WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of
section sixty-three, sixty-four, and sixty-five of an Act of the
Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act temporarily to provide
for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the
Philippine Island, and for other purposes," approved July first,
nineteen hundred and two, the Government of the Philippine Islands, on
the twenty-second day of December, nineteen hundred and three, entered
into contracts with the Philippine Sugar Estates Development Company,
Limited, La Sociedad Agricola de Ultramar, the British-Manila Estates
Company, Limited, and the Recoleto Order of the Philippine Islands, for
the purchase of about one hundred and sixty-four thousand one hundred
and twenty-seven hectares of land, situated in the provinces of Laguna,
Bulacan, Cavite, Bataan, Cebu, Rizal, Isabela, and Mindoro, for the
aggregate sum of seven million two hundred and thirty-nine thousand
seven hundred and eighty-four dollars and sixty-cents, money of the
United States; and
WHEREAS, in said contracts of purchase it was provided, among other
things, that the Government of the Philippine Islands should have a
period of six months from the date of said contracts within which to
examine the titles to said lands, and also within which to survey the
same in order to ascertain whether there is the quantity of land
specified in said contracts, and, in the event there is not, that a
proportionate reduction shall be made in the amounts agreed to be paid
therefor; and it was further provided in said contracts that the said
parties, so agreeing to sell obligated themselves to convey good and
indefeasible titles to said lands by proper conveyances; and
WHEREAS, by said section sixty-five of said Act of Congress the
Government of the Philippine Islands is empowered to lease the said
lands after their acquisition for a period not exceeding three years,
and to sell the same on such terms and conditions as it may prescribe,
subject to the limitations and conditions contained in said Act of
Congress: Provided, That all deferred payments and the interest thereon
shall be payable in the money prescribed for the payment of principal
and interest of the bonds authorized to be issued and sold for the
purpose of realizing the money necessary to pay for said lands by
section sixty-four of said Act of Congress, and that said deferred
payments shall bear interest at the rate borne by said bonds: And
provided, further, That all monies realized or received from the sales
or other disposition of said lands, or by reason thereof, shall
constitute a trust fund for the payment of principal and interest of
said bonds, and also constitute a sinking fund for the payment of said
bonds at their maturity: And provided further, That actual settlers and
occupants at the time said lands are acquired by the government shall
have the preference over all others to lease, purchase, or acquire
their landholdings within such reasonable time as may be determined by
said government; and
WHEREAS, the said lands are not "public lands" in the sense in which
those words are used in the Public Land Act, Number Nine Hundred and
twenty-six, and cannot be acquired or leased under the provisions
thereof, and it is necessary to provide proper agencies for carrying
out the terms of said contracts of purchase and the requirements of
said Act of Congress with preference to the leasing and selling of said
lands and the creation of a sinking fund to secure the payment of the
bonds so issued; Now, therefore.
Section 1. The Civil Governor is authorized and
directed to have careful examination made to ascertain the sufficiency
and soundness of the titles to said land so contracted to be purchased
by the Government of the Philippine Islands from the said corporations
as set forth in the preamble hereof,
His action in employing the firm of Del Pan, Ortigas and Fisher,
Attorneys-at-law in the city of Manila, to make such examination and
also to perform all legal services required of them in completing such
purchases and thereafter in the leasing and selling of said lands as
hereinafter provided, they to be compensated for their services at the
rate of five thousand five hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly,
for such time as in the opinion of the Civil Governor their services
may be needed, is hereby approved and confirmed.
Sec. 2. The Consulting Engineer to the Commission
is hereby directed to have careful surveys made of the said haciendas
and tracts of land in order to ascertain with accuracy and certainty
whether there is the amount of land in each of said haciendas and
tracts specified in said contracts, and for that purpose he is
empowered to put in the field and maintain the necessary surveying
parties, and any funds in his hands at the present time not in terms
devoted to defraying the cost of specific public works are hereby
declared available for the purpose. As soon as these surveys shall have
been completed he shall make report of the results thereof to the Civil
Governor. Such steps as have already been taken by the Consulting
Engineer by direction of the Civil Governor looking to the survey of
said haciendas and lands are approved and confirmed.
Sec. 3. The firm of Del Pan, Ortigas and Fisher is
also directed, as soon as the examination of the title deeds to said
property shall have been completed, to make report of the result of
their investigation in that behalf to the Civil Governor, and under his
direction to supervise the final deeds of conveyance of said lands by
said corporations to the Government of the Philippine Islands. The
Civil Governor is also directed to submit their report together with
the said deeds to the Attorney-General for his opinion.
