An Act Amending Sections Nine and Eleven of Act Numbered Eleven Hundred and Twenty, Entitled "The Friar Lands Act," Providing for the Manner of Sale of Unoccupied Lands and the Time within which Deferred Payments by Purchasers of Friar Lands may be Made

June 3, 1908

ACT NO. 1847

AN ACT AMENDING SECTIONS NINE AND ELEVEN OF ACT NUMBERED ELEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY, ENTITLED "THE FRIAR LANDS ACT," PROVIDING FOR THE MANNER OF SALE OF UNOCCUPIED LANDS AND THE TIME WITHIN WHICH DEFERRED PAYMENTS BY PURCHASERS OF FRIAR LANDS MAY BE MADE

SECTION 1. Section nine of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty, entitled "The Friar Lands Act," is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 9. In the event the Director of Lands should find any of the said lands vacant, he is directed to take possession and charge thereof, and he may either lease such unoccupied lands for a term not exceeding three years or offer the same for sale, as in his judgment may seem for the best interests of the Government, and in making such sales he shall proceed as provided in section eleven of this Act."

SECTION 2. Section eleven of the said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 11. Should any person who is the actual and bona fide settler and occupant of any portion of said lands at the time the same is conveyed to the Government of the Philippine Islands desire to purchase the land so occupied by him, he shall be entitled to do so at the actual cost thereof to the Government, and shall be allowed to pay for same in equal annual or semi-annual installments: Provided, However, That payment by installments shall be in such amounts and at such time that the entire amount of the purchase price, with interest accrued, shall be paid at least one year before the maturity of what are known as the "friar lands bonds," issued under the provisions of Act Numbered One thousand and thirty-four, that is, on or before February first, nineteen hundred and thirty-three. The terms of purchase shall be agreed upon between the purchaser and the Director of Lands, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and all deferred payments on the purchase price shall bear interest at the rate of four per centum per annum.

"In case of sale of vacant lands under the provisions of section nine of this Act, the Director of Lands shall notify the municipal president or municipal presidents of the municipality or municipalities in which said lands lie of said sale before the same takes place. Upon receipt of such notification by said municipal president or municipal presidents the latter shall publish the same for three consecutive days, by Bandillos, in the Poblacion and barrio or barrios affected, and shall certify all these acts to the Director of Lands who shall then, and not before, proceed to make the said sale with preference, other conditions being equal, to the purchaser who has been a tenant or bona fide occupant at any time of the said lands or parts thereof, and if there has been more than one occupant, to the last tenant or occupant: Provided, However, That no sale of vacant lands made in accordance with this section shall be valid nor of any effect without the requisite as to publication by Bandillos, above provided." TSEHcA

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, June 3, 1908.