Free Patent for Residential Lands Act

Section 1 makes Presidential Decree No. 705 a controlling compliance limit on issuance.
Section 1 requires that legal restrictions on free patent granted over agricultural lands likewise apply to free patents under this Act.
Section 2 provides that Sections Two and Three of Republic Act No. 782 and pertinent provisions of Chapter XIV, Title VI of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, govern free patent applications filed under this Act.
Section 2 applies the governing procedural framework for free patent applications through the cross-referenced statutory provisions.

Section 1 limits entitlement to citizens of the Philippines who are not registered owners of residential land in the same municipality.
Section 2 requires that the supporting affidavits be made by two (2) disinterested persons who are residents of the municipality where the land is located.
Section 1 restricts the allowed geographic locations by prohibiting issuance for residential lands in the enumerated cities, provincial capitals, and the listed classes of municipalities, and in townsite reservations under Chapter XI of the Public Land Act.

Section 2 requires that the application be accompanied by a map and a technical description of the land applied for.
Section 2 requires supporting affidavits of two (2) disinterested persons who attest to the truth of the application’s factual allegations.
The affidavits must attest that the applicant—either by himself or through his predecessor-in-interest—has actually resided on and continuously possessed and occupied the land under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership since June 12, 1945 or prior thereto.
Section 2 requires the affidavits to attest compliance with the requirements in Section 1.
Section 2 imposes a filing deadline for all applications under this Act: the application must be filed on or before December 31, 1987.

Section 2 directs the Minister of Natural Resources to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the Act.
Section 2 directs the Minister of Natural Resources to prescribe reasonable fees needed to implement the Act.
Section 2 limits the issuance of the needed cadastral and other processes through coordination of the designated land agencies described in Sections 3 and 2.

Section 3 requires the Director of Lands to institute cadastral proceedings to hasten settlement and adjudication of land titles over alienable and disposable lands of the public domain.
The Director of Lands must institute cadastral proceedings within sixty days from approval of the Act in all covered areas that have been subjected to cadastral survey: cities, capitals of provinces, and first class, second class, third class, and fourth class municipalities.
In all other areas, the Director of Lands must commence survey and make plans preparatory to cadastral proceedings within six months from approval of the Act.
In those other areas, the Director of Lands must institute cadastral proceedings within sixty days from the completion of the survey.
Section 3 directs the Land Registration Commission (National Land Titles and Deeds Registration Administration) to issue the decree of registration within thirty days from receipt of the copy of the order for issuance of the decree.

Section 4 provides that any violation of the Act or its promulgated rules and regulations subjects the offender to the same penalties provided for in the Public Land Act.