AN ACT TO AMEND AND COMPILE THE LAWS RELATIVE TO LANDS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

• Number: Act No. 2874
• Sections: 131

Preamble

Title and application of the Act, lands to which it refers, and classification, delimitation, and survey thereof for concession.

CHAPTER I.—Short title of the Act, lands to which it applies, and officers charged with its execution.

Agricultural public lands.

Lands for commercial or industrial purposes and other;

similar productive purposes.

suitable for-commerce and industry.

Lands for educational, charitable, and other similar charitable, and

purpose.

and other similar purposes.

Reservations.

General provisions.

Legal restrictions and encumbrances.

Final provisions.

Section 1

SECTION 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The Public Land Act."

Section 2

SEC. 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to the lands of the public domain; but timber and mineral lands shall be governed by special laws and nothing in this Act provided shall be understood or construed to change or modify the government and disposition of the lands commonly called "friar lands" and those which, being privately owned, have reverted to or become the property of the Philippine Government, which administration and disposition shall be governed by the laws at present in force or which may hereafter be. enacted by the Legislature.

Section 3

SEC. 3. While title to lands of the public domain remains in the Government, the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall be the executive officer charged with carry out the provisions of this Act, through the Director of Lands, who shall act under his immediate control.

Section 4

SEC. 4. Subject to said control, the Director of Lands shall have direct executive control of the survey, classification, lease, sale, or any other form of concession or disposition and management of the lands of the public domain, and his decisions as to questions of facts shall be conclusive when approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Section 5

SEC. 5; The Director of Lands, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources; shall prepare and issue, such forms, instructions, rules, and regulations consistent with this Act, as may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the provisions thereof and for the conduct of proceedings arising under such provisions.

CHAPTER II.—Classification,delimitation, and survey of lands of the public domain, for the concession thereof.

Section 6

SEC. 6. The Governor-General, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall from time to time classify the lands of the public domain into—

(a) Alienable or disposable,

(b) Timber, and

(c) Mineral lands,

and may at any time and in a like manner transfer such lands from one class to another, for the purposes of their government and disposition.

Section 7

SEC. 7. For the purposes of the government and disposition of alienable or disposable public lands, the Governor-General, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall from time to declare what lands are open to disposition or concession under this Acts.

Section 8

SEC. 8. Only those lands shall be declared open to disposition or concession which have been officially delimited and classified and, when practicable, surveyed, and which have not been reserved for public or quasi-public uses, nor appropriated by the Government, nor in any manner become private property, nor those on which a private right authorized and recognized by this Act or any other valid law may be claimed, or which, having been reserved or appropriated, have ceased to be so. However, the Governor-General may, for reasons of public interest, declare lands of the public domain open to disposition before the same have had their boundaries established or been Surveyed, or may, for the same reasons, suspend their concession or disposition until they are again declared open to concession or disposition by proclamation" duly published or by Act of the Legislature.

Section 9

SEC. 9. For the purposes of their government and disposition, the lands of the public domain alienable or open to disposition shall be classified, according to the use or purposes to which such lands are destined, as follows:

(a) Agricultural.

(b) Commercial, industrial, or for similar productive purposes.

(c) Educational, charitable, and other similar purposed.

(d) Reservations for town sites, and for public and quasi-public uses.

The Governor-General, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall from time to time make the classifications provided for in this section, and may, at any time and in a similar manner, transfer lands from one class to another.

Section 10

SEC. 10. The words "alienation," "disposition,",or "concession" as used in this Act, shall mean any of the methods authorized by this Act for the acquisition, lease, use, or benefit of the lands of the public domain other than timber or mineral lands.

Section 11

SEC. 11. Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes cap be disposed of only as follows, and not otherwise:

(1) For homestead settlement.

(2) By sale.

(3) By lease.

(4) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles:

(a) By administrative legalization (free patent).

(b) By judicial legalization.

Section 12

SEC. 12. Any citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, over the age of eighteen years, or the head of a family, who does not own more than twenty-four hectares of land in said Islands or has not had the benefit of any gratuitous allotment of more than twenty-four hectares of land since the occupation of the Philippine Islands by the United States, may enter a homestead of not exceeding twenty-four hectares of agricultural land of the public domain.

Section 13

SEC. 13. Upon the filing of an application for a homestead, the Director of Lands, if he finds that the application should be approved, shall do so and authorize the applicant to take possession of the land upon the payment of ten pesos, Philippine currency, as entry fee. Within six months from and after the date of the approval of the application, the applicant shall begin to work the homestead, otherwise he shall lose his prior right to the land.

