed under this Charter until the taxpayer shall have paid, under protest, the taxes assessed against him; nor shall any court declare any tax invalid by reason of irregularities or informalities in the proceedings of the officers charged with the assessment or collection of the taxes or of a failure to perform their duties within the same time specified for their performance, unless such irregularities, informalities, or failure shall have impaired the substantial rights of the taxpayer.

(c) No court shall entertain in any suit assailing the validity of tax sale of land under this Charter until the taxpayer shall have paid into the court the amount for which the land was sold, together with interest at the rate of fifteen per centum per annum upon the sum from the date of sale to the time of instituting the suit. The money so paid into court shall belong and shall be delivered to the purchaser at the tax sale, if the deed is declared invalid, and shall be returned to the depositor, should he fail in this action.

(d) No court shall declare any such sale invalid by reason of any irregularities or informalities in the proceedings of the officer charged with the duty of making the sale, or by reason of failure by him to perform his duties within the time herein specified for their performance, unless such irregularities, informalities, or failure shall have impaired the substantial rights of the taxpayer.

ARTICLE XIII. Tax Allotments and special
assessment for public improvements

Sec. 65. Allotment of internal revenue and other taxes. Of the internal revenue accruing to the National Treasury under Chapter II, Title XII of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and sixty-six, and other taxes collected by the National Government and allotted to the various provinces, as well as the national aid for schools the City of Olongapo shall receive a share equal to what it would receive if it were a regularly organized province.

Sec. 66. Power to levy special assessment for certain purposes. The City Council may, by ordinance, provide for the levying and collection, by special assessment of the lands comprised within the district or section of the city specially benefited, or a part not to exceed sixty per centum of the cost of laying out, opening, constructing, straightening, widening, extending, grading, paving, curbing, walling, deepening, or otherwise establishing, repairing, enlarging, or improving public avenues, roads, streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks, plazas, bridges, landing places, wharves, piers, docks, levees, reservoirs, waterworks, water mains, water courses, esteros, canals, drains, and sewers, including the cost of acquiring the necessary land and public improvements thereon, as hereinafter provided.

In case of national public works the City Council as an agency of the National Government shall, when the President of the Philippines so directs it, provide for the levying and collection by special assessment of the lands within the section or district of the city specially benefited of the cost or a part thereof to be determined by the President, of laying out, opening, constructing, straightening, widening, extending, grading, repairing, paving, curbing, walling, or deepening, or otherwise, repairing, enlarging, or improving national roads and other national public works within the city, including the cost of acquiring the necessary land and improvements therein.

Sec. 67. Property subject to special assessment. All lands comprised within the district or section benefited, except those owned by the Republic of the Philippines shall be subject to the payment of the special assessment.

Sec. 68. Basis of apportionment. The amount of the special assessment shall be apportioned and computed according to the assessed valuations of such lands as shown in the books of the city assessor. If the property has not been declared for taxation purposes, the city assessor shall immediately declare it for the owner and assess its value, and such value shall be the basis of the apportionment and computation of the special assessment due thereon.

Sec. 69. Ordinance levying special assessment. The ordinance providing for the levying and collection of special assessment shall describe with reasonable accuracy the nature, extent, and location of the work to be undertaken; the probable cost of the work; the percentage of the cost to be defrayed by special assessment; the district or section which shall be subject to the payment of the special assessment the limits whereof shall be stated by metes and bounds if practicable, and by other reasonable accurate means if otherwise, and the period, which shall not be less than five or more than ten years, in which said special assessment shall be payable without interest. One uniform rate per centum for all lands in the entire district or section subject to the payment of all the special assessment need not be established, but different rates for different parts or sections of this city according as said property will derive greater or less benefit from the proposed work, may be fixed.

It shall be the duty of the city engineer to make the plans, specifications, and estimates of the public works contemplated to be undertaken.