Sec. 4. The Civil Governor is hereby empowered,
when it shall have been ascertained that the titles to said lands are
perfect and indefeasible and proper instruments of conveyance are
tendered by said corporations, to direct the payment to the
corporations named in the preamble of the several sums agreed to be
paid for said lands, and to that end to draw the warrants of the
Government of the Philippine Islands upon the sum realized from the
sale of the bonds issued and sold as provided in Act Numbered One
thousand and thirty-four.
Sec. 5. When the titles to said lands are finally
vested in the Government of the Philippine Islands, they shall be under
the immediate control and direction of the Bureau of Public Lands. The
Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands is empowered and directed, pending
the completion of the purchase of said lands, to receive, take charge
of, and carefully preserve the said contracts of sale and purchase and
all muniments, documents, title deeds or other papers pertaining to
said lands, and all field notes, surveys, and other data relating
thereto, and also the deeds of conveyance hereafter made pursuant to
the terms of said contracts of sale and purchase, and thereafter to
keep and preserve the same, except as required for registration of said
lands.
Sec. 6. The title, deeds and instruments of
conveyance pertaining to the lands in each province, when executed and
delivered by said grantors to the Government and placed in the keeping
of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands, as above provided, shall be
by him transmitted to the register of deeds of each province in which
any part of said lands lies, for registration in accordance with law.
But before transmitting the title, deeds, and instruments of conveyance
in this section mentioned to the register of deeds of each province for
registration, the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands shall record all
such deeds and instruments at length in one or more books to be
provided by him for that purpose and retained in the Bureau of Public
Lands, when duly certified by him shall be received in all courts of
the Philippine Islands as sufficient evidence of the contents of the
instrument so recorded whenever it is not practicable to produce the
originals in court. (Section 1, Act No. 1287).
Sec. 7. Upon the vesting of the titles to said
lands in the Government of the Philippine Islands by proper deeds of
conveyance, or sooner if so directed by the Civil Governor, the Chief
of the Bureau of Public Lands shall ascertain the names and residences
of the actual, bona fide settlers and occupants then in possession of
said lands or of any portion of them, together with the extent of their
several holdings and the character and value thereof. He is also
directed to ascertain from said occupants whether they desire to
purchase their holdings upon the terms prescribed in the succeeding
sections.
Provided, That the failure on the part of the occupants to state their
desire to lease or purchase said lands shall not be understood to mean
that they do not desire to acquire them. In case of such failure it
shall be the duty of the Director of Lands, or his agents, to enjoin
such occupants to state their desire in writing within the period of
eight days from the date of such injunction, and their failure to do so
shall be understood to mean that such occupants do not desire either to
lease or to purchase said lands. The Director of Lands shall neither
lease nor sell the said lands to any other person until the foregoing
requirements shall have been complied with, and any contracts of lease
of sale hereafter executed without them shall be null and void.
(Section 1, Act No. 1933.)
Sec. 8. In case any occupant in possession does
not desire to purchase his holding, but does desire to lease the same,
then it shall be the duty of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands,
after vesting of title, to see that such occupant attorns in due form
to the Government and enters into a lease with the usual covenants and
agrees to pay a reasonable rental for the use and occupation of his
holding. Such rental shall be fixed by the Chief of the Bureau of
Lands, but in no instance shall any lease be made for a longer term
than three years.
Sec. 9. In the event the Director of Lands should
find any of said lands vacant, he is directed to take possession and
charge thereof, and he may either lease such unoccupied lands for a
term not exceeding three years, or sell same, as may be solicited, and
in making such leases or such sales he shall proceed as provided in
section eleven of this Act: Provided, however, That the sale made to an
individual shall not exceed one hundred and forty-four hectares and to
a corporation shall not exceed one thousand and twenty-four hectares:
And provided, further, That this limitation shall not apply to sales
made to a provincial or municipal government or to any other branch,
subdivision, or entity of the Government. (Section 1, Act No. 3323.)
Sec. 10. Should he find any of the said lands in
the possession of a person or persons declining either to buy or to
rent, as above set forth, he shall take possession thereof if he can do
so peaceably, and if not he shall begin proper legal proceedings in the
Court of Land Registration to settle title and to oust him or them from
his or their holdings and, upon adjudication in favor of the
Government, shall likewise take possession of the same with the same
power and authority as though originally vacant. He shall not, however,
sell any of the main hacienda houses or other large and substantial
buildings save upon a resolution of the Commission authorizing him to
do so.
