Speedy Implementation of P.D. Nos. 457, 729 and 1046-A

March 28, 1979

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 905

WHEREAS, on May 15, 1974, Presidential Decree 457 was issued authorizing U.P. Los Baños to acquire by negotiated sale or by expropriation, certain private properties for their expansion of the University's and International Rice Research Institute's agricultural research programs, especially for rice and multiple cropping:

WHEREAS, on June 5, 1975, Presidential Decree 729 was issued establishing the Institute of Plant Breeding at UPLB with the specific purpose of accelerating the development of high yielding and resistant varieties of crops in support of the country's modernizing and diversifying agriculture;

WHEREAS, on November 12, 1976, Presidential Decree 1046-A was issued amending Presidential Decree 729 by providing for the establishment of the National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory in IPB; increasing the experimental land to be acquired by the IPB for plant breeding research and providing the mode and financing of its acquisitions; cdt

WHEREAS, it has come to my attention that the majority of the dispossessed tenant-tillers and land-owners who have given up their properties affected by the above decrees have not been properly compensated and relocated;

WHEREAS, our scientists at UPLB have in the course of their investigations established breakthroughs in methodologies which augur significant outputs particularly in the development of high-yielding and disease-resistant corn hybrids, soybeans, cassava and wheat varieties, but which developments require additional research inputs;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines by the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby authorize, order and direct: aisa dc

A. The Minister of the Budget

1. To release immediately the current allocation for capital outlay in CY 1979 of the U.P. Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding in the amount of Five Million Five Hundred Six Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Pesos (P5,506,555.00) (Appendix 1). cd i

2. To release the following amounts from the Special Activities Fund under Letter I, Section XXXI of the 1979 General Appropriations Act (Batas Pambansa Bilang 1):

a. Development costs of resettlement sites for dispossessed tenant-tillers and landless workers in Bay and Los Baños, Laguna under Presidential Decree 457 and Presidential Decree 1046-A in the amount of Two Million Eight Hundred Forty One Thousand Pesos (P2,841,000.00) (Appendix 2).

b. Additional current operating expenses for CY 1979 to IPB for plant improvement research on corn hybrids, sorghum, hybrids, mongo, peanuts, soybeans, cassava and wheat varieties in the amount of Two Million Pesos (P2,000,000.00).

B. The Minister of Human Settlements

To incorporate the above-mentioned resettlement sites as Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services projects in coordination with U.P. Los Baños in order to improve the housing and living conditions of the tenant-tillers and landless workers affected by the above decrees. cd i

C. Chancellor, U.P. Los Baños

1. To expedite the processing and payment to the dispossessed tenant-tillers and land-owners as provided for in P.D. 457 and P.D. 1046-A.

2. To expedite the improvement of these resettlement sites, relocation of the said dispossessed tenant tillers and landless workers into the resettlement sites and the issuance of appropriate home lot titles. aisa dc

This Letter of Instructions shall be effective immediately.

DONE on this 28th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Nine, in the City of Manila.