Moro Province Organization Act

Districts and subdistricts: territorial units

Section 2 divides the Moro Province into five districts: Sulu, Zamboanga, Lanao, Cottabato, and Davao, each defined by the specific geographic lines described.
Section 2(a) defines the Sulu District to include specified islands in the Celebes Sea and Sulu Sea between the fourth and eighth parallels of north latitude, lying southwest of a line passing two miles due east of Taliran Island’s northeast extremity.
Section 2(b) defines the Zamboanga District to include Basilan and immediately adjacent islands (not in Sulu District), and specified parts of Mindanao west and south of the detailed boundary line that includes the town of Tucuran.
Section 2(b) further carves out the subdistrict of Dapitan from the Zamboanga District for administrative purposes, with capital at Dapitan (on Dapitan Bay) and defined boundaries by parallels and seas, including boundaries from Balato Point to the intersection described.
Sections 2(c), 2(d), and 2(e) define the remaining districts (Lanao, Cottabato, Davao) by their respective lines using watersheds, parallels (notably the eighth parallel of north latitude), peaks (including Mount Bita and Mount Apo), and boundary directions described.

District capitals: change by council

Section 3 sets the district capitals as follows:
- Sulu: Jolo
- Zamboanga: Zamboanga
- Lanao: Iligan
- Cottabato: Cottabato
- Davao: Davao
Section 3 grants the legislative council of the Moro Province discretion to change these capitals.

Central provincial officers and appointments

Section 4 provides for the appointment of the following for the Moro Province by the Civil Governor of the Philippine Islands, with the consent of the Philippine Commission: governor, attorney, secretary, treasurer, superintendent of schools, and engineer.
Section 4 allows the provincial governor and engineer to be Army officers detailed on request by the Philippine Commission by the Commanding General of the Division of the Philippines to perform civil duties.
Section 4 requires that vacancies in the listed offices be promptly reported to the Civil Governor by the provincial governor.
Section 4 authorizes the provincial governor, until the vacancy is filled, to require any provincial officer to perform the duties of the vacant office in addition to regular duties.

Provincial governor powers, discipline, reporting

Section 5 requires the provincial governor to discharge the duties of the office under the general supervision of the Civil Governor of the Islands, and to report from time to time.
Section 5 directs the provincial governor to ensure faithful execution of laws by officers of the province, districts, subdistricts, and municipalities.
Section 5 authorizes the provincial governor, subject to law, to control municipal police through district governors and to direct the use and control of the Insular Constabulary within the Moro Province through the seventh assistant chief of Philippines Constabulary, including temporary withdrawal of the Constabulary from one district to another when public interests require.
Section 5 requires the provincial governor to visit each district capital at least once in every six months.
Section 5 empowers suspension and discipline: upon complaint or on the governor’s own motion, the provincial governor may suspend a district officer for misconduct or incompetency, order the provincial attorney to prefer and serve formal charges, and after due hearing impose penalties including loss of pay or a definite period of suspension, or dismiss charges/offenders; if charges involve criminal or civil liability, the governor may direct the provincial attorney to file appropriate criminal or civil actions in the public interest.
Section 5 requires a yearly report to the Civil Governor: the provincial governor must report on conditions of the province between the first and fifteenth of September each year for the year ending on the first day of September, recommending executive or legislative measures.
Section 5 requires assistance for enforcement of court decrees and judgments when ordinary procedure and usual officers cannot enforce them, by providing Constabulary and municipal police assistance upon notice by a judge of the Court of First Instance.
Section 5 creates appointment authority: the provincial governor, with advice and consent of the legislative council, appoints district governors, the lieutenant governor of Dapitan, district treasurers, and district secretaries, and appoints other subordinate provincial officers and employees under the Civil Service Act, consistent with appointment methods directed by the legislative council and not inconsistent with the Civil Service Law.

