Section 7Sec./Art. 7

Acquisition of Residential Lands for Existing Tenants and Residents. In cases where the tenants and residents, referred to in Section 6 of this Decree, are unable to purchase the said lands, the Government shall acquire the land and/or improvements thereon by expropriation or other land acquisition technique provided for under Section 11 of this Decree.

In case of expropriation the Government shall acquire said lands in accordance with the policies of existing law especially Presidential Decree No. 76 as amended by paragraph 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1224 and Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 1313 as herein amended.

Upon the filing of the petition for expropriation and the deposit in the Philippine National Bank at its main office or any of its branches of the amount equivalent to ten per cent (10%) of the declared assessment value in 1975, the Government, or its authorized agency or entity shall immediately have possession, control and disposition of the real property and the improvements thereon with the power of demolition, if necessary, even pending resolution of the issues that may be raised whether before the Court of First Instance, Court of Agrarian Relations, or the higher Courts.