S>eltntt 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
ltth;t lJf Up! ~fl'r,'~r, 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'13 
SEP -5 P 1 :59 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 15 4 4 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill seeks to allow the unprivileged and homeless citizens in urban 
and resettlement areas who are actual occupants of government-owned lands 
dedicated to socialized housing to have the primary right in acquiring the said 
land. 
Presidential Decree NO. 1517, the Urban Land Reform Act, was issued by 
then President Marcos in 1978. The decree adopted as a State policy the 
liberation of human communities from blight, congestion and hazard, the 
promotion of their development and modernization, and the optimum use of land 
as a national resource for public welfare. 
In 1992, Congress passed Republic Act No. 7279 or the "Urban 
Development and Housing Act of 1992." The law lays down as a policy that the 
State shall undertake a comprehensive and continuing urban development and 
housing program to uplift the conditions of the underprivileged and homeless 
citizens in urban areas and resettlement areas by making available to them 
decent housing at affordable cost. Pursuant to this, all city and municipal 
governments were mandated to conduct an inventory of all lands and 
improvements within their respective localities and, in coordination with the 
National Housing Authority, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the 
National Mapping Resource Information Authority, and the Land Management 
Bureau, identify and acquire lands for socialized housing and resettlement areas. 
Said lands shall be disposed of to qualified beneficiaries of the program. 
Under Republic Act no. 7279, lands for socialized housing are to be 
acquired through several modes. These modes include the following: (1) 
community mortgage: (2) land swapping; (3) land assembly or consolidation; (4) 
land banking; (5) expropriation. Government-owned and foreclosed properties 
shall be acquired through negotiated purchase. Under the law's implementing 
rules and regulations, negotiated purchase allows the transmission of property 
from one person to another by agreement among the parties. In the case of 
government-owned and foreclosed land, the parties include the actual occupants 
and the National Housing Authority or the local goverment units, as the case may 
be. 
While the law gives qualified beneficiaries who are actual occupants of 
govemment owned and foreclosed land the right of first refusal. However, nothing 
precludes the government from bidding out the land and offering it to other 
qualified beneficiaries. Thus, there have been instances where the homeless and 
underprivileged were not given priority in owning government-owned lands they 


actually occupied because these lands were sold to other qualified beneficiaries 
who could afford to pay more. While it is the intent of the law to uphold 
transparency and accountability in the disposition of government-owned 
properties through public bidding, there is a need to balance this with the 
mandate of the State to make decent housing affordable to the underprivileged 
and the homeless, especially to the land's actual occupants. 
This bill addresses that situation by providing for a mode of acquisition 
where government-owned land is acquired without public bidding in cases where 
the actual occupants of the land who are qualified beneficiaries signify their 
intentions to acquire the land for their own. Only when the actual occupants 
refuse to exercise such right and cannot afford to pay the valuation set for the 
land shall it be subjected to public bidding. 
In view of the foregoing, the urgent approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
Senator 


" 
;,icl1ntr 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
t(JffJ("r, l,f Ute »fn "t.u, 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'13 
SEP -5 P 1 :59 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No, 1544 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
AN ACT 
UPHOLDING THE RIGHT OF ACQUISITION BY QUALIFIED BENEFICIARIES 
OF GOVERNMENT -OWNED LANDS THEY ACTUALLY OCCUPY, AMENDING 
CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7279, OTHERWISE KNOWN 
AS THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING ACT OF 1992, AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Section 10 of Republic Act no. 7279, otherwise known as the 
"Urban Development and housing Act of 1992" is hereby amended to read as 
follows: 
"SECTION 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, 
further, That where expropriation is resorted to, parcels of this Act: 
Provided, finally, 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, 
FOR THIS PURPOSE, NEGOTIATED PURCHASE SHALL MEAN 
THE TRANSFER OF PROPERTY FROM ONE PERSON TO 
ANOTHER AGREEMENT AMONG THE PARTIES. 
"WHERE THE ACTUAL OCCUPANTS OF GOVERNMENT-
OWNED PROPERTY FOR SOCIALIZED HOUSING SIGNIFY 
THAT THEY INTEND TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT OF FIRST 
REFUSAL, THEY MAY ACQUIRE SAID PROPERTY THROUGH 
NEGOTIATED PURCHASE, SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING 
CONDITIONS: 


A. THE SUBJECT PROPERTY HAS BEEN CERTIFIED FOR 
SOCIALIZED HOUSING PURPOSE; 
B. THE 
OCCUPANT IS 
QUALIFIED 
BENEFICIARY, 
IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH 
SECTIONS 16 AND 17 OF THIS 
ACT; 
C. THE OCCUPANT HAS RESIDED ON THE SUBJECT 
PROPERTY FOR AT LEAST TEN (10) YEARS, AS 
CERTIFIED 
BY 
THE 
LOCAL 
GOVERNMENT 
UNIT 
CONCERNED; AND, 
D. ANY SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION OF THE PROPERTY 
SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE LIMITATIONS PROVIDED IN 
SECTION 
14 
HEREOF. 
THE 
COST 
OF 
LAND 
ACQUISITION SHALL BE MADE AFFORDABLE TAKING 
INTO 
CONSIDERATION 
THE 
LAND 
VALUATION 
REQUIRED IN SECTION 13 OF THIS ACT. 
"EXCEPT IN THE AFOREMENTIONED INSTANCE, ALL OTHER 
SALE OF GOVERNMENT -OWNED PROPERTY UNDER THIS 
ACT SHALL BE SUBJECT TO PUBLIC BIDDING, AS PROVIDED 
FOR BYLAW." 
SEC. 2. Separability Clause. - Any portion or provisions of this Act that 
may be declared unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying 
other portions and provisions hereof as long as such remaining portion or 
provision can still subsist and be given effect in their entirety. 
SEC. 3. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
proclamations and administrative regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent 
herewith are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 4. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after its publication in at least two (2) national papers of general circulation or in 
the Official Gazette. 
Approved,