Section 14

SEC. 14. No certificate shall be given or patent issued for the land applied for until the land has been improved and cultivated. The period within which the land shall be cultivated shall not be less than two nor more than five years, from and after the date of the approval of the application. The applicant shall,, within the said period, notify the Director of Lands as soon as he is ready to acquire the title. If at the date of such notice or at any time within the two years next following the expiration of said period, the applicant shall prove to the satisfaction of the Director of Lands by affidavits of two credible witnesses, that he has resided in the municipality in which the land is located; or in a municipality adjacent to the same, and has cultivated the land continuously since the approval of the application, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated or encumbered, and that he has complied with all the requirements of this Act, then, upon the payment of ten pesos, he shall be entitled to a patent.

Section 15

SEC. 15. At the option of the applicant, payment of the fees required in this chapter may be made in annual installments. These payments may be made to the municipal treasurer of the locality who in turn, shall forward them to the provincial treasurer. In case of the delinquency of the applicant, the Director of Lands may, sixty days after such delinquency has occurred, either cancel the application twenty days for the payment of the sum due.

Section 16

SEC. 16. If at any time before the expiration of the period allowed by law for the making of final proof, it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Director of Lands, after due notice to the homesteader that the land entered is not under the law subject to homestead entry, or that the homesteader has actually changed his residence, or voluntarily abandoned the land for more than six months at any one time during the years of residence and occupation herein required, or has otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of this Act, the Director of Lands may cancel the entry.

Section 17

SEC. 17. Before final proof shall be submitted by any person claiming to have complied with the provisions of this chapter, due notice, as prescribed by the Secretary; of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall be given to the public of his intention to make such proof stating therein the name and address of the homesteader, the description of the land, with its boundaries and area, the names of the witnesses by whom it is expected that the necessary facts will be established, and the time and place at which, and the name the officer before whom, such proof will be made.

Section 18

SEC. 18. In case the homesteader shall suffer from mental alienation, or shall for any other reason be incapacitated for exercising his rights personally, the person legally, representing him may offer and submit the final proof on behalf of such incapacitated person;

Section 19

SEC. 19. Not more than one homestead shall be allowed to any person; but if a homesteader has made final proof as to provided in this chapter and is occupying and cultivating all the land applied for and the area thereof is less than twenty-four hectares, he may apply for an additional homestead on an adjacent tract of land, provided the total area of both parcels does not exceed twenty-four hectares, and with the understanding that he shall with regard to the new tract or additional homestead comply with the same conditions as prescribed by this Act for an original homestead entry.

Section 20

SEC. 20. The cancellation of a homestead entry not due to any fault of the applicant shall not be a bar to his applying for another homestead.

Section 21

SEC. 21. If at any time after the approval of the application and before the patent is issued, the applicant shall prove to the satisfaction of the Director of Lands that he has complied with all the requirements of the law, but can not continue with his homestead, through no fault of his own, and there is a bona fide purchaser for the rights and improvements of the applicant on the land, and that the conveyance is not made for purposes of speculation, then the applicant, with the previous approval of the Secretary, of Agriculture and Natural Resources, may transfer his rights to the land and improvements to any person legally, qualified to apply for a homestead, and immediately after such transfer, the purchaser shall file a homestead application to the land so acquired and shall succeed the original homesteader in his rights and obligations beginning with the date of the approval of said application of the purchaser. Any person who has so transferred his rights may once again apply for new a new homestead. Every transfer made without the previous approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall be null and void and shall result in the can cellation of the entry and the refusal of the patent.

Section 22

SEC. 22. Any non-Christian native desiring to live upon or occupy land on any of the reservations set aside for the so "non-Christian tribes" without applying for a homestead, may request a permit of occupation for any tract of and of the public domain open to homestead entry under this Act, the area of which shall not exceed ten hectare. It shall be an essential condition that the applicant for the permit cultivate and improve the land, and if such cultivation has not been begun within six months from and after the date on which the permit was granted, the permit shall ipso facto be canceled. The permit shall be for a term of five years. If at the expiration of this term or at any time theretofore, the holder of the permit shall apply for a homestead under the provisions of this chapter, including, the portion for which a permit was granted to him, he shall have the priority, otherwise the land shall be again open to disposition at the expiration of the five years.

