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extracted text: Historical Document - THE MAURA LAW* Royal Decree of May 19, 1893 Your Majesty: Communal government, above any other political institution, is always a factor of importance in the welfare and prosperity of peoples; and when nations are still in their swaddling-clothes, the influence of their municipal organization is still rnore decisive. , The close and daily contact between the lives of indiyiduals and of families and the wonted ways of the masses that constitute the nation makes unbearable -if they are enforced, and even makes such enforcement problematical-whatever laws are passed on a gi•ven subject due regard to the customs, traditions. and temperament of the natives. It follows, therefore, that the clever schemes, which theoretically appear perfect, are useless; as are the examples an:d the usages which experience has demonstrated to be good in othe1· nations of different eivilization and customs. The municipal system must l::e based upon that which is well rooted and is generally accepted, without nevertheless, foregoing the correction of e!Tors, the righting of abuses·, and the measured amelioration of human society according to the laws of Nature. The local institutions of the Philip]Jine Archipelago have sunk to such a stage of decadence and flux that Ruch portions thereof as have not become tainted are atrophied and useless. There scarcely remain the mimes of the positions, ranks, and offices whereof the administrative organization of the towns securely consisted and upon which it was based; and what were formerly honors and eminent positions eagerly sought for by men of light and leading have become despised offices·, when not instruments of personal cupidity. To review the various causes * As translated by Vicente M. Hilario ftom Paterno, Pedro A.: El Re_qimen Municipal en las Islas Filipinas (Madrid 1893); See appendix C, Laurel'o Local Government in the Philippines. Page 328 of the harm done is of less importance than to seek the remedy therefor· but it cannot be ignored that even in those causes which, with good reason, may be charged to the bungling measures of the Government, there will be noticed the traditional imprint of our policy in the Philippines, which contii.ues matchless in the colonial history of nation.s, consisting, as it does, in an <:bsolute disinterestedness and a consistent magnanimity of purpose. ---'fhe general Administration assumed cares which are naturally incumbent upon the P1incipalias and consequently it was under obligations to take charge also of the administration of the local funds, with the expectation of better results than those obtained in ! heir management by the native tribunals. It erred in the degree of confidence, so difficult to determine, which rnn be placed in the autonomous administration of any town and in the estimate of the effective resources which the State has there at its disposal, in order that its administration might be beneficial and its tutelary solicitude might be productive of good to the subjects. F'or many years has the remedy been studied and prepared, the error bein'g known; and not long ago, an instructive report, which the undersigned Minister requested of the Council of the Philippines and of the possessions of the Gulf of Guinea, was added to the data and reports on the reform of municipal government which had been collected since 1870. The Royal Decree of November 12, 1889, announced and prepared, as a temporary measure in the period of change, the reform which is now undertaken; it ratified the authority granted the Governor-General to create municipalities, similar to the government of the City of Manila, in the capital of each province an:d in the other towns whose importance justified it. But up to the present time, such THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW municipalities have been created only in the capitals of the provinces of Albay, Batangas, Camarines Sur, llocos Sur, in the capital of the district of Cebu, and in1 the cities of J aro and Iloilo. It should be noted that side by side with such governments, the Principalias and the traditional institutions are still in existence within the same municipal boundaries. Now the question is: how to set right, not the few P.xceptions, but· the municipal organization of the towns generally, in Luzo11 as well as in the Visayas; and for this reason there are preserved in the attached draft of the Decree, in so far as the conditions of the preS€nt period will permit, the historical elements of the old regime and even the designations which hav.e bee,n hallowed by custom among the natives. The ~-ery great difference which is observed among the towns of those provinces would make this Decree impracticable, if it were to contain minute :regulations which would have to be c~.rried out undiangingly in all these provinces. Only such organic laws have been established as appear sufficien. t