Sec. 11. Should any person who is the actual and
bona fide settler upon, and occupant of, any portion of said lands at
the time the same is conveyed to the Government of the Philippine
Islands desire to purchase the land so occupied by him, he shall be
entitled to do so at the actual cost thereof to the Government, and
shall be granted fifteen years from the date of the purchase in which
to pay for the same in equal annual installments, should he so desire
paying interest at the rate of four per centum per annum on all
deferred payments.
And the contracts of sale made prior to the approval of this Act may be
extended, in the discretion of the Director of Lands, for a period of
not more than ten years from the date on which said contracts must
expire under the provisions of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty.
The terms of purchase shall be agreed upon between the purchaser and
the Director of Lands, subject to the approval of the Secretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Both in case of lease and of sale of vacant lands under the provisions
of section nine of this Act, the Director of Lands shall notify the
municipal president or municipal presidents of the municipality or
municipalities in which said lands lie of said lease or sale before the
same takes place. Upon receipt of such notification by said municipal
president or municipal presidents the latter shall publish the same for
three consecutive days, by bandillos, in the poblacion and barrio or
barrios affected, and shall certify all these acts to the Director of
Lands who shall then, and not before, execute a lease or proceed to
make the said sale with preference, other conditions being equal, to
the purchaser who has been a tenant or bona fide occupant at any time
of the said lands or part thereof, and if there has been more than one
occupant to the last tenant or occupant: Provided, however, That no
lease or sale of vacant lands made in accordance with this section
shall be valid nor of any effect without the requisite as to
publication by bandillos, above provided: Provided, further, that the
provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to leases or sales made to
any provincial or municipal government or any subdivision, branch, or
entity of the Government. (Section 2, Act No. 3323.)
Sec. 12. It shall be the duty of the Chief of the
Bureau of Public Lands by proper investigation to ascertain what is the
actual value of the parcel of land held by each settler and occupant,
taking into consideration the location and quality of each holding of
land, and any other circumstances giving its value. The basis of
valuation shall likewise be, so far as practicable, such that the
aggregate of the values of all the holdings included in each particular
tract shall be equal to the cost to the Government to the entire tract,
including the cost of surveys, administration and interest upon the
purchase money to the time of sale. When the cost thereof shall have
been thus ascertained, the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands shall
give the said settler and occupant a certificate which shall set forth
in detail that the Government has agreed to sell to such settler and
occupant the amount of land so held by him, at the price so fixed,
payable as provided in this Act at the office of the Chief of Bureau of
Public Lands, in gold coin of the United States or its equivalent in
Philippine currency, and that upon the payment of the final installment
together with all accrued interest the Government will convey to such
settler and occupant the said land so held by him by proper instrument
of conveyance, which shall be issued and become effective in the manner
provided in section one hundred and twenty-two of the Land Registration
Act. The Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands shall, in each instance
where a certificate is given to the settler and occupant of any
holding, take his formal receipt showing the delivery of such
certificate, signed by said settler and occupant.
Sec. 13. The acceptance by the settler and
occupant of such certificate shall be considered as an agreement by him
to pay the purchase price so fixed and in the installments and at the
interest specified in the certificate, and he shall from such
acceptance become a debtor to the Government in the amount together
with all accrued interest. In the event that any such settler and
occupant may desire to pay for his holding of said lands in cash, or
within a shorter period of time than that above specified, he shall be
allowed to do so, and if payment be made in cash the lands shall at
once be conveyed to him as above provided. But if purchase is made by
installments, the certificate shall so state in accordance with the
facts of the transaction; Provided, however, That every settler and
occupant who desires to purchase his holding must enter into the
agreement to purchase such holding by accepting the said certificate
and executing the said receipt whenever called on to do so by the Chief
of the Bureau of Public Lands, and a failure on the part of the settler
and occupant to comply with this requirement shall be considered as a
refusal to purchase, and he shall be ousted as above provided and
thereafter his holding may be leased or sold as in case of unoccupied
lands: And provided further, That the Chief of the Bureau of Public
Lands in this discretion may require to any settler and occupant so
desiring to purchase that, pending the investigation requisite to fix
the precise extent of his holding and its cost he shall attorn to the
Government as its tenant and pay a reasonable rent for the use of his
holding; but no such lease shall be for a longer term that three years,
and refusal on the part of any settler and occupant so desiring to
purchase to execute a lease pending such investigation shall be treated
as a refusal either to lease or to purchase, and the Chief of the
Bureau of Public Lands shall proceed to oust him as in this Act
provided.
