DEPARTMENT OF MINDANAO AND SULU.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Zamboanga, P. I., January 10, 1917. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of affairs of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1916. Because of unavoidable delays in securing at this time all data as of date December 31 last, it is not possible to include in this report complete statistics for the entire year as to finance which will appear in due course in the insular auditor's report. This is the third annual report of the department governor since the organization of the department government and seven Provinces therein comprised. The preamble to the act organizing this department specifically states that it is the object thereof to "promote the most rapid, moral, material, social, and political development of the inhabitants" of this department in order to "accomplish their complete unification with the inhabitants of the other Provinces of the archipelago." It may not be a miss, therefore, to insert herein even a cursory statement of what has been accomplished to comply with these specific purposes of the organic law. The political development of the local coordinate branches of governments here and their consolidation or merger with existing insular bureaus or orgainzations have been accomplished as follows:

1. By executive order No. 71, dated August 21, 1914, the Governor General extended the jurisdictions of the bureaus of education, health, and public works to the Provinces of Agusan and Bukidnon, effective September 1, 1914.

2. By executive order No. 89, dated October 22, 1914, the Governor General made San Ramon Penal Farm an insular penal institution for the confinement from said date of all prisoners sentenced by the courts of first instance for the twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-sixth judicial districts, excepting females and those afflicted with the opium habit.

3. By executive order No. 102, dated November 23, 1914, San Ramon was placed under the control of the director of prisons and a part and dependency of the bureau of prisons, effective January 1, 1915.

4. By executive order No. 111, dated December 1, 1914, the Governor General extended the jurisdiction of the bureau of education to the entire Department of Mindanao and Sulu, effective January 1, 1915.

5. By executive order No. 3, dated January 20, 1915, the Governor General extended the jurisdiction of the director of public works to the entire Department of Mindanao and Sulu, effective January 1,

1915.

6. By Act No. 2417 the former Philippine Commission made applicable to this department all laws relating to the bureau of agricul

ture now in force in regularly organized Provinces and municipalities, thereby extending the jurisdiction of the bureau of agriculture to the Provinces of this department, effective November 9, 1914.

7. By Act No. 2664 the former Philippine Commission made applicable the provisions of the Administrative Code to the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, thereby extending the jurisdiction of the Philippine health service to this territory, effective October 14, 1916.

Thus all insular bureaus now exercise the same jurisdiction in the seven Provinces comprised within the Departments of Mindanao and Sulu and to the same extent that they exercise their respective jurisdictions in regularly organized Provinces. The only special provision which has been retained is the authority vested in the department governor to direct the operations of the Philippine Constabulary in Mindanao-Sulu.

During the year 1916 the special features of the administrative program have been as follows:

(a) The establishment of public order and the extension of governmental control in territory heretofore unexplored in central western Mindanao covering an area of more than 3,000 square miles.

(b) The development of economic and natural resources, especially agriculture, which has been favored by exceptionally well-distributed rainfall throughout the year; Davao Province shows an increase in the value of hempexported from P753,878.99 in 1915 to P2,210,293.84 in 1916; Sulu miscellaneous products exported P963,568.64 in 1915 and P1,592,082.22 in 1916. For the other Provinces export figures are not at hand, but corresponding increases have occurred.

(c) Pursuance of the closer settlement policy of the government, whereby people of seminomadic race are induced to leave their wild habitat and take homesteads in locations specially selected by the government, in which much progress has been made. In Bukidnon Province alone 30 new settlements have been established and organized, and 6,058 persons, representing 35 per cent of the population heretofore classified as "wild," or leading a seminomadic life, have taken up lands in the valleys and lowlands. These people have now under cultivation a total acreage of 13,639 hectares.

1. AREA.

There have been no changes in the area of Mindanao-Sulu during the year 1916. There are pending certain proposed changes in the locations of boundary lines between the department and the Provinces of Misamis and Surigao.