Secretary, treasurer, engineer, superintendent, attorney

Section 6 makes the provincial secretary the acting governor during a vacancy, disability, or absence of the governor, and authorizes inspections and other duties as delegated by the governor.
Section 6 requires the provincial secretary to attest official acts of the governor, record acts required by law to be recorded, be custodian of the provincial seal, and act as custodian of provincial records and documents; it also requires receipt and indexing of reports required by law.
Section 6 allows certified copies upon demand with personal compensation of ten cents, local currency, for every one hundred words (including the certificate), and prohibits charging public officials needing copies for public purpose.
Section 6 makes the provincial secretary the secretary of the legislative council, required to attest its acts and resolutions, and discharge duties the legislative council provides by law.
Section 7 establishes the provincial treasurer as chief financial officer, requiring supervision of appraisal and assessment of taxable property and supervision of tax collection in the province, except customs duties, which are collected as then done by customs collectors under the Insular Collector of Customs.
Section 7 requires bonds: the provincial treasurer must give bond for faithful discharge and lawful disbursement, with the bond amount fixed by the Insular Treasurer, and must require bonds from deputies with amounts fixed by the legislative council.
Section 7 requires that no provincial treasury money be paid out except upon lawful warrants drawn according to law and indorsed by the payee named as the treasurer’s voucher; it also mandates quarterly accounts on the tenth day of January, April, July, and October to the legislative council for the preceding quarter, and forwarding copies to the Insular Treasurer and Insular Auditor.
Section 8 establishes the provincial engineer’s duties over roads, bridges, ferries, public buildings, and other public improvements, including at least quarterly reports to the legislative council and preparation of plans/specifications/cost estimates before contracts are let.
Section 8 prohibits payments for public works unless certified by the engineer as due, and requires legislative council approval for contracts.
Section 8 requires procurement controls: stationery and supplies purchased for provincial and district governments and courts must be purchased by the engineer upon legislative council order, generally through the Insular Purchasing Agent unless the Civil Governor orders otherwise upon governor’s recommendation; it also requires keeping a property account and taking receipts for supplies delivered.
Section 10 establishes the provincial superintendent of schools and requires establishment and reorganization of schools across municipalities, rancherias, townships, and other settlements where practicable; it requires fixing salaries of American and native teachers within legal limits, setting curricula, supervising schoolhouse construction (including land requirements and hygiene rules), requisitioning school supplies to the engineer for purchase when appropriations/authority exist, reporting requisitions quarterly, and submitting administration reports (on or before January first and July first) to the provincial governor with duplicates to the General Superintendent of Education.
Section 10 requires the superintendent to prepare and promulgate rules for examination/qualification of native teachers and for guidance of officers/teachers, and to forward requisitions for American teachers to the General Superintendent of Education at Manila in accordance with civil-service rules after first of September, nineteen hundred and three.
Section 9 makes the provincial attorney the legal adviser of the provincial government and legislative council and representation officer in suits on behalf of or against the provincial government; it requires written legal opinions when called upon and supervisory control in courts over district fiscals; it also requires reports in criminal cases appealed to the Supreme Court and an annual report to the Attorney-General about litigation conditions.

