[ Commonwealth Act No. 688, October 15, 1945 ]

AN ACT FIXING A LIMITED PERIOD WITHIN WHICH NOTES OF THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK SHOULD BE PRESENTED TO BE STAMPED OR COUNTERDESIGNED IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROVISIONS HEREOF, DECLARING NULL AND VOID ALL NOTES NOT STAMPED OR COUNTERSIGNED AS HEREIN PROVIDED AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF SAID PERIOD, AND PENALIZING ITS INFRINGEMENT.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled:SECTION 1. Any person, association or corporation owning, possessing or keeping notes legally issued by the Philippine National Bank payable to bearer, should present them for stamping or countersigning as hereinafter provided, to the National Treasurer, or to the treasurer of the province, chartered city or municipality in which such person, association or corporation resides, within a period of sixty days counted from the twentieth day after the seal or stamp provided in section two of this Act shall have been received at the office of the treasurer concerned, who shall immediately give due publicity to said receipt by posting the corresponding notices within the view of the public in his office and in other conspicious places of the city or cities, and/or municipality or municipalities under his jurisdiction: Provided, That each person, association or corporation may present said notes only once for the purposes herein indicated.SEC. 2. Immediately upon the appproval of this Act, the Secretary of Finance shall secure a sufficient number of identical seals or stamps of an appropriate design to be forwarded as soon as possible to the National Treasurer and the treasurers of all provinces, chartered cities and municipalities, who shall use these seals or stamps exclusively to countersign notes of the Philippine National Bank presented to them within the period prescribed in the preceding section. On the day following the expiration of said period it shall be the duty of the said treasures to return the seals or stamps to the Secretary of Finance by the safest and quickest means. The Secretary of Finance shall issue the corresponding receipts and shall immediately order the destruction of all returned seals or stamps by the Committee in charge of destroying all multilated treasury certificates formed in accordance with section one thousand six hundred and twenty-five (g) of the Administrative Code, in accordance with the rules of said Committee.SEC. 3. Anyone presenting notes of the Philippine National Bank worth five hundred pesos or more to be stamped or countersigned in conformity with this Act, should accompany them with a statement showing the number, series or denomination of each note and, in addition, submit a sworn statement subscribed by the owner of the bank notes or his legal representative, clearly and specifically declaring: the nationality, civil status, residence, occupation or profession of the said owner during the last four years; where, when and how the notes were acquired; that their acquisition was neither illegal nor illicit; that no subject, agent mandatory or intermediary of any enemy country that has levied war during the last four years, or which continues to be at war, with the United States of America and the Philippines, has any interest or participation in said bank notes; that the alleged owner did not receive such notes as compensation or payment for military aid or service to the enemy or as remuneration for having given to the latter means and information which favor its military activities within or outside the Philippines; and that said owner has not presented any other note or notes of the Philippine National Bank to be stamped or countersigned in any other treasury office of the Philippines. If the statement and affidavit so required are not presented together with the bank notes, said notes shall not be stamped or countersigned.SEC. 4. On the day following the expiration of the prescribed period of sixty days or as soon thereafter as possible, itshall be the duty of the National Treasurer, and of the tresurers of the provinces, municipalities and chartered cities, to certify the number, series and value of the bank notes of different denominations that were stamped or countersigned by them during the period referred to, and at the same time send to the Secretary of Finance, by the safest and quickest means, the original and two copies of their respective certified reports, and forward another copy in a sealed envelope to the Auditor General, in the case of the National Treasurer, or to the District Auditor, in the case of the other treasurers. Said copies shall be sent by the Auditors to the Committee for the destruction  of mutilated treasury certificates mentioned in section two of this Act, who shall review and afterwards compare all the certified reports sent by the Auditors with those received by the Secretary of Finance, and determine the total value of the notes of the Philippine National Bank that were stamped or countersigned in conformity with this Act, submitting a complete report of its work to the Secretary of Finance.SEC. 5. (a) The Secretary of Finance shall prescribe the rules and give appropriate instructions so that only the notes legally issued by the Philippine National Bank shall be stamped or countersigned. The treasurer of the National Government shall certify to the Secretary of Finance the denominations and serial numbers of the notes of the Philippine National Bank which may be identified as having been illegally released for circulation on or after January first, nineteen hundred and forty-two, and with the exception of the notes so identified all the other notes shall be considered legally issued. Any note which has been put in circulation by the enemy as a note of the Philippine National Bank, has no value and shall be void although it might have been stamped or countersigned through negligence or inadvertence.(b) After the expiration of the prescribed period of sixty days, and subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the notes of the Philippine National Bank that have been stamped or countersigned in accordance with this Act shall be of legal and valid use in all classes of transactions; and in so far as said notes are concerned, the restrictions contained in executive Ordere Numbered Twenty-five of the President of the Commonwealth promulgated on November eighteen, nineteen hundred and forty-four, are hereby lifted and declared ineffective.(c) After the expiration of the prescribed period of sixty days, all notes of the Philippine National Bank which have not been stamped or countersigned in accordance with this Act shall be null and void.SEC. 6. If the National Treasurer or the treasurer of any province, municipality of chartered city should refuse to stamp or countersign any note of the Philippine National Bank on the alleged ground that it was not legally issued, or for any other reason, the owner or bearer of said note may within a period of tenm days after such refusal life an appeal to the Secretary of Finance, with the treasurer concerned who is hereby required to transmit to the said Secretary all the papers referring to the case together with his explanations. If the decision on said appeal is favorable to the appellant and at the time of its promulgation the seals or stamps shall have been already destroyed in accordance with the provisions of section two of this Act, the notes in question shall be exchanged with notes or coins of legal tender of the same value.SEC. 7. The Secretary of Finance may, in accordance with the provisions and in consonance with the procedure established in this Act, authorize the redemption in lawful currency of notes legally issued by the Philippine National Bank after said notes shall have been stamped, perforated or countersigned. In such a case, the Secretary of Finance may use existing reserves for the redemption of notes legally issued by the Philippine National Bank.SEC. 8. There is hereby appropriated from the funds of the National Treasury not assigned for other purposes, the amount necessary for the acquisition of the seals or stamps and other appropriate materials, and for the paymennt of the salaries of temporary employees required to carry out he objects of this Act.SEC. 9. Anyone who uses false or counterfeit stamps or seals or who commits falsehood in the sworn statement required in section three, or who violates any of the provisions of this Act, shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than twelve years or with a fine of not more than twelve thousand pesos, or with both penalties at the discretion of the Court, and if he be a public officer, he shall in addition suffer the penalty of absolute disqualification from holding any public office for a period of not more than twelve years.SEC. 10. All provisions of law contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.Approved, October 15, 1945.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library