(~.OOSESF REPRESENTATNSS

| RECEIVED
Republic of the Philippines DATE:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES = THE__/-20° py
Quezon City Ry eee
—_.
SEVENTEENTH (17) CONGRKSS
First Regular Session REGISTRATION UNT

HOUSE BILL NoL 59° is

Introduced by REP. JOSE CHRISTOPHER Y. BELMONTE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

House Bill No, 6342 entitled “An Act strengthening the right of government to
expropriate lands for socialized housing, amending for the purpose Sections 9, 10, And 1] Of
Republic Act No. 7279, otherwise known as the “Urban Development and Housing Act of
1992” was passed by the 16th Congress on third reading. It is a consolidation of two separate
measures of the same subject originally filed as House Bill No. 5479 by this representation
and House Bill No. 5301 by former Akbayan Representatives Ibarra “Barry” Gutierrez and
Walden Bello.

Central to Republic Act No. 7279 (Urban and Housing Development Act of 1992) is
the policy of providing for the rational use and development of urban land in order to bring
about, among others, equitable utilization of residential lands in urban and urbanizable areas.

Sections 9 and 10 of RA 7279 provides for the order and mode of land acquisition by
the Local Government, while Section 11 mandates that all idle lands in urban and urbanizable
areas shall be expropriated and shall form part of the public domain, residential lands the
ownership of which are subject of pending litigation are exempted from said provision.

More than two decades after the enactment of RA 7279, majority of informal settlers
cannot enjoy the benefits of the provisions of said law. Moreover, ironically, while being a
social justice legislation, RA 7279 provides more stringent requirements for expropriation of
land for public use, in this case, for socialized housing, than as provided for under Rule 67 of
the Rules of Court.

Amending section 9, 10 and 11 of RA 7279 will provide more power to the Local
Government in using iale lots in its jurisdiction by rationalizing the order and mode of land
acquisition and lifting the exemption on residential lands the ownership of which are subject
of pending litigation. It will likewise ensure that the intended beneficiaries of RA 7279 will
indeed enjoy the benefits of this social justice legislation.

In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this measure is earnestly sought



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City
SEVENTEENTH (17) CONGRESS

First Regular Session _

HOUSE BILL nok 59. _

Introduezd by REP. JOSE CHRISTOPHER Y. BELMONTE

AN ACT
STRENGTHENING THE RIGHT OF GOVERNMENT TO EXPROPRIATE LANDS
FOR SOCIALIZED HOUSING, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOS ECTIONS 9, 10,
AND 11 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7279, IERWISE KNOWN AS THE “URBAN
ELOPMENT AND HOUSING ACT OF 1992”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in the
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Sections 9, 10, and 11 of Republic Act No. 7279 are hereby amended to
read as follows:

9: [Priorities in the] Acquisition of Land FOR SOCIALIZED
HOUSING. - [Lands for socialized housing shall be acquired in the following
order] THE FOLLOWING LANDS MAY BE ACQUIRED FOR
SOCIALIZED HOUSING:

“(a) Those owned by the Government or any of its subdivisions,
instrumentalities, or agencies, including government-owned or -controlled
corporations and their subsidiaries;

“(b) Alienable lands of the public domain;

“(c) Unregistered or abandoned and idle lands;

“(d) Those within the declared Areas for Priority Development, Zonal
Improvement Program sites, and Slum Improvement and Resettlement
Program sites which have not yet been acquired;

“(e) Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services or BLISS
sites which have not yet been acquired: and

(0) Privately-owned lands,



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“[Where on-site development is found more practicable and
advantageous to the beneficiaries, the priorities mentioned in this section shall
not apply. The local government units shall give budgetary priority to on-site
development of government lands.]

“THE POWER TO IDENTIFY AND TO PRIORITIZE THE
PARTICULAR AREA TO BE ACQUIRED SHALL BE WITH THE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIT OR THE PROPER AGENCY
ACQUIRING LAND FOR SOCIALIZED HOUSING. FOR THIS
UMERATION IN THIS TION SHALL NOT,
IN ANY WAY, BE INTERPRETED AS SETTING AN ORDER OF
PRIORITY.”

“SEC. 10. Modes of Land Acquisition. ~ The modes of acquiring lands.
for purposes of this Act shall include, among others, community mortgage,
land swapping, land assembly or consolidation, land banking, donation to the
Government, joint-venture agreement, negotiated purchase, and expropriation

Provided, [however, That expropriation shall be resorted to only when other
modes of acquisition have been exhausted: Provided, fie'ther,} That where
expropriation is resorted to, parcels of land owned by small property owners
shall be exempted for purposes of this Act: Provided, [finally] FURTHER,
That abandoned property, as herein defined, shall be reverted and escheated to
the State in a proceeding analogous to the procedure laid down in Rule 91 of
the Rules of Court

For the purpose of socialized housing, government-owned and
foreclosed properties shall be acquired by the local government units, or by
the National Housing Authority primarily through negotiated purchase:
Provided, That qualified beneficiaries who are actual occupants of the land

shall be given the right of first refusal.”

SEC. 11. Expropriation of dle Lands, ~ All idle lands in urban and
urbanizable areas, as defined and identified in accordance with this Act, shall
be expropriated and shall form part of the public domain. These lands shall be
disposed of or utilized by the Government for such purposes that conform
with their land use plans. Expropriation proceedings shall be instituted if, after
the lapse of one (1) year following receipt of notice of acquisition, the owner
fails to introduce improvements as defined in Section 3(f) hereof, except in the
case of force majeure and other fortuitous events. Exempted from this

provision, however, are residential lands owned by small property owners [or

those the ownership of which is subject of a pending litigation].”


SEC. 2. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules

and regulations, or any part thereof which are inconsistent with this A‘
or modified accordingly.

SEC. 3. Effectivity. - TI
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of national circulation,

Approved.

are hereby repealed

s Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication