Act No. 2125, enacted on February 1, 1912, amends Section 14 of Act No. 1120 to allow for the suspension of rental or installment payments on friar lands in the event of natural calamities, such as fire or flood, that significantly damage a lessee's crops. If a lessee can demonstrate that their harvest value falls below half of the average due to these calamities, the Director of Lands may suspend payment obligations, provided there is no negligence on the part of the lessee and they lack other income sources. Any suspended payments will be redistributed over the remaining contract period. The act emphasizes the need for swift legislative action for public welfare.
February 1, 1912
ACT NO. 2125
AN ACT AMENDING SECTION FOURTEEN OF ACT NUMBERED ELEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY, BY PROVIDING FOR THE SUSPENSION OF PAYMENTS OF RENTALS OR INSTALLMENTS ON THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE SO-CALLED FRIAR LANDS, AND THE INTEREST THEREON, IN THE EVENT OF CALAMITIES ARISING IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE ACTS OF GOD OR OF THE PUBLIC ENEMY
SECTION 1. Section fourteen of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty is hereby amended by adding to the end thereof the following:
"Provided, That when, by reason of fire, flood, drought, or other calamity arising in consequence of the act of God or of the public enemy, the crops of a lessee or purchaser shall be damaged or destroyed to such an extent that the prevailing market value of the harvest for the year in which such calamity occurs shall be less than one-half of the value of an average annual harvest, the Director of Lands, by administrative order, shall suspend the collection of rental, or the installment of the purchase price, or interest due on the deferred payments, or both installment and interest, corresponding to the periods of such calamity, if it shall be made to appear to his satisfaction that such loss has actually occurred, without contributory negligence on the part of said lessee or purchaser, and that the latter has no sufficient income other than that derived from the sale of his crops from which to make payment of the rental or installment and interest due.
"The rental or installment or interest so suspended shall be distributed through the periods remaining on the contract of lease or the sale certificate."
SECTION 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the same shall take effect on its passage, in accordance with section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and forty-five of the Philippine Legislature.
Enacted: February 1, 1912