Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 2616)
Republic Act No. 2616 provides for the expropriation of the Tatalon Estate in Quezon City and for the sale, at cost, of the lots therein to their present bona fide occupants.
The Tatalon Estate is jointly owned by the J. M. Tuazon and Company, Inc., Gregorio Araneta and Company, Inc., and Florencio Deudor, et al.
The Solicitor General or any other proper government authority is authorized to institute the necessary expropriation proceedings before the Court of First Instance of Quezon City once funds for just compensation have been appropriated.
The lots shall be sold at cost to their present bona fide occupants in not more than two hundred forty equal monthly installments, with interest of not more than six percent per annum on the unpaid balance.
No ejectment proceedings shall be instituted or continued against the present occupants, and no lot or portion thereof shall be sold to any person other than the present occupant without the occupant's consent in a public instrument.
They shall be liable for exemplary damages equivalent to the amount of actual damages suffered by the occupant, as well as attorney's fees and expenses of litigation.
The owner cannot sell, transfer, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of the lot or any portion thereof within five years from the date full ownership has been vested without the consent of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Ten million pesos is authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act.
Yes, the President of the Philippines may determine other methods including the use of proceeds from government bonds and Japanese reparations.
The Act took effect upon its approval on August 3, 1959, despite being enacted without executive approval.