Sec. 2.    The Leyte Sab-A Basin Development Authority, hereinafter referred to as the Authority, which was created under Presidential Decree 625, shall have overall responsibility for the development of the Industrial Estate, and for that purpose, the Authority shall exercise its powers and functions and the Industrial estate shall enjoy the privileges and benefits granted under said Decree.

Sec. 3.    The Bureau of Lands, Bureau of Forestry, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and the Bureau of Mines shall immediately turn over and transfer to the Authority all public and mining lands and forests within the industrial estate, including foreshore areas required by the Industrial estate.

Sec. 4.    The Authority is hereby empowered and instructed to acquire privately-owned lands circumscribed in the Industrial Estate by way of negotiated sales with the landowners. The acquisition cost of raw or uncultivated lands shall be P5,000.00 per hectare or P0.50 per square meter. In addition to the cost of the land, the Authority shall pay the landowners P25.00 for each fruitbearing coconut tree, and, in case the tree is not fruitbearing, one peso for each year of the age of the tree but not to exceed P20.00 per tree. Other existing crops or semi-permanent buildings shall be compensated in accordance with their market value as fixed by the Provincial Assessor of Leyte, the provisions of Presidential Decree Nos. 76 and 464 notwithstanding. 

Sec. 5.    The Authority shall deputize the National Development Company (NDC), as reorganized under Presidential Decree No. 1648, to organize and manage the development of facilities required to accelerate the implementation of major industrial projects in the Industrial Estate, particularly the three priority projects, namely, the Copper Smelter, Phosphatic Fertilizer, and Aluminum Smelter projects, and other industrial projects as may be agreed upon between the Governor of the Province of Leyte and the Minister of Industry. Towards this end, the NDC shall advance to the Authority the funds needed to pay for the cost and other expenses of acquisition of the private lands and their improvements required for such projects. The Authority shall thereafter assign and cede to NDC the sites for which the advances have been made.

Sec. 6.    The Minister of Public Works, in coordination with the Philippine Ports Authority, shall immediately undertake the construction of a general public wharf at the Industrial estate. He shall coordinate with the Chairman of the NDC to insure that the needs and requirements for port facilities of the three priority projects are provided.

Sec. 7.    The Minister of Public Highways is hereby instructed to immediately improve the road network to the industrial estate and construct access roads to the copper smelter, phosphatic fertilizer, and aluminum smelter projects and within the Industrial Estate, as development needs may require.

Sec. 8.    The Minister of Health and Minister of Education and Culture shall immediately undertake measures to provide health services and education to the members of the community which will be established in the Industrial Estate. In coordination with the Minister of Public Works, they shall construct hospitals, clinics, schools and other public service facilities or infrastructure as the needs of the community may require. 

Sec. 9.    The Minister of the Budget is hereby directed to immediately release to the Authority or to the National Development Company in case of the allocated sites for the copper, fertilizer and aluminum projects, such sums of money from the National Treasury, which have not otherwise been appropriated, for the improvement of existing roads and the construction of new roads, the general public wharf, hospitals, clinics, schools, access roads to and within the Industrial Estate, and such other infrastructure, utilities, and facilities for the development of the Industrial Estate.

SECTION 10.    The National Water Resources Council shall permit the diversion or appropriation of water from any public water source to the Authority for use by the Industrial Estate, free from all kinds of fees and charges under Presidential Decree No. 424.

SECTION 11.    The provincial officials of Leyte and the mayors, barangay officials, and other local officials of Isabel, and other towns and cities of Leyte, are hereby directed and instructed to provide assistance to the Authority and the National Development Company in carrying out their functions and instructions. 

SECTION 12.    The environmental protection policies shall be observed in the development of the Industrial Estate. However, industrial projects to be located in the Industrial Estate shall be exempted from preparing and filing the Environmental Impact Statement required under Sec. 4 of Presidential Decree No. 1151.

SECTION 13.    Owners of the lands or bona fide tenants thereof who may be dispossessed as a result of the acquisition of their lands by the Authority shall be resettled in appropriate housing sites which the Authority shall set aside for them.

SECTION 14.    This Letter of Instruction shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines, this 23rd day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine. 

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Since 19.07.98.