to define the constitution and mode of operation of the local administration, thf' details conforming to the conditions of each district heing left to the regulations which are to be drafted, revised, a!l.d approved for each province. In the preparation and approval of these regulations, the main object must be to secure an added, not a reduced, simplicity which is to be sought in the 0rganization and conduct of the loca1 institutions. Care has been taken to avoid the organization of the secretarial or other similar professions as an integral part of the administration of the towns. It would be contrary to the pristine intention of the reform scheme to place on the same level with the authorities and officers of the town, who are electi'i e and temporary, those nominal public servants who, in; view of their permanency and the general character of the natives, would easily degenerate into irresponsible and dissembling wirepullers of the Administration. At each JUNE, 1949 appointed time, let every tribunal seek its servants; but the law takes no direct concern · of them. The sphere, wherein the attached Decree grants to the municipal courts an unrestricted and special jurisdiction, is circumscribed to genuinely local interests, in so far as it is possible to distinguish them from the general interests with which they are. always 'i.mited in an indissoluble manner; and within this limited jurisdiction, provided that the general interest& and the obedience to law are observed, t,he higher authorities must consider that the tempprary advantage of improving some measures does not counterbalance ihe permanent injury which is caused by hamstringing and crushing local initiative. 'When the administration o;f the persons elected or of the delegates of a Principalia is defective, there wiH, nevertheless, be the peculiar advantage that their errors, unavoidable as they are, can be ascribed only to the selfsame natives of the towns, in whose hands lies the remedy for the future. Wffthout depriving them of the opportunity of. testing themselves in the management of their interests and in rnpplying the necessities of the town itself, the following will be found contributory to practical wisdom: first. the attendance of the parochial priest, who shall discharge duties of supervision and counsel at the more important delil:erations; and seconply, thP. censorship of the provincial\ board, which will be a real aid to the municipaT tribunals and the Principalias of each province, unlike the deputations in the Peninsula. Such boards are not to have charge of the direct adminisc t·ation of the provinces.; their mis·sion consists in exercising vigilant supervision o'Ver the progress of communal affairs in the towns, and in advising the governors irt matters of th's character. The cabezas de baranqay will, by virtue of this Decree, be placed in a more advantageous position than is their present one; and better services may be demanded and expected of them, taking, as they always did, such an essential part in the collection of taxes and Page 329 thereby facilitating the relations of the Government with the governed. Such sources of revenue, whose nature is unequivocally municipal, are removed from under the management of the State officials, in order that 1hey may be placed to the credit of, or de· posited in, the treawry of the town within whose jurisdiction that may be collected. To the Municipal Tribunals Pre en' " -~tprl seri· ices which they and their rnbordinates . alone can g1:tuge, regulate, and improve; so that the interest, the responsibility, and the re'ources wherewith to meet the primary requirements of civil life will be in their own hands, the. State preserving an<l retaining under its own safekeeping the recuniary means and the obligations and cares required by the other branch_ es of the service with· the aid of Local Fund0-services which, for the present at least, are in need of this guarantee in order that the general interests will not be neglected in any place or at an, y time. Without the general Administration abandoning or diminishing the public works, but always reckoning on the op;1ortunity to be able to make full and licit use of the personnel and money at its disposal for the expeditious and encouraging performance of such tasks, and at the same time making new plans work cheek by jowl with the old, the Principalias of the towns are them· &ehres placed in a position to be able to proceed with the execution or initiation of such material improvements as are of particular interest to one town, or to several towns which may join 1heir common interests for one such enterprise. The concentration of the Joe_ al services in the hands of the general Administration has stood for too long a period to permit us to expect ·now that this initiative will rouse itself abruptly into vigorous. action; but the i·se of the powers which will be Tested in thP Municipal Tribunals and the daily presoure of p:iblic