Sec. 70. Publication of proposed ordinance levying special assessment. The proposed special assessment ordinance shall be published, with a list of the owners of the lands affected thereby, once a week for four consecutive weeks in any newspaper published in the city, one in English, one in Spanish, and one in the local dialect and which shall also be posted in places where public notices are generally posted in the city and also in the district or section where the public improvement is constructed or contemplated to be constructed.

The secretary of the City Council shall, on application, furnish a copy of the proposed ordinance to each landowner affected, or his agent, and shall, if possible, send to all of them a copy of said proposed ordinance by ordinary mail or otherwise.

Sec. 71. Protest against assessment. Not later than ten days after the last publication of the ordinance and list of landowners, as provided in the preceding section, the landowners affected, if they compose a majority and represent more than one-half of the total assessed value of said lands, may file with the City Council a protest against the enactment of the ordinance. The protest shall be duly signed by them and shall set forth the addresses of the signers and the arguments in support of their objection or protest against the special assessment established in the ordinance. If no protest is filed within the time and under the condition above specified, the ordinance shall be considered approved as published.

Sec. 72. Hearing of protest. The City Council shall designate a date and place for the hearing of the protests filed in accordance with the next preceding section and shall give reasonable time to all protestants who have given their addresses and to all landowners affected by any protest or protests, and shall order the publication once a week during two consecutive weeks, of a notice of the place and date of the hearing in the same manner herein provided for the publication of the proposed special assessment ordinance. All pertinent arguments and evidences presented by the landowners interested or their attorney shall be attached to the proper records. After the hearing, the City Council shall either modify its ordinance or approve it in toto and send notice of its decision to all interested parties who have given their addresses, and shall order the publication of the ordinance as approved finally, together with a list of the owners of the parcels of land affected by the special assessment, three times weekly for two consecutive weeks, in the same manner hereinabove prescribed. The ordinance finally passed by said body shall be sent to the Mayor with all the papers pertaining thereto, for his approval or veto as in the case of other city ordinances. If the Mayor approves it, the ordinance shall be published as above provided, but if he vetoes it, the procedure in similar cases provided in this Act shall be observed.

Sec. 73. When ordinance is to take effect. Upon the expiration of thirty days from the date of the last publication of the ordinance as finally approved, the same shall be effective in all respects, if no appeal therefrom is taken to the proper authorities in the manner hereinafter prescribed.

Sec. 74. Appeal. Any time before the ordinance providing for the levying and collection of special assessment becomes effective in accordance with the preceding section, appeals from such special assessment may be filed with the President of the Philippines in the case of public works undertaken or contemplated to be undertaken by the city. In all cases the appeal shall be in writing and signed by at least a majority of the owners of the lands situated in the special assessment zone representing more than one-half of the total assessed value of the lands affected. The appellant or appellants shall immediately give the Council a written notice of the appeal, and the secretary of the said Council shall, within ten days after receipt of the notice of appeal, forward to the office who has jurisdiction to decide the appeal an excerpt from the minutes of the Council relative to the proposed special assessment and all the documents in connection therewith.

Sec. 75. Decision of the appeal. Only appeals made within the time and in the manner prescribed in this Act shall be entertained, and the officer to whom the appeal is made may call for further hearing or decide the same in accordance with its merits as shown in the papers or documents submitted to him. All appeals shall be decided within sixty days after receipt by the appellate officer of the docket of the case, and such decision shall be final.

Sec. 76. Fixing of amount of special assessment. As soon as the ordinance is in full force and effect, the city treasurer shall determine the amount of the special assessment which the owner of each parcel of land comprised within the zone described in the ordinance levying the same is to pay each year during the prescribed period, and shall send to each of such landowners a written notice thereof by ordinary mail. If upon completion of the public works it should appear that the actual cost thereof is smaller or greater than the estimated cost, the city treasurer shall without delay proceed to correct the assessment by increasing or decreasing, as the case may be, the amount of the unpaid annual installments which are still to be collected from each landowner affected; in all cases, he shall give notice of such rectifications to the parties interested.

