[ Commonwealth Act No. 605, August 22, 1940 ]
AN ACT TO PROVIDE PENSIONS FOR VETERANS OF THE PAST PHILIPPINE REVOLUTIONS OR WARS, TO CREATE A BOARD OF PENSIONS FOR VETERANS, AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS THEREFOR.
Be it enacted by the National Assembly of the Philippines:
Section 1. The veterans of the past Philippine revolutions or wars shall be entitled to a monthly pension of not less than fifteen pesos nor more than two hundred
pesos, provided it is completely shown -
a. That they are physically or mentally incapacitated to pursue normally their ordinary occupation, work, or employment, not caused by any vice contracted after
the approval of this Act; or
b. That, being over sixty years of age, they do not have any apparent or hidden means of support.
Section 2. In case of death of a veteran pensioner, or an applicant for a pension to which he is entitled, the accrued and uncollected pensions up to the date of his death shall be paid to the widow, or in default thereof, to his lawful heirs.
Where there are no lawful heirs, the payment of the pension in arrears shall not be authorized except such part thereof as may be necessary for the payment or refund to the party concerned of the expenses for burial and last illness of the deceased.
Section 3. For the proper administration of this Act, there shall be a Board of Pensions for Veterans to be composed of the Commissioner of the Budget, the Commissioner of Civil Service, the Auditor General, and two veterans of the past Philippine revolution or wars, appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. The Commissioner of the Budget shall be chairman of the Board. The members who are at the same time public officers shall serve without any additional compensation, but the other members shall receive a per diem of ten pesos for every session actually attended by them. The Board shall have a secretary, who shall be designated by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Board. The Board shall formulate its own rules of procedure, determine the persons who are entitled to a pension under this Act, classify them according to their ranks in the past revolutions or wars, and fix, with the approval of the President of the Philippines, the pension to be assigned to each rank. Such rules shall determine, among other things, the manner the pensions shall be paid, in order to protect the Government as much as possible against possible falsifications, and assure that the pensions reach the hands of the pensioners.
Section 4. The secretary of the Board shall be authorized to administer oaths to the applicants and their witnesses. Such secretary! and all public officers authorized to administer oaths, shall administer free of charge, the oath on whatever affidavits which may be filed with the Board in connection with this Act.ℒαwρhi৷ These papers shall be exempt from the internal-revenue stamp tax.
Section 5. No agent, attorney or other person in charge of the preparation, filing, or pursuing of any claim for pension under this Act, shall demand or charge for his services more fees than those authorized by the Board which shall not be payable before the granting of the pension, and any stipulation made otherwise shall be considered null and void. The retention or deduction of any amount from any pension granted under this Act for the payment of fees for such services is prohibited. A violation of any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of from one hundred to two hundred pesos, or by imprisonment of from three to six months, or both.
Section 6. No pension shall be transferable, nor paid to any person other than the pensioner, and no authority, power of attorney,or other document executed or alleged to have been executed by the pensioner in favor of an agent, attorney, or any other person for the collection of the pension in his behalf shall be recognized. However, in case of physical or legal inability of the pensioner, the pension may be delivered to the person designated by the Board.
Section 7. Any pension granted under this Act shall be payable from the date the proper application has been received by the Board, and as to the pensioners whose pensions have been suspended under this Act, they shall be entitled to receive them from the date of suspension in case the Board shall hold that they are entitled to such pension, after reviewing their original applications.
If, after an application for pension has been disapproved or abandoned, a new one is filed, and the Board should approve the latter, the pension shall be payable from the date of receipt of the first application, whenever it is established that the right to the penson existed on such date. Otherwise, the pension shall be payable from the date the new application was received.
Section 8. If the pension is not claimed during the three years following the birth of the right to receive the same, or the return, as' the case may be, by the Bureau of Posts of the warrant for the payment of the pension, the person concerned shall be presumed to have died or lost his right to the pension. In such case, his name shall be dropped from the list of the pensioners, and shall only be included again therein after the filing of a new application by such person, accompanied by a satisfactory explanation of the reason or reasons for his failure to claim the pension, and after having completely shown that he has not become incapacitated to receive or to continue receiving the same.
