WITHDRAWING THE AUTHORITY OF THE LAND REGISTRATION COMMISSION TO APPROVE ORIGINAL SURVEY PLANS, REPEALING FOR THIS PURPOSE, PARAGRAPH 3, SECTION 34-A, OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3844, AS INSERTED BY SECTION 6, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6389, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE AGRICULTURAL LAND REFORM CODE.

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 239
• Sections: 6

Preamble

WHEREAS, under paragraph 3, Section 34-A, of Republic Act

No. 3844, as inserted by Section 6 of Republic Act No. 6389, authority was given

to the Land Registration Commission, concurrently with the Bureau of Lands, to

approve survey plans of lands intended for original registration purposes;

WHEREAS, the reason for the grant of the aforesaid authority

to the said Commission was to facilitate expropriation by the Government of big

landed estates intended for distribution and resale at cost to tenant-farmers

under the Agricultural Land Reform Code;

WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 27 of October 21,

1972, there is no more necessity for the Government to expropriate big landed

estates as the tenant tillers of rice and corn lands have already been declared

as owners of the lands they till;

WHEREAS, the grant to the Land Registration Commission of

the authority to approve original survey plans which theretofore had been

exercised solely by the Bureau of Lands has resulted in wasteful overlapping or

duplication of functions, not to mention the deterioration of surveying

standards and confusion in land survey records; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for centralizing in one agency the

function of verifying and approval of original surveying plans for all purposes

in order to assure compliance with established standards and minimize

irregularities in the execution of land surveys;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as

Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to

Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated

September 22, 1972, as amended do hereby decree as follows:

Section 1

SEC. 1. Paragraph 3, Section 34-A, of Republic Act No. 3844,

as inserted by Section 6 of the Republic Act No. 6389, is hereby repealed

insofar as it grants the Land Registration Commission the power to approved

survey plans of lands intended for original registration purposes.

Section 2

SEC. 2. The Land Registration Commissioner shall within

thirty (30) days from the date hereof turn over all survey returns submitted to

his Office to the Bureau of Lands for verification and appropriate action in

accordance with Section 1858 of the Revised Administrative Code and the rules

and regulations promulgated hereunder; and furnish the latter Office with copies

of all plans that it had already approved as of the date of issuance of this

Decree for verification and Appropriate action in accordance with law and

regulations.

Section 3

SEC. 3. If the land covered by any survey approved by the

Land Registration purposes under Act 496 or under Section 48 of Commonwealth Act

No. 141, as amended, otherwise known as the Public Land Act, no decision shall

be rendered thereon until the Director of Lands shall have submitted his report

and recommendation thereon.

Section 4

SEC. 4. Any law or regulation that is contrary to or

inconsistent herewith is hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Section 5

SEC. 5. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 9th day of July, in the year of Our Lord,

nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines