Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section forty-two of Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred sixty is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 42. Taxes on real estate.—Extension and remission of the tax.—A tax, the rate of which shall not exceed two per centum ad valorem to be determined by the Municipal Board, shall be levied annually on or before the second Monday of January on the assessed value of all real estate in the city subject to taxation. All taxes on real estate for any year shall be due and payable annually on the first day of January and from this date such taxes together with all penalties accruing thereto shall constitute a lien on the property subject to such taxation.

"Such lien shall be superior to all other liens, mortgages, or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever; and shall be enforceable against the property whether in the possession of the delinquent or any subsequent owner, and can only be removed by the payment of the tax and penalty.

"At the option of the taxpayer, the tax for any year may be paid in two installments to be fixed annually by the Municipal Board simultaneously with the rate per centum of ad valorem taxation: Provided, That the time limit for the first and second installments shall be set at not later than the thirty-first day of May and the thirty-first day of October of each year, respectively.

"Any person, who on the last day set for the payment of the real estate tax as provided in the preceding paragraphs, shall be within the premises of the City Hall willing and ready to pay the tax but is unable to effect it on account of the large number of taxpayers therein present, shall be furnished a properly prescribed card which will entitle him to pay the tax without penalty on the following day.

"The words 'paid under protest' shall be written upon the face of the real estate tax receipt upon the request of any person willing to pay the tax under protest. Confirmation in writing of an oral protest shall be made within thirty days.

"At the expiration of the time for the payment of the real estate tax without penalty, the taxpayer shall be subject, from the first day of delinquency, to the payment of a penalty at the rate of two per centum for each full month of delinquency that has expired, on the amount of original tax due, until the tax shall have been paid in full or until the property shall have been forfeited to the city as provided in this Act: Provided, That in no case shall the total penalty exceed twenty-four per centum of the original tax due. In the event that the crop is extensively damaged or that a great lowering of the prices of products is registered in any year, or that a similar disaster extends throughout the province, or for other good and sufficient reason, the Municipal Board may, by resolution passed on or before the thirty-first day of December of such year, extend the time for the collection of the tax on real estate in the City of Tacloban for a period not to exceed three months, or remit wholly or in part the payment of the tax or penalty for the ensuing year, but such resolution shall have to specify clearly the grounds for such extension or remission and shall not take effect until it shall have been approved by the Department Head.

"The President of the Philippines may, in his discretion, remit or reduce the real estate taxes for any year in the city if he deems this to be in the public interest."

SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 16, 1956.