For each permit the sum of five pesos shall be paid, which may be done in annual installments.

Section 23

SEC. 23. Any citizen of lawful age of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, and any corporation or association of which at least sixty-one per centum of the capital stock or of any interest in said capital stock belongs wholly to citizens of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, and which is organized and constituted under the laws of the Philippine Islands or of the United States or of any States thereof and authorized to transact business in the Philippine Islands and corporate bodies organized in the Philippine Islands authorized under their charters to do so, may purchase any tract of public agricultural land disposable under this Act, not to exceed one hundred hectares in the case of an individual and one thousand and twenty-four hectares in that of a corporation or association, by proceeding as prescribed in this chapter: Provided, That partnerships shall be entitled to purchase not to exceed one hundred hectares for each member thereof, but the total area so purchased shall in no case exceed the one thousand and twenty-four hectares authorized in this section for associations and corporations: Provided, further, That citizens of countries the laws of which grant to citizens of the Philippine Islands the same right to acquire public land as to their own citizens, may, while such laws are in force, but not thereafter, with the express authorization of the Legislature, purchase any parcel of agricultural land, not in excess of one hundred hectares, available under this Act, upon complying with the requirements of this chapter.

Section 24

SEC. 24. No person, corporation, association or partnership other than those mentioned in the last preceding section may acquire or own agricultural public land or land of any other denomination or classification, not used for industrial or residence purposes, that is at the time or was originally, really or presumptively, of the public domain, or any permanent improvements thereon, or any real right on such land; and improvement:, Provided, however; That persons, corporation, associations, or partnerships which at the date upon which this Act shall take effect, hold agricultural public lands or land of any other denomination not use for industrial or residence purposes, that belonged originally, really or presumptively, to the public domain, or permanent improvements on such lands, or a real right upon such., lands and improvements, having acquired the same under the laws and regulations in force at the date of such acquisition, shall be authorized to continue holding the same as if such persons, corporations, associations, or partnerships were qualified under the last preceding section; but they shall not encumber, convey, or alienate the same to persons, corporations, associations or partnerships not included in section twenty-three of this Act, except by reason of hereditary succession, duly legalized and acknowledged by competent courts.

Section 25

SEC. 25. Lands sold under the provisions of this chapter must be appraised in accordance with section one hundred and fourteen of this Act. The Director of Lands shall announce the sale thereof by publishing the proper notice once a week for six consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette and in two newspapers, one published in Manila and the other published in the municipality or in the province where the land is located, or in a neighboring province, and the same notice shall be posted on the bulletin board of the Bureau of Lands in Manila, and in the most conspicuous place in the provincial building and the municipal building of the province and municipality where the land is located, and if practicable, on the land itself. The notices shall be published one in English and the other in Spanish and shall fix a date not earlier than ten days after the date of the last publication of the notice in the Official Gazette, upon which the land will be awarded to the highest bidder, or public bids will be called for, or other action will be taken provided in this chapter.

Section 26

SEC. 26. All bids, must be sealed and addressed to the Director of Lands and must have inclosed therewith cash or a certified check or post-office money order payable to the order of the Director of Lands, for twenty-five per centum of the amount of the bid, which amount shall be retained in case the bid is accepted, as part payment of the purchase price : Provided, That no bid shall be considered the amount of which is less than the appraised value of the land.

Section 27

SEC. 27. Upon the opening of the bids the lands shall be awarded to the highest bidder. If there are two or more bidders which are higher than other bidders and are equal, and one of such higher and equal bids is the bid of the applicant, his bid shall be accepted. If, however, the bid of applicant is not one of such equal and higher bids, the Director of Lands shall at once submit the land for public bidding, and to the person making the highest bid on such public auction the land shall be awarded. In any case the applicant, if any, shall always have the option of raising his bid to equal that of the highest bidder, and in this case the land shall be awarded to him. No bid received at such public auction shall be finally accepted until the bidder shall have deposited twenty-five per centum of his bid, as required in section twenty-six of this Act. In case none of the tracts of land that are offered for sale,or the purchase of which has been applied for, has an area in excess of twenty-four hectares, the Director of Lands may delegate to the provincial treasurer concerned the power,of receiving bids, holding the auction; and proceeding in accordance with the provisions of this Act, but the ,provincial treasurer in his capacity as delegate of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall submit his recommendations to the Director of Lands, for the final decision of the latter in the case.