Sec. 77. Payment of special assessment. All sums due from any landowner or owners as the result of any action taken pursuant to this Act shall be payable to the city treasurer, in the same manner as the annual ordinary tax levied upon real property, and shall be subject to the same penalties for delinquency and enforced by the same means as said annual ordinary tax and all said sums together with any of said penalties shall, from the dates on which they were assessed, constitute special liens on said land, with the sole exception of the lien for the nonpayment of the ordinary real property tax. If upon recomputation of the amount of special assessment in accordance with the next preceding section, it appears that the landowner has paid more than what is correctly due from him, the amount paid in excess shall be refunded to him immediately upon demand; in the other case, the landowner shall have one year within which to pay without penalty the amount still due from him. Said period shall be counted from the date the landowner received the proper notice.

Sec. 78. Disposition of proceeds. The proceeds of the special assessment and penalties thereon shall be applied exclusively to the purpose or purposes for which the assessments were levied. it shall be the duty of the city treasurer to turn over to the National Treasury all collections made by him from special assessment levies for national public works.

ARTICLE XIV. City Budget

Sec. 79. Annual Budget. At least four months before the beginning of each fiscal year, the city treasurer shall present to the Mayor a certified detailed statement by department of all receipts and expenditures of the city pertaining to the preceding fiscal year, and to the first seven months of the current fiscal year, together with an estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the remainder of the current fiscal year; and he shall submit with this statement a detailed estimate of the revenues and receipts of the city from all sources for the ensuing fiscal year. Upon the receipt of this statement and estimate and the estimates of department heads as required by Section twenty of this Charter, the Mayor shall formulate and submit to the City Council at least two and a half months before the beginning of the ensuing fiscal year, a detailed budget covering the estimated receipts and actual expenditures during the preceding fiscal year, together with the necessary expenditures for the said ensuing fiscal year, which shall be the basis of the annual appropriations ordinance: Provided, however, That in no case shall the aggregate amount of such appropriation exceed the estimate of revenues and receipts submitted by the city treasurer as provided above.

Sec. 80. Supplemental Budget. Supplemental budgets formulated in the same manner may be adopted when special unforeseen circumstances make such action necessary.

Sec. 81. Failure to enact an appropriation ordinance. Whenever the Council fails to enact an appropriation ordinance for any fiscal year before the end of the previous fiscal year the several sums appropriated in the last appropriation ordinance for the objects and purposes therein specified, so far as they may be done, shall be deemed to be reappropriated, for the several objects and purposes specified in said last appropriation ordinance, and shall go into effect on the first day of the new fiscal year as the appropriation ordinance for that year, until a new appropriation ordinance is duly enacted.

ARTICLE XV. City Court

Sec. 82. Regular and Acting Judges of City Court. There shall be a city court for the City of Olongapo consisting of four branches, for which a presiding judge and three other judges shall be appointed, to be known, respectively, as judge of the first, second, third, and fourth branches. The city judges shall each receive a salary in accordance with existing laws.

One judge shall be designated by the Secretary of Justice to try traffic cases and cases of juvenile delinquency in addition to such ordinary civil and criminal cases as may be assigned to him in the ordinary functions of the court. When the public interest so requires, the Secretary of Justice may designate any of the judges to hold sessions at night.

The city court shall have the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases and the same incidental powers as are at present conferred by law upon municipal courts and such additional jurisdiction and powers as may hereafter be conferred upon them by law.

In case of absence, sickness or incapacity of any of the judges of the city court and in case of any vacancies in such offices, the Secretary of Justice may designate any assistant attorney of the Solicitor General's Office or any assistant fiscal in the Office of the Provincial Fiscal of Zambales to act as judge of the city court of the City of Olongapo, with all the powers of a regular judge of said court, but such acting judge shall not receive any additional compensation during the time he is acting as such.

Sec. 83. Clerks and employees of the City Court. There shall be a clerk of the city court and four deputy clerks of court who shall be appointed by the executive city judge in accordance with the Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, and their compensation shall be fixed by ordinance which shall not exceed four thousand eight hundred pesos per annum, and four thousand two hundred pesos, per annum, respectively.

