Republic Act No. 3597

REPUBLIC ACT No. 3597

AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED THIRTEEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-THREE, ENTITLED "AN ACT CREATING A PUBLIC CORPORATION TO BE KNOWN AS THE NATIONAL WATERWORKS AND SEWERAGE AUTHORITY"

Section 1. The first and second paragraphs of Section One of Republic Act Numbered Thirteen Hundred eighty-three are hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 1. Creation of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority; its general purposes; zone and extent of jurisdiction comprised by it; domicile and place of business of the corporation. For the purpose of consolidating and centralizing all waterworks and sewerage systems in the Philippines under one control, direction and general supervision, there is hereby created a public corporation to be known as the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority, which shall be organized within one month after the approval of this Act.

Section 2. Paragraphs (a), (g), and (l) of Section two of the same Act are hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3. Section Three of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 3. Board of Directors; its members, reports to the President and Congress of the Philippines. Unless otherwise provided by law, all corporate powers of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority shall be vested in a Board of Directors to be composed of five members; a chairman, three other members, and the general manager of the Authority who will be an ex-officio member and vice-chairman. Two of them must possess knowledge of waterworks, public works and/or sanitary engineering; one, knowledge of public health; and one, knowledge of business management and finance. The chairman and the three other members of the Board shall be appointed for a term of six years by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, their appointments to overlap for at least three years to insure the addition of not more than two new members in any one year.

"The Board shall establish basic policies on the conduct of the affairs of the Authority, including but not limited to, service, rates, and fiscal matters, giving the responsibility and full authority for executing same to the management. The Board shall render annual reports to the President and the Congress of the Philippines."

Section 4. Section Five of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 5. Resolution to incur indebtedness and issue bonds; their conditions, privileges, and exemptions, sinking funds; guaranty. Whenever the Board may deem it necessary for the Authority to incur indebtedness or issue bonds, it shall by resolution so declare and state the purpose for which the proposed debt is to be incurred and the conditions of such indebtedness. In order that such resolution be valid, it shall be passed by the affirmative vote of at least three members of the Board and approved by the Secretary of Finance.

"Subject to the approval of the Secretary of Finance, the Board of Directors may issue bonds under stipulated terms and conditions consisting of: (1) the total amount to be issued, (2) the maturity of the issue, (3) the coupon rate or the stipulated rate of interest, (4) the offering price, (5) the relative ranking in seniority of the particular bond issue with other obligations of the authority and (6), the redemption schedule of such bonds. Any bonds issued by the authority are hereby declared exempt from taxation by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, or by any authority, branch, division or political subdivision thereof, which fact shall be stated upon the face of said bonds. The bonds shall be receivable as security in any transaction with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines in which such security is required.

Section 5. Section six of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 6. Conduct of affairs and current business; officers and employees of the Authority. The affairs and current business of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority shall be conducted and its rights and property shall be kept and preserved, under the direction of the Board, by a general manager, an assistant general manager, a chief engineer, an auditor, a treasurer, and such additional officers and employees as the Board may provide.

Section 6. Section Seven of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 7. General Manager, Assistant General Manager, Chief Engineer, Treasurer and Auditor of the Authority, their functions; salaries. The general manager, assistant general manager, chief engineer, treasurer and auditor of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority shall each receive an annual salary which shall be fixed by the Board with the approval of the President. The general manager shall direct and manage the affairs and business of the Authority on behalf of the Board of Directors; shall submit for the approval of the board on annual budget, and such supplemental budgets as may be necessary, shall submit to the Board an annual report and such partial reports as he may be required by it or he may see fit to render from time to time, regarding the condition of the business, or of any part of the business of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority; and shall perform such other executive duties as may be prescribed by law or may be required of him by resolution of the Board. The assistant general manager shall perform such duties may be required of him by the Board or general manager. He shall act as general manager in case of the temporary absence or disability of the general manager. The chief engineer and treasurer shall perform such duties as may be required of them by the Board of general manager.

Section 7. A new paragraph is hereby inserted between the last line of the third paragraph of Section Eight and the first line of Section Nine of the same Act to read as follows:

"The National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority shall keep separate books of accounts for each Waterworks and Sewerage System and shall maintain a separate bank account for each system."

Section 8. The first paragraph of Section Nine of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 9. Possession by the Authority of all water and sewer systems within its territory charging and collection of uniform rates. The National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority shall own and control all the water and sewer distributing systems of the City of Manila and the nearby municipalities comprising the Metropolitan Water District, as well as the water and sewer distributing systems of all other cities, municipalities and municipal districts in the Philippines, and shall charge and collect a uniform rate for all services rendered in each city, municipality, or municipal district, whether to any person, corporation, firm, government body, municipal entity or religious or charitable institutions: Provided, That the Public Service Commission shall exercise no control, supervision or jurisdiction whatsoever over the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority in the fixing of rates or over its properties, the provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred forty-six, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Two thousand six hundred seventy seven, to the contrary notwithstanding."

Section 9. Sections Ten and Eleven of the same Act are hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 10. National subsidy for non-revenue producing water systems and sanitary works. Non-self-supporting and/or non-revenue producing water systems and sanitary works, such as springs and artesian wells, shall receive from the National Government a subsidy to be provided in the Annual Appropriation Acts for the construction, operation, maintenance, and control of those works once completed. The amount of the subsidy shall be determined by the Budget Commissioner who shall base such determination upon recommendation of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority. The accounting and disbursing of funds for this particular item of expense shall be undertaken separately in the account books of the Authority.

"Sec. 11. Letting of contracts for public works of the Authority. All construction and repair works authorized by the Authority, involving an estimated cost of ten thousand pesos or more, shall be let by the General Manager with the approval of the Board of Directors to contract under the usual bidding procedure of the Government, except in the case of construction or repair of water, sewer, and pipe lines and other subjects which, in the discretion of the Board, due to its urgent nature, should be undertaken by the Authority by administration."

Section 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 22, 1963