REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 59
CREATING A BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, DEFINING ITS DUTIES, MERGING THEREIN CERTAIN EXISTING AGENCIES OF THE GOVERNMENT, AND PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR.
Pursuant to the powers vested in me by Act No. 10 to effect changes in the different ministries, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations, and to create new ones or abolish those existing, I, JOSE P. LAUREL, President of the Republic of the Philippines, do hereby order:
SECTION 1. There is hereby created a Bureau of Investigation under the direct supervision and control of the President of the Republic, which shall exercise the following powers and duties:
(1) To conduct criminal investigations for the detection and prosecution of crimes and offenses, and of violations of laws, executive orders and ordinance;
(2) To acquire, collect, classify and preserve criminal identification records;
(3) To conduct investigations regarding official matters as the President of the Republic may direct;
(4) To investigate the official acts of officers and employees of the Government or of its branches, agencies, or instrumentalities, when directed to do so by the President of the Republic; and
(5) To obtain information on all matters affecting the public interest.
SEC. 2. The Director, the Assistant Director, the supervisors and agents of such of the subordinate personnel as may be specifically designated by the President in their respective appointments or commissions, shall be peace officers, and as such are empowered to serve warrants and subpoenas issued under the authority of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines; to make arrests without warrant for a crime submitted in their presence, or within their view, or in cases where the person making the arrest has reasonable grounds to believe that the person arrested is guilty of such crime and where there is a likelihood of the person escaping before a legal warrant can be obtained for his arrest.
The person arrested shall be dealt with according to law. All said officers are authorized and empowered to carry firearms.
SEC. 3. The inititative and control in the detection and investigation of crimes and offenses shall be vested in the Bureau of Investigation and its directors, supervisors and agents, and all peace and police officers are enjoined to render assistance to them when in the performance of their functions and the discharge of the duties; but such initiative and control shall not be construed to curtain such powers and duties as peace and police officers or other officials may need or require for the maintenance of peace and order, the safeguarding of public safety and security, the apprehension of criminals, offenders, and law violators, and the enforcement of laws and regulations in general.
SEC. 4. The Division of Investigation of the Bureau of Public Prosecution, the Division of Information of the Philippine Constabulary and the Secret Service Division and the Technical Section of the Former Metropolitan Constabulary of the City of Manila (now incorporated into the Metropolitan Constabulary) are hereby merged in the Bureau of Investigation herein created; Provided, however, That the Philippine Constabulary may maintain an Intelligence Division for the purpose of securing such information as may be deemed necessary in the performance of the functions of, and discharge of the duties by the Bureau of Constabulary or as specially defined in section 3 hereof, in which event, the required funds or appropriation, and the equipment, materials, records and other properties necessary for the establishment, maintenance and operation of said division shall be exempt from the requirements regarding transfer contained in section 5 hereof and are hereby made available for the use of said division.
SEC. 5. The unexpended balances of funds or appropriations, and the equipment, materials, records, and other properties pertaining to the Division of Investigation under the Bureau of Public Prosecution, the Information Division of the Philippine Constabulary, and the Secret Service Division and the Technical Section of the former Metropolitan Constabulary of the City of Manila, are hereby transferred to the Bureau of Investigation; Provided, That the City of Manila shall include in its yearly Appropriation Ordinance the same amount as is now provided for its Secret Service Division and Technical Section, which amount shall be the contribution of the City of Manila, to the cost of maintenance and operation of the Bureau of Investigation of the National Government.
SEC. 6. All officers and employees of the different divisions and sections herein consolidated into the Bureau of Investigation shall vacate their positions thirty days after the promulgation of this Order.
SEC. 7. The Bureau of Investigation shall have a central office in the City of Manila and such field offices as the President may determine and as the Appropriation Act may provide from time to time.
SEC. 8. The Director and Assistant Director of the Bureau of Investigation herein shall receive yearly compensation at the rate of ₱5,400.00 and ₱4,200.00 respectively.
SEC. 9. The position of supervisors and agents of the Bureau of Investigation is hereby declared to be primarily confidential.
SEC. 10. The expenditure of an amount not exceeding ₱200,000.00 from the appropriations for salaries and wages authorized in Act. No. 20, is amended by Executive Order No. 39, dated March 8, 1944, which may be saved by reason of vacancies, late appointments, absences without pay and the like, in said appropriations, is pursuant to section 11 of said Act No. 20, hereby suspended, and, the public interest so requiring, the same, or so much thereof as may be necessary, together with the amounts transferred pursuant to section 5 hereof, shall become available for the purposes authorized in this Order for the rest of the current fiscal year.
SEC. 11. Commonwealth Act. No. 181 and all laws and executive orders and ordinances or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
SEC. 12. This order shall take effect upon its promulgation.
Done in the City of Manila, this 8th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-four, and of the Republic of the Philippines, the first.
(SGD.) JOSE P. LAUREL
President of the Republic of the Philippines
By the President:
(SGD.) PEDRO SABIDO