The clerk of court shall keep the seal of the court and affix it to all orders, judgments, certificates, records, and other documents issued by the court. He shall keep a docket of the trials in the court, wherein he shall record in a summary manner the names of the parties and the various proceedings in civil cases and in criminal cases, the name of the defendant, the charge against him, the names of the witnesses, the date of the arrest, the appearance of the defendant, together with the fines and costs adjudged or collected in accordance with the judgment. He shall have the power to administer oaths.

The clerk of the city court shall, at the same time, be sheriff to the city and shall as such have the same powers and duties conferred by existing law to provincial sheriffs. The City Council may provide for such number of clerks in the office of the clerk of the city court as the needs of the service may demand.

Sec. 84. Jurisdiction of City Court. The City Court shall have the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases and the same incidental powers as are at present or hereafter conferred by law. It may also conduct preliminary investigations for any offenses, without regard to the limits of punishment, and may release, or commit and bind over any person charged with such offense to secure his appearance before the proper court.

Sec. 85. Incidental powers of City Court. The city court shall have power to administer oaths and to give certificates thereof; to issue summons, writs, warrants, executions, and all other processes necessary to enforce its orders and judgments, to compel the attendance of witnesses; to punish contempt of court by fine or imprisonment, or both, within the limitations imposed by law; and to require of any person arrested a bond for good behavior or to keep the peace, or for the further appearance of such person before a court of competent jurisdiction. But no such bond shall be accepted unless it be executed by the person in whose behalf it is made with sufficient surety or sureties to be approved by said court.

Sec. 86. Procedure in City Court in prosecutions for violations of law and ordinances. In a prosecution for the violation of any ordinance, the first process shall be a summons; except that a warrant for the arrest of the offender may be issued in the first instance upon the affidavit of any person that such ordinance has been violated, and that the person making the complaint has reasonable grounds to believe that the party charged is guilty thereof, which warrant shall conclude: "Against the ordinances of the city in such cases made and provided." All proceedings and prosecutions for offenses against the laws of the Philippines shall conform to the rules relating to process, pleadings, practice, and procedure for the judiciary of the Philippines, and such rules shall govern the city court and its officers in all cases insofar as the same may be applicable.

Sec. 87. Costs, fees, fines and forfeitures in City Court. There shall be taxed against and collected from the defendant, in case of his conviction in the city court, such costs and fees as may be prescribed by law in criminal cases in municipal courts. All costs, fees, fines, and forfeitures shall be collected by the clerk of court, who shall keep a docket of those imposed and of those collected, and shall pay collections of the same to the city treasurer, for the benefit of the city, on the next business day after the same are collected, and take receipts therefor. The city judge shall examine said docket each day, compare the same with the amount receipted for by the city treasurer and satisfy himself that all such costs, fees, fines, and forfeitures have been duly accounted for.

Sec. 88. No person sentenced by City Court to be confined without commitment. No person shall be confined in prison by sentence of the city court until the warden or officer in charge of the prison shall receive a written commitment showing the offense for which the prisoner was tried, the date of the trial, the exact terms of the judgment or sentence, and the date of the order of the commitment. The clerk shall, under seal of the court, issue a commitment in each case of sentence to imprisonment.

Sec. 89. Procedure on appeal from City Court to Court of First Instance. An appeal shall lie to the Court of First Instance in all cases appealable thereto as provided by law. The party desiring to appeal shall, before six o'clock post meridian of the fifteenth day after the rendition and entry of the judgment by the city court, file with the clerk of court a written statement that he appeals to the Court of First Instance. The filing of such statement shall perfect the appeal. The judge of the court from whose decision the appeal is taken shall, within five days after the appeal is taken, transmit to the clerk of the Court of First Instance a certified copy of the record of proceedings and all the original papers and processes in the case. A perfected appeal shall operate to vacate the judgment of the city court, and the action when duly entered in the Court of First Instance, shall stand for trial de novo upon its merits as though the same had never been tried. Pending an appeal, the defendant shall remain in custody, unless released, in the discretion of the judge of the city court or of the judge of the Court of First Instance, upon sufficient bail in accordance with the procedure in force, to await judgment of the appellate court.