Legislative council: composition and governing powers

Section 12 creates the legislative council for the province composed of the governor, secretary, treasurer, engineer, superintendent of schools, and attorney, each with a right to vote; the governor presides and the secretary presides in the governor’s absence.
Section 12 sets quorum at four members for legislative action and provides that in case of a tie vote, the proposition receiving the vote of the governor prevails.
Section 12 requires regular meetings once every two weeks, plus special meetings called by the governor or as provided by resolution.
Section 13 imposes core duties and powers on the legislative council, including:
- Providing suitable provincial and district offices, court-houses, and jail facilities (Section 13(a))
- Providing vaults/safes for treasurers to keep public funds (Section 13(b))
- Ordering monthly payments of salaries and lawful contracted indebtedness through warrants drawn by the governor and countersigned by the secretary, specifying purpose, date, and council resolution minutes (Section 13(c))
- Appointing/employing necessary subordinate employees, fixing salaries, and regulating hours and employment (Section 13(d))
- Providing a provincial seal (Section 13(e))
- Enacting revenue measures and specifying beneficiaries and collection procedures, subject to restrictions from the specified U.S. Act and limiting legislative power over Customs Administrative Act and the wood-cutting/forest products fees except as stated in Section 13(m) (Section 13(f))
- Enacting laws for school-system organization and support, including possible special industrial schools for non-Christians, construction/control of school buildings, rules for instruction, and possible special local school tax, without requiring a uniform primary school law province-wide (Section 13(g))
- Enacting laws for local governments among Moros and other non-Christian tribes, conforming to lawful customs and consistent with the specified U.S. Act, and following agreements with local/tribe rulers unless forfeited by conduct (Section 13(h))
- Enacting laws empowering district governors to adjust disputes between sultans, dattos, and independent local authorities under supervision of the provincial governor (Section 13(i))
- Enacting laws to collect and codify Moro customary laws and apply them in civil and criminal actions between Moros and specified non-Christians; it also mandates application of Philippine Criminal Code and substantive civil law in cases between Moro and non-Moros/Christians/Americans/foreign citizens, and establishes procedures for codification printing in English, Arabic, or local dialects (Section 13(j))
- Enacting laws organizing district courts and defining when cases between Moros, non-Christian tribes, and mixed parties are decided there, with composition rules and approval requirements for judgments, plus heightened approval for sentences of death or imprisonment beyond ten years (Section 13(k)); it also authorizes transfer to Court of First Instance or justice of the peace by council law and requires simple procedures and written records
- Enacting laws for abolition of slavery and suppression of slave hunting and slave trade (Section 13(l))
- Regulating by statute the use, registration, and licensing of boats of Moro or pagan construction of less than ten tons measurement, notwithstanding the Customs Administrative Act (Section 13(m))
Section 14 further authorizes the legislative council to:
- Order construction/repair/maintenance of public works in any part of the province upon engineer recommendation where funds exist, approve/reject contracts, and coordinate joint maintenance with adjoining provinces under joint supervision (Section 14)
- Direct bringing/defense of suits for the provincial government and compromise them upon attorney recommendation and Court of First Instance approval
- Authorize depositing surplus provincial funds in approved standing banks, with interest inuring to the provincial treasury, subject to council resolution approving exact terms and requiring weekly balance certifications to the governor and Insular Treasurer
- Enact laws modifying/amending the Municipal Code’s application within the province for conditions differing from Christian Filipino provinces
- Provide for printing, translating, and distributing laws by proclamation of the provincial governor and translating/printing/distributing educational literature by council determination
- Enact other laws not inconsistent with the Act and Acts of Congress relating to the Philippines, while prohibiting issuing bonds by the province and authorizing municipalities to issue bonds except as provided in Acts of Congress (Section 14)
Section 32 provides effectivity of legislative council laws: each law takes effect at the time fixed by the legislative council in the Act, but remains subject to annulment or amendment by the Commission; it also requires the council secretary to forward a certified copy of each act by registered mail to the Recorder of the Commission immediately after passage.

District government structure and local justice

Section 15 requires appointment, by the provincial governor with consent of the legislative council, of a district governor, district secretary, and district treasurer in each district.
Section 15 permits the district governor office to be filled by proper detail of an Army officer with legislative council consent.
Section 15 requires district treasurers to be selected under the Civil Service Law.
Section 15 allows governors and secretaries of districts to be appointed without previous examination, but requires that after eighteen months of service they must pass a satisfactory examination in the principal local dialect of the district; failure is sufficient cause for dismissal.
Section 16 establishes the district governor as chief executive, acting under provincial governor orders and supervision, serving as sheriff under the Code of Civil Procedure in executing lawful decrees, giving bonds as required, supervising prisoner custody, and ensuring maintenance and conduct of the district jail.
Section 16 gives the district governor municipal-officer discipline and removal powers under provincial standards, with added power to hear charges after due notice and remove or discipline officers through definite suspension and loss of pay; it provides a right of appeal by the punished/removed officer to the Moro Province governor within ten days, by letter duly mailed, after communication of the provincial governor’s action to the sentenced official.
Section 16 requires district governor inspection of municipalities at least once every six months, reporting to the governor of the province, and enables inspection of municipal police with power to discharge unfit persons and direct temporary use of municipal police of one municipality in another part of the district.
Section 17 defines the district secretary as custodian of district public records and documents, attester of district governor official acts, recorder of acts required by law, and provider of certified copies for compensation of ten cents, local currency, per one hundred words (including certificate) except for public officials needing copies for public purpose.
Section 17 makes the district secretary acting district governor during vacancy, absence, or disability, presides over the district court, recommends repairs/improvements to the provincial engineer, supervises public works as deputy under the engineer and legislative council directions, keeps custody of district public property/buildings used for government purposes, and gives bonds with amounts fixed by provincial engineer and approved by legislative council.
Section 13(k), through council authority, establishes how district courts must be organized and presided (district court presided by the district secretary; other members appointed by district governor varying by race/tribe), judgment approval requirements by district governor and provincial governor (especially for death or imprisonment beyond ten years), and required simple procedures with written records.

