Section 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber,
mineral lands and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be
further classified by law according to the uses to which they may be devoted. Alienable
lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. Private corporations or
associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for
a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years,
and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease
not more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve hectares thereof,
by purchase, homestead, or grant.
Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and
subject to the requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law,
the size of lands of the public domain which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased
and the conditions therefor.
Section 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine, by law, the specific limits
of forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground.
Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks shall be conserved and may not be
increased nor diminished, except by law. The Congress shall provide for such period as
it may determine, measures to prohibit logging in endangered forests and watershed
areas.
Section 5. The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national
development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural wellbeing.
The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property
rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.
Section 6. The use of property bears a social function, and all economic agents shall
contribute to the common good. Individuals and private groups, including corporations,
cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall have the right to own, establish,
and operate economic enterprises, subject to the duty of the State to promote
distributive justice and to intervene when the common good so demands.
Section 7. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or
conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold
lands of the public domain.
Section 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this Article, a natural-born
citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of
private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.
Section 9. The Congress may establish an independent economic and planning agency
headed by the President, which shall, after consultations with the appropriate public
agencies, various private sectors, and local government units, recommend to Congress,