69 OG No. 29, 6396-27 (July 16, 1973)

[ PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 239, July 09, 1973 ]

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.

WHEREAS, under paragraph 3, Section 34-A, of Republic Act
No. 3844, as inserted by Section 6 of Republic Act No. 6389, authority was givento the Land Registration Commission, concurrently with the Bureau of Lands, toapprove survey plans of lands intended for original registration purposes;

WHEREAS, the reason for the grant of the aforesaid authorityto the said Commission was to facilitate expropriation by the Government of biglanded estates intended for distribution and resale at cost to tenant-farmersunder 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 landedestates as the tenant tillers of rice and corn lands have already been declaredas owners of the lands they till;

WHEREAS, the grant to the Land Registration Commission ofthe authority to approve original survey plans which theretofore had beenexercised solely by the Bureau of Lands has resulted in wasteful overlapping orduplication of functions, not to mention the deterioration of surveyingstandards and confusion in land survey records; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for centralizing in one agency thefunction of verifying and approval of original surveying plans for all purposesin order to assure compliance with established standards and minimizeirregularities in the execution of land surveys;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of thePhilippines by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution asCommander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant toProclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, datedSeptember 22, 1972, as amended do hereby decree as follows:

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 repealedinsofar as it grants the Land Registration Commission the power to approvedsurvey plans of lands intended for original registration purposes.

SEC. 2. The Land Registration Commissioner shall withinthirty (30) days from the date hereof turn over all survey returns submitted tohis Office to the Bureau of Lands for verification and appropriate action inaccordance with Section 1858 of the Revised Administrative Code and the rulesand regulations promulgated hereunder; and furnish the latter Office with copiesof all plans that it had already approved as of the date of issuance of thisDecree for verification and Appropriate action in accordance with law andregulations.

SEC. 3. If the land covered by any survey approved by theLand 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 shallbe rendered thereon until the Director of Lands shall have submitted his reportand recommendation thereon.

SEC. 4. Any law or regulation that is contrary to orinconsistent herewith is hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

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. MARCOSPresidentRepublic of the Philippines

Source: Supreme Court E-Library