Republic Act No. 9397

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1

Section 12 of Republic Act No. 7279, otherwise known as the "Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992," is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 12. Disposition of Lands for Socialized Housing. - The National Housing Authority, with respect to lands belonging to the National Government, and the local government units with respect to the other lands within their respective localities, shall coordinate with each other to formulate and make available various alternative schemes for the disposition of lands to the beneficiaries of the Program. These schemes shall not be limited to those involving transfer of ownership in fee simple but shall include lease, with option to purchase, usufruct or such other variations as the local government units or National Housing Authority may deem most expedient in carrying out the purposes of this Act."

"Consistent with this provision, a scheme for public rental housing may be adopted.

"Disposition of lands, including any improvements thereon, owned by the National Government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities and/or the local government units through direct negotiated sale to the occupants thereof without need of public bidding shall be allowed subject to the following conditions:

"a) The lands are within a residential zone as classified by the local government unit concerned;

"b) The lands are certified to be for socialized housing purpose by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council;

"c) The occupants are qualified beneficiaries in accordance with Section 16 and are registered as such in accordance with Section 17 of this Act;

"d) The cost of said lands shall be made affordable to the beneficiaries, taking into consideration their income and land valuation required in Section 13 of this Act;

"e) Any subsequent disposition of the said land shall be subject to the limitations provided in Section 14 of this Act; and

"f) The occupants have resided on the said lands subject to the prohibitions provided in Section 30 of this Act."

Section 2. Separability Clause

If any part or provision of this Act shall be held unconstitutional or invalid, other provision hereof that are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Section 3. Repealing Clause

All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, rules, regulations, or parts thereof which are not consistent with this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 4. Effectivity

This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

JOSE DE VENECIA, JR. Speaker of the House of Representatives	MANNY VILLAR President of the Senate

This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2518 and House Bill No. 3834 was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on January 30, 2007 and January 29, 2007, respectively.

ROBERTO P. NAZARENO Secretary General House of Represenatives	OSCAR G. YABES Secretary of Senate

Approved: MAR 18, 2007

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO President of the Philippines