Sec. 14. Provided, That, when by reason of fire,
flood, drought, or other calamity arising in consequence of the act of
God or of the public enemy, the crops of a lessee or purchaser shall be
damaged or destroyed to such an extent that the prevailing market value
of the harvest for the year in which such calamity occurs shall be less
than one-half of the value of an average annual harvest, the Director
of Lands, by administrative order, shall suspend the collection of
rental, or the installment of the purchase price, or interest due to
the deferred payments, or both installment and interest, corresponding
to the period of such calamity, if it shall be made to appear to his
satisfaction that such loss has actually occurred, without contributory
negligence on the part of said lessee or purchaser, and that the latter
has no sufficient income other than that derived from the sale of his
crops from which to make payment of the rental or installment and
interest due.
The rental or installment or interest so suspended shall be distributed
through the periods remaining on the contract of lease or the sale
certificate.
Sec. 15. The Government hereby reserves the title
to each and every parcel of land sold under the provisions of this Act
until the full payment of all installments or purchase money and
interest by the purchaser has been made, and any sale or encumbrance
made by him shall be invalid as against the Government of the
Philippine Islands and shall be in all respects subordinate to its
prior claim.
The right of possession and purchase acquired by certificates of sale
signed under the provisions hereof by purchasers of friar lands,
pending final payment and the issuance of title, shall be considered as
personal property for the purposes of serving as security for
mortgages, and shall be considered as such in judicial proceedings
relative to such security. (Section 1, Act No. 2642.)
Sec. 16. In the event of the death of a holder of
a certificate the issuance of which is provided for in section twelve
hereof, prior to the execution of a deed by the Government to any
purchaser, the interest of the holder of the certificate shall descend
and deed shall be issued to the persons who under the laws of the
Philippine Islands would have taken had the title been perfected before
the death of the holder of the certificate, upon proof of compliance
with all the requirements of the certificate. In case the holder of the
certificate shall have sold his interest in the land before having
complied with all the conditions thereof, the purchaser shall have all
the rights of the holder of the certificate upon presenting his
assignment to the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands for registration.
(Section 1, Act No. 2945.)
Sec. 17. In the event that any lessee or purchaser
of land under the provisions of this Act should fail to pay his rent or
any installment of purchase money and interest thereon, or accrued
interest on any installment not due, when and as the same matures, it
shall be the duty of the chief of the Bureau of Public Lands at once to
protect the Government from loss. In the case of a lease, when the
lessee is delinquent in payment of rent, the Chief of the Bureau of
Public Lands is empowered to declare the lease forfeited, making proper
entry to that effect in the books of his office and giving notice
thereof to the tenant, and to enter upon and take possession of the
land held by the lessee and bring suit against the lessee for all rent
due; in the case of a delinquent purchaser, the Chief of the Bureau of
Public Lands may enforce payment of any past-due installment and
interest by bringing suit to recover the same with interest thereon,
and also to enforce the lien of the Government against the land by
selling the same in the manner provided by Act Numbered One Hundred and
Ninety for the foreclosure of mortgages. In the event of such sale the
purchaser at such sale shall acquire a good and indefeasible title. The
proceeds of sale shall be applied to the payment of the costs of court
and of all installments due or to become due on such land. If the
proceeds of the sale are sufficient to pay all delinquent installments
as well as all future installments and all costs of the litigation
there shall be no further claim or liability against the original
purchaser. If the proceeds of the sale of said lands should amount to
more than sufficient to pay all purchase money and interest due the
Government and cost of suit, the surplus thereof shall be returned to
the original purchaser, or to the person entitled thereto.