Financial administration, bonds, seizures, and accounting

Section 18 establishes the district treasurer’s tax collection responsibilities and provides for cedula tax collection: the district treasurer may authorize municipal treasurers to collect cedula tax as deputies/agents and pay them a five per centum commission of amounts collected.
Section 18 requires the district treasurer to act as registrar of Chinese when designated by the Insular Collector of Customs, receiving compensation as provincial treasurers do when so designated.
Section 18 requires the district treasurer, until registrar is otherwise provided for, to act as registrar of property.
Section 18 requires collection of amounts due under forestry regulations for timber cutting and forest products, forwarding the amounts to the provincial treasurer as already provided.
Section 18 requires quarterly accounts of collections/disbursements to the provincial treasurer, with ordered retention or forwarding of custody of collected funds.
Section 18 requires paying over amounts due to municipal treasurers with receipts and advising the municipal president and council of payments.
Section 18 makes the district treasurer a disbursing officer under the provincial treasurer for salaries of district officers and authorized employees.
Section 18 mandates open inspection of accounts, books, cash, papers, and records by the provincial treasurer or examining agents of the provincial/Insular Treasurer.
Section 18 authorizes seizure of office and records/cash upon finding the district treasurer in default (or in case of decease), to hold until amounts due are stated; it mandates turning over public papers/records to a lawful successor after accounting.
Section 18 requires district treasurers to give bond in an amount fixed by the provincial treasurer with legislative council approval.

Procurement, bidding, and lawful funding checks

Section 22 prohibits provincial government contracts for public works until the provincial treasurer certifies in writing that sufficient sums in the provincial treasury exist lawfully devoted to the purpose sufficient to meet estimated cost; it also requires that after certification, the treasurer treat the certified sum as not subject to warrant except to meet contract obligations.
Section 23 requires letting public works contracts involving greater cost than one thousand dollars (U.S. money) to the lowest responsible bidder after ten days’ public notice by newspaper advertisement in the province, or if none, by ten-day posted notice at the engineer’s office entrance and the district secretary’s office door where work is to be done.
Section 23 allows the legislative council, if contracts/work are of sufficient magnitude, to require additional bidding advertisement in a newspaper published in the city of Manila.
Section 23 authorizes the provincial engineer to reject any or all bids; if bids are too high, the engineer may recommend to the council authorization to purchase materials, hire labor, and supervise the work directly.

Customs and forestry funds: special treatment and audits

Section 25 requires that forestry collection proceeds on Government lands are collected by district treasurers, forwarded through the provincial treasurer to the Insular Treasurer, and deposited to the credit of the Forestry Bureau.
Section 25 requires the Insular Auditor at the end of each quarter to determine the ratio of forestry collection expenditures in the Archipelago to total forestry collections, reduce Moro Province proceeds by the proper collection-expense percentage, and issue a warrant on the Insular Treasurer for the remainder in favor of the Moro provincial treasurer.
Section 25 requires that so long as internal-revenue tax laws apply in the Moro Province, required tax stamps furnished by the Insular Treasurer to the provincial treasury come from the Collector of Internal Revenue, with proper receipts; it requires parallel reporting and accounting of monthly stamps sold and stamps on hand to the Insular Treasurer and Insular Auditor.
Section 26 creates a special fund from the gross amount of customs receipts from whatever source collected within the Moro Province less the cost of collection; it requires that collectors deposit directly with the provincial treasurer with receipts and forward copies to the Insular Collector of Customs and Insular Treasurer.
Section 26 provides that the special fund is expended in the discretion of the legislative council for provincial, district, and municipal purposes in the province.

Courts: jurisdiction limits and habeas corpus

Section 27 removes jurisdiction of Courts of First Instance and justices of the peace to try civil or criminal actions arising between Moros or between non-Christians.
Section 27 provides that actions arising between Moros and other non-Christians follow legislative council provisions.
Section 27 provides that the Court of First Instance has jurisdiction in all habeas corpus cases, no matter between whom arising, to issue process, hear evidence, and either discharge the prisoner or remand to custody per the Code of Civil Procedure.

