COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 723
AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE PERIOD FROM OCTOBER FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE TO JUNE THIRTIETH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Appropriations of Funds.- The following sums or so much thereof as may be necessary are appropriated out of the funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the operation of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during the period from October first, nineteen hundred and forty-five to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and forty-six, except where otherwise specifically provided:
(See Table of COMMONWEALTH ACT No. 723 in COMMONWEALTH ACTS NOS.654-733, 1941-1946 Page 1 to Page 475)
SEC. 2. Allotment of appropriations.- The appropriations for sundry expenses, furniture and equipment, and special purposes for the Office of the President shall be alloted by the President among the bureaus and offices under his direct control; those for the Executive Departments, by the Heads of Departments among the bureaus and offices under their respective control, as the needs of the service may require.
SEC. 3. Provision for excess of salaries actually received over the maximum rates of the grades.- Any item of appropriation for "excess of actual salary" provided under "Salaries and Wages" in this Act shall be considered as a part of, and be added to, the item of appropriation immediately preceding it, and shall be used solely for salary adjustments pursuant to the provision of section twelve, paragraph four, Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two.
SEC. 4. Authority to use savings in appropriations for "Salaries and Wages", for "Sundry Expenses", and for "Purchase of Furniture and Equipment" to cover deficits.- Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any savings in the regular appropriation authorized in this Act for salaries and wages, except the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided, for sundry expenses, and for purchase of furniture and equipment of the bureaus and offices under any Department, may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of the regular appropriations, except for salaries and wages, under the same Department. Likewise, any savings in the appropriations for salaries and wages, except the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided, for sundry expenses, and for purchase of furniture and equipment of any item under "Special Purposes" may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of appropriations, except for salaries and wages, under the same purpose.
SEC. 5. Authority to use savings for adjustments of compensation.- The President of the Philippines is authorize to use any saving in the appropriations authorized in this Act, except the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided, (1) for the adjustment of the compensations of employees pursuant to the provisions of section twelve of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two; (2) for paying compensation differentials that may be granted pursuant to the provisions of section seven of said Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two; (3) for adjustment to P960 per annum of the salaries of elementary school teachers who are graduates of Bureau of Education collegiate normal schools and the teacher's curriculum in the collegiate schools of arts and trades, graduates of private junior normal schools and colleges offering two years of normal work above the secondary level, and holders of the degrees of bachelor of science in education, bachelor of science in home economics, high school teacher's certificate, bachelor of science in agriculture with certificate in agricultural education, and any bachelor's degree with at least eighteen units in education; for adjustment to P840 per annum for those teachers who are graduates of Bureau of Education secondary normal schools and of private secondary normal schools and holders of any bachelor's degree not herein mentioned and of the title of associate in arts: and for all teachers not falling under the foregoing classification, to P720 per annum, the provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two to the contrary notwithstanding: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That elementary school teachers with the above educational qualifications who are already receiving salaries in excess of the amounts above indicated will not have their salaries reduced.
SEC. 6. Authority to grant bonuses.- Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Head of a Department is hereby authorized to utilized any savings in the appropriation for his Department, except the amounts of the "savings to be made" herein provided, to grant bonuses to employees receiving less than P60 a month: PROVIDED, That in no case shall the basic compensation plus the bonus exceed said amount.
SEC. 7. Authority to fill new positions required.- No new positions authorized in this Act shall be filled without the previous appproval of the President of the Philippines. The provision of this section shall not apply to the Congress of the Philippines.
SEC. 8. Authority for renting automobiles, jitneys, or trucks for a continous period exceeding one month required.- No appropriation authorized in this Act may be used for renting automobiles, jitneys, or trucks on the monthly basis nor on the daily basis for a continous period exceeding one month unless previously authorized by the President of the Philippines.
SEC. 9. Suspension of expenditures of appropriations.- Any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, the President of the Philippines is authorized to suspend or otherwise stop the expenditure of any amount herein appropriated for any purpose, or any portion thereof, whenever in his judgment the public interest so requires, and thereupon the funds affected by such action shall become available for any other expenditures authorized in this Act as the President may determine. This provision shall not apply to the appropriations for the Congress of the Philippines and the Judiciary.
SEC. 10. Provisions for the advent of independence.- In the event of the granting of independence to the Philippines by the United States and of the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines sometime during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1946, the unexpended balances of the appropriations authorized in this Act shall be available for the operation of the Government of the Republic during the unexpired portion of the said fiscal year.
SEC. 11. Authority to use savings in the appropriations for covering deficits in special funds or receipts.- Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any savings in the appropriations authorized in this Act may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover any deficits in the special funds or receipts of the various special services provided for in this Act whose operating expenses are payable from their respective funds or receipts.
SEC. 12. Authority to purchase motor vehicles.- Any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, the appropriation authorized in this Act for the purchase of furniture and equipment may be used for the purchase of motor vehicles, including automobiles, auto-jitneys, and station wagons as may be authorized by the President.
SEC. 13. Authority making available for expenditure the unexpended balances of the various sums appropriated in Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred seventy-four, as amended.- Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the unexpended balances of the various sums appropriated for the operation of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred seventy-four, as amended, on September thirtieth, Nineteen hundred and forty-five, shall not revert to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund in the Philippine Treasury but shall be avbailable for expenditure as parts of, and in addition to, the sums appropriated for the same purposes in this Act.
SEC. 14. Authority for officers and employees to receive payment for the Government of the United States for services rendered thereto.- Officers and employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines who may be entitled to receive payment from the Government of the United States for services rendered thereto shall not be barred from receiving any salaries or payments that may be due them from the Commonwealth of the Philippines as provided in this Act, any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.
SEC. 15. Provision making positions formerly occupied by employees now in active service with the armed forces available for such employees.- Any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, all the positions authorized in this Act formerly occupied by persons who may still be in active service with the armed forces of the United States, Philippine Army, or any recognized guerilla or organizations in the Philippines, shall be made available to said incumbents upon the latter's reporting for duty in their respective bureaus or offices; PROVIDED, That, in the interest of the service, the corresponding Department Head may fill the said positions temporarily until the said regular incumbents shall have reported for duty; PROVIDED, FURTHER, That the right herein reserved shall lapse three months after such persons have been mustered out, honorably discharged or otherwise reverted to civilian status.
SEC. 16. Effective date.- This Act shall take effect on October first, nineteen hundred and forty-five, except where otherwise stated, and may only be amended by the Congress of the Philippines, any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding.
Enacted, without Executive approval, November 3, 1945