An Act to Provide that Certain Claims of Rights of Ownership to Parcels of Land Included in Townsite Reservations may be Filed in the Proper Court Within the Period of One Year, Under Certain Conditions

May 6, 1918

ACT NO. 2777

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN CLAIMS OF RIGHTS OF OWNERSHIP TO PARCELS OF LAND INCLUDED IN TOWNSITE RESERVATIONS MAY BE FILED IN THE PROPER COURT WITHIN THE PERIOD OF ONE YEAR, UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS

SECTION 1. In order to give an opportunity to persons or corporations claiming rights of ownership to parcels of land included within townsite reservations, who have for any reason been unable to file such claims in the proper court within the time limit fixed by law, with the result that, on account of the non-presentation of such claims, such parcels have been declared, or are about to be declared, or may be declared, to be public land, by virtue of judicial proceedings instituted during the ten years last preceding the approval of this Act, the said judicial proceedings instituted with regard to such reservations under the provisions of section sixty-two of Act Numbered Nine hundred and twenty-six are hereby declared reopened only in so far as the parcel or parcels of land not alienated or otherwise disposed of by the Government are concerned, so that beginning with the date of the approval of this Act, the proper Court of First Instance shall begin said judicial proceedings de novo as if no action had been taken with regard to the said parcels.

SECTION 2. For the purposes of this Act, the Director of Lands shall, within one year from and after the date on which the same takes effect, determine the parcel or parcels of land within such reservations concerning which no claim has been filed or concerning which claims have been filed after the expiration of the time limit fixed therefor, and which have for this reason been declared, or are about to be declared, or may be declared, to be land of the public domain, and upon having determined the same, he shall so certify to the proper Court of First Instance and such certificate shall serve and be considered as a notice to said court for the reopening of the judicial proceedings provided for in the said section of Act Numbered Nine hundred and twenty-six.

SECTION 3. In order that a person or corporation may present and file in the competent court an application under the provisions of this Act, he shall pay, in addition to the fees prescribed by Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, a proportional share of the cost of the survey of the reservation in which the land covered by the application is comprised, and of the publication of the notice announcing the creation of said reservation, and of other expenses in connection therewith, said proportional share to be fixed by the Bureau of Lands in the form provided for in the next following section. AaCTcI

SECTION 4. Immediately after the final approval of this Act, the Director of Lands shall proceed to fix the total expense incurred in each of the reservations referred to in the present Act, as regards their survey, the publication of notices announcing the creation of said reservations, and other expenses inherent to the same. As soon as such cost shall have been fixed, the Director of Lands shall appoint for each province where such a reservation exists a committee composed of one of the inspectors of said office, the provincial treasurer, and a member of the provincial board concerned. It shall be the duty of such committee to distribute the total cost fixed by the Director of Lands pro rata among the parcels comprised in each reservation, taking into consideration, upon making such distribution, the size of each parcel, the facility or difficulty of surveying the same, its real value in relation to its location, and other details which, in the judgment of the Director of Lands, must be considered by the committee in order that the distribution made by the same may be the most just and equitable. The portion of the cost assigned by the committee to each parcel, once approved by the Director of Lands, shall be paid by the claimant of such parcel.

SECTION 5. Upon the presentation to a court having jurisdiction over any of the reservations mentioned in this Act, of an application for registration under the provisions thereof, it shall be the duty of the clerk of such court to require the applicant to attach to his application, as a part thereof, the receipt of the Bureau of Lands showing the applicant to have paid the expense of the survey and other expenses assessed against the parcel or parcels applied for, as provided in section three of this Act.

SECTION 6. Upon the express or implicit approval of this Act by the President of the United States, as provided in the Act of Congress approved on August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, entitled "An Act to declare the purpose of the people of the United States as to the future political status of the people of the Philippine Islands, and to provide a more autonomous government for those Islands," the Governor-General shall so announce forthwith, by means of a proclamation, and this Act shall take effect on the date of such proclamation.

Approved: May 6, 1918.