Section 28

SEC. 28. The purchase price shall be paid as follows: The balance of the purchase price after deducting the amount aid at the time of submitting the bid, may be paid in full upon the making of the award, or in five annual installments from the date of the award.

Section 29

SEC. 29. After at least the second installment has been paid and after the cultivation of the land has been begun, the purchaser, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, may convey or encumber his rights to any person, corporation or association legally qualified under this Act to purchase agricultural public lands, provided such conveyance or encumbrance does not affect any right or interest of the Government in the land. Any sale and encumbrance made without the previous approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall be null and void and shall produce the effect of annulling the acquisition and reverting the property and all rights thereto to the Government, and all payments on the purchase price theretofore made to the Government shall be forfeited. After the sale has been approved, the vendor shall not lose his right to acquire agricultural public lands under the provisions of this Act, provided he has the necessary qualifications.

Section 30

SEC. 30. Before any patent is issued, the purchaser must show actual occupancy, cultivation, and improvement of the land applied for until the date on which final payment is made.

Section 31

SEC. 31. If at any time after the date of the award and before the issuance, of patent, it is proved to the satisfaction of the Director of Lands, after due notice to the purchaser, that the purchaser has voluntarily abandoned the land for more than one year at any one time, has otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of the law, then the land shall revert to the Government and all prior payments of purchase money shall be forfeited.

Section 32

SEC. 32. No person, corporation, association, or partnership shall be permitted, after the approval of this Act, to acquire the title to or possess as owner any lands of the public domain if such lands, added to other land belonging to such person, corporation, association, or partnership shall give a total area greater than the area the acquisition which by purchase is authorized under this Act. Any excess in area over this maximum and all right, title, interest, claim, or action held by any person, corporation, association, or partnership resulting directly or indirectly in such excess shall revert to the Government.

This section shall, however, not be construed to prohibit any person, corporation, association, or partnership authorized by this Act to acquire lands of the public domain from making loans upon real estate security and from purchasing real estate whenever necessary for the recovery of such loans; but in this case, as soon as the excess above referred to occurs, such person, corporation, association, or partnership shall dispose of such lands within, five years, for the purpose of removing the excess mentioned. Upon the land in excess of the limit there shall be paid, so long as the same is not disposed, of, for the first year a surtax of fifty per centum additional to the ordinary tax to which such property shall be subject, and for each succeeding year fifty per centum shall be added to the last preceding annual tax rate, until the property shall have been disposed of.

The person, corporation, association, or partnership owning the land in excess of the limit established by this Act shall determine the portion of the land to be segregated.

At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Attorney-General or the officer acting in the his stead shall institute the necessary proceedings in the proper court for the purpose of determining the excess portion to be segregated, as well as the disposal of such portion in the exclusive interest of the Government.

Section 33

SEC. 33. This chapter shall be held to authorize only one purchase of the maximum amount of land hereunder by the same person, corporation, association, or partnership; and no person, corporation, association, or partnership, any member of which shall have received the benefits of this chapter or of any of the two last preceding chapters, either as an individual or as a member of any other corporation, association, or partnership, shall purchase any other lands of the public domain under this chapter.

But any purchaser of public land, after having made the last payment upon and cultivated the land purchased, if the same shall be less than the maximum, allowed by this Act, may purchase additional agricultural public land adjacent to or not distant from the land first purchased, provided the total area of both tracts does not exceed the maximum established in this chapter, and that in making such additional purchase, the same conditions are complied with as prescribed by this Act for the first purchase.

Section 34

SEC. 34. Any citizen of lawful age of the Philippine Islands or or of the United States, and any corporation or association of which at least sixty-one per centum of the capital stock or of any interest in said capital stock belongs wholly to citizens of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, and which is organized and constituted under the laws of the Philippine Islands or, pf the United States or of any State thereof and authorized to transact business in the Philippine Islands, may lease any tract of agricultural public land available for lease under the provisions of this Act, not exceeding a total of one thousand and twenty-four hectares: Provided, That citizens of countries the laws of which grant to citizens of the Philippine Islands the same rights to lease public land as to their own citizens, may, while such laws are in force, but not thereafter, with the express authorization of the Legislature, lease any parcel of agricultural land, not in excess of one thousand and twenty-four hectares, available for lease in accordance with this Act: Provided, further, That no lease shall be permitted to interfere with any prior claim by settlement or occupation, until the consent of the occupant or settler is first had, or until such claim shall be legally extinguished, and no person, corporation, or association shall be permitted to lease lands hereunder which are not reasonably necessary to carry on his business in case of an individual, or the business for which it was lawfully created and which it may lawfully pursue in the Philippine Islands, if an association or corporation.

