Article 5p. 5

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

CA No 141 | Public Land Act

As amended

AN ACT TO AMEND AND COMPILE THE LAWS RELATIVE

TO LANDS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

TITLE I Title and Application of the Act,

Lands to Which It Refers, and Classification,

Delimitation

and

Survey

Thereof

for

Concession

CHAPTER I Short Title of the Act, Lands to

Which

It Applies and Officers Charged

With Its Execution

SECTION 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The Public

Land Act."

SECTION 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 administration and disposition of

the lands commonly called "friar lands" and those which,

being privately owned, have reverted to or become the

property of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, which

administration and disposition shall be governed by the

laws at present in force or which may hereafter be

enacted.

SECTION 3. The Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce

shall be the executive officer charged with carrying out

the provisions of this Act through the Director of Lands,

who shall act under his immediate control.

SECTION 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 management of the lands of the

public domain, and his decisions as to questions of fact

shall be conclusive when approved by the Secretary of

Agriculture and Commerce.

SECTION 5. The Director of Lands, with the approval of

the

Secretary

of

Agriculture

and

Commerce,

shall

prepare and issue such forms, instructions, rules, 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, Delimitation, and

Survey of Lands of the Public Domain, for

the Concession Thereof

SECTION 6. The President, upon the recommendation of

the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, shall from

time to time classify the lands of the public domain into

—

(a) Alienable or disposable,

(b) Timber, and

(c) Mineral lands,

and may at any time and in a like manner transfer such

lands from one class to another, for the purposes of their

administration and disposition.

SECTION 7. For the purposes of the administration and

disposition of alienable or disposable public lands, the

President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of

Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to time

declare what lands are open to disposition or concession

under this Act.

SECTION 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

reserved

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,

having been reserved or appropriated, have ceased to be

so. However, the President may, for reasons of public

interest, declare lands of the public domain open to

disposition before the same have had their boundaries

established or been surveyed, or may, for the same

reason, suspend their concession or disposition until

they

are

again

declared

open

to

concession

or

disposition by proclamation duly published or by Act of

the National Assembly.

SECTION 9. For the purpose of their administration and

disposition, the lands of the public domain alienable or

open to disposition shall be classified, according to the

use or purposes to which such lands are destined, as

follows:

(a) Agricultural;

(b) Residential, commercial, industrial, or for similar

productive purposes;

(c) Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes;

(d)

Reservations

for town sites and for public and

quasi-public uses.

The President, upon recommendation by the Secretary

of Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to time

make the classifications provided for in this section, and

may, at any time and in a similar manner, transfer lands

from one class to another.

SECTION 10. The 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

III

Forms

of

Concession

of

Agricultural Lands

SECTION

11.

Public

lands

suitable

for

agricultural

purposes can be disposed of only as follows, and not

otherwise:

(1) For homestead settlement;

(2) By sale;

(3) By lease;

(4) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles:

(a) By judicial legalization;

(b) By administrative legalization (free patent).

© 2018 Compiled by RGL

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