[No. 1774.] AN ACT To amend act Numbered Eight Hundred and fifty-four, as amended, by authorizing the extension of the period within which returning Government students shall take a civil-service examination. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Section three of Act Numbered Eight hundred and fifty-four, entitled "An Act providing for the education of Filipino students in the United States and appropriating for such purpose the sum of seventy-two thousand dollars, in money of the United States," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "SEC. 3. After his selection and before his appointment each student shall be subjected to a thorough physical examination by a physician designated by the Governor-General, and the appointment of such student shall be dependent on the favorable report of the physician so designated. Each student receiving an appointment shall be required to take the oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States, and to sign an agreement, approved by his parents or guardian if he is under twenty-one years of age, to the effect that he will attend the educational institution designated by the Governor-General for the period of four years, or for such time as may be prescribed in his appointment, unless sooner released; that he will conform to all regulations, rules, and laws of said institution and such other regulations as may be prescribed by the Department of Public Instruction; that he will diligently, studiously, and faithfully pursue the established course of studies or such special course of studies as may be indicated by the GovernorGeneral; and that upon the termination of his studies in the United States, in conformity with this Act and the terms of his appointment and agreement, he will return to the Philippine Islands, and within two months after his return will take a civil-service examination, competitive or noncompetitive, in the discretion of the Bureau of Civil Service, to qualify in such grade or for such office or position under civil-service rules as he may elect, and that, if certified for appointment by the Bureau of Civil Service and appointed from such certification to any office or post in the civil service at any time within one year after his return, he will accept such appointment and faithfully perform the duties of the office or post to which he is appointed, for the salary fixed by competent authority and for a period of time equal to that spent by him in the United States at the expense of the Government, unless sooner separated from the service by competent authority: Provided, That should the interests of the service so warrant, the Director of Civil Service may, with the approval of the Secretary of Public Instruction, in lieu of giving special examination, extend the period within which returning Government students shall take a civil-service examination until the dates fixed for the next regular examination." SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage. Enacted, October 11, 1907. [No. 1775.] AN ACT Authorizing the Insular Collector of Customs to clear foreign vessels for the ports of Legaspi and Tabaco. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The Insular Collector of Customs is hereby authorized to clear foreign vessels for the ports of Legaspi and Tabaco, Province of Albay, under such conditions and regulations as he may, with the approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, impose: Provided, That all expense incident to the entrance of a foreign vessel into the ports of Legaspi and Tabaco shall be a charge against such vessel and shall be collected before the vessel is granted a foreign clearance. SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its [No. 1776.] passage. AN ACT Amending Act Numbered Eighty-three and requiring copies of the minutes of provincial boards to be forwarded to the Executive Secretary. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Section twelve of Act Numbered Eighty-three, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 12. The following officers of the provincial government, to wit, the governor, the treasurer, and the third member, shall constitute the provincial board. The governor shall be the presiding officer of the board. Copies of all minutes of the provincial board and executive orders of the provincial governor shall be furnished the Executive Secretary under such regulations as he may prescribe." SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1777.] AN ACT Authorizing the Governor-General to close, by executive order, certain ports of entry, and to reopen the same ports in like manner when the public interests so require. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Whenever in his judgment the public interests so require, the Governor-General may, by executive order, close as ports of entry any or all of the following ports of entry in the Philippine Islands: Bongao, Balabac, Sitanki, and Jurata; and the closing of any such port of entry shall operate to suspend the personnel provided therefor. SEC. 2. In the event of the closing of any or all of the ports of entry mentioned in section one hereof, as provided, the GovernorGeneral may, by executive order, whenever in his judgment the public interests so require, reopen such port or ports, and the said reopening shall operate to renew the authority for the employment of the personnel authorized by law for such port or ports. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1778.] AN ACT Amending sections numbered eighty and eighty-eight of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, providing a code of procedure in civil actions and special proceedings in the Philippine Islands, as amended. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Section eighty of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 80. Forcible entry into and detainer of land or buildings.Anyone deprived of the possession of any land or building by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth, and any landlord, vendor, vendee, or other person against whom the possession of any land or building is unlawfully withheld after the expiration or determination of the right to hold possession, by virtue of any contract, express or implied, and the legal representatives or assigns of any such landlord, vendor, vendee, or other person, shall at any time within one year after such unlawful deprivation or withholding of possession be entitled, as against the person or persons unlawfully withholding or depriving of possession, or against any person or persons claiming under them, to restitution of the land, building, and premises possession of which is unlawfully withheld, together with damages and costs: Provided, however, That no landlord shall commence any action against a tenant for restitution of possession of any land or building for failure to pay rent or to comply with the conditions of his lease, unless the tenant shall have failed, for a period of three days, to pay the rent due or comply with the conditions of his lease after demand there for. The demand for payment or for the performance of any condition of the lease may be made upon the tenant personally, or by serving written notice of such demand upon any person who may be found upon the premises, or by posting such notice on the premises, if neither the tenant nor any other person can be found thereon at the time the landlord or his agent may have gone there for the purpose of making such demand." SEC. 2. Section eighty-eight of said Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 88. Appeal.-Either party may appeal from the judgment of the justice of the peace to the Court of First Instance within five days after the rendition of the judgment, and the suit shall be conducted therein in the same manner as appeals from justices of the peace in other civil actions. If the plaintiff recovers possession of the premises in the Court of First Instance he shall have judgment for the amount of rents and damages then due. If the defendant appeals from the judgment of the justice he shall give to the plaintiff security by an obligation, with sufficient sureties, approved by the justice of the peace, to enter the action in the Court of First Instance, and to pay rents, damages, and costs, and the defendant and the sureties shall be liable upon their obligation for damages and costs down to the time of the final judgment in the action. The appeal shall not be allowed until such obligation has been filed with the justice and it is proven that at the time such appeal is taken all money found by the judgment to be due from the defendant to the plaintiff, either as rent or as the reasonable value of the use and occupation of the premises, as the case may be, has been paid to the plaintiff or has been deposited in court. During the pendency of the appeal it shall be the duty of the defendant to pay to the plaintiff or into the Court of First Instance, at the option of the defendant, the amount of rent due from time to time under the contract, if any, as found by the judgment of the justice of the peace to exist, or, in the absence of a contract, to pay to the plaintiff or into court, as above provided, on or before the tenth day of each calendar month, the reasonable value of the use and occupation of the premises for the preceding month at the rate determined by the judgment. All moneys so paid to the Court of First Instance shall be deposited in the provincial treasury, or in the city of Manila in the Insular Treasury, there to be held until the final disposition of the appeal. Should the defendant fail to make the payments above prescribed from time to time during the pendency of the appeal, the Court of First Instance, upon the motion of the plaintiff, of which the defendant shall have notice, upon proof of the failure of the defendant to make such payments, shall forthwith dismiss the appeal. The dismissal of the appeal shall revive the judgment of the justice of the peace and it may thereupon be enforced by execution. as though no appeal had been taken. In case of the dismissal of an appeal as above provided all moneys paid by the defendant into court shall be delivered to the plaintiff. If the case is tried on its merits in the Court of First Instance any money paid into court by the defendant for the purposes of the appeal shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the judgment of the Court of First Instance. The appeal bond above referred to shall be transmitted by the justice, with the other papers, to the clerk of the Court of First Instance to which the action is appealed." SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited 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. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. Enacted, October 11, 1907. [No. 1779.] AN ACT To create a board for the regulation of rates chargeable by publicservice corporations in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. A board is hereby created and established, to be known as the "Board of Rate Regulation," which shall be composed of the Governor-General, the Secretary of Commerce and Police, and one other person to be appointed by the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission. The Governor-General shall be the chairman of the Board. The said Board shall have a secretary, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission, at a salary not to exceed four thousand pesos per annum, and who need not be subject to the Civil Service Law and rules. The secretary shall perform such duties as may be required of him by the Board. SEC. 2. The said Board shall have an office in the city of Manila for the transaction of its business, but it may at any time meet at any other place in the Philippine Islands as its duties may require. The Board may conduct its proceedings in such a manner as may best conduce to the proper dispatch of business and to the ends of justice. SEC. 3. The said Board shall have a seal with the words "Board of Rate Regulation" around the margin thereof, and with such design in the center as it may select; and all orders, acts, and certificates of the Board shall be authenticated by its seal and judicial notice shall be taken of such seal. SEC. 4. A majority of the members of said Board shall constitute a quorum for any purpose; but an investigation or hearing may be undertaken or held before any one or more members of the Board, and such hearing shall be as valid as if held by the whole Board, and any order made by one of more members of the Board, when approved and confirmed by the Board, shall be deemed to be the order of the Board. SEC. 5. The said Board shall exercise a watchful and careful supervision over the rates of every public-service corporation, and the said Board shall have the power and it shall be its duty to fix, revise, regulate, reduce, or increase the said rates from time to time as justice to the public and the corporation may require. The Board shall have the power, and it shall be its duty, to examine into and keep informed as to the compliance of public-service corporations with the |