Article 15p. 15

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

(i) That the applicant agrees that a strip forty meters

wide starting from the bank on each side of any river or

stream that may be found on the land applied for, shall

be demarcated and preserved as permanent timberland

to be planted exclusively to trees of known economic

value, and that he shall not make any clearing thereon or

utilize the same for ordinary farming purposes even after

patent shall have been issued to him or a contract of

lease shall have been executed in his favor. (Amendment

to Section 90 of C.A. No. 141 (Public Land Act), Republic

Act No. 1273, [June 14, 1955])

SECTION 91. The statements made in the application

shall be considered as essential conditions and parts of

any concession, title, or permit issued on the basis of

such application, and any false statements therein or

omission of facts altering, changing, or modifying the

consideration of the facts set forth in such statements,

and any subsequent modification, alteration, or change

of the material facts set forth in the application shall ipso

facto produce the cancellation of the concession, title, or

permit granted. It shall be the duty of the Director of

Lands, from time to time and whenever he may deem it

advisable, to make the necessary investigations for the

purpose of ascertaining whether the material facts set

out in the application are true, or whether they continue

to exist and are maintained and preserved in good faith,

and for the purposes of such investigation, the Director

of Lands is hereby empowered to issue subpoenas and

subpoenas duces tecum and, if necessary, to obtain

compulsory

process

from

the

courts.

In

every

investigation made in accordance with this section, the

existence of bad faith, fraud, concealment, or fraudulent

and

illegal

modification

of

essential

facts

shall be

presumed if the grantee or possessor of the land shall

refuse or fail to obey a subpoena or subpoena duces

tecum lawfully issued by the Director of Lands or his

authorized delegates or agents, or shall refuse or fail to

give direct and specific answers to pertinent questions,

and on the basis of such presumption, an order of

cancellation may issue without further proceedings.

SECTION 92. Although the maximum area of public land

that may be acquired is fixed, yet the spirit of this Act is

that the rule which must determine the real area to be

granted is the beneficial use of the land. The concession

or disposition shall be for less than the maximum area

authorized if, at the time of the issuance of the patent or

of the concession or disposition, it shall appear that the

applicant is utilizing and is only able to utilize a smaller

area, even though the application is for a greater area.

For the purposes of this section, the Director of Lands is

authorized to determine the area that may be granted to

the

applicant,

and

to deny or cancel or limit any

application

for

concession,

purchase,

or

lease

if

convinced of the lack of means of the applicant for using

the land for the purpose for which he has requested it.

SECTION 93. Lands applied for under this Act shall

conform

to

the

legal

subdivisions

and

shall

be

contiguous if comprising more than one subdivision. If

subdivisions have not been made on the date of the

application, the lands shall be rectangular in form so far

as practicable, but it shall be endeavored to make them

conform to the legal subdivision as soon as the same has

been made, provided the interests of the applicant or

grantee are protected; and the subdivision assigned to

the applicant or grantee shall, so far as practicable,

include the land improved or cultivated. The regulations

to be issued for the execution of the provisions of this

section shall take into account the legal subdivision to

be made by the Government and the inadvisability of

granting the best land at a given place to only one

person.

SECTION 94. In case the legal subdivisions have already

been made at the time of the filing of the application, no

charge shall be made for the survey; but if the legal

subdivisions have not yet been made, the cost of the

survey shall be charged to the Government, except in

the following cases:

(a) In purchases under chapters five and ten of this Act,

the cost of the survey shall be charged to the purchaser

if the same is a corporation, association, or partnership;

in other purchases the purchaser, whoever it be, shall

pay the total cost of the survey.

(b) In leases, the cost of the survey shall be paid by the

lessee; but at any time after the first five years from the

approval of the lease, and during the life of the same, the

lessee shall be entitled to the reimbursement of one-half

of the cost of the survey, if he shows to the satisfaction of

the

Director

of

Lands

that

he

has

occupied

and

improved

a sufficient area of the land or incurred

sufficient expenses in connection therewith to warrant

such reimbursement.

SECTION 95. If before the delimitation and survey of a

tract of public land the President shall declare the same

disposable or alienable and such land shall be actually

occupied by a person other than the applicant, the

Director of Lands shall inform the occupant of his prior

right to apply for the land and shall give him one

hundred and twenty days time in which to file the

application or apply for the concession by any of the

forms of disposition authorized by this Act, if such

occupant is qualified to acquire a concession under this

Act.

SECTION 96. As soon as any land of the public domain

has

been

surveyed,

delimited,

and

classified,

the

President may, in the order issued by him declaring it

open for disposition, designate a term within which

occupants with improvements but not entitled to free

patents may apply for the land occupied by them, if they

have the qualifications required by this Act.

SECTION 97. If in the case of the two last preceding

sections, the occupant or occupants have not made

application under any of the provisions of this Act at the

expiration of the time limit fixed, they shall lose any prior

right

to

the land recognized by this Act, and the

improvements on the land, if any, shall be forfeited to the

Government.

SECTION 98. All rights in and interest to, and the

improvements

and

crops

upon,

land

for which an

application has been denied or cancelled or a patent or

grant refused, or a contract or concession rescinded or

annulled, shall also be forfeited to the Government.

SECTION 99. The Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce

may

order

such

improvements

and

crops

to

be

appraised separately, for sale to the new applicant or

grantee, or may declare such land open only to sale or

lease.

SECTION

100.

In

case

the

cancellation

is

due

to

delinquency on the part of the applicant or grantee, the

same shall be entitled to the reimbursement of the

proceeds of the sale of the improvements and crops,

after deducting the total amount of his indebtedness to

the Government and the expense incurred by it in the

sale of the improvements or crops and in the new

concession of the land.

SECTION

101.

All

actions

for

the

reversion

to

the

Government

of

lands

of

the

public

domain

or

improvements

thereon

shall

be

instituted

by

the

Solicitor-General or the officer acting in his stead, in the

proper courts, in the name of the Commonwealth of the

Philippines.

SECTION 102. Any person, corporation, or association

may file an objection under oath to any application or

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