[ Act No. 3149, March 06, 1924 ]

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO EXECUTE, ON BEHALF OF THE INSULAR GOVERNMENT, UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, A LEASE FOR A CERTAIN PIECE OF PUBLIC LAND TO THE CORPORATION KNOWN AS "TEATRO CERVANTES DE MANILA, INC

Be  it enacted  by the Senate and House  of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:SECTION 1.  The  Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources is hereby authorized to execute, on behalf of the Insular Government and in favor of the Corporation "Teatro Cervantes de Manila, Inc." a lease for a certain piece of public land described in section four of this Act, or for such part thereof as may be necessary, for the construction of a theater and its  accessories, subject to the following. terms and conditions:1st.  The term of the lease shall be for fifty years, beginning with the date of the approval  of this Act.2nd. The rental shall be fifteen hundred pesos per annum.'3rd. The land covered by the lease shall be used exclusively for the construction of a theater building and its accessories:  Provided, That the building so constructed and the accessories thereof shall  be used  only for  theatrical functions, public lectures, civic acts, industrial expositions, and analogous purposes compatible with  the purposes of the lessee.4th. The lessee shall bind itself to invest not less than four hundred thousand pesos in  the  construction  of  the. theater building and  its accessories.   To this end,  and in order that the building the construction of which is hereby authorized, may be in accordance with  the general plan of improvements for the City of Manila, the Director of Public Works shall  have full power  to locate the theater  on the land leased,  require a suitable arrangement of the parts of said land not occupied by the building, approve the plans and specifications  of said building  and its accessories,  and enforce strict compliance  with said approved plans  and specifications, for  which purpose he may appoint a  representative if  he so see fit, to inspect the work at any time while  the same is in progress.   The  Director  of Public Works  shall also  have  full power to  require the  proper upkeep of the building and its grounds.  The  work shall be  begun not later than  December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twenty-four, and completed  not  later than December thirty-first, nineteen hundred  and twenty-five, saving fortuitous events or force majeure.5th. Upon the termination of the lease, the improvemenfs on the land shall  become the  property of the Government of the  Philippine Islands upon payment  by the latter to the lessee of the value thereof, which shall not be in excess of the original cost of the building and shall be  fixed by a committee composed  of the Director of Public Works, the Director of  Lands, and a representative  of the lessee.  In case the Insular Government should not desire to acquire the aforesaid improvements,  the  lease shall  be understood to be extended for a term of twenty-five years, under the conditions specified  in subsections second and  third  of  this section.6th. The  provisions of the next preceding subsection to the contrary notwithstanding, the Insular Government shall be entitled at any time,  upon one year's notice to the lessee, to purchase all the stocks of the Corporation at par, plus a premium of ten per centum.7th. The  stockholders of the lessee shall not be entitled to receive directly or indirectly any  dividends  exceeding, during any one year, ten per centum  of the par value of their stock.8th. Any other clauses not incompatible with the provisions of this Act may be inserted in the lease; but no restrictions other than those prescribed  herein shall  be  imposed upon the lessee.SEC. 2. The lessee  shall  not alienate  or  transfer  any rights he may acquire  under this Act without  the express consent of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources.SEC. 3. Any violation by the lessee of any of the conditions of this Act shall  be sufficient cause  for the cancellation of the contract hereby authorized.SEC. 4. The land covered by the lease  contemplated by this Act and  the  technical  description and plan of which' shall be included in the lease, is described approximately as follows:It is bounded on the NW by Calle Colgante; on the NE by Calle Arroceros; on the S by the "Drive through Garden;" and on the W by Calle  Burgos,  and  as specified in the Burnham Plan, with an area of approximately twelve thousand square meters.SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect on its approval.Approved,  March 6,  1924.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library