Corporations and associations not having all arid each of the requirements established in the preceding paragraph of this section may, with the express authorization of the Legislature, lease agricultural public lands available for lease the total area of which shall not exceed one thousand and twenty-four hectares.

Section 35

SEC. 35. All applicants for leases under the terms of this chapter must give notice, by publication in the Official Gazette and such other means as may be required by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, of inten to make application to lease the tract in question, which notice shall describe as definitely as practicable the land sought to be leased and shall state the date when the application will be presented.

Section 36

SEC. 36. The annual rental of the land leased shall not be less than three per centum of the value of the land, according to the appraisal and reappraisal made in accordance with section one hundred and fourteen of this Act. Every contract of lease under the provisions of this chapter shall contain a clause to the effect that a reappraisal of the land leased shall be made every ten years from the date of the approval of the contract, if the term of the same shall be in excess of ten years. In case the lessee is not agreeable to the reappraisal and prefers to give up his contract of lease, he shall notify the Director of Lands of his desire within the six months next preceding the date on which the reappraisal takes effect, and in case his request is approved, the Director of Lands may, if the lessee should so desire, proceed in accordance with section ninety-three of this Act.

The rent, which shall ,he paid yearly in advance, shall acrue from the date of the approval of the lease, and the first payment thereof shall be made in the Bureau of Lands on the date of the approval of the application.

Section 37

SEC. 37. Leases shall run for a period of not more than twenty-five years, but may be renewed for another period of not to exceed twenty-five years. In case the lessee shall have important improvements which, in the discretion of Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, justify a renewal of the lease, a further renewal for an additional period not to exceed twenty-five years may be granted. It shall be an inherent and essential condition of the lease that the lessee shall not assign, encumber, or sublet his rights without the consent of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and that the violation of this condition shall avoid the contract: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall be understood or construed to permit the assignment, encumbrance, or subletting of lands leased under this Act or under the former Public Land Act, to persons, corporations, or associations which, under this Act, are not authorized to lease public lands, unless otherwise provided by general or special legislation by the Legislature.

Section 38

SEC. 38. The lease of any lands under this chapter shall not confer the right to remove or dispose of any valuable timber except as provided in the regulations of the Bureau of Forestry for cutting timber upon such lands. Nor shall such lease confer the right to remove or dispose of stone, oil, coal, salts, or other minerals, or medicinal mineral waters existing upon the same. The lease as to the part of the land which shall be mineral may be cancelled by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, after notice to the lessee, whenever the said part of the land' is more valuable for mineral than for agricultural purposes.

The commission of waste or the violation of the forestry regulations by the lessee shall work a forfeiture of his last payment of rent and render him liable to immediate dispossession and suit for damage.

Section 39

SEC. 39. The lessee of agricultural public land, after having made two or more payments of rent and improved the land leased, if the same is less than the maximum allowed by law, may lease additional agricultural public land adjacent to or near the land originally leased, provided the total area of both tracts does not exceed the maximum established in this chapter, and that in making such additional lease, the same conditions are complied with as prescribed by this Act for the first lease.

Section 40

SEC. 40. During the life of the lease, any lessee who shall have complied with all the conditions thereof and shall have the qualifications required by section twenty-three, may purchase the land leased subject to the provisions and restrictions of chapter five (Sale) of this Act.

Section 41

SEC. 41. Any native of the Philippine Islands who since July fourth hundred and seven, or prior thereto, has continuously occupied and cultivated, either by himself or through his predecessors in interest, a tract of agricultural land subject to disposition, shall be entitled, under the provisions of this chapter, to have a free patent issued to him for a tract of such land not to exceed twenty-four hectares.

Section 42

SEC. 42. The Governor-General, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall from time to time fix by proclamation the period within which applications for free patents may be filed in the district, province, municipality, or region specified in such proclamation, and upon the expiration of the period so designated, unless the same be extended by the Governor-General, all the land comprised within such district, province, municipality, or region subject thereto under the provisions of this chapter may be disposed of as agricultural public land, without prejudice to the prior right of the occupant and cultivator to acquire such land under this Act by means other than free patent. The time to be fixed in the entire Archipelago for the filing of applications under this chapter shall not extend beyond December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight. The period fixed for any district, province, or municipality shall begin to run thirty days after the publication of the proclamation in the Official Gazette. A certified copy of said proclamation shall be furnished to the Director of Lands and to the provincial board and the municipal board or council affected, and copies thereof shall be posted on the bulletin board of the Bureau of Lands at Manila and at conspicuous places in the provincial building and the municipal building. It shall, moreover, be announced by crier in each of the barrios of the municipality.

