[Patterned after American system]
The government of the Philippine Islands as it now exists and
functions resembles in structure the Federal and State governments of
the United States. It is reared on the same fundamental principles of
representative democracy which have made the United States government
the model for other states, so that the Philippine government is
just as much a republican government as that of the United States;
the will of the majority rules.
The law of public officers as observed in the United States is
in effect in the Philippine Islands. The principle of division of
powers is recognized, and the functions of government are distributed
among three departments, the executive, the legislative, and the
judicial. The principle of checks and balances is likewise observed,
and the legislature and the courts are prohibited from delegating
their powers. The passage of irrepealable laws is forbidden. The
government is immune from suit at the instance of private individuals
except with its consent.
DEPARTURES FROM AMERICAN STANDARDS.--There have been several
departures, however, from the American standard of government that have
been made by the Filipinos. For instance, the budget system has been
adopted previous to its adoption in the United States to provide for
economy and certainty in expenditures. The Council of State was created
as a coördinating and advisory body to the Governor-General. It is
made up of the Governor-General as presiding officer, the six members
of the cabinet, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives. It also serves to bring the executive and
the legislative departments into close relationship. The creation
of the council seems to indicate a tendency to adopt in the future
a parliamentary or semi-parliamentary system of government.
In addition to the foregoing departments there is the further
innovation conferring on either house of the legislature, the right to
call and interpellate the secretaries of departments before it. The
secretaries of departments in turn have the right to be heard in
the legislature. The chairmen of the appropriation committees are
also empowered to require the attendance of chiefs of bureaus and
offices, thus bringing the executive and legislative departments in
close harmony.
[Autonomy]
All of the officials of the government are Filipinos with the exception
of the Governor-General and the Vice-Governor-General and the majority
of the members of the Supreme Court who are Americans, appointed by the
President of the United States. There is thus a practical autonomy,
the American chief executive having supervision and control of the
government in theory but in actual practice rarely acting on matters
of domestic concern except with the advice of the Council of State.
Appointments made by the Governor-General are with the advice and
consent of the Philippine Senate.
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.--The Governor-General is appointed by the
President by and with the consent of the Senate and holds his office
at the pleasure of the President and until his successor is chosen
and qualified. Through the Secretary of War, he is responsible
to the President and the American people for his acts. He has a
more responsible position than that held by the Governors of the
several states of the union. He is paid a handsome salary from
the Philippine government and is given free quarters. As chief
executive of the Islands, he is in charge of the executive control
of the Philippine government; which he exercises either in person or
through the secretaries of departments. He can veto laws passed by
the Philippine Legislature.
THE VICE-GOVERNOR.--The Vice-Governor is also appointed by the
President of the United States with the consent of the Senate. He
acts at the same time as the Secretary of Public Instruction and may
be assigned such other executive duties as the Governor-General may
designate. In case of vacancy in the office of the Governor-General,
the Vice-Governor acts.
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.--There are six executive departments. At
the head of each is a department secretary, who, with the exception
of the Secretary of Public Instruction, must be a citizen of the
Philippine Islands. As Secretary he is assisted by an under-secretary
who temporarily performs the duties of department secretary in case
of vacancy. The executive departments and bureaus, offices, and boards
pertaining to each are given below:
Governor-General:
Bureau of Audits.
Bureau of Civil Service.
All other offices and branches of the service not assigned
by law to any Department.
Department of the Interior:
Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes.
Philippine General Hospital.
Board of Pharmaceutical Examiners.
Board of Medical Examiners.
Board of Dental Examiners.
Board of Optical Examiners.
Board of Examiners for Nurses.
Board of Dental Hygiene.
Executive Bureau.
Philippine Constabulary.
Public Welfare Commissioner.
Department of Public Instruction:
Bureau of Education.
Philippine Health Service.
Bureau of Quarantine Service.
Department of Finance:
Bureau of Customs.
Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Bureau of the Treasury.
Bureau of Printing.
General supervision over banks, banking transactions, coinage,
currency, and except as otherwise specially provided, over
all funds the investments of which may be authorized by law.