The following diagram shows graphically the comparative area of each of the seven Provinces of the department and that of Pampanga-one of the most important Provinces of Luzon-as determined by the bureau of coast and geodetic survey:

2. POPULATION.

Heretofore all official estimates of population in Mindanao-Sulu have been based upon the figures determined by the census of 1903 to which was added from year to year the estimated increment of population. Such estimate gives 651,379 as the total present population of Mindanao-Sulu. But the census of 1903 was throughout a great portion of this territory little more than a guess. Owing to distances, lack of communication, and unfriendliness of the people the enumerators were often able to gain but a very imperfect idea of the exact population, and the figures reported were in many instances but mere surmises. Many Army officers at that time serving in Mindanao-Sulu feel certain that large blocks of the Mohammedan population of Lanao and Cotabato were omitted from the estimates. Furthermore, quite apart from the question of omissions at the time of the enumeration, the increase of population in Mindanao-Sulu during the period since the census of 1903 has been abnormally large owing to the steady immigration. It is certain that, apart from some urban districts, no considerable territory of the Philippines has so rapidly increased in population as have the seven Provinces of this department.

During the past few years, however, the reduction to Governmental control of vast areas of the hinterland has been systematically and unceasingly carried on. The organizations of villages and the settlement therein of pagans or Mohammedans formerly living a seminomadic-sometimes lawless-life in the hills have been of frequent occurrence. Government officials are at the present time better able to form an accurate idea of the exact population of this territory than at any previous time. Provincial governors were requested to make as accurate an estimate as possible of the present population and to embody the same in their reports. The table appearing below gives the result of their calculations, which embody extensive, though not complete, enumerations of the inhabitants.

Present population as estimated by provincial governors.

1 Includes Chinese, Japanese, and all other civilized persons not Mohammedans or Pagans.

3. LEGISLATION.

During the year 1916 there was only one act passed by the former Philippine Commission constituting special legislation for Mindanao-Sulu, namely, "No. 2660, an act establishing and regulating trading systems in the Department of Mindanao and Sulu."

Although general legislation, both the sponge fishery act (No. 2584) and the pearl fishery act (No. 2604) are of special interest to

Mindanao-Sulu, since both pearl and sponge industries are chiefly carried on in Mindanao and Sulu. These two laws were recommended by the department government, repealing legislative council acts which were found to be inadequate in the proper development of these two important marine resources of Mindanao-Sulu. The result of the enactment of these two laws, however, transferred to the insular treasury approximately 8,000 in revenue heretofore accruing to the department treasury.

The following is a list of acts of the Philippine Commission extending to the Department of Mindanao and Sulu certain acts of the Philippine Legislature of general application:

No. 2545. An act extending to and making applicable in the territory inhabited by Moros and other non-Christian people the provisions of Act No. 2541, entitled "An act to amend Act No. 2339, known as the internal-revenue law of 1914, by changing the rates of taxes and additional taxes, creating new taxes, abolishing others, and for other purposes.

No. 2658. An act making applicable to that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian people certain acts of the Philippine Legislature. No. 2584. An act regulating sponge fisheries in the Philippine Islands.

No. 2590. An act for the protection of game and fish.

No. 2604. An act for the protection of marine mollusca.

No. 2622. An act to amend Act No. 2339, known as the internal-revenue law of 1914, as amended by Act No. 2541.

No. 2662. An act making applicable to that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian people certain acts of the Philippine Legislature. No. 2531. An act to appropriate P1,000,000 for primary schools and purposes related therewith in the territory inhabited by Mohammedans or other non-Christian Filipinos. No. 2548. An act to provide for the immunization of cattle and carabaos to prevent the spread of rinderpest within the Philippine Islands, appropriating funds therefor, and for other purposes.

No. 2553. An act to amend section 1 of Act No. 146, creating the office of purchasing agent and defining the duties thereof, so as to provide for an annual inspection by the purchasing agent of government supplies held in stock.

No. 2557. An act providing for the allowance to persons sentenced in any criminal cause, with the exception of certain classes of crimes, of one-half of the preventive imprisonment undergone by them, repealing section 93 of the "provincial law for the application of the provisions of the Penal Code to the Philippine Islands," and for other purposes.

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No. 2558. An act to amend section 18 of Act No. 2259, entitled "An act providing certain special proceedings for the settlement and adjudication of land titles,' amended by Act No. 2338, by introducing several modifications relative to the assessment and exemption from the payment of the costs in cadastral proceedings.

No. 2564. An act to amend the third subsection of section 1 of Act No. 2387, as amended by Act No. 2433 and section 93 of Act No. 136, as amended by Acts Nos. 2035 and 2244, relative to notaries public and the final disposition of notaries' registers: Provided, however, That the officers of the bureau of lands in charge of cadastral work, homestead applications, and free patents, may be appointed ex officio notaries public in all matters connected therewith, and no fees shall be charged for services rendered therein.

