Executive Order 796

by President of the United States

Pursuant to section 12 of Act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, entitled "An Act temporarily to provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes" (32 Stat. L., 691), the following-described public lands, situated on the Island of Biliran, Philippine Islands, are hereby reserved, subject to private rights, if any there be, and to the conditions hereinafter set forth, for military purposes, viz: All public lands within metes and bounds described as follows:

Beginning on the west shore of Biliran Island at a point on the south bank of the Busali River at its mouth; thence approximately N. 82° 00′ 00″ E. 5,820 meters, more or less, to the summit of a prominent knoll; thence due east 2,000 meters; thence due north to the intersection with a line running east from a point 2,000 meters from the summit of Catmon Mountain on the ridge extending north-northeast from said summit; thence due west to said point 2,000 meters from summit of Catmon Mountain on the ridge extending north-northeast from said summit; thence by a straight line to a point, on the shore at the line of mean high water, 500 meters in a general northwest direction from the right bank of the Catmon River at its mouth; thence in a general southeast direction, along the line of mean high water, to the initial point. There is also included with this reservation all land lying under the waters of Biliran Bay fronting the reservation to a distance of 1,000 meters from the line of mean high water. Area: 6,632.3 hectares, more or less. The bearings are true.

The said reservation is made subject to the following conditions:

That no private property shall be taken or destroyed without first making payment therefor; that no private parties who are at present lawful owners or occupants, or in the lawful possession or occupation of the land required for this reservation, shall be dispossessed or disturbed in their ownership, possession, or occupation, until their ownership or right to possession or occupancy has been extinguished by due process of law and all lawful claims of such owners or occupants have been fully paid.

Theodore Roosevelt.

The White House,

May 13, 1908.