Quezon City as Capital of the Philippines

July 17, 1948

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 333

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE PERMANENT SEAT OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, TO CREATE A CAPITAL CITY PLANNING COMMISSION, TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF PRIVATE ESTATES WITHIN THE BOUNDARY LIMITS OF SAID CITY, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE ACQUISITION OF PRIVATE ESTATES, FOR THE SUBDIVISION THEREOF, AND FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF STREETS, BRIDGES, WATERWORKS, SEWERAGE AND OTHER MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CAPITAL CITY

SECTION 1. Section two of Commonwealth Act Numbered Five hundred two, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Powers. — The territory within the boundaries described in the next succeeding section is to be known as Quezon City which shall be the capital of the Philippines and the permanent seat of the national government; and by that name it shall have perpetual succession; have and use a common seal and alter the same at pleasure; sue and to be sued, and prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution; take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property, for the benefit of the city, within or without its corporate limits; contract and be contracted with; and execute all the powers hereinafter conferred."

SECTION 2. Section three of Commonwealth Act Numbered Five hundred two, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. Boundaries. — The boundaries and limits of the territory of said city, containing the total area of fifteen thousand six hundred sixty hectares, more or less, are established and prescribed as follows: Beginning at a point marked "1", which is the northwestern corner of the boundary of Quezon City, thence due north 660.00 M. to point "2"; thence N. 43 deg. 30' E., 3,680.00 M. to point "3"; thence N. 18 deg. 00' W., 3,200.00 M. to point "4"; thence N. 45. deg. 00' E., 4,100.00 M. to point "5"; thence due east 4,200.00 M. to point "6"; thence following the boundary line of the Novaliches watershed reservation to point "7"; thence S. 68 deg. 00' E., 1,220.00 M. crossing to Mariquina river eastward to point "8"; thence due south 760.00 M. to point "9"; thence S. 21 deg. 30 W., 3,160.00 M. to point "10"; thence S. 75 deg. 30 W'., 730.00 M. to point "11"; thence S. 10 deg. 30 W'., 880.00 M. to point "12"; thence S. 15 deg. 00 E'., 670.00 M. to point "13"; thence S. 37 deg. 15' W., 1,650.00 M. to point "14"; thence S. 22 deg. 00 W'., 1,820.00 M. to point "15"; thence N. 87 deg. 30' W., 250.00 M. crossing Mariquina river westward to point "16", which is a corner of Quezon City; thence following the northern boundary of Quezon City to point of beginning; and the territory covered by Quezon City as fixed in Commonwealth Act Numbered Five hundred two, as amended by Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred fifty-nine."

SECTION 3. There is hereby created and established a Capital City Planning Commission composed of seven Members three of whom shall not be government officials to be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the Congress of the Philippines. The terms of office of the members of the Commission shall expire at the termination of their work but any member may be removed by the President for cause. The members of the Commission, except the chairman, shall receive a per diem of twenty-five pesos for each day of meeting, not more than two times a week, actually attended by them. All members shall be given the necessary traveling and other expenses not exceeding one hundred pesos while engaged in work for the Commission. The President shall designate one of the members of the Commission as chairman therefor who will act as general manager and whose compensation shall be ten thousand pesos per annum. During the temporary absence of the chairman, the Commission shall elect one of its members as temporary chairman who will exercise all the duties and enjoy all the privileges and emoluments of the chairman during the time he is acting as such temporary chairman.

The President, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the Congress of the Philippines, shall appoint an executive secretary of the Commission who shall be chosen on the basis of his administrative and technical qualifications. He shall receive a compensation of six thousand pesos per annum.

SECTION 4. The Commission shall have the following powers and duties: cd

(a) To make and adopt or cause to be made or adopted a general plan for the physical development of the Capital City of the Philippines accompanied with maps, sketches, overlays, plates, charts, and descriptive explanatory matter, showing the Commission's recommendations for the said physical development including, among other things, the general location, character, and extent of streets, viaducts, bridges, waterways, waterfronts, boulevards, parkways, playgrounds, squares, parks, and other public ways, ground and open spaces; the general location and extent of areas suitable for residential development; the general location and extent of public buildings and other properties; and the general location and extent of public utilities, terminals, and markets, for water supply, power, sanitation, transportation, communication, distribution, and other purposes;

(b) To establish in said Capital City of the Philippines the necessary districts or zones for such purposes as industry, trade, transportation, residence, public or semi-public, civic activities, and recreation; and to determine the height of, and area covered by, buildings; the density of populations; business and advertising signs, in connection with which, restrictions regarding such factors as size and projection over street lines may be adopted; proportion of the lot on which buildings may be constructed; and sizes of lots, courts, and other open spaces;

(c) To adopt rules and regulations which shall govern the acquisition of private lands and their subdivision into small lots for lease or sale to the public as to residential zones, or for lease only as to industrial and commercial zones, which regulations may include provisions referring to the form of development proposed and to the uses of the surrounding land for streets; for light, air, and density of population; for water drainage and sanitary facilities; for lot sizes and shapes; for obligatory reservations of a reasonable minimum area for schools, parks, and other public purposes, and for the extent and manner in which these facilities shall be installed as a condition precedent to the approval of plan;

