Emilio Aguinaldo's Proclamation of June 20, 1898

by Emilio Aguinaldo

NO. 2.

For the execution of and proper compliance with the provisions of the decree of this government concerning the government of the provinces and towns of the Philippine Archipelago, I hereby decree the following:

As supplementary to the said decree of the 18th instant, the following instructions shall be observed concerning the administration of the provinces and towns:

OF THE HOLDING OF MEETINGS.

Rule 1.—The authority vested with powers to preside over the meetings of the juntas and of the councils shall convoke the persons constituting either of these by sending to each one a notice in writing of the day and hour, place and object of the meeting. When urgent matters are concerned a verbal message may be sent.

Rule 2.—No one shall fail to be present at the meetings without showing in writing justifiable cause which prevents it. He who fails to attend without complying with this requisite shall pay a fine of half a peso, which shall be deposited in the town treasury.

Rule 3.—Meetings shall always be held when business of a serious and important nature for the town or province is to be considered, but which is not of an urgent character. The chiefs may determine for themselves matters which are urgent, but shall communicate to the council or junta at the first meeting which may be held the decision they may have adopted. Nevertheless, the councils and juntas shall hold a meeting once a month at least.

Rule 4.—Any member of the junta or council may more any measure which may be of interest for the town or province; but the motions shall be put in clear and concise terms.

When any motion is made, the president shall invite the other members to state their opinions and briefly explain the reasons for or against, endeavoring not to waste the time in long discourses, which have no other end than to confuse the point.

Rule 5.—Motions of great importance shall be previously examined by a committee appointed for the purpose, which shall read its report at the next meeting, and thereupon discussion shall be held as above stated.

Rule 6.—The meetings as well as the votings which require secrecy, on account of their importance, shall be made in secret, for which purpose two tellers shall be appointed by a majority vote and a secretary, who shall take their seats at the table at which the president is seated; then one by one the voters shall approach this table and give their vote, which the secretary shall enter on a list prepared for the purpose in the presence of said persons and the party interested. All the votes having been set down, including those of the tellers and the secretary, a recount shall be made by the same, and the result of the voting read aloud. Bribery and falsification of votes shall be checked by severe punishments.

Rule 7.—Resolutions shall not be valid without having in their favor at least three votes in the council and five in the juntas, it being well understood that said numbers constitute the only majority.

Rule 8.—The meetings shall be public, and only in those cases where secrecy is required may meetings be held in private.

Rule 9.—Each meeting on adjournment shall prepare a minute in which shall appear a clear and succinct account of all the incidents of the meeting, and which all present shall sign. When elections are held a literal copy of the minutes shall be delivered to each one elected, signed by the members present. In every council and junta a book shall be kept wherein the minutes shall be entered in chronological order.

Rule 10.—The president shall conduct the deliberations and shall have no vote, but in case of a tie he shall have the deciding vote.

Rule 11.Each junta shall consider the best method for establishing public schools in proportion to the means of the towns, and shall recommend the same to the council in order that it may decide what may be proper, although such decision shall be of a provisional character until the revolution triumphs.

Nevertheless, the council shall notify this government what it may decide in the matter.

ON THE FORMATION OF THE POLICE FORCE AND THE CHARACTER OF THE SAME.

Rule 12.—The chief of the town shall organize a police force, composed of armed men, in such manner as the resources of the town may permit. This force shall be in charge of the police commissioner, who shall have the rank of lieutenant of the army.

Rule 13.—Said force shall carry out the orders of the chief of the town, as its immediate superior, and of the chief of the province, as superior officer of the latter, and is designed not only to maintain internal order, but also for the defense of the town.

Rule 14.—The military commanders of each province may utilize said forces in battles in case of real necessity, with the knowledge of the chief of the town, as well as of the chief of the province, if it be possible.

Rule 15.—All males from the age of eighteen years and upward are obliged to serve on said force, but enforced service shall not be required whilst volunteers offer themselves; nor are married men obliged to serve while unmarried ones are available. The ones excepted are those discharging civil functions or physically unfit.

Rule 16.—The police commissioner shall keep a book in which he shall enter not only the description of each person, but the services rendered by same. There shall be an agreement with the chief to furnish clothing for the force, and daily subsistence necessary, according to the rank of each one, which amount shall be previously fixed by the junta, and be taken from the town funds.

Rule 17.—The military commander of the province shall agree with the chief of the same and the chiefs of the respective towns as to the military instruction of the forces in question.

ON THE CONDUCT OF TRIALS, CIVIL REGISTERS, AND THE POLL.

Rule 18.—The chief of the town as judge, and the commissioner of justice as secretary, shall direct the proceedings which may be instituted against any citizen, beginning with a clear and concise statement of the act, the subject-matter of the trial, and the indispensable investigations to ascertain and secure the true culprit, concluding with a precise and categorical declaration or statement of the latter and of the witnesses for the prosecution and for the defense.

Antiquated practices and formalities which serve no other purpose than to fill papers and make the course of the trial interminable, shall be avoided.

Rule 19.—When the judge is of the opinion that there are no further investigations to be made, he shall forward the record, with the accused, to the provincial council, which shall appoint a "potente" to examine the proceedings and report that the investigations have concluded, or that others are to be made, in the latter case giving the necessary orders to the chief of the town to supply any deficiencies observed.

Rule 20.—The proceedings having been completed the council shall order the accused to appear at a public hearing, and, after the "ponente" has read a succinct and classified statement of the process, the accused, or persons whom he may designate for his defense, shall be heard, and decision shall be pronounced after due deliberation. An appeal from this decision lies to the commission of justice to congress.

Rule 21.—The Spanish penal code, with the provisional law for the application of the provisions of the same in these islands, shall be in force provisionally until the revolution shall triumph, in so far as not opposed to the decrees of the government.

Rule 22.—Only such persons shall be tried by courts-martial who serve in the revolutionary militia and the members of the police of the towns when they shall be made use of by the military commanders of the provinces. There shall also be tried by courts-martial the principals of crimes considered as military crimes by this government in the decree which it will publish for that purpose, in view of the abnormal conditions of the war.

Rule 23.—Civil litigations, whatever the character or amounts involved, shall be decided at first instance by the juntas of the towns and at second instance by the provincial councils. The complaints and the appeals shall be presented to the chiefs of the towns and of the provinces, who shall convene the respective juntas and councils.

Either of these shall issue a decree providing for the appearance of the parties litigant with their respective evidence, and, after hearing the pleadings of each and taking the evidence offered into consideration, they shall properly deliberate and decide by majority vote on what they esteem most in accordance with justice. These decisions shall be provisional and may be amended by the tribunals of competent jurisdiction when, after the republic is proclaimed, the administration of justice shall have been duly organized.

The decisions shall conform to the provisions of the Spanish civil code, which shall likewise be in force provisionally in everything which is not in contravention with the decrees of the government.

Rule 24.—The commissioner of justice shall keep on file all the decrees and other provisions of this government.

Rule 25.—The same commissioner shall keep three books—one in which he shall enter the births, in chronological order, specifying the name of the new born, the place and day of birth, the names, surnames, and residence of the parents of the same, and, lastly, the name, surname, and residence of the godfather, who shall sign the entry as witness with the chief and the aforesaid commissioner.

Rule 26.—He shall keep another book in which he shall enter the deaths, giving the name, surname, profession, conjugal condition, and residence of the deceased, the names, surnames, and residence of the parents of the same, and the disease the cause of death.

The entry shall be signed by the chief and the commissioner, together with a witness who shall be a member of the family or a neighbor of the deceased.

Rule 27.—In the third book marriage contracts shall be entered, after conforming to the following requisites:

The contracting parties shall sign a paper stating to the chief of the town that by mutual consent they have agreed to marry, and requesting that he proceed to enter said contract in the public registry. If the contracting parties be under twenty-three years of age, their respective fathers shall subscribe the paper with them; in the absence of these, the mothers, and lacking both of these, the elder brothers, who shall have completed twenty-one years.

