WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of Section Eleven of
Commonwealth Act Numbered One Hundred and Thirty-Seven, as amended, Proclamation
391, dated March 13, 1939 established as mineral land reservation all mineral
deposits and mineral lands in the islands north of Mindanao, in the Province of
Surigao, now known as the Surigao Mineral Reservation, the points, corners and
boundaries of which are defined in said Proclamation;
WHEREAS, a subsequent Proclamation No. 721, dated July 9,
1970, declared part of said reservation consisting of the island of Surigao and
all islets pertaining to it in Surigao del Norte as reverted to the public
domain or public forest, thereby authorizing the commercial utilization of the
timber found therein;
WHEREAS, the remaining unreverted area also contains
valuable commercial timber with a total estimated volume of more than 2 million
cubic meters over 270,107 hectares of upland and mangrove forests;
WHEREAS, the economic and social development of Mindanao
demands the tapping of all available natural resources in the area, including
the commercial timber; and
WHEREAS, Section Twelve of Commonwealth Act One Hundred and
Thirty-Seven, as amended, limits the disposition for mining purposes only of a
land proclaimed as mineral reserve under Section Eleven thereof;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me 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 order and decree that Section Twelve
of Commonwealth Act Numbered One Hundred and Thirty-Seven, as amended, otherwise
known as the Mining Act, shall be, as hereby it is, amended, in as far as its
application to Proclamation No. 391, dated March 13, 1939, as amended by
Proclamation No. 721, dated July 9, 1970 is concerned, by declaring all
commercial timber within the remaining unreverted area of said mineral
reservation as open and available for disposition and utilization, subject to
existing rights, if any there be, and to existing policies, laws, rules and
regulations pertinent thereto.
The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall promulgate
guidelines/ regulations for the effective implementation of this Decree,
defining therein, among others, the extent of rights or privileges that should
be extended to any license holder in relation to the objectives for which the
mineral reservation has been established and prescribing measures to safeguard
public interest, particularly of communities that may be affected and ecological
requirements for good environment.
Done in the City of Manila, this 18th day of September, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President
Republic of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA
Assistant Executive Secretary