The Regulation for enforcement of the cedula tax, which
formed a part of the Royal Order of March 6, 1884, provided that the cedula
should be substituted for the passport for travel within the Philippines.
On March 3, 1885, the Governor General issued the following decree clarifying
this provision of the Cedula Tax Law:
“Having
seen the expediente (papers pertaining to the matter) initiated by the
Secretariat of this Central Government concerning the amplification of
Article 44 of the Regulation for Personal Cedulas, putting it in harmony
with Section 13 of Article 31 of the cited regulation, and in consequence
of the suppression of the passport as a necessary document for travel in
the interior of this archipelago:
“Having
seen the opinions issued in this particular by the General Superintendency
of Finance and the Section of Government of the Council of Administration,
this Central Government, subject to that which the Government of His Majesty
may definitely determine, decrees:
“1.
Article 44 of the Regulation for Personal Cedulas of the 30th of June of
last year, approved by my decree of the 15th of July of the same year,
is corrected in the following form:
Article
44. The individuals subject to the tax may travel with the cedula in the
interior of this Archipelago without the necessity of a passport.”
“2.
The Personal Cedula will take the place of the passports in all those requisites
which must be satisfied by the Captainship of the Port for the dispatch
of every vessel of the coastwise trade which carries passengers.”
“3.
In consequence of that determined above, the passport as a necessary document
for travel in the interior of this Archipelago is suppressed, except for
the Chinese, who must be provided with it in the interim that the special
Regulation for the registration of the same is in force.”
“4.
The present decree will begin to rule in this Capital five days after having
been published in the official Gazette, and in the respective provinces
the same number of days after the receipt in them of the publication cited.”
“5.
The provincial governors and Judges (alcades mayores) shall order this
decree to be published by proclamation, and in the local dialect, in all
the villages subject to their respective jurisdiction, reported to this
Central Government that it has thus been accomplished.
“Let
it be published, let a report of it be made to the Ministry of Colonies,
and transmitted to the respective Center (of Government)…JOVELLAR.” [93] |
It appears that the provisional 20-centimos stamp which
was surcharged PASAPORTES in 1885, was in reality a provisional Derechos
de Firma stamp which was issued solely because of the exhaustion of the
supply of the current 20-centimos Derechos de Firma stamp. It also seems
certain that the 20-centimos “Pasaportes” stamp mentioned in Article 1
of the Royal Decree of May 16, 1886, and abolished by the Royal Order of
March 24, 1897, was the 20-centimos Derechos de Firma stamp. Apparently
the only specific use for this stamp was in payment of the stamp-tax of
20-centimos on each “visa” authorizing travel from one province to another
within the Philippines. Subsequent to July 1, 1884, only Chinese residents
were required to obtain a “visa” authorizing interior travel.
As already explained in the chapter devoted to Derechos
de Firma stamps, at some time between May 16, 1886, and the end of 1887,
the stamp tax on each visa authorizing interior travel of Chinese was increased
from 20 centimos to 25 centimos. Since no Derechos de Firma stamp of that
denomination was issued, postage stamps were invariably used in payment
of the stamp tax which authorized interior travel from 1888 until the end
of 1897. Effective on January 1, 1898, the 25 centimos Timbre Movil
(Adhesive Stamp) labeled SELLO was used for this purpose.
Because there was no specific use for the 20 centimos
Derechos de Firma stamp subsequent to the end of 1887, this stamp was frequently
used in lieu of Derechos de Firma stamps of the 1 peso and 2 pesos denomination
whenever there was a shortage of the latter. In 1891, the use of five 20-centimos
Derechos de Firma stamps on passports to leave the Philippines in lieu
of Pagos Al Estado of the 1 peso denomination was authorized. [94] |