No. 2566. An act amending Act No. 2508, entitled "An act regulating the creation and operation of rural agricultural cooperative associations,' and for other purposes.” No. 2567. An act to punish fraud against the United States, and the selling, purchasing, or otherwise acquiring any arms, equipment, ammunition, clothes, military stores, or other public property from officers, soldiers, sailors, or other persons employed in the military or naval service of the United States or of the Philippine Constabulary.

No. 2570. An act amending sections 5 and 9 of Act No. 1654, entitled "An act to provide for the leasing of reclaimed land for commercial purposes, for the

leasing of the foreshore and lands under water, and to regulate the construction of bridges over navigable waterways," by authorizing the secretary of commerce and police, with the approval of the Governor General, to grant permission to use any portion of the foreshore or land under water in the Philippine Islands for any lawful private purpose, and for other purposes.

No. 2571. An act establishing the right of any person detained, imprisoned, or deprived of his liberty to confer with his duly accredited attorney at any hour of the day or night, and for other purposes.

No. 2572. An act to authorize, in the interest of the efficiency and uniformity of the public service, the consolidation of the Philippine Library, the division of archives, patents, copyrights, and trade-marks of the executive bureau, and the law and library division of the Philippine Assembly, to form an organization to be known as Philippine Library and Museum, under the administrative control of the secretary of public instruction.

No. 2573. An act providing for the mutual insurance of work animals.

No. 2576. An act to amend the first, tenth, and eleventh paragraphs of section 5 of Act No. 2347, entitled "An act to provide for the reorganization of the courts of first instance and of the court of land registration," as amended.

No. 2579. An act providing for the collection of tonnage dues on vessels coming from or going to foreign ports

No. 2580. An act providing for the publication and recording in the bureau of posts of the names and post-office addresses of editors, publishers, managers, owners, and stockholders of newspaper publications, and for other purposes.

No. 2581. An act to regulate the sale of certain corporation shares, stocks, bonds, and other securities.

No. 2585. An act directing that the provincial boards shall establish and maintain agricultural nurseries and authorizing the municipal councils to establish such nurseries wherever the public interest may require it.

No. 2587. An act to amend Act No. 2159, as amended, entitled "An act to regulate motor-vehicle traffic in the Philippine Islands, to provide for the registration of motor vehicles and the licensing of operators, and to require all vehicles on highways to carry lights, and for other purposes," by fixing an annual registration, and for other purposes.

No. 2588. An act amending section 88 of Act No. 190, entitled "An act providing a code of procedure in civil actions and special proceedings in the Philippine Islands,' as amended by Act No. 1778, by changing the conditions under which a defendant may be allowed to appeal from a judgment of a justice of the peace ordering the restitution of possession of any land or building.

No. 2589. An act providing for a gratuity by reason of retirement to officers and employees of the Philippine Government who have rendered satisfactory service during six continuous years or more, and for other purposes.

No. 2595. An act fixing two years as the term for the prescription of the crime of libel and of a civil action arising therefrom.

No. 2596. An act entitled "The infant industry act."

No. 2598. An act establishing a coconut-products board to encourage the improvement of coconut products, and for other purposes.

No. 2601. An act to tax inheritances, legacies, and other acquisitions mortis

causa.

No. 2602. An act to amend sections 1, 5, and 6 of Act No. 2462, entitled "An act providing new regulations for the examination of dentists and the practice of dentistry in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes.'

No. 2605. An act providing for the creation in the Philippine Islands of an academy for officers for the Philippine Constabulary.

No. 2607. An act authorizing and directing the secretary of finance and justice and the insular treasurer, with the approval of the Governor General, to provide funds for the stimulation and aid of agriculture.

No. 2608. An act to amend section 9 of Act No. 1148, known as the forest act, by authorizing the director of forestry to issue permits for the use of the forest lands as sites for sawmills, the construction of hotels, sanatoria, residences, camps, fishponds, pastures, or other lawful uses.

No. 2612. An act creating the Philippine National Bank.

No. 2614. An act to amend Act No. 2507, entitled "An act providing for a board of marine examiners, for the examination and licensing of watch officers and engineers on Philippine vessels in the coastwise trade and for the high seas, license fees, compensation, and penalties in certain cases, and repealing certain acts relating thereto."