If none of the persons mentioned exist, authority shall be requested of the junta of the town, and this authority shall accompany the paper.

If the contracting parties have completed twenty-three years of age, a witness for each one shall subscribe the paper with them, who may be any of the parties mentioned, or another person of legal age, possessing the confidence and friendship of the interested parties. The minor contracting party who shall have obtained authority from the junta shall also be accompanied by a witness.

The document having been presented with the expressed formalities, the chief of the town shall order that the banns be published. For this purpose a notice shall be posted upon the door of the town hall, in which the aforesaid document shall be literally copied, calling upon such persons to appear who can testify and prove that either of the contracting parties has already signed a marriage contract with another person in the registry of another locality. This announcement shall likewise be read once a week in public for three consecutive weeks, such reading taking place on a holiday or market day, or some day when there is an unusual concourse of people.

When the three weeks shall have expired without any complaints having been made, those who subscribe this document shall appear before the chief and commissioner, and in the presence of the contracting parties shall state that of their own free will and by mutual consent the latter have agreed to form a conjugal union, to lead a common and indissoluble life while they live, to which end they give a formal promise of mutual fidelity, and promise to educate their children in the love of God, their neighbor, and their country. This entry shall be subscribed by all those present.

Rule 28.—If complaints be made, the contract can not be executed until it is proven that they are without foundation.

Rule 29.—No priest shall celebrate a canonical marriage unless the contracting parties present the certificate of the contract, signed by the chief and the commissioner, and if he should do so without this requisite, the marriage shall not be valid in law.

Rule 30.—Lastly, the commissioner of justice shall keep a book in which he shall make entry annually of the residents of each barrio, beginning with the town proper, stating the name, surname, conjugal condition, profession, and residence of each one, making at the end an index of the total number of souls—of the total number of men and women—of the total number of births, deaths, and marriages occurring during the year.

TAXES AND REGISTRATION OF PROPERTY.

Rule 31.—Immediately upon the establishment of the popular organization in the manner prescribed in the decree of the 18th instant and in these instructions, the chief of the town, aided by the respective commissioner, shall take charge of all the property belonging to the town, as well as that left by the Spaniards, and shall administer the same in the manner most advantageous for all in the judgment of the junta.

Rule 32.—All local taxation established by the Spanish Government shall likewise be taken in charge; exception being made of the gaming licenses and taxes on cock fighting, which are absolutely prohibited, as they cause nothing but ruin to the town and with scarcely any benefit to the public exchequer.

Rule 33.—Every kind of gambling shall be considered a crime, punishable in the code as if it were a game of chance, and the official who tolerates it shall be relieved of his office and shall pay a fine to be determined by the provincial council, in proportion to the importance of the play, but in no case shall it be less than fifty pesos.

The amount of the fines of every sort shall be deposited in the town treasury.

Rule 34.—The chief of the town, on taking charge of the above-mentioned property and taxes, shall make a detailed inventory of the same, in the following order: Money, jewels, furniture, live stock, real estate, public documents, and paper money and taxes. In this inventory the average value of each article shall be expressed, and the income derived from the real estate and taxes. A copy of this inventory, subscribed by the chief and by the commissioner, shall be sent to this government through the provincial council.

Rule 35.—The juntas may collect as an indirect local tax for each civil trial in which the amount involved is not determined, or when it is determined and does not exceed five hundred pesos, the sum of five pesos. On amounts exceeding five hundred pesos one per cent tax shall be collected. These amounts shall be paid by the losing litigant.

The councils may act in the same manner at second instance.

Rule 36.—The chiefs of towns may also demand in the manner stated the sum of one peseta for each entry of birth or death, four reales for each public notice, and twelve reales for each entry of matrimonial contract.

Rule 37.—An ordinary personal tax of one peseta per head each quarter may also be imposed upon males above the age of 18 years who do not serve in the revolutionary militia or on the police force of the town.