business will ii' duce them sooner or later not to >quander the resources en trusted i·n their hands. It waR not po:o:sible to place funds, which were included in the budgets Page 330 managed by the State under a varied range of powers, at the disposal of the ~owns for their local needs, because such funds are too deficient for the improvements which only the skill, the perseverance, and the ·power of the State itself can carry out. But because of the circumstance that in most of the towns the sources of revenue will not furnish sufficient funds for such works, after the other permanent and unshirkable necessities have been met, the local corporations are empowered 1o create a direct tax-for their own benefit-on rural property, which as yet is not ta"ed in the Philippines. The simplicity and the relati,ve ease wherewith this tax can be collected and administered and the well known fact that rnch an impost--when its proceeds are to be utilized solely and exclusively for works beneficial to the town masseswill repay full returns to the resources thus taxed, - all these advantages vouchsafe the hope that the tax will establish itself in the more advanced towns an<l will l::ecome more popular according as the rural property will be so substantially developed as to be in a position to support such a tribute, [tnd as the advance in culture will make felt those needs which lie beyond the I each of the present - excise. The undersigned Minister will shortly submit, for the approval of Your Majesty, another decree to change the rules governing the sale and adjustments of public lands, greatly favoring ar: d faci.litating the acqµisHion and consolidation of individual property. ,For this end also, and for other purpo>es, are intended the important reforms in the Mortgage Law, whereof ?n account will also be given soon to Your Majesty. For this reason, municipal tribunals are at the present time forbidden to '.mpose a new tax on cultivated rural property, if they did not make such an impost applicable also to uncultivated property. The soda! and economic conditions of the towP.13 of the Philippines do not permit that. public lands be reserved for persons aflplyi-ng for them at the co>t of a large outlay which is suffiTHE LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW cient capital to place suc.h tracts under cultivation; and if their acquisition is to be facilitated, there is need of overcoming the ecqnomic obstacles in the sydem, as ev inced by experience, so as to prevent thereby that the land be r.eld for speculative purposes by leisurely idlers, as our mining· laws do with regard to the subsoil. The tax on rural property, like that on registered mining claims, should encourage the owners to work the land, or. to abandon' and leaye it for those men who, through labor and capital, rernly,e, to make it give up its bounties. To the rnt1rces of reve1ne of the towns is added the personal service tax, which is a most valuable asset if administered and utilized with hon=sty and intelligent zeal. ·The employment in community undertakings of the persons s:ibject to such a tax will, of course, stimulate the acquisition of the nches which Nature holds out to us, and will compel the administrators of the towns to provide the necessary funds with the m ea1~,g allowed them. Certain regulations adapted to the system now established, which the Governor-General will approve after a re· port thereon by the Council of Admini,tration, ought to pre;ent the abuses to which the personal service tax is always subject. A most important matter for similar regulations will be the form of accounting for, and of managing the funds of, 'lhe towns; for neither will there be any omission of the inflexible norm necessary to preclude malversat ion and co1" ruption, nor will there be any seeking after that state of perfection which is incompatible with the customs and conditionR of that country. The Decree proposed to Your Majesty lays down only divers bases which are known to be rnfficient in counselling simplicity in development. The bootless repetition of proceeding:>, which would call for a !)eriodical renewal of municipal budgets, is shurnned; and as it is impractic'lble to suppress altogether every rule which will bring to normalcy the receipts and expenditureo, pro• is·' on is JUNE, 1949 made for the preparation d a statement of each, in order that it may rontinue for an indefinite period, although a,nticipating always the possibility of modifying the rule so as to adapt it to the inevitable changes of circumstance. It is required at all events that the (1Xpenditures be kept within the maxim .1m lim"t of the net receipts; and through the permar:·ence of the regular budgets and the prohibition of. the introduction of any change in them rllll" ing the course of the calendar year-a change which mu~t be postponed to the following year, even after its appronll -a statement and audit of the annual ?C"ou nts j3 mad'e readily and most