Department of Justice:
Bureau of Justice.
Courts of First Instance and Inferior Courts.
Philippine Library and Museum.
Bureau of Prisons.
Public Utility Commission.
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources:
Bureau of Agriculture.
Bureau of Forestry.
Bureau of Lands.
Matters pertaining to colonies and plantations on public lands.
Bureau of Science.
Weather Bureau.
Matters concerning hunting, fisheries, sponges, and other
sea products.
Department of Commerce and Communications:
Bureau of Public Works.
Bureau of Posts.
Bureau of Supply.
Bureau of Labor.
Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Bureau of Commerce and Industry.
The Executive Bureau and the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, both of
which are under the Department of the Interior, exercise supervision
over the provincial and municipal governments. The Executive Bureau
has charge of the so-called regular provinces, and the Bureau of
Non-Christian Tribes of those inhabited by the backward inhabitants
of the Philippines including the Moros in Mindanao and the Igorotes
of the mountain regions of Luzon. The functions of these two bureaus
are practically identical, the difference lying only in the degree
of civilization of the inhabitants over whom they have supervision.
THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.--The legislative branch of the Philippine
government is vested in the Philippine legislature. It is made
up of two separate coördinate bodies, the Senate and the House of
Representatives. All the senators and representatives are elected by
direct popular suffrage with the exception of the representatives and
senators from the Mountain Province, the Province of Nueva Vizcaya,
and the provinces in Mindanao and Sulu who are appointed by the
Governor-General with no restriction as to residence or length of
office. The elective representatives hold their office for terms of
three years and the senators for terms of six years.
Laws dealing with certain special subjects such as the tariff and the
mining laws require the approval of the President of the United States.
The Senate has twenty-four members consisting of two senators from
each of the twelve senatorial districts. The lower house has ninety
members, determined by the population of each province. Appropriation
bills originate by custom in the House of Representatives.
THE JUDICIARY.--An independent judiciary system completes the
governmental structure. The administration of justice is entrusted
to the Supreme Court, the Courts of First Instance, the Municipal
Court of the City of Manila, and the courts of justices of the peace
in each municipality.
The Supreme Court is the highest legal entity in the judiciary
system. It has an appellate jurisdiction in all actions and special
proceedings brought to it from the Courts of First Instance and from
other inferior tribunals from whose decision appeals to the Supreme
Court are allowed. The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed
by the President of the United States with the consent of the United
States Senate and serve during good behavior. It is made up of nine
justices, the chief justice and eight associate justices. The chief
justice has always been a Filipino. It seats in banc to transact
business. It also seats in divisions for the same purpose, and when
it so sits, four justices constitute a quorum so that two divisions
may sit at the same time.
Appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States are allowed in
certain cases only.
The judges of the Court of First Instance are appointed by the
Governor-General with the consent of the Philippine Senate and serve
practically for life, the only restriction being that they must retire
upon reaching sixty-five years of age. The justices of the peace are
also appointed by the Governor-General with the advice and consent
of the Philippine Senate.
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.--The Philippine Archipelago is divided into
46 provinces, 34 of which are designated as regular provinces and
the remaining 12 as special provinces.--The chief executive of a
regular province is the provincial governor, who is an elective
official. He, together with two other elective members, form the
provincial board which constitutes the legislative branch of the
provincial government. In the special provinces, with the exception of
Mindoro, Palawan, and Batanes, the provincial governors are appointive
officials.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.--As the name indicates, this branch of the
Government has charge of the municipalities or towns. The chief
executive of a municipality is called the municipal president. The
municipal council, which is the legislative branch of the municipal
government, consists of from 8 to 18 councilors, depending on the
size of the municipality. There is a vice-president who substitutes
the president during his absence or disability and who is ex-officio
member of the council. All these officials are elected by the people.
EXPENSES OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT.--All the expenses of the
Philippine government are paid for from the Insular Treasury. The
United States government pays for nothing in the administration of the
Islands except for the army and navy and the salaries of the resident
commissioners from the Philippines who are stationed in Washington
and granted the privileges of members of Congress.
