QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 8963)
Section 1 declares the State’s policy to address land and housing needs and ensure affordable access to land by middle and lower sectors, consistent with lawful opportunities.
RA 8963 excludes certain portions of land within Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (and related parcels described) from the Baguio Townsite Reservation and from Proclamation No. 10 (February 9, 1924) and Proclamation No. 63 (August 6, 1925) that established the Forbes Forest Reservation and the Government Center Reservation, respectively.
The law mentions the Baguio Townsite Reservation and the Forbes Forest Reservation/Government Center Reservation created by earlier proclamations. Exclusion means the listed portions are removed from those reservation areas and thus become alienable and disposable for disposition.
It authorizes disposition of the land under the applicable land disposition law (RA 730), converting previously reserved/publicly controlled land status into land eligible for private acquisition subject to conditions.
RA 8963 references Republic Act No. 730, which allows the sale without public auction of certain public lands for residential purposes to qualified applicants under specified conditions.
The technical descriptions cover Lot 1, Lot 2, Lot 3, Lot 4, Lot 5, and Lot 6, each described by bearings, distances, boundaries, area, and plan references.
Study the stated reference/projection (e.g., triangulation station, plan name/code), bearings and distances from marked points, boundaries by adjacent lots/creeks/roads, and the stated area.
Section 3 provides the technical descriptions of the excluded portions. Notably, the law states that the parcels are declared alienable and disposable and open to disposition under RA 730, with Section 6/4 directing implementation; the excerpt particularly emphasizes alienability/disposition explicitly for Lot 6 portion in the text provided.
Section 4 directs the Land Management Bureau of the DENR and the City Government of Baguio to conduct a validation survey of the disposable lands under the Act and to effect their sale to qualified applicants.
It implies a post-enactment technical verification of the metes-and-bounds/disposable area for accuracy and implementation—leading to proper titling/sale under the law’s authority and conditions.
Under Section 4 (and the referenced sale through the city in the provided text), the City Government of Baguio participates in the validation process and in effecting the sale to qualified applicants.
It repeals or modifies all laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations—or parts thereof—that are inconsistent with RA 8963.
It shall take effect after publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
The excerpt states it lapsed into law on September 9, 2000 without the President’s signature, consistent with Article VI, Section 27(1) of the Constitution—i.e., if the President does not sign/does not veto within the prescribed period, the bill becomes law.
Because earlier proclamations created reservation status that restricted alienation; RA 8963 specifically withdraws certain portions from those reservations, changing their legal classification and enabling disposition under RA 730.