Appeals in civil cases shall be governed by the ordinary procedure established by law.

Sec. 90. Persons arrested to be promptly brought before a court Preliminary investigation in City Court and Court of First Instance. Every person shall, without unnecessary delay, be brought before the city fiscal, the city court, or the Court of First Instance for preliminary hearing, release on bail, and trial. In cases triable in the city court the defendant shall not be entitled as a matter of right to preliminary investigation, except a summary one to enable the court to fix the bail, in any case where the prosecution announces itself ready and is ready for trial within three days, not including Sundays, after the request for an investigation is presented.

Sec. 91. Assessors in the courts of the city. The aid of assessors in the trial of any civil or criminal action in the city court, or the Court of First Instance, within the city, may be invoked in the manner provided in the Rules of Court. It shall be the duty of the City Council to prepare one list of the names of twenty-five residents of the city best fitted by education, natural ability, and reputation for probity to sit as assessors in the trial in action in the city court and a like list of persons to sit as assessors in the trial of action in the Court of First Instance. The City Council may, at any time, strike any name off the list so prepared by reason of the death, permanent disability, or unfitness of the person named; and in case names are so stricken off, other names shall be added in their place, to be selected as in this section provided. Parties desiring to avail themselves of the use of assessors in the city court or in the Court of First Instance shall proceed as provided for by law or the Rules of Court; and the method of summoning assessors, enforcing their attendance, excusing them from attendance, their compensation, oath, and effect of dissent from the opinion of the judge shall be as provided in those laws and rules.

Sec. 92. Judicial notice of ordinances. All courts sitting in the city shall take judicial notice of the ordinances passed by the City Council.

ARTICLE XVI. Bureaus Performing Municipal Duties

Sec. 93. General Auditing Office City Auditor. The city auditor, under the supervision of the Auditor General, shall receive and audit all accounts of the city, in accordance with the provisions of law relating to government accounts and accounting. He shall be appointed by the Auditor General and shall receive a salary provided for under existing laws, fifty per centum of which shall be payable from the funds of the city and fifty per centum shall be payable from the funds of the National Government.

Sec. 94. The city register of deeds. The city shall have a register of deeds who shall take charge of the registration of real properties situated within the city and such related activities connected therewith. In addition, he shall exercise and perform such powers and duties as provided by law or ordinance. He shall receive a salary fixed by existing law.

The Commissioner of the Land Registration Commission shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines.

The register of deeds of the Province of Zambales shall act as city register of deeds ex-officio of the City of Olongapo until such time when a regular register of deeds shall have been appointed and duly qualified.

Sec. 95. The Bureau of Supply Coordination. If the City Mayor should so request, the purchasing agent shall purchase and supply in accordance with law all supplies, equipment, materials and property of every kind, except real estate, for the use of the city and its departments and offices. But contracts for completed work of any kind for the use of the city, or any of its departments or offices, involving both labor and materials, where the materials are furnished by the contractor, shall not be deemed to be within the purview of this section.

Sec. 96. The Bureau of Public Schools Superintendent of City Schools. The Director of the Bureau of Public Schools shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines, and the city superintendent of schools shall have all the powers and duties in respect to the schools of the city as are vested in division superintendents in respect to schools of their divisions. The city superintendent of schools shall receive a salary fixed by law: Provided, That salaries of the city superintendent, supervisors, principals, teachers and other operational expenses of the primary, intermediate, secondary and other public schools in the city shall be borne by the National Government. The clerical force and assistants and laborers in the office of the city superintendent of schools shall be appointed by the City Mayor in accordance with the Civil Service Law, and their salaries shall be paid by the city as well as the office expenses for supplies and materials incident to the operation of said office.

Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the city is hereby constituted as a separate school division.

The City Council shall have the same powers in respect to the establishment of schools as are conferred by law on municipal councils.

Sec. 97. The City School Board. There shall be a city school board of six members, two of whom shall be women, and who shall serve without compensation; shall be selected and removed in the same manner, and shall have the same powers and duties, as local school boards in the municipalities.

Sec. 98. Reports to the Mayor concerning schools Construction and custody of school buildings. The city superintendent of schools shall make a quarterly report to the Mayor on the condition of the schools and school buildings of the City of Olongapo, and make such recommendations as seem to him wise with respect to the number of teachers, their salaries, new buildings to be erected, and all other similar matters. The City School Board shall make a similar annual report to the Mayor.

Sec. 99. The Bureau of Health Services: City Hospital. The Bureau of Health Services shall exercise the same jurisdiction and power in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines.

The former Olongapo Hospital owned by the erstwhile municipality, presently called Southern Zambales Emergency Hospital under Republic Act Numbered Three thousand five hundred fifty-one shall hereinafter be referred to as Olongapo City General Hospital and funds for its maintenance and operation shall continue to be included in the annual General Appropriations Act: Provided, however, That the incumbent Chief of Hospital shall be the director of the said hospital and he shall not be removed nor suspended except in the manner and/or causes provided by law.

Sec. 100. The Social Hygiene Clinic. Upon the approval of this Act, the present social hygiene clinic in the Municipality of Olongapo shall be under the supervision and control of the City Health Officer: Provided, That the operation and maintenance of the same shall be borne by the National Government, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary.

Sec. 101. The Motor Vehicle Registrar. The city shall have a motor vehicle registrar who shall take charge of the registration of motor vehicles within the city and such related activities connected therewith. In addition, he shall exercise and perform such powers and duties as provided by law or ordinance. He shall receive a salary in accordance with existing law which shall be borne by the National Government.

The Commissioner of the Land Transportation Commission shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines.

ARTICLE XVII. Regulation of places of amusements,
sale of intoxicating liquors and powers over subdivisions
and dedication of streets, highways and other
ways in subdivisions.

Sec. 102. Power of City Council over amusement places. All laws and executive orders existing at the time of the approval of this Act referring to the regulation of night clubs, cabarets, dancing schools, pavilions, cockpits, bars, saloons, bowling alleys, billiard pools and tables, boxing contests and other places of amusements, and the regulations for the sale of intoxicating liquors, shall be inoperative within the city and the power to promulgate such regulations shall be vested in the City Council and the Mayor by ordinance.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, such laws and executive orders existing at the time of the approval of this Act shall continue in force within the city until the City Council and the Mayor shall by ordinance provide otherwise.

Sec. 103. Power over subdivisions. The City Council shall have the power by ordinance approved by the department head to require that no plat or plan of subdivision of a residential estate within its jurisdiction shall be presented for approval or verification by the Bureau of Lands or the Land Registration Commission until the same shall have been approved by the City Council upon recommendation of the city engineer under such regulations as may be provided by ordinance. Such regulations may provide for the proper arrangements, design, and width of streets in relation to other existing or planned streets, for adequate and convenient open spaces for traffic, public services, access of fire-fighting apparatus, recreation, light, and air, and for the avoidance of congestion of population including minimum width and area of lots in the several districts or sections of the city, such regulations may also include provisions as to the extent to, and methods, by which streets and other ways be graded, drained, and improved and water and sewer and other public service drains, piping, or other facilities installed. Such regulations shall provide for approval of the plat or plan within sixty days after the submission thereof to the City Council.

Sec. 104. Dedication of streets, highways and other ways in subdivisions. If the subdivider offers the dedication of streets, highways and other ways for public use in the subdivision, approval of the final plat by the city and the completion of the construction of such streets, highways and other ways, as shown in such plat, by the subdivider, shall constitute acceptance of such dedication by the city.

