[ Act No. 584, January 08, 1903 ]
AN ACT CREATING THE BUREAU OF ENGINEERING.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
Section 1. There is hereby created under the Department of Commerce and Police the Bureau of Engineering, which shall have charge of any reconnoissances, examinations, surveys of river and harbor improvements, the construction of sewers, waterworks, and other public works requiring engineering skill, except the construction of public buildings, directed by law to be done on behalf of the Insular Government: Provided, That with respect to the port works of Manila the Bureau of Engineering shall exercise advisory powers only. It shall examine the location surveys and the plans and specifications for the construction of every railroad authorized to be built in the Philippine Islands, and shall make report to the Secretary of Commerce and Police as to the sufficiency of such surveys, plans, and specifications, and the practicability and utility of the proposed railroad. It shall also have general supervision and direction of the provincial supervisors in so far as relates to the laying out and construction of roads and bridges or other engineering works.
Section 2. There shall be a chief of the Bureau of Engineering who shall be denominated Consulting Engineer to the Commission. He shall be appointed by the Civil Governor, by and with the consent of the Commission, and shall be paid at the rate of four thousand five hundred dollars per annum, for the first six months, and five thousand dollars per annum thereafter. In addition to his other duties as head of the bureau, it shall be the duty of the Consulting Engineer to the Commission to advise the Civil Governor, the Secretary of Commerce and Police, and the Commission upon all matters pertaining to engineering work as to which his advice may be desired. There shall also be appointed by the Civil Governor, by and with the consent of the Commission, one principal assistant engineer at a salary of three thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and one chief of supervisors at a salary of three thousand dollars per annum.
Section 3. Authority is hereby given for the appointment by the Consulting Engineer, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, of the following employees in the Bureau of Engineering: One chief draftsman, class five; one chief clerk, class six; one assistant engineer, class seven; one clerk, class nine; one clerk, class ten; one draftsman, Class D; one messenger, Class K. Further authority is hereby given for the temporary employment, at salaries ranging from six hundred dollars to two thousand four hundred dollars, per annum, of such additional assistant engineers, draftsmen, surveyors, and employees, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, as may be necessary from time to time to accomplish authorized work, such employment not to exceed an aggregate expenditure of six thousand dollars per annum. All employees of the Bureau, except those appointed by the Civil Governor with the consent of the Commission, shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Act.
Section 4. The officers and employees of the Bureau when absent on duly from the city of Manila, or from the headquarters to which they have been assigned, shall be allowed their actual and necessary traveling expenses and actual subsistence expenses, the latter not to exceed hvo dollars, money of the United States, per day. When transportation by steamships, government transports, or otherwise, includes subsistence, no per diem shall be paid or allowed for such portion of the journey.1aшphi1
Section 5. No contract for the construction or repair of public works shall be entered into until the same has been authorized and an appropriation of sum sufficient to meet the estimated expense of the same has been made by the Commission, except in case of continuous contract for the prosecution of authorized work for which appropriations are made from time to time by the Commission as the necessities of the work require.
Section 6. All public works of construction or repair involving a cost greater than two thousand dollars, in money of the United States, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, after at least ten days' notice of the letting by advertisement in two newspapers, one of which newspapers shall be printed in the English language and one in Spanish, of general circulation in the province or city where the work is to be done; or, if there be no Spanish or English newspaper of general circulation in the province or city where the work is to be done, then it shall be a sufficient compliance with this section if the notice of such letting be posted for ten days previous to the letting on the door of the provincial building or buildings of the province or provinces where the work is to be done and be published in a daily English newspaper and a daily newspaper printed in the Spanish language in the city of Manila having a general circulation. The Consulting Engineer to the Commission is authorized to reject any or all bids and to waive defects and if, in his opinion, the bids are excessive, he may, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police, purchase material and hire labor and supervise the authorized work. All material and supplies shall be purchased through the Insular Purchasing Agent, except in cases of emergency when life or property is in danger, or when the location of the work is remote from Manila, in which cases supplies and material may be purchased in the open markets, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Police.
Section 7. Act Numbered Four hundred and forty-four, entitled "An Act creating the office of Consulting Engineer to the Commission," is hereby repealed.
Section 8. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.
Section 9. This Act shall take effect on its passage.
Enacted, January 8, 1903.
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
