Repeal and abolition of provincial boards
- Section 1 repeals Act Numbered Three hundred and seven, entitled “An Act providing for the establishment of provincial boards of health and fixing their powers and duties”, as amended, and repeals all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with Act No. 1487.
- Section 1 abolishes the offices created by Act Numbered Three hundred and seven, as amended.
- Section 1 abolishes provincial boards of health by replacing them with district health officers.
Creation and appointment of district health officers
- Section 2 authorizes that each province may have a district health officer.
- Section 2 requires that the district health officer be appointed by the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission.
- Section 2 allows the Director of Health, subject to approval of the Philippine Commission, to:
- increase the number of district health officers assigned to a province; or
- unite two or more provinces under one district health officer assignment.
- Section 2 authorizes the Director of Health to assign to each district other duly authorized sanitary officers or employees as he deems necessary.
- Section 2 grants a qualification without examination: a regularly appointed person who served as president of a provincial board of health at the time of passage of Act No. 1487 is eligible for appointment as district health officer for two years from the date Act No. 1487 becomes effective.
Compensation and funding rules
- Section 3 provides that the salaries of district health officers and other assigned officers and employees in health districts are paid monthly from funds set aside for the support of the Bureau of Health.
- Section 4 requires each province of a health district to deposit in the Insular Treasury, to the credit of the Bureau of Health:
- on or before the 31st day of January of each year; and
- on or before the 31st day of July of each year;
the province’s proportion of the salaries of the district health officer (or officers) and other assigned health district officers and employees.
- Section 4 directs that the Insular Auditor calculates each province’s proportion based on the populations of the respective provinces of the district as determined by the latest census.
- Section 5 provides that traveling expenses and per diems, authorized by law, for district health officers and all other officers and employees assigned to health districts are paid out of funds appropriated for the Bureau of Health.
Legal, engineering, and clerical support functions
- Section 6 provides that within their respective provinces, provincial fiscals act as legal advisers to district health officers.
- Section 7 provides that within their respective districts, district engineers act as sanitary engineers and consult with district health officers regarding sanitary improvements.
- Section 7 transfers operative powers/duties by cross-reference:
- the powers/duties conferred and imposed on district engineers and the Director of Public Works by sections five to twelve of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and one (construction, maintenance, repair of provincial and municipal public works; plans/estimates; letting of contracts) are conferred and imposed upon district engineers for provincial or municipal sanitary improvements; and
- the powers of provincial boards and municipal councils to request investigations, plans, and estimates are conferred upon district health officers for sanitary works or improvements.
- Section 7 requires district engineers to inform district health officers of:
- the existence of insanitary conditions; and
- any failure to comply with legal sanitary orders and regulations.
- Section 8 requires that the provincial board of the province designated as headquarters of a health district provide:
- necessary clerical assistance; and
- suitable office room, furniture, equipment, supplies, including stationery and blank forms, for the district health officer’s office.
- Section 8 directs that clerical assistance be rendered, if practicable, by provincial secretaries, and district health officer offices be kept, if practicable, in the offices of provincial secretaries.
Temporary substitution and district planning
- Section 9 provides that if the district health officer is absent from his district or headquarters, or is ill or otherwise incapacitated, the Director of Health may designate:
- any president of a municipal board of health to discharge district health officer duties temporarily, subject to approval of the Secretary of the proper Department; or
- any district or Insular sanitary officer to perform the duties without additional compensation.
- Section 9 provides salary treatment for the substitute: a designated president of a municipal board of health receives a salary equal to that of the district health officer substituted, but receives no salary as president of the municipal board of health during the temporary engagement.
- Section 10 requires that each district health officer prepares, for each province in his district, an estimate of probable expenses for conducting the district health officer’s office work in that province for the same period as regular provincial expense estimates.
- Section 10 mandates submission: the district health officer must seasonably submit the estimates to the provincial boards with additional information required as a basis for approval.
- Section 10 requires the district health officer to furnish certified copies of the estimates to the Director of Health.
Core powers, duties, supervision, and internal quarantine
- Section 11 requires district health officers, within their districts, to exercise general supervision and control over:
- health and sanitary work; and
- municipal boards of health within the district.
- Section 11 grants enforcement and abatement powers:
- institute all proceedings necessary to abate nuisances; and
- cause prosecution of all violations of sanitary laws and ordinances and lawful regulations applicable to the district.
- Section 11 empowers district health officers to remove the cause of any special disease or mortality.
- Section 11 authorizes district health officers to make and enforce, subject to approval of the Director of Health and the Secretary of the Interior, internal quarantine regulations deemed necessary in any part of the district.
- Section 12 provides that during epidemics of infectious, contagious, or communicable diseases of a dangerous character affecting inhabitants of the district, and at other times when the district health officer deems necessary, he shall appoint the number of sanitary inspectors or other employees authorized by provincial boards and perform other duties as directed by the Director of Health.
- Section 12 establishes a construction rule: wherever the words “president of provincial board of health” occur in Act Numbered Six hundred and seventy-seven and in Act Numbered Nine hundred and eighty-five, they shall, after passage of Act No. 1487, be construed to mean “district health officer.”
