Question & AnswerQ&A (PROCLAMATION NO. 402)
The main purpose of Proclamation No. 402 is to release certain parcels of land situated in the municipalities of Kabasalan and Margosatubig, Province of Zamboanga del Sur, from the coal mining reservation established under Proclamation No. 284 dated July 19, 1938, except the areas particularly described.
The mining reservation was originally granted under Commonwealth Act No. 553 for coal exploration, development, exploitation, and utilization purposes.
Section 11 of Commonwealth Act No. 137, as amended (Mining Act), authorizes the President, with the concurrence of the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines, to alter, modify, or revoke boundaries of any mineral reserve by proclamation.
The excluded or revoked portions shall become part of the public domain as if no such proclamation had ever been made.
The areas particularly described as Parcel I and Parcel II in the municipalities of Kabasalan and Margosatubig, Province of Zamboanga del Sur, remain reserved for coal mining under the proclamation.
The National Development Company retains the right to mine and extract coal that may be discovered in the released areas, subject to payment only for improvements made in good faith, and is also granted a 100-meter wide road-right-of-way to Dumanquilas Bay.
Yes, no timber may be cut without a permit first obtained from the Engineers of the Malangas Coal Mines of the National Development Company.
It shall not take effect until concurred in by a resolution of the Congress of the Philippines duly adopted for the purpose.
The National Development Company and the Bureau of Mines found that except for the areas specifically described, the other parcels did not contain sufficient coal deposits to justify the mining reservation, leading to the release of the other parcels back to the public domain.