The Public Land Act.pdf

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extracted text: The Public Land Act :FIRST NA:TOINAL ASSEMBLY First SessiorL.B. NO. 366 (COMMONIW'EALTH ACT NO. 141) AN ACT TO AMEND AND COMPILE THE LAIW'S RELATlVE TO LANDS OF THE JP>UIBILIC DOMAIN Be it enacted by th3 Ncitional Assembly of the Philippines : · TITLE I TITLE AND APPLICATION O\F THE ACT, LANDS TO !WHICH IT REFERS, AND . CLASSIFICATION, DELIMITATION, AND SURVEY THEREOF FOR CONCESSION. CHAPTER I.-Shoi·t title of the Act, lands to which it applies, and officers chai"Qed with its execution SECTION 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The !Flublic Land Act." SEC.2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to the lands of the public domain; but timber and mineral lands shall be governed by special laws and nothing in this Act provided shall be understood or construed to change or modify the admin1 istration and disposi· tion of the lands commonly called "friar lands" and those which, being privately ownµd, have reverted to or become the property of the Commonwealth of the r • hilippines, whose administration and .disposition sha]] be governed by the laws at present in force or which may hereafter be enacted. SEC. 3. The Secretary of .A..gricul· ture ·and Commerce shall be the executive officer charged with carrying out the provisions of this Act through th'! Director of Lands, who shall act unde; his immediate control. SEC. 4. Subject to said control, the Director of Lands shall have direct executive control of. the survey, classification, lease, sale or any other form of concession or disposition and manag· ement of the lands of the public domain and his decisions as to questions of fact sha]] be conclusive when ap.proved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce. Page .632 SEC. 5. The Director of Lands with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, shall prepare and issue such forms, instructfons, ru· Jes, and regulations consistent with this Act, as may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the provisions thereof and for the conduct of proceedings arising under such provisions. CHAPTER II-Classification, deliiJm1 :tation, and survey of lands of the public domciin·, for the concession thereof SEC. 6. The IFlresident, upon the recommendation of. the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to time Classify the lands of the public domain into..__, (a) A• lienable or disposable (b) Timbers, and (c) Mineral land~, ,and may at any time and in a like manner transfer such lands from one class to another, for the purpose of their administration and disposition. SEC. 7. For the 1 purposes of the administration and dispoosition of alienable or disposable public lands the President, upon recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, sha]] from time to time declare what lands are open to disposition or concession under this Act. SEC.8. Only those lands shall be declared open to disposition or concession which have been officially delimited and classified and, when :practicable, surveyed, and which have not been re· served for public or quasi-public uses, nor appropriated by the Government, nor in any manner become private ·property, nor those on which a private right authorized and recognized by this Act or any other valid law may be claimed, or which, havring been re· served or appropriated, have ceased to be so. However, the President may, for rea_ sons of :public interest, declare lands of the public domain open to disposHion before the same have had their bound· aries established or been surveyed, or DECEMBER, 1949 may, for the same reason, suspend their concession or di.sposition by proclama· tion duly .published or by Act of the National Assembly. . SEC. 9. For the purpose of their administration and disposition, the Jands of. the public domain ali:mab:le. or open to disposition. shall be classified, according to the use or purposes to which such lands . are destined, as follows: (a) Agricultural. . . (b) Resident~al,. commerc1.al, Industrial, or for .s1m1lar productne purposes. (c) Educational, charitable, or · other similar .purposes. , (d) Reservations-, for .town siLes and for public and quasi-public· use~. The President, upon recommendat10n by the Secretary of. Agriculture and Commerce shall from time to time make the ~lassifications provided for in this section, and may, at any time and fin a similar manner, transJl.er lands from one class to another. SEC. 10. The 1 Words "alienation., "disposition," or "concession" as used in this Act, shall mean any of the methods authorized by this Act for the acquisition, lease, use, or benefit of. the lands of the public domain other than timber or mineral lands. TITLE II AGRICULTURAL PUBLIC LANDS CHAPTER II/I.-Fonns of concession of agricultural lands SEC. 11. Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes can be disposed of only as• follows, and not otherwise: (1) \ "For homestead settlement. (Z) By sale. ('3) \By lease. {11.) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles: (a) By judicial legalization . (b) By adm'.ni ~trative legaliza· tion (free oatent). CHA/P>TER IV. - Homesteads SEC. 12. Any citizen of the Philip· pines over the age of ei!l'hteen years, or the head of a family, who does not own ~ore than twenty-four hectares of land in the Philippines or has not had the DECEMBER, 1949 benefit of any gratuitous allotment of more than twenty-four hectares of land since the ocrnpation of the !Philippines by the United States,. may enter a homestead of not exceedmg twenty-four hectares of agricultural land of the public domain. SEC. 13. Upon the filing of an ap· plication for a homestead, the Direc.tor of Lands, if he finds that the apphcation should be approved, shall do so and authorize the applicant to take possession of the land upon the payment of five pesos, Philippine currency, as entry fee . . ''Wlithin six months from and after the date of the approval of the application, the applicant .shall begm to work the homestead, otherwiEe h!:' shall lose his prior right to the !and. SEC.. 14. No certificate shall be given or patent issued for t~e land applied for until at least one fifth .of. the land has been improved and cultivated. The period within which the land shall be cultivated shall not be less than one nor more than five years, from and after the date of the approval of the application. The applicant shall, withi·n the said period, notify the Dir.2ctor of Lands as soon as he is ready to acquire the title. ~f at the date of such notice, the apphcant shall prove to the satisfaction of . the Director of Lands, that he has resided continuously for at least one year in the municipality in wihch the land is located, or in a municipality adjacent to the same, and has cultivated at least one-fifth of the land continuously since the approval of the application, and shall make affidavit that no part of ~aid land has been alienated or encumbered, and that he has complied with all the re:i.uirements of this Act, then, upon the payment of five .pesos, as final fee he shall be entitled to a patent . . SEC. 15. At the option of the applicant, payment of the fees required i? this chapter may be made to the mumcipal treasurer of the locality, who, in tnrn. shall forward them to the provincial treasurer. In case of delinquen· cy of the applicant, the Director of Lands may, sixty days after such delilTo be continued) Page 633
Date: 1949
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