An investigation into the expenses incurred by the United States for
the Philippine Islands, exclusive of the maintenance of her army and
navy, elicits the following facts:
1. That the Philippines has always been a self-supporting country;
all expenditures have been drawn from ordinary revenues.
2. That the sum of $267,663.26 pertaining to the former government of
Spain and seized by the United States, and therefore legally pertaining
to the latter country, was subsequently turned over into the general
fund of the insular government.
3. That the Congress of the United States appropriated the sum
of $3,000,000, known as the "Congressional Relief Fund," for the
purchase, distribution and sale of farm implements, farm or draft
animals, supplies and necessaries of life, extermination of pests,
relief for sufferers due to fire and other calamities, etc. This
amount has been, at different times, appropriated by the Philippine
Commission for the purposes above mentioned. The unexpended balance
from this fund was subsequently turned over into the general funds.
Aside, therefore, from the Spanish seized funds and the expenses
for the army and navy, the only amount expended by the United
States directly for the benefit of the Philippine Islands was the
Congressional Relief Fund. The Philippine government having always had,
at the end of every year, an excess of ordinary revenue over ordinary
expenditure, the United States could not have any other occasion to
give direct pecuniary aid for the maintenance of the Islands.
FINANCIAL STATUS.--The Philippine government today is on a solid
financial basis as any government in the world. It is self-supporting,
its taxation is adequate to its needs, the per capita tax of the
people is low. The Filipinos bear a smaller burden of taxation
than the natives of Great Britain, United States, Japan, Argentina,
and Brazil. The year, 1922, was presented with an aggregate surplus
of approximately $64,000,000 in central, provincial, and municipal
governments including the City of Manila. This goes to show that both
the central and local governments are on a sound financial basis.
A clearer comprehension of the financial standing of the government
may be had from an inspection of the following tables:
STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS, EXPENDITURES, AND SURPLUS OF
THE INSULAR GOVERNMENT, 1921-1922
Items of revenue and expenditures 1921 1922
Pesos Pesos
Revenue:
Licenses and business. 14,246,440 13,755,670
Import duties. 12,778,791 11,362,250
Excise Tax. 13,327,843 13,444,281
Income tax. 4,880,370 1,943,716
Wharfage tax. 1,473,627 1,852,095
Franchise tax. 243,618 109,749
Documentary stamp tax (customs and
internal revenue). 951,809 990,933
Immigration tax. 237,040 239,152
Tonnage dues. 254,515 276,130
Inheritance tax. 210,303 121,812
Revenue from public forests. 923,216 854,337
United States internal revenue. 756,444 1,428,959
Fines and forfeitures. 663,415 799,553
Sales and rentals of public domain. 22,110 24,254
Income from commercial and
industrial units. 12,771,068 11,130,403
Income from operating units. 254,514 133,698
Dividends on bank stock. 463,373 ----
Interest repayments, railway companies. 192,716 387,785
All other income [2]. 67,430,039 74,427,334
Prior year adjustments. 1,282,547 531,826
----------- -----------
Total. 133,363,798 133,813,937
Less apportionments of internal
revenue to local governments. 3,164,084 3,164,084
=========== ===========
Total revenue. 130,199,714 130,649,853
Expenditures:
General administration [3] 2,046,646 2,272,591
Legislation 1,413,541 1,547,683
Adjudication 1,891,080 1,747,093
Protective service [4] 5,783,904 4,866,840
Social improvement [5] 13,084,682 13,709,846
Economic development [6] 53,820,568 14,037,386
Aid to local governments 14,305,267 15,561,867
Expense of revenue collection 11,275,497 9,963,714
Public debt 3,811,266 5,117,494
Public works and purchase of
equipment 10,209,597 9,670,476
Retirement gratuities [7] 521,226 397,886
Pensions Acts 2909 and 2922 12,000 12,000
Prior year adjustments 18,937 6,248
----------- ----------
Total 118,194,211 78,911,424
----------- ----------
Current surplus for the year 12,005,503 51,738,429
Current surplus at the beginning
of the year 43,937,712 55,943,215
Current surplus at the end of the year 55,943,215 107,681,644