Administrative Order No. 140




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ Administrative Order No. 140, October 27, 1965 ] CONDONING BACK RENTALS DUE FROM TENANTS AND OCCUPANTS OF THE TUNASAN HOMESITE IN SAN PEDRO, LAGUNA WHEREAS, the Tunasan Homesite was purchased by the Government in 1939 for subdivision and distribution to bona-fide tenants and occupants and other qualified landless individuals of the country with the end in view of resolving the social unrest then prevailing in Laguna due to the refusal of the tenants and occupants to recognize the title of the Colegio de San Jose over the estate. WHEREAS, the tenants and occupants insistently claimed ownership of the areas actually occupied by them and refused to enter into any agreement to sell or contract to sell with the Government which expropriated the property in 1939, and it was only after the completion of the survey of the land in 1955, or after the elapse of sixteen years from the date of expropriation, that they entered into agreements to sell or contracts to sell over their landholdings with the Bureau of Lands; WHEREAS, in the computation of the selling price of the farm lots of residential lots by the Bureau of Lands accumulated rentals and interests thereon were added, although the Government did not actually pay interest on the money used in buying the Tunasan Homesite as it was an appropriation duly provided for in Commonwealth Act No. 20, as amended; WHEREAS, the imposition of said rentals on the occupants and tenants of the estate has resulted in the institution of landlord-tenant relationship which is not in accordance with the intent and spirit of the Constitution and Commonwealth Act No. 20, as amended; and WHEREAS, the failure of the tenants and occupants to pay rentals was due partly to their justified conviction that they were to pay the land at cost and not for the use thereof, since the Tunasan Homesite was purchased by the Government in their behalf. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, and the best interest, of the Government so requiring, do hereby order: That the outstanding rentals of lessees, bona-fide tenants and occupants found qualified under the law, rules and regulations to acquire lands in the Tunasan Homesite, San Pedro, Laguna, as well as rentals in arrears and interest thereon of promisees in agreements to sell, are hereby condoned and said persons relieved therefrom.1aшphi1 Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and sixty-five. (Sgd.) DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL President of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) SALVADOR L. MARIÑO Acting Executive Secretary The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation