Section 1
SECTION 1. Section three of Act Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and nineteen, known as the Coal Land Act, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "SEC 3. Leases under the provisions of this Act shall be issued upon publication, in the manner and subject to the rules prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, for periods of not more than fifty years each, subject to renewal on such terms and conditions as may be authorized by law at the time of such renewal, and no such lease shall be assigned or sublet except with the consent of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and in this case only to persons and associations of persons or corporations having the qualifications required of lessees. Every lease shall contain a clause by which the lessee shall bind himself to comply with the rules and regulations issued by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the purpose of insuring the exercise of reasonable diligence, skill, and care in the operation of said property and for the prevention of undue waste, together with such other rules and regulations as the said Secretary may make for the protection of the interests of the Government and for the promotion of the public welfare. For the privilege of mining, extracting, and disposing of the coal in the lands covered by his lease, the lessee shall pay to the Government of the Philippine Islands, through the Collector of Internal Revenue, such royalties as may be specified in the lease, which shall not be less than ten centavos per ton of one thousand and sixteen kilos, to be due and payable at the end of each month succeeding that of the shipment of the coal from the mine, and an annual rental, payable in advance on the date of the approval of the lease and thereafter at the beginning of each year, on the lands covered by such lease, at the rate of two pesos and fifty centavos per hectare for each and every year for the first ten years, and five pesos per hectare for each and every year thereafter during the continuance of the lease: Provided, That such rental for any year shall be credited against the royalties as they accrue for that year: And provided, further, That such rental and royalties paid during any year shall be credited against the internal revenue specific tax due on coal approved during that year."