TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session
; ■ of f';i’ ii- " ■ 
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25 AUG-5 P3:55
SENATE 
S. No. 934
RHCOV1:!) 5V:
Introduced by Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
AN ACT
STRENGTHENING THE RIGHT OF GOVERNMENT TO EXPROPRIATE LANDS 
FOR SOCIALIZED HOUSING, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTIONS 9, 
10, AND 11 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7279, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE 
"URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING ACT OF 1992"
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) program is the flagship 
program of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. providing socialized housing for the 
Filipino people. It is part of administration's socioeconomic agenda that focuses on 
providing the citizens with better living conditions by establishing inclusive, livable, 
and sustainable settlements and well-planned communities. It aims to build one (1) 
million housing units each year or six (6) million homes in six (6) years to address 
the country's housing backlog.
To address the problem usually encountered in socialized housing, this bill 
proposes to strengthen and boost the government's socialized housing program and 
will address the country's worsening housing problem since this will relax rules of 
land acquisition. It seeks to amend Sections 9, 10, and 11 of Republic Act 7279, 
otherwise known as the "Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992".
The amendment to Section 9, which is entitled "Acquisition of Land for 
Socialized Housing," provides that 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.
The bill also amends Section 11 entitled "Expropriation of Idle Lands" that 
includes residential lands subject of a pending litigation.
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is highly 
recommended.
NGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA


TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE 
)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
\ 
. \ M [ \ t
■ 
rji V ■ r-'1 
:-r.’ •‘V
25 AUG-5 P3:55
SENATE
S. No. 934
lUTlilv.y'..
Introduced by Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
AN ACT
STRENGTHENING THE RIGHT OF GOVERNMENT TO EXPROPRIATE LANDS 
FOR SOCIALIZED HOUSING, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTIONS 9, 
10, AND 11 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7279, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE 
"URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING ACT OF 1992"
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
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Section 1. Sections 9, 10, and 11 of Republic Act No. 7279 are hereby
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amended to read as follows:
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"Sec. 9. [Priorities in the] Acquisition of Land FOR
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SOCIALIZED HOUSING. - [Lands for socialized housing
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shall bo acquired in the following order] THE FOLLOWING
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LANDS MAY BE ACQUIRED FOR SOCIALIZED
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HOUSING:
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"(a) Those owned by the Government or any of its
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subdivisions, instrumentalities, or agencies, including
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government-owned or -controlled corporations and their
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subsidiaries;
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"(b) Alienable lands of the public domain;
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"(c) Unregistered or abandoned and idle lands;
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"(d) Those within the declared Areas for Priority
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Development, Zonal Improvement Program sites, and Slum


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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,
"(f) Privately-owned lands,
"[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 PURPOSE, THE ENUMERATION IN THIS 
SECTION 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, [bowever-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 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.


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"For the purpose of socialized housing, government-
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owned and foreclosed properties shall be acquired by the
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local government units, or by the National Housing Authority
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primarily through negotiated purchase: Provided, That
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qualified beneficiaries who are actual occupants of the land
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shall be given the right of first refusal."
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"Sec. 11. Expropriation of Idie Lands. - All idle lands
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in urban and urbanizable areas, as defined and identified in
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accordance with this Act, shall 
be expropriated and shall
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form part of the public domain. These lands shall be
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disposed of or utilized by the Government for such purposes
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that conform with their land 
use plans. Expropriation
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proceedings shall be instituted if, after the lapse of one (1)
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year following receipt of notice of acquisition, the owner fails
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to introduce improvements as defined in Section 3(f) hereof,
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except in the case of force majeure and other fortuitous
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events. Exempted from this 
provision, however, are
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residential lands owned by small property owners [or those
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the ownership of which is subjcc^of-a pending litigation]."
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Sec. 2. Separabiiity Ciause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or
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unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision or part not otherwise
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affected shall remain valid and subsisting.
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Sec. 3. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance,
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executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule, or regulation
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contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed,
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modified, or amended accordingly.
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Sec. 4. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
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publication in the OfTicial Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,