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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
FIRST REGULAR SESSION 
S E N A T E  
1 
S.B. NO. 
Introduced by Senator LUISA “LOI” P. EJERCITO ESTRADA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The controversies which arose from the sale of the Stockton 
property in San Francisco and the proposed sale of the Roppongi 
property in Tokyo arose from the fact that there was no law governing 
their disposition. Hence, the need for a national policy legislation to 
regulate the disposition of real property acquired by the Government 
abroad for a public purpose, whether patrimonial in character or 
property forming part of the public dominion. 
Article XIII, Section 1 (2) of the Constitution mandates that “ the 
State shall regulate acquisition, ownership, use and disposition of 
property and its increments.” Thus, of the national public domain, only 
public agricultural lands are alienable. All the others - mineral, forests 
and national parks - are beyond the commerce of man. This 
Constitutional provision is supplemented by our Civil Code that classifies 
state property of the public dominion into two divisions. First, those 
intended for public use such as roads, rivers and bridges, shores and 
banks, etc., and, second, those not devoted to public use.” The decision 
to dispose such holdings including the requisite formula and mechanism 
to be followed in their disposition belongs exclusively to the State that 
owns them. 
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This bill seeks to reaffirm the legal principle that Congress is the 
constitutionally delegated repository of legislative power and that this 
power cannot be exercised by any other department or branch of the 
Government without a categorical empowerment to that effect, which, 
moreover, must be circumscribed in its exercise by the reasonably clear 
standards set by Congress for the guidance of its deputy - under the 
Latin maxim that now reads “Potesta Delegutu 7u)n delegari potest. 
It should not require the force of logic to posit that real properties 
of the Government or any of its subdivision cannot be sold or disposed 
without the consent of the Government, more specifically Congress, 
which is the country’s policy making body. Such consent may be given 
on a case-to-case basis, if there is no law embodying a general policy on 
the subject. 


Our statute books do not reveal any law governing the disposition 
of government-owned properties which fact leaves the question of their 
disposition to general principles of law such as the nature of State 
properties in Roman and Common Law. The absence of course of a 
national policy has opened the door to the assertion of conflicting 
prerogatives based on legal fictions such as the power lodged in the 
board of a corporate entity. This is the reason why real properties of 
government corporations could be sold, without congressional consent, 
The fiction is that those properties belong to an autonomous corporate 
personality and no law had been violated in their disposition because 
there is none to violate. Such is the stark reality in the sale of the 
Stockton property. Therefore, government corporations can presently 
continue to dispose of government properties without the need to secure 
the approval of any authority save that of its own board. 
This bill seeks to correct this anomaly by providing that 
Government properties abroad owned by the National Government or by 
any of its local subdivisions, including those owned by government 
corporations or any of its subsidiaries may be disposed with the consent 
of Congress on a case-to-case basis or pursuant to a general policy 
embodied in a law. 
The need for congressional approval before government properties 
situated abroad can be sold will hopefully eliminate, if not lessen 
whatever controversy that may arise from said disposition. This has been 
confirmed in the recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of 
Salvador H. Laurel vs. Ramon Garcia, et. Al. (GR 92013), and Dionision 
S. Ojeda vs. Executive Secretary Macaraig, et. Al. (GR No. 92047). 
Based on the foregoing, early approval of this bill is earnestly 
requested. 
LUISA “LOI” A EJERCITO ESTRADA 
Senator 
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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINE§ 
1 
I 32 
FIRST REGULAR SESSION 
1 
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S E N A T E  
S.B. NO. 1 
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Introduced by Senator LUISA “LOI” P. EJERCITO ESTRADA 
AN A m  
REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL IN THE DISPOSITION OF 
REAL PROPERTIES SITUATED ABROAD 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
Section 1. Statement of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to 
preserve the real properties of the government situated abroad by 
regulating their disposition. 
Government as used in this Act shall refer to the government entity 
through which the functions of government are exercised throughout the 
Philippines, 
including 
its 
various 
subdivisions, 
agencies 
or 
instrumentalities, and government-owned or controlled corporations and 
their subsidiaries. 
Section 2. Congressional Approval. - All real properties situated 
abroad and held, in whatever capacity, by the government shall not be 
disposed of in any manner prior to Congressional approval in the form of 
a concurrent resolution. 
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Section 3. Contents of Request for Congressional Approval. - 
The request for congressional approval shall contain detailed information 
about the real property to be disposed of, including but not limited to its 
nature, use, location, land area and market value. The request shall 
likewise contain the reason(s) for the sale and the proposed terms and 
conditions pertaining thereto. 
Section 4. 
Reportorial Requirement. - The agency concerned, 
which disposed of the real property, shall submit a report on the sale 
within sixty (60) days from the sale to the President and, both Houses of 
Congress. 
Section 5. Disclosure of Real Properties. - 
All government 
agencies shall submit a summary report on all government real 
properties situated abroad to the office of the President and both Houses 
of Congress: 
Provided, That Congress may require the government 
agencies to submit a full report thereon. 
Section 6. Pendw. - Any public official who violates any of the 
provisions of this Act or its implementing rules and regulations shall 
suffer the penalty or prision magor- in its minimum period with the 
accessory penalty of permanent special disqualification without prejudice 
to prosecution under Republic Act No. 3019 and other laws. 
No public officer shall be allowed to resign or retire pending an 
investigation, criminal or administrative, or pending a prosecution 
against him for any offense under this Act or its implementing rules. 
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Section 7. Rules and Regulations. - The Commission on Audit 
shall issue the implementing rules and regulations of this Act not later 
than forty-five (45) days from the date of its effectivity. 
Section 8. Supplementary Clause. - The laws on public bidding 
shall supplement the provisions of this Act: Provided, That the bidding 
shall be held in the Philippines. 
Section 9. Separability Clause. - If any provision, or part hereof, 
is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the 
provision not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting. 
Section 10. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential deciee. or 
issuance, executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule 
or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with, the provisions of this Act is 
hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. 
Section 11. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen 
(15) days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation. 
Approved, 
GVL/tmd/SB 646FEBl bills/cos