Section 1. All public lands containing petroleum or other
mineral oils and gas, on which no patent at the date this Act takes
effect has been issued, are hereby withdrawn from sale and are declared
to be free and open to exploration, location and lease by citizens of
the Philippine Islands or of the United States or both: Provided,
however, That parties having heretofore filed claims for any lands
containing said minerals shall be given preference to lease their
respective claims provided they file a petition to that effect within
six months from the date of the approval of this Act.
Sec. 2. All such lands may be leased by the
Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the manner and
subject to the rules prescribed by the Council of State: said lease
shall be in blocks or tracts of not more than four hundred hectares for
each individual, and not more than twelve hundred hectares for any
association or corporation: Provided however, That at the discretion of
the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, more than one lease
may be granted to any one person, association, or corporation.
Sec. 3. Leases under the provisions of this Act
shall be for a period of not more than five years each, subject to
renewal on such terms and conditions as may be authorized by the
Council of State, and no such lease shall be assigned or sublet except
with the consent of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
and in this case, only to such persons or associations of persons and
corporations as have the qualifications required of lessees.
Sec. 4. The exploration and exploitation of
deposits of petroleum and other mineral oils and gas located in private
lands shall be made only by persons, associations, or corporations
having the qualifications required of lessees and under such terms and
conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources and approved by the Council of State: Provided,
however, That any location, occupation or use by locators of any
private land for the purpose of exploiting and working any mineral
deposits pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be conditioned on
just compensation.
Sec. 5. When this Act shall have been approved by
the President of the United States, as provided in section nine of the
Act of Congress of August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen,
such fact shall be made known by proclamation off the Governor-General
of the Philippine Islands, and this Act shall take effect on the date
of such proclamation.
Approved: August 31, 1920.
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