Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
UPDATES, CONFLICTS
AND REMEDIES
•
ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHECKING THE
MANGROVES
School site reservations
• Land reserved for a school site under Sec.
83, CA No. 141, shall not be subject to
occupation, entry, sale, lease, or other
disposition until again declared alienable
by proclamation of the President. (Central
Mindanao University v. Republic, GR
No.195026, Feb. 22, 2016).
• It remains to be property of the public
dominion until withdrawn from the
public or quasi-public use for which they
have been reserved, by act of Congress or
by proclamation of the President, or
otherwise positively declared to have
been converted to patrimonial property.
Forests:
– Forest is a large tract of land covered with
a natural growth of trees and underbrush.
– The classification is descriptive of its legal
nature or status and does not have to be
descriptive of what the land actually looks
like. (DENR Sec. v. Yap, GR No. 167707, Oct.
8, 2008)
– Unless and until the land classified as
forest is released as A and D, the rules of
confirmation of title do not apply.
(Amunategui v. Director of Forestry, 126
SCRA 69)
Mineral lands:
– Mineral land means any area where
mineral resources are found.
– Mineral lands and resources are owned
by the State and their exploration,
development and utilization is subject to
the full control and supervision of the
State. (Republic v. CA and Dela Rosa, 160
SCRA 228; La Bugal-B’laan v. Ramos, 445
SCRA 1)
– Possession of mineral land, no matter how
long, does not confer possessory rights.
(Atok Big Wedge v. CA, 193 SCRA 71)
OPEN PIT MINING
Military or naval reservation:
– Land inside a military (or naval)
reservation, like the Fort Bonifacio Military
Reservation, cannot be the object of
registration unless it had been withdrawn
from the reservation and declared as A and
D land.
– It remains part of a military reservation
even if incidentally it is devoted for a
purpose other than as a military camp.
– Moreover, the 1987 Constitution forbids
private corporations from acquiring any
kind of alienable land of the public domain,
except through lease for a limited period.
(Republic v. Southside, 502 SCRA 587)
PHILIPPINE NAVY HEADQUARTERS
Reservations for public/national parks
• Land reserved for park purposes is not
registrable. (Palomo v. Court of Appeals
GR No. 95608, Jan. 21, 1997)
• Where a certificate of title covers a
portion of land within the area reserved
for park purposes, the title should be
annuled with respect to that portion.
(Palomo v. CA, 266 SCRA 392)
• For instance, the Tiwi Hot Spring
National Park cannot be disposed of
under the Public Land Act or Property
Registration Decree.
Foreshore lands:
– A foreshore land is that “strip of land that
lies between the high and low water
marks and that is alternately wet and dry
according to the flow of the tide,“ or "that
part of the land adjacent to the sea which
is alternately covered and left dry by the
ordinary flow of the tides.” Foreshore
lands are inalienable unless declared to
be A and D portions of the public domain.
(Republic v. RREC, 299 SCRA 199)
– Land invaded by the sea is foreshore land
and becomes part of the public domain.
(Republic v. CA and Morato, 281 SCRA 639)
• Puno, J., concurring opinion in Republic v.
RREC:
– “The CCP is a ‘non-municipal public
corporation’ established for the primary
purpose of propagating arts and culture in
the Philippines. It was created to awaken the
consciousness of the Filipino people to their
artistic and cultural heritage, and encourage
them to assist in its preservation, promotion,
enhancement and development. The CCP
Complex was established as a worthy venue
for Filipino artists to express their art and for
the people to appreciate art and the Filipino
culture. But more than its peso and centavo
Reclaimed lands:
– Submerged areas form part of the public
domain; only when reclaimed from the
sea can these submerged areas be
classified as agricultural lands.
– Once reclaimed the government may then
officially classify these lands as A and D,
and declare these lands no longer needed
for public service. Only then can these
lands be considered as A and D lands and
within the commerce of men. (Chavez v.
PEA, 384 SCRA 152)
Lakes:
– Lakes are neither agricultural nor
disposable lands of the public domain;
hence, free patents and certificates of title
covering portions of the lake are a nullity.
– But areas beyond its natural bed, or the
ground covered by the waters at their
highest ordinary depth during the dry
season, may be registered. (Republic v. CA
and De Rio, 131 SCRA 532)
LAGUNA LAKE
Protected areas:
• RA No. 7586 provides for the
establishment and management of a
national integrated protected areas
system referred to as the “National
Integrated Protected Areas System Act of
1992.”
• Protected areas are necessary to maintain
essential ecological processes and life-
support systems, to preserve genetic
diversity, to ensure sustainable use of
resources found therein.
• A protected area, like the Bataan Natural
Park, is inalienable.