ARTICLE XVIII. Miscellaneous Provisions

Sec. 105. City acquisition and operation of utilities. The city may own and operate any gas, water, heat, power, light, telephone or other public utility for supplying its own needs for utility service or for supplying utility service to private consumers, or both. It may construct all facilities reasonably needed for that purpose and may acquire by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, any existing utility properties so needed; but no proceedings to acquire any such public utility shall be consummated unless the city has the money in the Treasury to pay for the acquisition or has made provision for paying for the property proposed to be acquired.

Subject to the provisions of any applicable law or Public Service Commission regulations, the City Council may fix rates, fares, and prices for city-owned or operated utilities, but such rates, fares and prices shall be just and reasonable. In like manner, the Council may prescribe the time and manner in which payments for all such services shall be made, and may make such other regulations as may be necessary, and prescribe penalties for violation of such regulations.

The City Council may, in lieu of providing for the local production of gas, electricity, water and other utilities, purchase the same in bulk and resell them to local consumers at such rates as it may fix in accordance with law.

The City Council may, if the public interest will be served thereby, contract with any responsible person, partnership, or corporation, for the operation of any utility owned by the city, upon the basis of the highest and best bid therefor, and upon such terms and conditions as the Council may provide; but the terms and conditions, other than the amount of the annual rental, shall be clearly set forth in an ordinance authorizing the taking of bids on the proposed lease, which ordinance shall not be adopted by the Council until thirty days after its construction and shall not in the meantime be amended or modified.

This will not affect and prejudice any existing franchise or any litigation pending before the courts, involving public utilities, where final decisions shall be binding upon the city as successor of the municipality.

Sec. 106. Engineering Fund. The engineering fund of the city shall be considered as city funds as well as all sums of money accruing to the city by virtue of any Public Works Act approved by Congress.

Sec. 107. Ordinances, etc. of the city to remain in force. All ordinances, resolutions, orders or other regulations of the municipality on the date of the approval of this Act shall continue in full force and effect until repealed, modified or superseded by the City Council by ordinance.

Sec. 108. Ownership of waterworks, electric, light and power, and telephone systems, roads, streets, etc. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, all existing waterworks, electric, light and power, and telephone systems, presently operated by the Municipality of Olongapo shall be owned by the city, and revenues therefrom shall accrue to the general fund of the city.

Ownership of properties within the City of Olongapo of whatever nature and source transferred and/or turned over to the Philippine Government by the United States Government before, during and after the date of the turnover of the then community of Olongapo on December 7, 1959, shall vest on the city, and all existing municipal and provincial roads, streets, bridges, docks, piers, wharves, machineries, equipments and other public works improvements shall be owned by the city, any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 109. Fund aid of the city to the Province of Zambales. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand pesos shall be appropriated annually by the city council as its fund aid to the Province of Zambales: Provided, That the annual gross income of the city shall not be less than two million pesos: Provided, further, That if the income of the city will reach four million pesos and above annually, five percent will be given to the Province of Zambales.

ARTICLE XIX. Transitory Provisions

Sec. 110. Change of Government. The incumbent Mayor, Vice-Mayor and members of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Olongapo shall continue in office as the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and members of the City Council of the city, respectively, until the expiration of their present terms of office.

Sec. 111. Participation in election of Provincial officials. The voters of the City of Olongapo shall be qualified and entitled to vote in the election for provincial officials of the Province of Zambales.

Sec. 112. Congressional District. Until otherwise provided by law, the City of Olongapo shall continue as part of the Lone Congressional District of the Province of Zambales.

Sec. 113. Barrio Councils. All existing barrio councils shall remain to exist in accordance with the provisions of the Barrio Charter, Republic Act Numbered Thirty-five hundred ninety.

Sec. 114. Separability Clause. If any part or section of this Charter should be declared unconstitutional, such declaration shall not invalidate the other provisions hereof.

Sec. 115. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 1, 1966