(d) To appoint subject to the approval of the President such technical employees as may be required without regard to the Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, the necessary consultants, and prescribe their duties and fix their salary or compensation; and

(e) In general, to have such powers as may be necessary to enable it to accomplish its task as outlined by this Act: Provided, That the general plan, the proper zoning and subdivision of the Capital City of the Philippines, pursuant to this Act, shall have as their general purposes to guide and accomplish a coordinated, adjusted, harmonious construction and future development of the said Capital City of the Philippines which will, in accordance with the present and future needs, best promote health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development; including, among other things, adequate provisions for light and air, the promotion of healthful and convenient distribution of population; the promotion of good civic design and arrangement, economic, wise, efficient and equitable expenditure of public funds, and the adequate provision of public utilities and other public requirements.

SECTION 5. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated to be disbursed by the Commission for the salaries of the necessary personnel, for the per diems of the Members of the Commission and for such incidental expenses as may be incurred to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 6. The Director of Lands shall undertake within thirty days upon the approval of this Act the survey of the area defined in section 2 hereof and prepare a plan indicating the names of owners of the different lots, area, assessed value, improvements if any which plan shall be turned over to the Commission within one hundred twenty days thereafter for its use in the preparation of the development. The boundaries of the present Quezon City as defined in section 2 hereof shall be indicated in the plan.

SECTION 7. The Capital City Planning Commission shall submit to the President within one year after its organization the master plan of the Capital City of the Philippines for his approval. The Commission shall be charged with the execution of the master plan as approved by the President. The allocation of lots for sale or lease to the public in accordance with section 4 (c) of this Act shall be made with the approval of the President.

SECTION 8. The Capital City Planning Commission herein created is hereby authorized to acquire, through direct purchase at a price not exceeding the assessed value as of January one, nineteen hundred forty-six, or through the institution of expropriation proceedings, all private estates included within the area described in section 2 hereof.

The price of each lot to be charged by the government to the public shall be at cost plus six per centum on cash basis. If the lot is to be sold on installment basis an interest at the rate of four per centum per annum shall be added to the original cost of the lot in addition to the six per centum referred to above. In the computation of the actual cost of the lot for sale to the public, the expenses incurred by the government in preparing the subdivision plan including the cost of construction of streets, bridges, and other municipal improvements shall be added to the original purchase price of the private estate. The rate of lease per square meter in the commercial and industrial zones shall be fixed by the Commission with the approval of the President: Provided, however, That award of lease or sale shall be made as far as practicable to the highest bidder.

 

SECTION 9. The President of the Philippines is authorized to issue, in the name and behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, bonds in an amount of twenty million pesos, the proceeds of which shall be used as a revolving fund for the acquisition of private estates, the subdivision of the area, and the construction of streets, bridges, waterworks, sewerage and other municipal improvements in the Capital City of the Philippines.

The bonds so authorized to be issued shall bear such date and in such form as the President of the Philippines may determine and shall bear such rate of interest and run for such length of time as may be determined by the President. Both principal and interest shall be payable in Philippine currency or its equivalent in the United States currency, in the discretion of the Secretary of Finance, at the Treasury of the Philippines, and the interest shall be payable at such periods as the President of the Philippines may determine.

Said bonds shall be exempt from taxation by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines or by any political or municipal subdivisions thereof, which fact shall be stated upon their face, in accordance with this Act, under which the said bonds are issued.

SECTION 10. A sinking fund is hereby created for the payment of the bonds issued under the provisions of this Act, in such manner that the total amount thereof at each annual due date of the bond issue shall be equal to the total of an annuity of nineteen hundred and thirty-seven pesos and thirteen centavos for each one hundred thousand pesos of bonds outstanding, accrued at the rate of interest of three and one-half per centum per annum. Said fund shall be under the custody of the Central Bank which shall invest the same in such manner as the Monetary Board may approve in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered Three thousand and fourteen which governs the investment of sinking funds, shall charge all the expenses of such investment to said sinking fund and shall credit to the same the interest on investment and other income belonging to it.

SECTION 11. A standing annual appropriation is hereby made out of any general fund in the National Treasury, of such sum as may be necessary to provide for the sinking fund created in the next preceding section and for the interest on bonds issued by virtue of this Act. A further appropriation is hereby made, out of the general funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, of a sufficient sum to cover the expenses of the issue and sale of the bonds authorized by this Act.

SECTION 12. The Capital City Planning Commission shall have the supervision of all the work to be done and improvements to be made with the proceeds of the sale of the bonds authorized by this Act, which work shall be begun as soon as the Treasurer of the Philippines shall certify that the fund herein provided for is available.

All income derived from the sale of rental of lots in the Capital City of the Philippines shall be credited to the revolving fund herein created from the proceeds of the sale of bonds authorized by this Act which may be used only for the execution, improvement, or extension of the master plan for the Capital City of the Philippines and for the maintenance and operation of public services therein.

SECTION 13. All acts and executive orders or regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed.

SECTION 14. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: July 17, 1948

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 45, No. 3, p. 1184 in March 1949