MODES OF ACQUISITION

OF SCHOOL SITES
Renalyn N. Gacusan
MODES OF ACQUISITION OF SCHOOL SITES
A school site may be acquired through any of the following methods (purchase, donation, contract of
usufruct, expropriation, barter, etc.).

Usufruct – legal right to use another’s property

Expropriation – the taking of private property for public use or in the public interest

1. Purchase

 This is the most reliable, stable and non- controversial mode of acquisition.
 A school site may be acquired by direct purchase from the legal owner who voluntarily sells it
on an agreed price.
 The fund may be taken from Capital Outlays of the Department of Education, from the funds of
the Local School Board, or from appropriations set aside by the local government unit.
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  The purchase must be evidenced by a Deed of Sale duly executed, notarized and registered
with the Register of Deeds.

If a school site is purchased using the Capital Outlays of the Department of Education, the Deed
of Sale shall be executed in favor of the Republic of the Philippines, Department of Education.

Authority to purchase shall be sought from the President of the Philippines, except when the
funds are appropriated components of the school budget, in which case the Department of Education
grants the authority.

The procedure for the purchase of a school site is as follows:

[1] Preparation of a resolution by an appraisal committee composed of the

Municipal/Provincial/City Assessor as Chairman, and Municipal/Provincial/City Auditor as
Members, stating the fair market value of the site to be acquired.

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[2] Passage of a resolution by the Local School Board of the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan/Panlungsod/Bayan, as the case maybe, authorizing the purchase of the lot.
[3] Consultation with the Provincial/City Fiscal as to the legality and validity of the purchase.

[4] Negotiating and perfecting the purchase.

[5] Certification of the Municipal/Provincial/City Treasurer or Department of Education,

Accountant, as the case maybe, as to the availability of funds to be used for the purchase.

[6] Execution of the Deed of Sale.

[7] Filing of an indemnity bond by the seller, if the land is not registered.

[8] Registration with the Register of Deeds. A new Torrens Title and registry with the Register of
Deeds is turned over to the school administrator.

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 Torrens Title System
A system for recording land titles under which a court may direct the issuance of a certificate of title upon
application by the landowner.

[9] The expenses for the execution and registration of the sale are borne by the seller, unless there
is a stipulation to the contrary.

[10] In case several parcels of land are covered by one (1) deed, each parcel shall be described
separately and the technical description of each parcel shall include the total area in the
assessed value.

[11] In case of unregistered land, the indemnity bond shall be executed in accordance with the
proper forms. It shall cover the assessed value of the land to be purchased, contain the same
description of the land as given in the Deed of Sale, and bear the signature of at least two (2)
witnesses.

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2. Donation. May either be simple, conditional, inter vivos or mortis causa.

A simple donation is one whereby a person disposes gratuitously of a piece of land in favor of
the municipality, city, province or the Republic of the Philippines.

The donation is absolute in character, that is, the donation does not impose any onerous
condition or burden on the Department (donee), and must be duly registered with the Register of
Deeds, and the appropriate memorandum of transfer is annotated on the back of the certificate of
title.

A conditional donation is one which imposes a condition such as “that the land shall be used
only for education”. In such case, the property is reverted to the owner when its use as stipulated in
the donation is changed.

In both cases, the donation must be accepted during the lifetime of the donor, otherwise it is
considered perfected.

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a. An inter vivos donation takes effect during the lifetime of the donor. When the donation took
effect only after the donor’s death, it is referred to as mortis causa. Donations by mortis causa
shall conform to the formalities required of the last will.

b. The donation of a piece of land, regardless of its value, is made through a public document. The
acceptance may be made in the same Deed of Donation or in a separate public document.

c. The Department of Education shall be made as the donee of the donation represented by the
Regional Director or the Schools Division Superintendent concerned who shall accept the
donation for and in behalf of the Department.

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The procedure for acquiring a school site through donation is as follows:

[1] Execution by the donor of a Deed of Donation in accordance with the legal form containing
relevant information as to whether the land to be donated is a conjugal or separate property of
the donor.

[2] Acceptance of the donation by the donee represented by the Regional Director or the Schools
Division Superintendent as the case may be.

[3] Acknowledgement in writing by the donor that he has been notified and has full knowledge of
the acceptance of the donation.

[4] Issuance of the opinion of the provincial/city fiscal as to the validity of the Deed of Donation.

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 [5] Registration of the Deed of Donation with the Registry of Deeds in accordance with the
provisions of Act 3344.