Sec. 18. No lease or sale made by Chief of the
Bureau of Public Lands under the provisions of this Act shall be valid
until approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 19. No purchaser or lessee under this Act
shall acquire any exclusive rights to any canal, ditch, reservoir, or
other irrigation works, or to any water supply upon which such
irrigation works are or may be dependent, but all of such irrigation
works and water supplies shall remain under the exclusive control of
the Government of the Philippine Islands to be administered under the
direction of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands for the common
benefit of those interests dependent upon them. And the Government
reserves as a part of the contract of sale in each instance the right
to levy an equitable contribution or tax for the maintenance of such
irrigation works, the assessment of which shall be based upon the
amount of benefits received, and each purchaser under this Act, by
accepting the certificate of sale or deed herein provided to be given,
shall be held to assess thereto. And it is further provided that all
lands leased or conveyed under this Act shall remain subject to the
right of way of such irrigation canals, ditches, and reservoirs as now
exist or as the Government may hereafter see fit to construct.
Sec. 20. All persons receiving title to lands
under the provisions of this Act shall hold such lands subject to the
same public servitudes as existed upon lands owned by private persons
under the sovereignty of Spain, including those with reference to the
literal of the sea and the banks of navigable rivers upon which rafting
may be done.
Sec. 21. The Civil Governor, when authorized by
resolution of the Commission, may, by proclamation, designate any tract
or tracts of said lands as nonalienable, and reserve the same for
public use, and thereafter such tracts shall not be subject to sale,
lease, or other disposition under this Act.
Provided, however, That in petition by any provincial or municipal
government, or branch of the Insular Government, or any Government
entity, the Governor-General may, by executive order, exempt from
lease, sale or other disposition any unsold or vacant land for the
public service or use; and such provincial or municipal government, or
branch of the Insular Government or Government entity shall pay to the
friar lands sinking fund the full value of the property so reserved,
together with the accrued interest thereon. (Section 3, Act No. 3509.)
Sec. 22. It shall be the duty of the Chief of the
Bureau of Public Lands to make quarterly reports, through the Secretary
of the Interior, to the Commission showing the lands leased or sold by
him in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the amounts of money
derived from such rentals and sales, and such other information as in
his opinion may be of value to the Commission in connection with the
said lands and their administration and disposition as provided by this
Act. Both the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the Bureau of
Public Lands shall have the right to require of the special counsel
named in the first section hereof, or of their successors, such advice
and assistance as from time to time may be required by them in the
performance of their duties under this Act, and it shall be the duty of
said counselors to give such legal advice and assistance.
Sec. 23. All moneys derived by the Chief of the
Bureau of Public Lands from the leasing or sale of said lands, or from
interest or deferred payments thereon, shall by him be promptly
deposited in the Insular Treasury. Such money shall be by the Treasurer
held separate and apart from general insular funds and shall constitute
a trust fund for the payment of the principal and interest of the seven
million two hundred thirty-seven thousand dollars of bonds, issued and
sold by the Secretary of War in the name and on behalf of the
Government of the Philippine Islands for the purpose of raising money
to pay the purchase price of said lands as provided in Act Numbered One
thousand and thirty-four, entitled "An Act providing for the issue of
bonds of the Government of the Philippine Islands to the amount of
seven million two hundred and thirty-seven thousand dollars, gold coin
of the United States of the present standard value, for the purpose of
acquiring funds for the payment of the purchase price of certain large
tracts of land in the Philippine Islands, commonly known as the Friar
Lands, pursuant to the provisions of sections sixty-three, sixty-four,
and sixty-five of the Act of Congress entitled "An Act temporarily to
provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in
the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes, approved July first,
nineteen hundred and two." Said money shall also constitute a sinking
fund for the payment of said bonds at maturity and may be invested and
reinvested in safe interest-bearing bonds or other securities which
shall likewise be held by the Treasurer as a part of such sinking fund,
and all interest, dividend, or profits derived from said bonds or other
securities thus purchased shall likewise be a part of such sinking fund
and may in turn be invested and reinvested in bonds or other
securities. All purchases of bonds or other securities by the Treasurer
shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of Finance and
Justice.
Sec. 24. The Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands,
under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall prepare
and issue such forms and instructions, consistent with this Act, as may
be necessary and proper to carry into effect all the provisions hereof
that are to be administered by or under the direction of the Bureau of
Public Lands, and for the conduct of all proceedings arising under such
provisions.
Sec. 25. The sum of ten thousand pesos, Philippine
currency, is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of paying the
salary of the special counsel referred to in the first section hereof
and for making the investigations and surveys required hereby and for
the general carrying out of the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 26. The short title of this Act shall be "The
Friar Lands Act."
Sec. 27. The public good requiring the speedy
enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in
accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of
procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September
twenty-six, nineteen hundred.
Sec. 28. This Act shall take effect on its passage.
Enacted, April 26, 1904
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