A special tax may also be imposed upon the well-to-do class, the amount of which shall be determined in each case by this government after hearing the opinion of the representatives of the provinces, if there should be any, when great peremptory necessities occur; but in such cases the secretary of the treasury shall circulate the statements of the collection and investment of said funds for the information and satisfaction of the taxpayers.

Rule 38.—At the beginning of each quarter the chief of the town shall order the collection of personal taxes by the heads, each of whom shall keep a book of the collections, in which he shall enter the names and surnames of those who have paid their quotas. The heads shall turn in the proceeds of the collections to the commissioner of revenue, who, after entering in the cash book the quotas collected and the names of the taxpayers, shall sign the receipt with the counter signature of the chief in the book of collections, which shall remain in the possession of the head for safekeeping.

Such persons shall be elected as councilors and commissioners of revenue who possess property sufficient to serve as security for the amounts intrusted to their care and custody.

Rule 39.—The chief of the town, with the commissioner of revenue, shall immediately formulate an estimate as to the expenses and needs of the town, and, after submitting it for the approval of the junta, shall forward it to the provincial council, which, with its report, shall forward it to this government for its definite approval.

In accordance with this estimate or budget, the chief shall adjust the expenses of the town, and the commissioner of revenue shall make no payment without the written order of the former. Pending this approval, urgent and indispensable payments may be ordered provisionally and in conformity with the same.

Rule 40.—At the end of each quarter the commissioner of revenue shall draw up the account of all disbursements made and the statement of receipts, and after examination by the junta he shall forward them to the provincial council for consolidation into a general account, which shall be forwarded to this government every six months.

Rule 41.—In the town treasury there shall be kept only an amount sufficient for the expenses of the same, in conformity with the estimate approved, the remainder being forwarded to the provincial treasury, which shall be in the custody of the councilor of revenues, under the immediate supervision of the provincial council, whose members will be jointly responsible for any defalcation which may occur.

Rule 42.—Each council on being constituted shall immediately form and submit for the approval of this government an estimate of the indispensable expenses for the provincial necessities, and the chief of the province can not order any payment except in accordance with said estimate.

The chief of the province shall order forwarded to this government any surplus funds by the safest and quickest way when called upon to do so in order to meet the general expenses of the revolution.

Rule 43.—The commissioner of revenue shall keep a book for the registration of property and the transfer of cattle. On inscribing any number of head of cattle in t his register the town mark shall be branded upon the same. The certification of the entry in the registry of transfer, which the commissioner shall issue with the countersignature of the chief, will serve to establish in future the ownership of the cattle. For this work the sum of one peseta for each entry shall be demanded as a local tax.

Rule 44.—Lastly, he shall keep another book in which real estate property within the jurisdiction of each town, beginning with the town proper and concluding with the barrios, shall be entered. All country property, as well as city property—that is to say, the houses and lots—shall be entered by parcels, by parcels being understood the portions of ground more or less extensive which belong to one single person and occupying one site.

In the entry of each parcel its area shall be stated, its boundaries, the cultivation to which it is devoted, its approximate value, and the net annual income which may be derived therefrom. At the end shall be set the name, surname, and residence of the known owner, and if it be rented, the personal data of the tenant shall also be stated.

In the parcels which are town property, or which have no known owner, this fact shall be stated. For this work 1 per cent of the value of each parcel may be collected, the amount being paid into the town treasury.

Rule 45.—Each town may use on its official dispatches a circular seal, in the center of which a sun with eight rays, and three stars toward the upper portion are engraved. On the upper border, besides the stars, shall be written in a semicircle the name of the province in Tagalog, and on the lower, likewise in a semicircle, the name of the town in the same language.

The councils shall use the same seal, but in place of the name of the town they shall put the word "Sangunian."

Given in Cavite, June 20, 1898.

EMILIO AGUINALDO.

Source: Report on the Organization for the Administration of Civil Government Instituted by Emilio Aguinaldo and His Followers in the Philippine Archipelago. Washington. Government Printing Office. 1903. pp. 22–28.