BOHOL CHOCOLATE HILLS
MT. AMUYAO, 3 RD HIGHEST PHIL.
MOUNTAIN
REGISTRATION UNDER
THE PROPERTY
REGISTRATION DECREE
(PD 1529)
• Who may apply?
• Under Sec. 14(1)
– “Those who by themselves or their
predecessors-in-interest have been in
open, continuous, exclusive and notorious
possession and occupation of alienable
and disposable lands of the public domain
under a bona fide claim of ownership
since June 12, 1945, or earlier.”
• Requisites
• The applicant must be a Filipino citizen.
• The land must be an agricultural land,
already classified as alienable and
disposable (A and D) land at the time of
the filing of the application (Malabanan v.
CA, GR No. 179987, April 29, 2009, Sept. 3,
2013; Mercado v. Valley Mountain Mines,
GR No. 141019, Nov. 23, 2011)
• Applicant must have been in open,
continuous, exclusive and notorious
possession and occupation (OCENCO) of
• Tersely put, under Section 14 (1) of PD 1529,
the property in question is alienable and
disposable land of the public domain; the
applicant by himself or through his
predecessors-in-interest have been in open,
continuous, exclusive and notorious
possession and occupation thereto; and such
possession is under a bona fide claim of
ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.
(Republic v. Alba, GR No. 169710, Aug. 19,
2015).
• In Republic v. Alconaba (G.R. No. 155012,
April 14, 2004), it was explained that the
intent behind the law's use of the terms
• Campos v. Republic, GR No. 184371, March 5,
2014, stresses:
• “We emphasize that since the effectivity of
P.D. No. 1073 13 on January 25, 1977, it
must be shown that possession and
occupation of the land sought to be
registered by the applicant himself or
through his predecessors-in-interest,
started on June 12, 1945 or earlier, which
totally conforms to the requirement
under Section 14 (1) of P.D. No 1529. A
mere showing of possession and
occupation for thirty (30) years or more is
• Rationale for the rule that the land need be
classified as A and D already at the time the
application is filed:
– “If the State, at the time the application is
made, has not yet deemed it proper to
release the property for alienation or
disposition, the presumption is that the
government is still reserving the right to
utilize the property; hence, the need to
preserve its ownership in the State
irrespective of the length of adverse
possession even in good faith.”
• Possession is -
– Open when it is patent, visible, apparent,
notorious and not clandestine;
– Continuous when uninterrupted,
unbroken and not intermittent or
occasional;
– Exclusive when the adverse possessor can
show exclusive dominion over the land
and an appropriation of it to his own use
and benefit; and
– Notorious when it is so conspicuous that it
is generally known and talked of by the
public or the people in the neighborhood.
(Bienvenido v. Gabriel, GR No. 175763,
• Under Sec. 14(2)
– “Those who have acquired ownership of
private lands by prescription under the
provisions of existing laws”
• Rule on prescription:
▪ Ordinary prescription – 10 years in good
faith
▪ Extraordinary prescription – 30 years
• But land must be patrimonial property for
prescription to apply. (Malabanan v.
Republic, supra)
• Lands of the public domain shall form part
of the patrimonial property of the State when
there is a declaration that:
• These lands are alienable or disposable,
and
• Are no longer intended for public use or
public service.
• Only when such lands have become
patrimonial can the prescriptive period for
the acquisition of the property begin to
run. (Malabanan v. CA, supra; Republic v.
• The Court in Republic v. Sese, GR No. 185092,
June 4, 2014, explicated:
– “The applicant must be able to show that the
State, in addition to the said classification,
expressly declared through either a law
enacted by Congress or a proclamation issued
by the President that the subject land is no
longer retained for public service or the
development of the national wealth or that
the property has been converted into
patrimonial. Consequently, without an
express declaration by the State, the land
remains to be a property of public dominion
and, hence, not susceptible to acquisition by
virtue of prescription.”
• Concept of possession for purposes of
prescription
• Possession must be that of owner, and it
must be public, peaceful and
uninterrupted. Acts of a possessory
character by virtue of a license or mere
tolerance are not sufficient.
• The present possessor may complete the
period for prescription by tacking his
possession to that of his grantor or
predecessor-in-interest.
• It is presumed that the present possessor
who was also the possessor at a previous
time has continued to be in possession
• Distinction between Sec. 14(1) and Sec. 14(2):
• Under Sec. 14(1), there must be proof
showing that the land had already been
classified as alienable and disposable at
the time the application is filed.
• Under Sec. 14(2), there must be proof that
the land had already been converted to
patrimonial property (no longer intended
for public service or the development of
the national wealth) at the start of
possession. (Republic v. Zuburban Realty,
GR No. 164408, March 24, 2014)
• Under Sec. 14(3)