expeditiously. Any extraordinary or incidental expenditure, as well as any work undertaken at the expen·se of ·the municipality, must be excluded from the permanent b'udget and from the (•r dinary annual a ~count; and all the resolutions, acts and obje:ts of apprornl, resources, the liquidation and account relating to these unusual or ac· cidental disbursements shall b~ treated ::-eparately. The needs of the go . ernmental system and the powers of constitt;,~ed authorities are safeguarded in regarr! to the general Admi.nistration as well as the provincial governments, by n>eans of the sections of 1 the Decree reregulating the s:ispension and removal of the members or of the corporations that are to administer the local affairs; but in the even tenor of things, much latitude is allowed the Princi,pa.Zia.s, a.nd all that is most essential to the good management of the community interest8 in every town is. made dependent upon their initiati\:e and sense of responsi' Lility. The subordinate and superior agencies to which are entrusted the tasks of super vision, advice, and review will r:o doubt be able to i·nduce discretion and ob~iate the .need of applying remedies. for losses and abuses. But they cannot assume the powers of the local au thorities; and because s:ich agencies cannot destroy, but only direct them, it is to be hoped that the · E m ancipation of each town in the adPage 331 ministration of its private affairs will J>e as lasting as the success of the reform will dictate. Although the beneficent consequences of this emancipation-which in no case can be immediate-would be slow or scarce, yet they must be awaited without the fear that the management of the towns will make any worse the present condition of the affairs which may be entrusted to them, as well as with· l•Ut the slightest dread regarding the ser1 ices of general interests, because the latter are retained in the hands of the Administration, until experience will have evinced that they would be safe an.d advantageous-ly placer! in the hands of the Principalias. The betterment of the Jqcal institutions does not hinge solely upon the policy of the Government. Time, wedded to persevering effort, is more neces~ary now on account of the condition cif our nathe ,FjJipinos, who have been subjected for so long a time to a b;,ingling centralization of town and country r.ffairs; but the undersigned Minister hopes that, in the near future, the pri.n· ciples and regulations he proposes to Your Majesty-more than any other plans now engrossing attention-will be contributory to the profit and progress of that people whom Providence has committed• to the generous tuteJr,ge of the Spanish monarchs. It would be bootless to expect that they wou!d display such initiative as the people of another race, of different culture and habits, might evince under an identical autonomous municipal government; but it does not even appear considerate to regret that things be thus and so, became each people must Ii'Ve according to its idiosyncrasies. It is preferable to compromise; and it would .savor of tyranny to impose upon subjects: what they detest or repel, however perfect :t may be. The more singular and mor" i·nconstant the condition of the inhabitrnts of the Philippine Archipelago 1s, the greater should be the consideration i:iven to the reform which resµects local differences, prepossessions, and initiative, instead of dwarfing and thwarting them with vehement longing for thrir Page 332 Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS M;rnila LIST OF MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS ELECT November 11, 1947 Elections (Continued from April number) PROVINCE OF BOHOL ALBURQUERQUE Mayor ... . . ... Placido M. Mantiza (L) Vice·Mayor ...... Gemeniano Bufigabon (L} Councilors: 1. Seve;o Pin lac (L ), 2. Domingo Pamaos (L) 3. Luc:o Jay (L) 4. Valeriano Bufigabong (N) 5. Dionisio Camiling (L) 6. Nicomedes Solis (N) ANDA Mayor ............... Aquilino A. Deligero (L} Vice-Mayor ........ Santiago Amper (L) 1. Ramon C. Amper (L) 2. Alfonso Castillo ( L) 3. Santiago Deloso (L) 4. Antonio Deligero (N) 5. Fructuoso Olalo (L) 6. Filomeno Amora ( N) ANTEQUERA Mayor ................ Luis B. Gementiza (L} Vice-Mayor ........ Gregorio Bahalla (L) Councilors: 1. Eugenio Bolanio (L) 2. Maximo Refamonte (N) 3. Pedro Baloria (L) 4. Ramon Aler'a (L) 5. Doroteo Putane ( N) 6. Basilio Samocino (N) BACLAYON Mayor ................ Osmundo L. · Oppus (L} Vice-Mayor ....... Eleuterio R. Ramo (L) Councilors: 1. Victorino Sambas (N) 2. Cesar:o Ugat (L) 3. Restituto Oppus ( N) imprcivement. Supported by these reasons, the undersigned, w" ith the concurre.nce of the Coundl of Ministers, has the honor to ~ubmit to Your Majesty the attached draft of decree. At the Royal Feet of Your Ma_ie;ty, ANTONIO MAURA Y MONTAN'ER. Madrid, May 19, 1893. (To be continued) THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW
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