Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Nineteenth Congress
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _ 11043

Introduced by Representatives Aurelio “Dong” D. Gonzales Jr.,
David “Jay-Jay” C. Suarez, Robert Ace S. Barbers,
Bienvenido M. Abante Jr., Dan S. Fernandez,

Joseph Stephen “Caraps” S. Paduano, Romeo M. Acop,
Johnny Ty Pimentel, Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” R. Luistro,
Ramon Rodrigo L. Gutierrez, Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V,
Jefferson F. Khonghun and Jonathan Keith T. Flores

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to provide for a civil forfeiture in favor of the State any
unlawfully acquired real estate properties by any foreign national.

The prohibition against land ownership by aliens is undoubted and is
primarily found in Article XII, Sections 7 and 8 of the 1987 Constitution, which
states:

“Sec. 7. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private
lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals,
corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the
public domain.

“Sec. 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this
Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his
Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject
to limitations provided by law.”


This prohibition has existed since the 1935 Constitution, further
acknowledging the paramount importance of reserving to Filipinos the country’s
most finite resource: its land.

On the other hand, thousands of aliens have been flocking to the Philippines
to establish Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) which has turned out
to be closely linked to criminal activities such as human trafficking and illegal
drugs.

Upon further investigation on POGOs, it was also discovered that these
aliens are effectively acquiring Filipino citizenship by securing falsified birth
certificates, passports and driver’s licenses with the help of corrupt public officers
in the local civil registrars, Department of Foreign Affairs, and Land
Transportation Authority. Using these falsified public documents, these
unscrupulous aliens are able to skirt the constitutional prohibition on foreign land
ownership.

The continued violation to the provisions of our Constitution on alien land
ownership cannot be allowed to continue. More so that the primary violators
belong to the POGO industry which has already been banned from the Philippines
by His Excellency President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. This measure seeks to
implement such directive.

In fact, the issue of illegal POGOs has already pushed several lawmakers to
move for the immediate forfeiture proceedings against said foreign entities and
individuals who exploited legal loopholes in the acquisition of Philippine
properties.

Moving forward, it is then imperative to never let such activities to continue
in the Philippines. Thus, by reiterating existing policies against foreign land
ownership, establishing the necessary communications framework for better
enforcement of the prohibition on foreign land ownership, and allocating for public
use any real property acquired through successful forfeiture proceedings, the
corrupt practices may be curbed, if not totally eliminated.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate approval of this bill is highly and
earnestly recommended.

AURELIO “PONG” Pf. GONZALES, JR.


RBERS DAVID \Y-JAY” AREZ

DAN S. FERNANDEZ BIENV) (. ABANTE, JR.

AA
ROMEOM. 4COP — JOSEPH STE

FRANCE: PAOLO P. ORTEGA V RAMON RODHIGO L. GUTIERREZ

Bis

JONATHAN KEITH. FLORES



eer aneune

Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Queen City, Meteo Manila

Nineteenth Congress
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _11043

Introduced by Representatives Aurelio “Dong” D. Gonzales Jr.,
David “Jay-Jay” C. Suarez, Robert Ace S. Barbers,
Bienvenido M. Abante Jr., Dan S. Fernandez,

Joseph Stephen “Caraps” S. Paduano, Romeo M. Acop,
Johnny Ty Pimentel, Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” R. Luistro,
Ramon Rodrigo L. Gutierrez, Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V,
Jefferson F. Khonghun and Jonathan Keith T. Flores

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A CIVIL FORFEITURE IN FAVOR OF THE STATE
ANY UNLAWFULLY ACQUIRED REAL ESTATE PROPERTIES BY
ANY FOREIGN NATIONAL

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Civil
Forfeiture Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the State to preserve
the ownership of land for Filipinos. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no
private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations,
or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain. Toward

this end, the State shall adopt measures to monitor the transfer of ownership of


lands and institute civil forfeiture proceedings if any land is transferred to
unqualified foreign national.

