Article 17p. 17

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

telegraph

and

telephone

lines,

airport

runways,

including sites necessary for terminal buildings and

other government structures needed for full operation of

the airport, as well as areas and sites for government

buildings for Resident and/or Project Engineers needed

in

the

prosecution

of

government-infrastructure

projects, and similar works as the Government or any

public or quasi-public service or enterprise, including

mining or forest concessionaires, may reasonably require

for carrying on their business, with damages for the

improvements only.

Government officials charged with the prosecution of

these projects or their representatives are authorized to

take

immediate

possession

of

the

portion

of

the

property subject of the lien as soon as the need arises

and after due notice to the owners. It is however,

understood that ownership over said properties shall

immediately revert to the title holders should the airport

be abandoned or when the infrastructure projects are

completed and buildings used by project engineers are

abandoned or dismantled, but subject to the same lien

for future improvements. (Amending Section 112 of C.A.

No. 141 As Amended, Presidential Decree No. 1361, [April

26, 1978])

SECTION 113. The beneficial use of water shall be the

basis, the measure, and the limit of all rights thereto, and

the patents herein granted shall be subject to the right

of the Government to make such rules and regulations

for the use of water and the protection of the water

supply, and for other public purposes, as it may deem

best

for the public good. Whenever, by priority of

possession,

rights

to

the

use

of water for mining,

agricultural,

manufacturing,

or other purposes have

vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and

acknowledged by the local customs, or by the laws and

decisions of the courts, the possessors and owners of

such vested rights vested and accrued under this Act

shall

be

subject

to

and

shall

be

maintained

and

protected in the same, and all patents under this Act

shall be subject to any vested and accrued rights to

ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such

water rights as may have been acquired in the manner

above described prior to April eleven, eighteen hundred

and ninety-nine.

SECTION

114.

There

is

hereby

reserved

from

the

operation of all patents, certificates, entries, and grants

by the Government authorized under this Act the right

to use for the purposes of power any flow of water in any

stream running through or by the land granted, the

convertible power from which at ordinary low water

exceeds fifty horsepower. Where the convertible power

in any stream running through or by land granted under

the authority of this Act thus exceeds fifty horsepower,

and there is no means of using such power except by the

occupation of a part of the land granted under authority

of this Act, then so much land as is reasonably necessary

for the mill site or site for the power house, and for a

suitable dam and site for massing the water, is hereby

excepted from such grants, not exceeding four hectares,

and a right of way to the nearest public highway from

the land thus excepted, and also a right of way for the

construction

and

maintenance

of

such

flumes,

aqueducts, wires, poles, or other conduits as may be

needed in conveying the water to the point where its fall

will yield the greatest power, or the power from the

point of conversion to the point of use, is reserved as a

servitude

or

easement

upon

the

land

granted

by

authority of this Act: Provided, however, That when the

Government or any concessionaire of the Government

shall take possession of the land under this section

which a grantee under this Act shall have paid for,

supposing it to be subject to grant under this Act, said

grantee

shall

be

entitled

to

indemnity

from

the

Government or the concessionaire, as the case may be,

in the amount, if any, paid by him to the Government for

the land taken from him by virtue of this section: And

provided, further, That with respect to the flow of water,

except for converting the same into power exceeding

fifty horse power, said grantee shall be entitled to the

same use of the water flowing through or along his land

that other private owners enjoy under the law, subject to

the governmental regulation provided in the previous

section. Water power privileges in which the convertible

power at ordinary low water shall exceed fifty horse

power shall be disposed of only upon terms established

by an Act of the Assembly concerning the use, lease or

acquisition of such water privilege.

SECTION 115. All the lands granted by virtue of this Act

except homestead upon which final proof has not been

made and approved, shall, even though, and while the

title remains in the State, be subject to the ordinary

taxes, which shall be paid by the grantee beginning with

the year next following the one in which the application

or concession has been approved or the contract signed,

as the case may be, on the basis of the value fixed in

such approval, concession or contract.

SECTION 116. The appraisal or reappraisal of the lands or

improvements

subject

to

concession

or

disposition

under this Act shall be made by the Director of Lands,

with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and

Commerce. The Director of Lands may request the

assistance of the provincial treasurer of the province in

which the land lies or may appoint a committee for such

purpose in the province or in the municipality in which

the land lies. In no case shall the appraisal or reappraisal

be less than the expense incurred or which may be

incurred by the Government in connection with the

application or concession, nor shall any reappraisal be

made with an increase of more than one hundred per

centum

upon

the

appraisal

or

reappraisal

next

preceding.

SECTION

117.

All

sums

due

and

payable

to

the

Government under this Act, except homestead fees, shall

draw simple interest at the rate of four per centum per

annum from and after the date in which the debtor shall

become delinquent.

SECTION 118. Except in favor of the Government or any of

its branches, units, or institutions, lands acquired under

free patent or homestead provisions shall not be subject

to encumbrance or alienation from the date of the

approval of the application and for a term of five years

from and after the date of issuance of the patent or

grant, nor shall they become liable to the satisfaction of

any debt contracted prior to the expiration of said

period, but the improvements or crops on the land may

be

mortgaged

or

pledged

to

qualified

persons,

associations, or corporations.

No alienation, transfer, or conveyance of any homestead

after

five

years

and

before

twenty-five

years

after

issuance of title shall be valid without the approval of the

Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, which approval

shall not be denied except on constitutional and legal

grounds. (Amendments to Certain Sections of C.A. No.

141 (Public Land Act), Commonwealth Act No. 456, [June

8, 1939])

SECTION 119. Every conveyance of land acquired under

the free patent or homestead provisions, when proper,

shall be subject to repurchase by the applicant, his

widow, or legal heirs, within a period of five years from

the date of the conveyance.

SECTION 120. Conveyance and encumbrance made by

persons

belonging

to

the

so-called

"non-christian

Filipinos" or national cultural minorities, when proper,

shall be valid if the person making the conveyance or

encumbrance is able to read and can understand the

language in which the instrument of conveyance or

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