DECLARING ANCESTRAL LANDS OCCUPIED AND CULTIVATED BY NATIONAL CULTURAL COMMUNITIES AS ALIENABLE AND DISPOSABLE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, it is the avowed policy of the Government to assist
landless tenants, whether Christian or Muslim, in acquiring full
ownership of the lands occupied or cultivated by them;

WHEREAS, tenants in agricultural lands primarily devoted to
rice and corn production have been granted the fullest opportunity to
own the land tilled by them in the easiest possible way and under terms
less burdensome to them;

WHEREAS, under the New Society, the social justice programs
arc given top priority, and in furtherance thereof a greater portion of
the resources of the Government have been channeled to them; and

WHEREAS, in order to give greater substance to these social
justice programs and the endeavors to bring forth equality for all
citizen of this Republic, it is required that landless Muslims and
members of other cultural minority groups shall be given the same
opportunity to own the lands occupied and cultivated by them, which
lands were likewise occupied and cultivated by their ancestors;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General
Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and
other:

SECTION 1. Ancestral Lands. — Any provision of law,
decree, executive order, rule or regulation to the contrary
notwithstanding all unappropriated agricultural lands agricultural lands
forming part of the public domain at the date of the approval of this
Decree occupied and cultivated by members of the National Cultural
Communities for at least ten (10) years before the effectivity of this
Decree, particularly in the Provinces of Mountain Province, Cagayan,
Kalinga-Apayao, Ifugao, Pampanga, Rizal, Palawan, Lanao del Sur, Lanao
del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato,
Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, and
Basilan are hereby declared part of the ancestral lands of these
National Cultural Communities and as such these lands are further
declared alienable and disposable if such lands are further declared
alienable and disposable if such lands have not been earlier declared
as alienable and disposable by the Director of Forest Development to be
distributed exclusively among members of the National Cultural
Communities concerned, as declined under the Constitution and under
Republic Act Numbered Eighteen Hundred Eighty-Eight: Provided,
however, That lands of the public domain heretofore reserved for
settlement purposes under the administration of the Department of
Agrarian Reform and other areas reserved for other public or
quasi-public purposes shall not be subject to disposition in accordance
with the provisions of this Decree: Provided, further, That the
Government in the interest of its development program, may establish
agro-industrial projects in these areas for the purpose of creating
conditions for employment and thus further enhance the progress of the
people.

For purposes of this Decree, ancestral lands arc lands of the
public domain that have been in open, continuous, exclusive and
notorious occupation and cultivation by members of the National Cultural
Communities by themselves or through their ancestors, under a bona fide
claim of acquisition of ownership according to their customs and
traditions for a period of at least thirty (30) years before the date of
approval of this Decree. The interruption of the period of their
occupation and cultivation on account of civil disturbance or force
majeure shall not militate against their right granted under this
Decree.

SEC. 2. In provinces other than those enumerated
under Section 1 hereof where there are National Cultural Communities,
the President upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture
and Natural Resources shall designate the areas to be set aside as
ancestral lands.

SEC. 3. Upon the approval of this Decree, the lands
herein mentioned for the National Cultural Communities shall be
identified, surveyed and subdivided by the Bureau of Lands into
family-size farm lots not exceeding five (5) hectares each and shall be
allocated to members of the National Cultural Communities under such
terms and conditions prescribed in this Decree or to he prescribed in
the rules implementing this Decree.

SEC. 4. Land Occupancy Certificates shall be issued to
all members of the National Cultural Communities who are presently
occupying and cultivating lands of the public domain within ancestral
lands as defined in this Decree.

To expedite the issuance of these Land Occupancy Certificates
the District Land Officers are hereby authorized to sign them in behalf
of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

SEC. 5.
No land granted in accordance with this Decree shall be transferred,
sold or otherwise alienated within a period of ten (10) years alter
acquisition of such lands or any right or interest thereto except in
favor of the cooperative of which the owner is a member or in favor of
the Government or any of its agencies, branches or instrumentalities.

SEC. 6. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, who shall be the implementing officer for this Decree, upon
the recommendation of the Director of Lands, and the Director of Forest
Development shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the
proper implementation of this Decree.

Among others, the implementing rules shall provide:

1. That a recipient of the lands allocated under this Decree must
   first be a member of a farmer cooperative within his community before a
   Certificate of Land Occupancy shall be issued to him.
2. That no mortgage of or other encumbrances on any such
   lands, rights or interest therein, shall be valid unless approved by the
   Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources or his duly authorized
   representative.

SEC. 7. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources
shall have authority to call upon other departments, bureaus, offices
and agencies of the Government for such assistance as may be required to
implement the provisions of this Decree, especially the Department of
Agrarian Reform.

SEC. 8. Occupants of ancestral lands as defined under
this Decree are hereby given a period of ten (10) years from the date of
approval hereof within which to file applications to perfect their
title to the lands occupied by them, otherwise, they shall lose their
preferential rights thereto and the land shall be declared open for
allocation to other deserving applicants.

SEC. 9. Any person or public officer who violates any
provision of this Decree, or any regulation promulgated in accordance
therewith, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand
pesos (P1,000) or by imprisonment of not more than six (6) months or
both at the discretion of the Court: Provided, That the land
acquired by any person in violation of this Decree and of the Public
Land Act shall revert to the public domain: Provided, further,
That such violation shall bar the violator from again acquiring land
under the provisions of this Decree and of the Public Land Act.

SEC. 10. Any provision of law, decree, general order,
executive order, rule or regulation contrary hereto are hereby repealed
or modified accordingly.

SEC. 11. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 11th day of March, in the
year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.