Amendments to Act No. 3327, as Amended

December 7, 1932

ACT NO. 4016

AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF ACT NUMBERED THIRTY-THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN, ENTITLED "AN ACT AUTHORIZING PRIVATE SURVEYORS TO MAKE CADASTRAL SURVEY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES", AS AMENDED BY ACT NUMBERED THIRTY-FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. Section one of Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. The Director of Lands is hereby authorized to assign to private surveyors such cadastral surveys as may have been ordered by the Governor-General, whenever such measure is required for the prompt adjudication of the titles to said land: Provided, however, That before making such assignment, the Director of Lands shall satisfy himself:

"(a) That such private surveyors have incorporated under Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine and that on the board of directors of such corporations there are at least three private surveyors who have practised for an uninterrupted period of five years prior to the making of such assignment, one of whom is qualified deputy cadastral land surveyor, competent and able to conduct and carry out a cadastral survey under this Act, in accordance with the rules, technical requirements, and standards of the Bureau of Lands: Provided, That it shall not be necessary for the purposes of this Act that all the members of the board of directors, other officers and stockholders of the corporation be private surveyors.

"(b) That said corporation of private surveyors has filed with the municipal council the proper cadastral project, together with the amount, conditions and terms of payment of their fees, and that the same has been sanctioned and approved by said municipal council and by the provincial board concerned, and endorsed to the Governor-General, through the Director of Lands, recommending the project as reasonable and the amount, conditions, and terms of payment of the fees as equitable: Provided, however, That in case of a cadastral survey previously requested by the municipal council under Act Numbered Twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine and authorized by the Governor-General prior the approval of this Act, the approval of the Director of Lands of the amount, conditions, and terms of payment of the fees contained in such cadastral project, submitted to the Director of Lands by a corporation of private surveyors, shall be sufficient in order that said Director of Lands may make the assignment of such cadastral survey requested prior to this Act: Provided, further, That upon the verification and approval by the Director of Lands of the computations and plans of all lots comprised in the cadastral proceedings, and upon written notice by the corporation concerned to the Director of Lands that said corporation will thereafter cease to engage in, and will not accept any assignment of, cadastral surveys, the Bureau of Lands may, if it see fit, take charge of all work thereafter required for the completion of the proceedings, as if the surveys had been made by said bureau.

"(c) That said corporation of private surveyors has given a bond satisfactory to the Director of Lands, in an amount representing not less than ten per centum of the estimated cost of the cadastral project to be made under this Act, to guarantee the faithful execution of the work by such corporation and to cover the cost of any correction work that may have to be done by the Bureau of Lands."

SECTION 2. Section seven of Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and twenty-seven, as amended by section three of Act Numbered Thirty-four hundred and fifty-two, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. The Director of Lands is hereby authorized, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to grant loans to corporations of private surveyors to whom cadastral surveys have been assigned in accordance with this Act, out of the fund created by the preceding section, with legal interest, on the security of the fees remaining to be collected by the municipal treasurers from the occupants or claimants of the lots included in cadastral proceedings submitted to and approved by the Bureau of Lands: Provided, That such loans shall not in any case exceed fifty per centum of the total of such fees, except when the lots have been decreed as private property, in which cases the loan may be increased to not more than seventy-five per centum of the total of the fees remaining to be collected from the owners of such lots, as provided in this section, and shall be repaid with the fees remaining to be collected by said municipal treasurers in connection with said cadastral proceedings: Provided, further, That in case the fees owing by the owners of the lots comprised in any cadastral proceeding or proceedings shall for unavoidable cause not be collected or be difficult to collect, the corporation concerned may request the Director of Lands, and the latter, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, may consent, that the loan granted to such corporation, not exceeding thirty per centum of the total of its uncollected fees, shall, with the interest thereon, be charged to such fees, the balance of said fees to be paid in the manner prescribed herein: And provided, further, That these provisions shall be applicable to loans heretofore granted under the provisions of this section: And provided, finally, That with the written consent of the corporation or corporations desiring to take advantage of the benefits of this Act, the Director of Lands may order that a sum not to exceed five per centum of the uncollected fees of said corporations be used to pay the salaries or commissions of such employees to be appointed by him, as may in his judgment be necessary for the collection of the fees owing by the landowners to said corporations."

SECTION 3. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, December 7, 1932.