Section 9. No warrant issued by the Board for the payment of a pension may be cashed, unless the person presenting the same shows satisfactorily that he is the one entitled to receive the amount of said warrant under this Act, and unless such person signs sn affidavit to that effect, corroborated by two competent witnesses in a form prepared therefor. The postmasters or local post officers are hereby authorized to administer the oath of such person and his witnesses, but no fee shall be charged for the service. Such affidavits shall be exempt from the internal-revenue stamp tax.
Section 10. No pension granted under this Act shall wholly or partly be subject to attachment, execution, forfeiture, or retention, under any legal or equitable proceedings, either while in the possession of the Board cr of any of its officers or employees, or while in transit, or already in the hands of the pensioner.
Section 11. With the approval of the President of the Philippines, the Board may suspend or withdraw the pension or any part thereof whenever, in its opinion, the reasons entitling a person to receive a pension under this Act have ceased to exist. However, before suspending or withdrawing a pension or any part thereof, the Board shall inform the pensioner, by the most efficient means and as many times as may be necessary, of the actual reasons, charges or allegations by which the suspension, withdrawal, or deduction of his pension is desired, and give him full opportunity to be heard and to defend himself after thirty days, at least, following the receipt of the first notice.
Section 12. Upon the establishment by the Government of an asylum for invalids, any pensioner may enter the same and waive his pension.
Section 13. Upon request of the Board, the physicians of the Bureau of Health and the local health officers who are physicians, shall make a medical examination of the applicants for pension who claim to be physically or mentally incapacitated to pursue normally their ordinary occupation, work, or employment, and shall certify to the Board the result of said examination. Upon request of the Board, they shall also make, from time to time, a medical examination of the pensioners thus incapacitated, in order to inform the Board whether or not the incapacity of the same has been removed. The said medical officers shall not charge any fees for the service, but they shall be entitled to the refund, chargeable to the funds of the Board, of actual traveling expenses and subsistence incurred by them in performing such service.
Section 14. Any public officer or employee or any private person who furnishes false information with the intention of helping or injuring an applicant for pension or a pensioner, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty pesos nor more than two hundred pesos or by imprisonment of not less than one month nor more than six months, or both. Should the offender be a veteran, he shall also be disqualified to receive or continue receiving a pension under this Act.
Section 15. No lien of any kind nor under any consideration shall it be imposed on a pension granted or that may hereafter be granted hereunder, and all liens imposed thereon shall be null and void.
Section 16. Any violation of this Act not especially penalized therein, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two hundred pesos, or by imprisonment of not more than six months.
Section 17. Commonwealth Acts Numbered Two hundred eighty-eight and Three hundred fifty-nine are hereby repealed, and no fund set aside to carry out the purposes of this Act shall be available for the payment of the pensions granted under said Acts, unless and until the original applications of the pensioners have been revised and approved by the Board on Pensions created by this Act, in the manner prescribed in section eleven.
Section 18. The present Board on Pensions for Veterans shall be abolished upon the taking effect of this Act, and all the subordinate personnel of said Board, its records and documents, furniture, equipment and other appurtenances, as well as the balance of the appropriations for the expenses thereof and for payment of pensions, shall be transferred to the new Board created hereunder, which may reorganize said personnel in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Law and Rules.
Section 19. There is appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated the sum of three hundred thousand pesos, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this Act. However, this appropriation shall have the character of a mere advance payment, and any sum spent chargeable thereto shall be refunded from the special fund created by Commonwealth Act Numbered Five hundred forty-six, known as "The Veterans of the Philippine Revolutions or Wars Pension Fund." The Board on Pensions for Veterans is authorized, with the approval of the President of the Philippines, to set aside a part of the funds herein appropriated, or of "The Veterans of the Philippine Revolutions or Wars Pension Fund", for the payment of salaries of the personnel, transportation expenses and per diems of investigators, furniture, equipment and office supplies.
Section 20. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved, August 22, 1940.
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