Section 1
SECTION 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The Public Land Act."
Act No. 2874 TITLE I.
Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
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.
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Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
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