Military-to-civil transition, provincial corporate powers

Section 28 gives the legislative council power to insure a gradual transition from military to civil control by providing that district powers conferred by the Act be exercised under general supervision of the military commander of U.S. troops serving in the district for a period determined by the legislative council; the period may be decreased or lengthened by subsequent act.
Section 29 declares the provincial government established under the Act to be a body corporate with power to sue and be sued, use a corporate seal, hold property real and personal, make contracts for labor and material for duly authorized public works, and incur other obligations authorized by law.
Section 30 grants the legislative council discretion to make a district’s government a corporation with similar powers and to constitute a district board (governor, secretary, treasurer) when it deems wise; it allows different provisions to apply to different districts based on the council’s determination.
Section 31 states the creation and carving out of the subdistrict of Dapitan and the office of lieutenant-governor are intended to provide a form of provincial government for Dapitan and neighboring towns insufficient to justify expense of a provincial government, and authorizes the legislative council to declare lieutenant-governor duties, provide a deputy district treasurer at Dapitan, and furnish subordinate employees for quasi-independent subdistrict government as local conditions require.

Constabulary organization and enforcement aid

Section 19 authorizes employing Philippine Scouts to aid the province’s Constabulary under the terms and conditions of the U.S. Act approved January 13, 1903, titled “An Act to promote the efficiency of the Philippines Constabulary, to establish the rank and pay of its commanding officers, and for other purposes.”
Section 20 allows the governor of the province or any district governor to secure law-and-order enforcement against resistance to lawful authority or disturbances of peace that the Constabulary and municipal police cannot suppress by requesting assistance of the Army of the United States through application to the appropriate military commander, under forms and conditions prescribed in general orders.
Section 21 creates an additional assistant chief known as the seventh assistant chief, in charge of the Constabulary in the Moro Province under the Chief of Constabulary, and subject to special control by the governor.
Section 21 requires organizing Constabulary in each district from natives (Christian or non-Christian) residents, limited to not to exceed one hundred and fifty enlisted men in any district, unless duly authorized by law or resolution of the Commission.
Section 21 applies existing laws and regulations governing Constabulary to Moro Province Constabulary, unless specially modified by act of the Commission for local conditions.
Section 21 requires inspectors/sub-inspectors to inspect municipal police and recommend changes, removals, and promotions to district governors.
Section 21 provides that Constabulary is supported by funds appropriated from the Insular Treasury like elsewhere in the archipelago; it authorizes emergency use of Constabulary in other districts and permits the Constabulary of the province to be used in any province when ordered by the Civil Governor of the Islands.

Contracts, ledgers, audits, and criminal accountability

Section 24 requires the Insular Treasurer to prescribe methods of keeping ledgers/records and rules for provincial and district treasurers, and requires the Insular Auditor to prescribe account forms and settlement methods under rule twelve of Act Numbered Ninety, including instructions as per rules twelve and forty-four of that Act.
Section 24 mandates that necessary books/forms be prepared under Insular Treasurer direction and furnished at cost.
Section 24 requires monthly accounts current of the provincial treasurer to be audited by the Insular Auditor.
Section 24 requires forwarding certified copies of acts/resolutions appointing assistants, deputies, and other employees and fixing salaries to assist audit.
Section 24 mandates at least once every six months a traveling examiner examination of the provincial treasurer; it authorizes seizure upon defalcation, immediate possession by Insular Treasurer, and notification to the Insular Auditor and Auditor of facts; it requires determination of amounts due and correct account stated before transferring office back upon certificate.
Section 24 requires the same seizure procedure for provincial treasurer death, and immediate notification to sureties.
Section 24 requires the Auditor to forward to the provincial attorney a statement of the account and request suit for balances due on official bond; it makes the Insular Auditor’s account stated prima facie evidence of the amount due on the bond.
Section 24 requires criminal proceedings for defaulting provincial or district treasurer.
Section 24 provides that for a deceased provincial treasurer with no balance due, the Auditor must settle the account and provide legal representatives a certified copy of the settlement.
Section 33 expedites passage because public good requires speedy enactment, 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.

Effectivity, salaries, and legislative enactment rules

Section 11 sets provincial governor salary at six thousand dollars annually, and sets each provincial officer salary at not exceeding four thousand dollars annually in United States currency, fixed by the Civil Governor at appointment and approved with the appointment by the Commission.
Section 11 sets district governor salary at not exceeding three thousand five hundred dollars annually (U.S. currency) fixed by the legislative council per district.
Section 11 sets district secretary and district treasurer salaries at not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars annually (U.S. currency) fixed by the legislative council per district.
Section 11 sets lieutenant-governor of Dapitan salary at not exceeding two thousand dollars annually (U.S. currency) fixed by the legislative council.
Section 11 provides that if an Army officer