Article 65p. 65

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

ARTICLE

21.Easements

over

private

land.

—

When

easements of temporary occupancy over private lands

are needed by a concessionaire for the purpose of

carrying out any work essential to his operations under

the

provisions

of

this

Act,

he

may enter into the

necessary agreement with the owner or legal occupant

of such private lands. If no agreement could be reached,

or if the owner or legal occupant refuses to grant such

easement, or in general, when any obstacle of whatever

nature exists to the immediate and certain acquisition of

the necessary surface area, or of any right indispensable

to the concessionaire for the purpose of the concession,

the Court of First Instance of the province where the

land

is

situated

shall,

upon

application

of

the

concessionaire and posting of the necessary bond, grant

to the said concessionaire authority to use and occupy

the land needed by him in his operations, pending final

determination of the case which shall include among

others the reasonable value or rental of the land to be

occupied

and

the

compensation

for

any

resulting

damage that the landowner or legal occupant may

suffer as a result of such occupation.

When the occupation of a private land is needed by the

concessionaire in connection with his concession, for the

purpose of constructing, maintaining, operating, and

drilling oil wells, tanks, reservoirs, waterways, pipe lines,

roads,

railroads,

tramlines,

telephone

and telegraph

lines,rfields, radio stations, powerhouses, transmission

lines, pumping stations, wharves, piers, and terminals,

which are hereby declared to be for public use or

benefit, the right of eminent domain may be exercised

by

the

Government

through

the

concessionaire, in

accordance with the applicable laws on the matter.

In

all

cases

of

voluntary

agreement

between

the

concessionaire and a private landowner, as referred to in

this article, a copy thereof shall be furnished to the

Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

For the purpose of this article the necessity of the work

will be presumed in the cases of well drilling and

auxiliary

works,

construction

of

pipe

lines,

tanks,

pumping plants, power systems, warehouses, shops, and

means of transport and communication.

ARTICLE

22.Easement

over

public

land.

—

When

easement or right of temporal occupancy over public

land is needed by a concessionaire for the purpose of

carrying out any work essential to his operation under

this Act, such right may be granted by the Secretary of

Agriculture and Natural Resources with due regard to

prior rights of third parties and subject to applicable laws

and regulations. The easement or temporary occupancy

over

public

highways,

roads

and

bridges

by

a

concessionaire for the purpose of carrying out any work

essential

to

his

operations under this Act may be

granted, upon such terms as may be deemed proper in

the public interest, by the Secretary of Public Works and

Communications who shall see to it that such easement

or

temporary

occupancy

shall

cause

the

least

inconvenience to the general public.

The

presumption

of

necessity

stated

in

article

twenty-one applies likewise in this case. (Amending

Article 22 of R.A. No. 387 (Petroleum Act of 1949),

Republic Act No. 4889, [June 17, 1967])

ARTICLE

23.Use

of

water,

timber

and

clay.

—

Concessionaires under this Act shall have the gratuitous

right to utilize for exploration work within his concession,

timber, water, and clay from any public lands within

such concession, all subject to existing prior rights

thereto, to the regulations issued under this Act and to

other laws and regulations on the matter. (Amendments

to R.A. No. 387 (Petroleum Act of 1949), Republic Act No.

3098, [June 17, 1961])

ARTICLE 24.General obligations. — Work corresponding

to

concession

granted

under

this

Act

shall

be

commenced

with

reasonable

promptness

and

prosecuted with reasonable diligence in accordance

with good oil field practice; provided, that in the case of

Exploration

or

Exploitation

Concession,

the

performances of the corresponding work, in compliance

with the provisions of this article, successively in various

areas included in the concession, in accordance with an

efficient and economic program determined by the

concessionaire

and

submitted

to

the

Secretary

of

Agriculture and Natural Resources will be construed as

reasonable diligence in regard to the total area included

in such concession; conforming with accepted good

practices

in connection with modern and scientific

methods

of

exploration,

drilling,

equipping

and

operating

wells

to

enable

maximum

economic

production of petroleum; avoiding hazards to life, health

and property; avoiding the pollution of ther, and of

public or private land or waters.

Non-compliance with the provisions of this article may

be the cause of the imposition of penalties under the

provisions of this or other laws; or of court action to

compel

compliance

therewith;

and

continued

non-compliance shall constitute cause for cancellation of

the concession.

ARTICLE 25.Submission of information and reports by

the concessionaires. — Concessionaires shall submit to

the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources all

information that the latter may require from time to

time, particularly but not limited to, reports on the

results

of

geological

and

geophysical

examinations

including a complete history of each well formation

record; electric logs, and result of all tests; production

reports showing all pertinent production data, etc., in

the form and manner and at intervals prescribed by the

regulations.

ARTICLE 26.Employment of Filipinos. — Concessionaires

under this Act are obligated to give preference to

Philippine citizens in all types of employment within the

country, insofar as such citizens are qualified to perform

the corresponding work with reasonable efficiency and

without hazard to the safety of the operations; and are

obligated likewise to maintain effective programs of

training

and

advancement

commensurate

with the

demonstrated

abilities

of

such

citizens

to

perform

satisfactorily the various types of operations involved in

working the concession. The concessionaires, however,

shall not be hindered from using employees of their own

selection

and

without

restriction

for

executive

or

technical work and for all other work which, in their

judgment, and with the approval of the Director of

Mines,

requires

highly

specialized

training

or

long

experience.

Each concessionaire shall submit to the Government

annual

report

giving

statistical

and

descriptive

information relevant to the provisions of this article, as

provided in the Regulations, and shall be obligated to

demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary of

Agriculture and Natural Resources, upon request, that

these provisions are being complied with. In the event

that, in the opinion of the Secretary of Agriculture and

Natural Resources, such provisions are not complied

with, he is empowered to require the concessionaire to

take such steps as may be necessary to effect such

compliance; without prejudice, however, to the right of

the concessionaire under the exception provided in the

last sentence of the first paragraph of this article.

ARTICLE 27.Force Majeure. — Failure on the part of the

concessionaire to fulfill any of the terms and conditions

provided by this Act or its regulations or by other

relevant laws shall not be deemed a breach of such

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