- Section 13 requires each district health officer to prepare and recommend to the Director of Health suitable regulations for maintaining all prisons, jails, theaters, schools, colleges, and other public or private institutions within his district in a sanitary condition.
- Section 16 requires district health officers to exercise their powers under the direct supervision and control of the Director of Health, and to make reports and compile statistics the Director of Health may require.
Health inspections, free medical aid, and investigations of deaths
- Section 14 requires district health officers, when practicable, to attend persons entitled by law to receive free medical aid and attendance.
- Section 14 provides that upon application of local authorities, district health officers shall, when practicable, attend free of charge:
- persons confined in provincial or municipal prisons; and
- inmates of other government institutions.
- Section 14 provides that, when practicable, medicines and supplies for such purposes are furnished by the respective provinces or municipalities.
- Section 14 allows Bureau of Health assistance for indigent poor: medicine may be furnished by the Bureau of Health whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the Director of Health that the province or municipality where the medicines will be used is financially unable to supply them.
- Section 15 requires district health officers, upon request of:
- any provincial fiscal within their district; or
- any judge of a Court of First Instance; or
- any justice of the peace,
to conduct in person, when practicable, investigations in death cases where there is suspicion death was caused by unlawful acts or omissions or resulted from foul play.
- Section 15 authorizes delegation without extra compensation when in-person investigation is not practicable:
- district health officers may require a member of a municipal board of health who is a registered physician to perform the service without extra compensation; or
- if no such registered physician is available, district health officers may require a member who is an undergraduate of medicine to perform the service without extra compensation.
- Section 15 requires payment of the actual and necessary traveling expenses whenever the investigation must be made at a place some distance removed from the person’s residence.
- Section 15 authorizes alternative medical arrangements when no suitable board-of-health member is available: the district health officer may arrange, when necessary, for service by:
- a commissioned medical officer in the service of the United States; or
- any other reputable physician,
and payment is made from the province’s funds by fees according to a fixed schedule prescribed by the Director of Health and approved by the Philippine Commission.
Epidemic emergency regulations and enforcement
- Section 17 empowers the Governor-General: when it is shown to the satisfaction of the Governor-General that a health district (or part thereof) is threatened with or suffering from an epidemic of infectious, contagious, or communicable disease of a dangerous character, the Governor-General may issue an executive order declaring the district (or part) to be so threatened or suffering.
- Section 17 empowers the Governor-General to invest the Director of Health with emergency powers to prescribe emergency health regulations, subject to approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to prevent or suppress the occurrence or spread of the disease.
- Section 17 provides that emergency health regulations have the same force and effect and are enforced in the same manner as if enacted by legislative authority throughout the covered district(s) or part(s).
- Section 17 requires that when it is shown to the satisfaction of the Governor-General that the danger of an epidemic has passed, the Governor-General issues an executive order declaring the end of the danger.
- Section 17 provides that upon publication of the executive order, the emergency health regulations become null and void, unless the executive order specifically declares that one or more emergency regulations remain in effect for a further period to be prescribed.
Sanitation compliance requirements and municipal enforcement
- Section 18 grants district health officers authority to require owners, agents, or occupants to place and maintain buildings, premises, places, or parts thereof in a sanitary condition insofar as it relates to cleanliness.
- Section 18 imposes a duty to request municipal enforcement: in necessary cases, district health officers must request the presidents of municipalities to enforce municipal ordinances relating to sanitation.
- Section 18 requires court action if municipal presidents refuse: if the president neglects or refuses to enforce such ordinances, district health officers must cause proceedings against the president in the Court of First instance.
- Section 18 provides penalties upon conviction by the court:
- fine not exceeding PHP 200, or
- imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or
- both,
at the discretion of the court; and the president shall be removed from office.
Contract limits and penalties for violations
- Section 19 prohibits district health officers from making contracts or incurring liabilities in excess of amounts duly appropriated by:
- the provinces or municipalities of their respective districts; or
- the Insular Government.
- Section 20 imposes penalties for violations:
- failure to comply with any regulation made under Act No. 1487;
- disregarding, in whole or part, any lawful sanitary order of a district health officer or duly authorized representative;
- violating any emergency health regulation prescribed by the Director of Health and approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or
- violating any other provision of Act No. 1487.
- Section 20 provides punishment for each offense:
- fine not to exceed PHP 200, or
- imprisonment not to exceed 6 months, or
- both, at the discretion of the court.
Operating coverage and office transitions
- Section 1 makes the replacement nationwide in the sense that each province may have a district health officer and health districts may be unified by the Director of Health subject to the Philippine Commission’s approval.
- Section 2 specifies that the number and assignment of district health officers per province and across multiple provinces are controlled by the Director of Health subject to required approvals.
- Section 11 makes district health officers responsible for district-wide supervision of municipal boards of health and district sanitation enforcement.
- Section 12 makes all references to the president of provincial board of health in specified earlier statutes operative as references to the district health officer.