PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES, CODES & ISSUANCES
PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES AND CODES - CHAN ROBLES VIRTUAL LAW LIBRARY
REPUBLIC ACTS
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 897 - AN ACT TO
FURTHER AMEND REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED THREE HUNDRED AND FOUR BY EXTENDING
THE BENEFITS OF THE LAW TO MEMBERS OF THE PHILIPPINE ARMY AND OF
RECOGNIZED GUERRILLA FORCES AND OFFICERS OF THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS AND
BY ALLOWING THE USE OF CERTIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS FOR THE PURCHASE OF
PUBLIC LANDS AND GOVERNMENT PROPERTIES, AND FOR PAYMENT OF OBLIGATIONS
SUBSISTING AT THE TIME OF APPROVAL OF THIS ACT |
Section 1.
Section one of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred and four, as amended
by Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred, is further amended to read as
follows: "Section 1.
Except as herein provided, the right of all officers, employees and
persons under contract with the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines, including officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Army
and officers of the Philippine Scouts given assimilated ranks and
relative seniority in the Philippine Army, who, on the eighth day of
December, nineteen hundred and forty-one, or after but not later than
the twenty-fifth day of May, nineteen hundred and forty-two in the case
of officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Army and officers of the
Philippine Scouts hereinabove mentioned, or any time thereafter in the
case of those civilians who volunteered to join the resistance
movements, who were serving in the classified or unclassified service
of the national, provincial, city or municipal governments, including
the University of the Philippines and the corporations owned or
controlled by the Government, as well as elective provincial and
municipal officials who held over in their respective offices after the
termination of the term of their office, to such of their respective
salaries, emoluments, fees, allowances, per diems, compensations
or wages as have not been received by them by reason of the war, and
those of guerrilla forces duly recognized by the Army of the United
States, and of the free local civil governments, provincial and
municipal, including military commissions which served as courts of
justice thereof, duly organized for purposes of resistance against the
enemy, corresponding to the period of January first, nineteen hundred
and forty-two, up to and including September twenty-three, nineteen
hundred and forty-five, or up to and including September twenty-six,
nineteen hundred and forty-five, in the case of members of the
Philippine Army or of recognized guerrilla forces and officers of the
Philippine Scouts hereinabove mentioned, or any portion of such period
or before and subsequent thereto when they were in operation as
hereinabove provided is, under the conditions provided in this Act,
hereby recognized. The recognition herein provided shall not extend to
the salaries and wages of (a) officers and enlisted personnel of the
United States Army or Navy and commissioned officers of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the United States Public Health
and Quarantine Service on detail with the Government of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines, except as otherwise provided in this
section; (b) officers and employees found guilty after due trial in
such cases made and provided by law, of treason, espionage, or any act
constituting disloyalty to the Government of the Philippines or the
United States committed at any time during the enemy or Japanese
occupation of the Philippines; and (c) officers and employees who
received salaries from the Refugee Government of the Commonwealth of
the Philippines in the United States of America or elsewhere. Officers
or employees who died on or before the date of the liberation of the
province or city where assigned on the date of the occupation shall
have the right to such salaries or wages under the conditions referred
to in this section, up to the time of their death, if determinable, or
the date they were last seen alive. The right to salaries or wages
herein authorized shall be computed from the day of the occupation of
each province or city by the Japanese up to the date of the liberation
thereof, the date of occupation or liberation, as the case may be, of
the capital to be deemed as the date of the occupation or liberation of
the province, respectively: Provided, That the right to such salaries
and wages shall be computed from the date last paid in the case of
members of the Philippine Army and officers of the Philippine Scouts
specifically mentioned herein."
Sec. 2. Section two of the said Act, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred, is further amended to read: "Sec. 2. The
Treasurer of the Philippines shall, upon application of all persons
specified in section one hereof and within one year from the approval
of this amendatory Act, and under such rules and regulations as may be
promulgated by the Secretary of Finance, acknowledge and file requests
for the recognition of the right to the salaries or wages as provided
in section one hereof, and notice of such acknowledgment shall be
issued to the applicant which shall state the total amount of such
salaries or wages due the applicant, and certify that it shall be
redeemed by the Government of the Philippines within ten years from the
date of their issuance without interest: Provided, That upon
application and subject to such rules and regulations as may be
approved by the Secretary of Finance a certificate of indebtedness may
be issued by the Treasurer of the Philippines covering the whole or a
part of the total salaries or wages the right to which has been duly
acknowledged and recognized, provided that the face value of such
certificate of indebtedness shall not exceed the amount that the
applicant may need for the payment of (1) obligations subsisting at the
time of the approval of this amendatory Act for which the applicant may
directly be liable to the Government or to any of its branches or
instrumentalities, or the corporations owned or controlled by the
Government, or to any citizen of the Philippines, or to any association
or corporation organized under the laws of the Philippines, who may be
willing to accept the same for such settlement; (2) his taxes; (3)
government hospital bills of the applicant; (4) lands purchased or
leased or to be purchased or leased by him from the public domain; and
(5) any amount received by the applicant as gratuity or pension which
he has to refund to the Government or to any of its branches or
instrumentalities: Provided, further, That such settlement shall be
effected by indorsement on the instrument: Provided, furthermore, That
no certificate shall be transferred or ceded by indorsement more than
once, nor at a discount rate exceeding two per centum per annum: And
provided, also, That any person who is not an alien, bank or other
financial institution at least sixty per centum of whose capital is
owned by Filipinos may, notwithstanding any provision of its charter,
articles of incorporation, by-laws, or rules and regulations to the
contrary, accept or discount at not more than three and one-half
per centum per annum for ten years a negotiable certificate of
indebtedness which shall be issued by the Treasurer of the Philippines
upon application by a holder of back pay acknowledgment: Provided,
furthermore, That in the case of members of the Philippine Army and of
recognized guerrilla forces and the Philippine Scouts herein mentioned
who may apply for recognition of their back pay salaries, wages,
per diems and/or allowances under the provisions of this amendatory
Act, such back pay acknowledgment shall certify that it shall be
redeemed by the Government of the Philippines within thirty years from
the date of its issuance without interest depending upon the
availability of funds which shall be determined by the Treasurer of the
Philippines: Provided, finally, That if certificates of indebtedness
have been issued to an officer or employee, his back pay at the end of
ten years from the date of the approval of this Act, or in the case of
members of the Philippine Army and of recognized guerrilla forces and
the Philippine Scouts herein mentioned thirty years from the date of
the approval of this amendatory Act, shall be equal to the amount due
him under the provisions of these Acts minus the full and total face
value of the certificates of indebtedness issued to him in the interim.
Failure to file the application within the time herein provided for
will forfeit whatever right there may be to any back salary or wage
which otherwise should have been due the applicant."
Sec. 3. Section three of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred and four is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec. 3. The
total of the back pay the right to which may by application be
established, shall be computed at the rate of salary, emolument, fee,
allowance, per diem, compensation or wage subsisting on January first,
nineteen hundred and forty-two in the case of offices located in the
City of Manila, and on the date immediately preceding that on which the
provincial capital or the city was occupied by the enemy in the case of
offices located in the provinces, cities, and municipalities, and shall
be an obligation of the branch, instrumentality, or unit of the
Government that employed the officer or employees concerned on December
eight, nineteen hundred and forty-one: Provided, That if the office of
employment on a later date has been converted into, or merged with,
another, or is no longer existing such as those of the resistance
movement, the payment shall be borne by the governmental branch or
entity wherein the applicant is employed in any governmental unit on
the date of the approval of this Act, the corresponding obligation
shall pertain to the National Government: Provided, further, That in
the cases of officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Army and of
recognized guerrilla forces and officers of the Philippine Scouts, the
back pay shall be computed on the basis of: (1) the authorized pay and
allowances for Philippine Army personnel subsisting on April nine,
nineteen hundred and forty-two, and (2) the rank held in the Philippine
Army on May seven, nineteen hundred and forty-two, in the case of
officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Army and officers of the
Philippine Scouts, or the rank in which recognized by and on the date
of the induction of such officers or enlisted men into the Army of the
United States in the case of members of recognized guerrilla forces:
Provided, finally, That in cases of members of military commissions,
the backpay shall be computed on the basis stated on the next preceding
proviso."
Sec. 4. Section seven of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred and four is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec. 7. The
three-months advance salary given pursuant to Administrative Order
Numbered One hundred and sixty-seven, dated December twelve, nineteen
hundred and forty-one and Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred and
seventy-six, and the two months' gratuity paid under Administrative
Order Numbered Twenty-seven, dated December seven, nineteen hundred and
forty-five, and Executive Order Numbered Eighty-three, dated December
twenty-four, nineteen hundred and forty-five, shall be deducted from
the payment of the back pay."
Sec. 5. Notwithstanding any provision of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred and four, as amended: � (1) the face value of any certificate of indebtedness which may be issued upon application of any member of the Philippine Army, a recognized guerrilla or an officer of the Philippine Scouts who may be entitled thereto, for the payment of any of his obligations to the Government or to any of its branches or instrumentalities, or the corporations owned or controlled by the Government, or to any citizen of the Philippines, or to any association or corporation organized under the laws of the Philippines, who may be willing to accept the same for such settlement, shall have exceed the amount of such obligation subsisting on the date of approval of this Act; (2) the time limit for the filing of applications by or for members of the Philippine Army, recognized guerrilla forces and Philippine Scouts herein mentioned shall be one year from the date of approval of this amendatory Act. Sec. 6. A Commission consisting of the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board, the Undersecretary of National Defense, and the National Treasurer shall be constituted in order to carry out the provisions of this law with reference to the granting of back pay to USAFFE personnel, recognized guerrillas, Philippine Scout officers and men with assimilated ranks pursuant to section one of this law. The Commission shall be presided over by the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board. The National Treasurer shall issue back pay certificates in accordance with the resolutions of this Commission. The Commission is authorized to request the President of the Philippines for such personnel as it may need from any other office of department. Sec. 7. Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, certificates of back pay to be issued by the Commission set up in section six shall not exceed a total amount of five million pesos a year. Sec. 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. Approved: June 20, 1953 |
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