Authority of President to Sell Government Cottages in Baguio

June 18, 1955

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1361

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES TO SELL THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT COTTAGES IN BAGUIO AND THE LOTS IN WHICH THEY ARE SITUATED AND THE FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT

SECTION 1. The President of the Philippines is hereby authorized to sell the national government cottages in Baguio and the lots in which they are situated and the furniture and equipment, save those reserved for the President, Vice-President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, members of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals, and the Auditor General.

SECTION 2. An Appraisal Committee is hereby created composed of the District Engineer of Benguet, the City Assessor and the City Auditor of Baguio, to appraise each cottage and lot including furniture and equipment to be sold, and no cottage and lot including furniture and equipment may be sold unless it has first been properly appraised by the Committee. Before the appraisal of the lots, the district engineer shall segregate each lot by metes and bounds and shall exclude the portions that may be needed as school sites, playgrounds, roads, government offices and depots, and those reserved for the officials mentioned in section one hereof. The segregation plan shall be submitted to the President of the Philippines for approval. aisa dc

SECTION 3. The cottages and lots including furniture and equipment shall be sold at public auction to the highest bidder under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe: Provided, That no cottage and lot including furniture and equipment may be sold for less than the appraised actual value of each cottage and lot including furniture and equipment as found by the Committee on Appraisal: Provided, further, That no person or family shall buy more than one cottage and the lot including furniture and equipment in which it is built: Provided, furthermore, That no person who already owns residential property in Baguio shall be allowed to participate in the public auction to sell these cottages and lots including furniture and equipment: Provided, furthermore, That every cottage and the lot including furniture and equipment in which it is built in Jungle Town shall be sold, at a price to be fixed by the Committee on Appraisal payable in ten yearly installments, to the present lessee thereof who has continuously leased them for not less than three years prior to the date of the approval of this Act, unless such lessee refuses to exercise the right herein granted within a period of six months from the date he is notified in writing that such cottage and lot including furniture and equipment are ready for sale to him as well as of the price thereof, in which case the same shall be sold in like manner as the cottages and lots including furniture and equipment not located in Jungle Town: And provided, finally, That if a lot and/or cottage is excluded from the sale because the lot is needed as provided in section two hereof, the occupant shall be assigned another lot in Jungle Town which shall be sold to him as herein provided.

SECTION 4. Except as provided in section three hereof, no government official or employee or member of his family shall be allowed to purchase any of the cottages and lots including furniture and equipment, and any sale to such person shall be void: Provided, That if a government official or employee is the occupant and lessee of a cottage continuously for at least five years prior to the approval of this Act, and does not own any residential lot in the City of Baguio, he shall be allowed to purchase the same and be given preference in the sale of the cottage and lot so occupied and leased by him. casia

SECTION 5. No property purchased under this Act shall be sold, transferred, or conveyed to other parties within a period of ten years after the consummation of the sale.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 18, 1955

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 51, No. 8, p. 3939 in August 1955