Act 3344 – Land Registration Act of the Department of Agrarian Reform

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3. Contract of Usufruct

In case the property is registered in the name of an individual, province, city, municipality or
barangay, but is not allowed to be donated, but DepED/school is allowed full use or perpetual right of
use through gratuitous act (without consideration), a Contract of Usufruct with the registered owner
for as long as the property is to be solely and exclusively used for educational purposes is executed.

The contract must be registered with the Register of Deeds and duly annotated on the
certificate of title. The contract shall define in clear terms the conditions relative to the use of the land,
the control and supervision of the school site, particularly the ownership of the building or facility
constructed as well as the party responsible, for all real property taxes that may be due and payable on
the subject parcel of land.

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4. Expropriation

Private land desired for school purposes may be acquired through expropriation proceedings.

a. Expropriation Proceedings.

If the DepED or the LGU, as the case may be, fails to acquire a private property for
educational purpose through purchase, expropriation proceedings may be started for the
acquisition of the property.

In case just compensation will be shouldered by the DepED, the Schools Division
Superintendent through the Regional Director shall recommend to the Secretary to start
expropriation proceedings. The Secretary shall make the necessary recommendations to the
Office of the President for the filing of expropriation proceedings by the Office of the Solicitor
General.

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 Where the funding or payment will be provided by the LGU, through the Local School
Board Fund or local government appropriation, the LGU may expropriate said property through
a resolution of the Sanggunian authorizing the chief executive to initiate expropriation
proceedings.

The local chief executive shall cause the provincial, city or municipal attorney concerned
or, in his absence, the provincial or city prosecutor, to file expropriation proceedings in the
proper court in accordance with the Rules of Court and other pertinent laws.

b. Just Compensation/Payment.

The amount to be paid for the expropriated property shall be determined by the proper
court, based on the fair market value at the time of the taking of the property.

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5. Barter or Exchange.

An existing school site may be exchanged for a new site for justifiable reasons. This may be
resorted to with the school administrators exercising care and caution that in the exchange process,
the government (DepED/school) will stand to gain and not to lose in the transaction since the lots
being exchanged may not be of the same size and/or value.

The requirements for this arrangement are as follows:

a. A resolution by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan/ Panlungsod/ Bayan authorizing the exchange or

barter.

b. A statement of agreement from the owner of the lot proposed for exchange which shall
accompany the resolution.

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c. Sketches of the school site and the site proposed to be exchanged showing their respective
areas, locations, boundaries, improvements therein, if any.

d. Information as to how the lots were acquired.

e. Deed of Exchange executed by both parties.

f. Written opinion of the Provincial/City Fiscal as to the legality and validity of the Deed of
Exchange.

g. Approval of the Regional Director or Schools Division Superintendent as the case maybe.

h. Registration of the Deed of Exchange with the Register of Deeds of the province or city.

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6. Presidential Proclamation

Public lands declared as reservation areas (including ancestral lands) through Presidential
Proclamation are sometimes targeted as sites for educational purposes. In some instances, DepED may
be able to acquire a parcel thereof as school site with the least cost using the following procedure:

a. A resolution by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan/ Panlungsod/Bayan requesting the President of

the Philippines to set aside the public land for the school, and authority for its survey by the
Bureau of Lands or by a duly licensed private surveyor.

b. A certification by the municipal/provincial treasurer or by the DepED Accountant as to the

availability of funds for the survey and mapping of the portion of the land intended for a school
site.

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c. A certification by the Schools Division Superintendent or the Vocational Schools Superintendent
or Administrator, in the case of vocational schools, as to suitability of the land for school
purposes.

d. A report showing the average attendance in the school during the previous school year, the
area of the land sought to be reserved, and a school site development plan. The
abovementioned documents shall be forwarded to the President of the Philippines through the
DepED Regional Director and the DepED Secretary for approval.

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7. Gratuitous Conveyance

Real property belonging to the government, when needed for school purposes, may be
conveyed by way of gift, sale, lease, exchange, or as follows:

a. In the case of real property belonging to the national government, the President of the
Philippines is the competent authority to execute the proper conveyance.

b. Concerning real property belonging to any province which is needed for school purposes, the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan may authorize by resolution the Provincial Governor to execute the
conveyance. Such conveyance may be without consideration if the board so determines.

c. Real property belonging to any city or municipality may be conveyed through a resolution of
the Sangguniang Panlungsod/Bayan for school purposes to the national or local government,
without any consideration if the Sanggunian so determines.

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Thank You!

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