Section 43

SEC. 43. If, after the filing of the application and the investigation, the Director of Lands shall be satisfied of the truth of the allegations contained in the application and that the applicant comes within the provisions of this chapter, he shall cause a patent to issue to the applicant or his legal successor for the tract so occupied and cultivated, provided its area does not exceed twenty-four hectares: Provided, That no application shall be finally acted upon until notice thereof has been published in the municipality and barrio in which the land is located and adverse claimants have had an opportunity to present their claims.

Section 44

SEC. 44: The persons specified in the next following section are hereby granted time, not to extend beyond December thirty-first, nineteen and twenty-eight, within which to take advantage of the benefits of this chapter: Provided, That the several periods of time designated by the Governor-General in accordance with section forty-two of this Act shall apply also to the lands comprised in the provisions of this chapter; but this section shall not be construed in the sense of prohibiting any of said persons from acting under this chapter at any time prior to the period fixed by the Governor-General.

Section 45

SEC. 45. The following-described citizens of the Philippine Islands and the United States, occupying lands of the united states public domain or claiming to own any such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been perfected or completed, may apply to the Court of First Instance of the province where the land is located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a certificate of title therefor, under the Land Registration Act, to wit:

(a) Those who prior to the transfer of sovereignty from Spain to the United States have applied for the purchase, composition or other form of grant of lands of ihe public domain under the laws and royal decree then in force and have instituted and prosecuted the proceedings in connection therewith, but have, with or without default upon their part, or for any other cause, not received title therefor, if such applicants or grantees and their heirs have occupied and cultivated said lands continuously since the filing of their applications.

(b) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in the open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of agricultural lands of the public domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, except as against the Government, since July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, except when prevented by war or force majeure. These shall be conclusively presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a Government grant and shall be entitled to a certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter. -exceptions.

Section 46

SEC. 46. No person claiming title to lands of the public domain not in possession of the qualifications specified in the last preceding section may apply for the benefits of this chapter.

Section 47

SEC. 47. Any person or persons, or their legal representatives or successors in right, claiming any lands or interest in lands under the provisions of this chapter, must in every case present an application to the proper Court of First Instance, praying that the validity of the alleged title or claim be inquired into and that a certificate of title issue to them under the provisions of the Land Registration Act.

The application shall conform as nearly as may be in its material allegations to the requirements of an application for registration under the Land Registration Act, and shall be accompanied by a plan of the land and all documents evidencing a right on the part of the applicant to the land claimed. The application shall also state the citizenship of the applicant and shall set forth fully the nature of the claim, and when based upon proceedings initiated under Spanish laws, it shall specify as exactly as possible the date and form of the application for purchase, composition or other form of grant, the extent of the compliance with the conditions required by the Spanish laws and royal decrees for the acquisition of legal title, and if not fully complied with, the reason for such noncompliance, together with a statement of the length of time such land or any portion thereof has been actually occupied by the claimant or his predecessors in interest; the use made of the land, and the nature of the inclosure, if any.

The fees provided to be paid for the registration of lands under the Land Registration Act shall be collected from applicants under this chapter.

Section 48

SEC. 48. Applications for registration under this chapter shall be heard in the Court of First Instance in the same manner and shall be subject to the same procedure as established in the Land Registration Act for other applications, except that a notice of all such applications, together with a plan of the lands claimed, shall be immediately forwarded to the Director of Lands; who may appear as a party in such cases: Provided, That prior to the publication for hearing, all of the papers in said case shall be transmitted by the clerk to the Attorney-General or officer acting in his stead, in order that he may, if he deems it advisable for the interests of the Government, investigate all of the facts alleged in the application or otherwise brought to his attention. The Attorney-General shall return such papers to the clerk as soon as practicable within three months.

The final decree of the court shall in every case be the basis for the original certificate of title in favor of the person entitled to the property under the procedure prescribed in section forty-one of the Land Registration Act.

Section 49

SEC. 49. In cadastral proceedings, instead of an application an answer or claim may be filed with the same effect as in the procedure provided in the last preceding two sections.