SEC. 3. Civil Forfeiture. — Any real estate property transferred or
conveyed to unqualified foreign national, natural or juridical, in violation of the
Constitutional prohibition is null and void and vests no rights and creates no
obligations.

On behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, the Solicitor General shall
institute the civil forfeiture proceedings and may delegate the same to the
National Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice.

SEC 4. Presumption. — Except as otherwise allowed by law, any real estate
property acquired by any foreign national in the Philippines shall be presumed
prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired.

SEC. 5. Filing and venue of the petition. — Any taxpayer may file a
complaint before the city or provincial prosecutor who shall conduct a
preliminary investigation and certify to the Solicitor General that there is a
reasonable ground to believe that a violation of the prohibition on foreign land
ownership was committed and the respondent foreign national is probably guilty
thereof.

Upon proper determination, the Solicitor General shall, file a petition for
civil forfeiture before the regional trial court of the judicial region where the real

estate property is located.


SEC. 6. Contents of the petition for civil forfeiture. — The petition shall
contain the following information:

(a) The name and address of the respondent foreign national;

(b) A description with reasonable particularity of the real estate property;
and

(c) Such other information as may enable the court to determine whether
or not the respondent foreign national has unlawfully acquired real estate
property.

SEC. 7. Period for the answer. — The respondent foreign national shall
have a period of fifteen (15) days to answer the complaint or petition from the
receipt thereof from the city or provincial or prosecutor or the regional trial court.

SEC. 8. Immunity. — The Solicitor General may grant immunity from
criminal prosecution to any person who testifies to the unlawful manner by which
an unqualified foreign national has acquired the real estate property in question
in cases where such testimony is necessary to prove that the subject real estate
property was unlawfully acquired.

SEC. 9. Effect of record of title. — The fact that the real estate property has
been recorded in the Registry of Property or office of the Register of Deeds in the
name of the foreign national or of any person in collusion with the former shall
not preclude the institution of civil forfeiture proceedings.

SEC. 10. Disposal. —The real estate property successfully acquired through

the civil forfeiture proceedings shall be disposed in the following manner:


a. If the real estate property is agricultural land, the land shall be
distributed to qualified farmers in coordination with the Department of
Agrarian Reform; and

b. If the real estate property is non-agricultural land:

1. The land shall be used for the establishment of schools, hospitals
and other establishments for socialized services; or

2. The land may be donated to the local government unit where the
land is located and shall be used for social services facilities.

The President of the Philippines, however, may order that the non-
agricultural land, after determining that the establishment of social service
facilities, such as schools and hospitals, is no longer necessary, be turned-over to
the Privatization and Management Office of the Department of Finance for its
disposal.

SEC. 11. Monitoring and Reporting. — The Land Registration Authority
shall monitor any transfer or conveyance of lands and immediately report to the
Solicitor General any suspicious transfer or conveyance to any foreign national,
taking into account Commonwealth Act No. 108, as amended, commonly known
as the “Anti-Dummy Law.”

SEC. 12. Role of Local Government Units. — The local government units
(LGUs) shall, likewise, monitor any transfer of real estate properties within their
territorial jurisdiction and immediately report to the Solicitor General any

suspicious transfer to any foreign national. Further, the LGUs shall monitor and


ensure that the real estate properties in their territorial jurisdiction are utilized for
the purpose as appearing in the tax declaration

SEC. 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within ninety (90) days
from the approval of this Act, the Solicitor General shall, in coordination with the
Secretaries of Finance, Justice, Agrarian Reform, and the Chairperson of the
Anti-Money Laundering Council, promulgate the pertinent rules and regulations
for the effective implementation of this Act.

SEC. 14. Separability Clause. — If any provision or part of this Act is
declared unconstitutional, the remaining parts provisions not affected shall
remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. — All laws, ordinances, orders, rules,
regulations and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this
Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SEC. 16. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation.

Approved,