An Act Further Amending Section Five of Act Numbered Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Five, as Amended by Acts Numbered Nineteen Hundred and Thirty-Seven and Twenty-Two Hundred and Fifty-Nine, Providing Special Proceedings for the Settlement and Adjudication of Land Titles

February 5, 1915

ACT NO. 2484

AN ACT FURTHER AMENDING SECTION FIVE OF ACT NUMBERED EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE, AS AMENDED BY ACTS NUMBERED NINETEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN AND TWENTY-TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE, PROVIDING SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS FOR THE SETTLEMENT AND ADJUDICATION OF LAND TITLES

SECTION 1. Section five of Act Numbered Eighteen hundred and seventy-five, as amended by Acts Numbered Nineteen hundred and thirty-seven and Twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of private surveyors who make surveys, maps, or plats of property for which registration of title is requested to comply with the requirements of the preceding section and to promptly send their reports, surveys, maps, and plats of such property to the Bureau of Lands for verification. Private surveyors shall not be authorized to make surveys for the Court of Land Registration unless they shall have passed either a civil-service examination or an examination by the Bureau of Lands for the purpose of determining their qualifications: Provided, however, That surveyors with an academic diploma issued by a duly established and recognized university, college, or school, who have practiced their profession in the Philippine Islands prior to June first, nineteen hundred and nine (excepting those who, having taken the examination failed to obtain a rating of fifty per centum therein), or who have held the office of assistant in one of the technical corps of engineers of public works, forests, mines, and agronomists during the Spanish Government, shall be authorized by the Director of Lands to make surveys for the Court of Land Registration without the necessity of passing the examination provided by this section. All surveys and plans made by private surveyors under said authorization shall be executed in strict accordance with the 'Manual of instructions of surveys to be verified by the Director of Lands for presentation to the Court of Land Registration' issued by the Bureau of Lands: And provided further, That whenever it shall appear to the Director of Lands that there is doubt as to the accuracy of any plan or survey made under such authorization, such survey or plan shall be subject to verification in the manner provided in section sixty-six of Act Numbered Nine hundred and twenty-six, and if it appear that the survey is defective, incorrect, or substantially erroneous, owing to incompetency, inexperience, bad faith, or inexcusable negligence, the Director of Lands may thereupon withdraw the authorization of said surveyor, subject to appeal by the surveyor, to be taken within five days of receipt of notice of the withdrawal, to a committee composed of the Governor-General, the judge of the Court of Land Registration, and a duly authorized surveyor appointed by the Governor-General, the decision of which committee shall be final. If no appeal is taken as herein provided, or if the said committee shall approve the action of the Director of Lands in withdrawing from said surveyor the authorization to make surveys, such surveyor shall not be permitted to make surveys or plans for the Court of Land Registration without first having passed the examination provided for in this section. Pending appeal, the right of the surveyor to make surveys for the Court of Land Registration shall be suspended: And provided further, That under the designation of surveyors with academic diploma shall be recognized all those who, with similar diplomas in the time of the Spanish Government, were considered as such surveyors or as entitled to practice the said profession. SADECI

SECTION 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the same shall take effect on its passage, in accordance with the provisions of section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and forty-five of the Philippine Legislature. TcEaAS

Enacted, February 5, 1915.