Limit on Licenses for Cutting of Timber and Utilization of Other Forest Products

June 30, 1930

ACT NO. 3674

AN ACT TO LIMIT THE GRANTING OF LICENSES FOR THE CUTTING OF TIMBER AND THE UTILIZATION OF OTHER FOREST PRODUCTS TO PHILIPPINE AND AMERICAN CITIZENS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. From and after the date on which this Act shall take effect, no permit, license, or concession for cutting timber or utilizing or taking other forest products in the public forests of the Philippine Islands shall be granted to any person who is not a citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, or of a country the laws of which grant similar permission to Filipino citizens, nor to any association or corporation that is not duly registered or incorporated under the laws of the Philippine Islands, and of which at least sixty-one per centum of the capital stock or of any interests in said capital stock belongs wholly to citizens of the Philippine Islands or of the United States.

SECTION 2. This Act shall not be applicable to foreign persons, associations, or corporations who, prior to the approval hereof, have legally obtained a permit, license, or concession to cut timber or utilize or take other forest products in the public forests of the Philippine Islands: Provided, however, That no person, association, or corporation licensed to cut timber or utilize or take other forest products in the public forests of the Philippine Islands, whether the license was obtained prior to or after the approval of this Act, or any stockholder of such association or corporation shall be authorized to transfer or assign its or his interest or sell its or his stock, directly or indirectly, to persons, associations or corporations not qualified under section one of this Act to hold timber or forest licenses, under penalty of forfeiture of its license or concession: Provided, further, That a transfer made by a stockholder of an association or a corporation of his stock or interest in violation of the provisions hereof shall not be cause of forfeiture of the license or concession given to such association or corporation, but said transfer shall be null and void and shall not be registered in the books of such association or corporation; Provided, finally, That the present licenses or concessions irrespective of the citizenship of the holders thereof, may be renewed by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources upon their expiration and as often as may be reasonably necessary to allow the holders thereof to fully utilize the timber or other forest products covered by said licenses or concessions, unless the said holders of such licenses or concessions have been guilty of a serious violation of the Forest Law and regulations or of the provisions of this Act. cdta

SECTION 3. 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: June 30, 1930