Art 427 Ownership may be exercised over things or rights.

the act, state, or right of possessing

something

-independent right of a person to the exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing (disposition, recovery)

*subject to restrictions and limitations set by law and the rights of others

 Beneficial – capable of being enforced in court; right to enjoyment in one person where the
legal title is in another (interest of beneficiary in trust property; power of shareholder to buy or
sell shares)
 Legal control over the property, which means they can decide to sell or transfer the property.
 Naked – enjoyment of all benefits and privileges of ownership

Subject-matter of ownership:

 By thing (corporeal) – any material object

 Rights (incorporeal) – intangible

Art 428 The owner has the right to enjoy and dispose of a thing, without other limitations than those
established by law.

The owner has also a right of action against the holder and possessor of the thing in order to recover it.
(348a)

Possession – physical control of an object

Ownership – absolute authority of a property

 Right to possess (jus possidendi)

The right to possess is the right to hold a thing or enjoy a right. It does not always include the right to
use.

Judgment of ownership may not include possession. — A person may be declared owner but he may not
be entitled to possession which may be in the hands of another such as a tenant or a lessee.

the delivery of possession should be considered included in the decision where the defeated party’s
claim to the possession is based on his claim of ownership or such party has not shown any right to
possess the property independently of his claim of ownership which was rejected.

In a contract of sale, the vendor is bound not only to transfer the ownership of, but also to deliver as
well as warrant the thing which is the object of the sale.

 Right to use and enjoy (jus utendi)

may enclose or fence his property, right to exclude any person from the enjoyment and disposal
thereof. cannot make use of his property in such a manner as to injure the rights of a third person

Can also be for possessor in good faith, usufructuary, lessee of agri land, antichretic creditor

 Right to the fruits (jus fruendi)

 Right to accessories (Jus accesionis)
Accessions (fruits of or improvements upon a thing). Alluvion

Accessories (things joined to or included with the principal thing)

all accessions and accessories are included in the obligation to deliver a determinate thing although they
may not have been mentioned.

 Right to consume the thing by its use (Jus abutendi)

consumes things which are consumable; even the right to abuse or even destroy the thing owned

 Right to dispose or alienate (Jus disponendi)

as in sale and donation; encumber as in lease, pledge, and mortgage

includes the right not to dispose

a seller need not be the owner at the time of the perfection of the contract of sale. It is sufficient that he
be the owner at the time of delivery of the thing sold

 Right to vindicate or recover (Jus vindicandi)

right of action given by the law to the person whose property has wrongfully been taken from him,
either to recover damages or the possession of the property, is a right which can be transferred by him,

Recovery of Personal Property:

replevin manual delivery of personal property;

affidavit that he is the owner of the property claimed, particularly describing it, or that he is entitled to
the possession thereof and that it is “wrongfully detained by the adverse party.’’

Recovery of Real Property

 Accion interdictal (forcible entry, unlawful detainer – refusal to leave upon expiration of lease)
instituted by “a person deprived of the possession of any land or building by force, intimidation,
threat, strategy, or stealth; within 1 year from date of actual entry or last demand to vacate)

in forcible entry, it is from the time of entry, while in unlawful detainer, possession which was at first
lawful later became illegal

The rationale of the proceedings is to provide for an expeditious means of protecting actual possession
or the right to possession of the property involved without delay in the determination thereof.

 Accion publicana or plenaria de posesion (action with notice to the public; Plenary action to
recover possession) to recover the better right of possession of realty independently of title

be brought in the proper regional trial court within a period of ten years otherwise the real right of
possession is lost. dispossession has lasted for more than one year

 Accion reinvindicacion (action to recover possession based on ownership) recover ownership

over real property

Must prove identity of property, plaintiff’s title to it

  Writ of injuction

a judicial process whereby a person is required to do or refrain from doing a particular thing.

(a) there must exist a clear and positive right over the property in question which should be judicially
protected through the writ; and (b) the acts against which the injunction is to be directed are violative of
said right.

 Writ of possession

order whereby a sheriff is commanded to place a person in possession of a real or personal property,
such as when a property is extrajudicially foreclosed.

Limitations on the right of ownership.

(1) Those imposed in general by the State in the exercise of the power of taxation, police power, and
power of eminent domain (see Art. 435.); (2) Those imposed by law such as legal easement and the
requirement of legitime in succession; (3) Those imposed by the grantor of the property on the grantee,
either by contract (e.g., donation) or by last will; (4) Those imposed by the owner himself, such as
voluntary easement, mortgage, pledge, and lease; and (5) Those arising from conflicts of private rights
such as those which take place in accession continua.

Art. 429. The owner or lawful possessor of a thing has the right to exclude any person from the
enjoyment and disposal thereof. For this purpose, he may use such force as may be reasonably
necessary to repel or prevent an actual or threatened unlawful physical invasion or usurpation of his
property.

Self-help principle

Requisites:

(1) Owner or lawful possessor. — The person defending his property must be the owner or lawful
possessor; hence, if his possession is wrongful, the right to use force cannot be availed of;

(2) Reasonable force. — He must use only such force as may be reasonably necessary to repel or
prevent an invasion or usurpation of his property; otherwise, he shall be liable for damages;

(3) No delay. — The doctrine of self-help can only be exercised at the time of an actual or threatened
dispossession. or immediately after the dispossession to regain possession

(4) Actual or threatened physical invasion or usurpation. — The person against whom force is employed
has acted or is acting wrongfully or unlawfully;

Exepction: 432

Art. 430. Every owner may enclose or fence his land or tenements by means of walls, ditches, live or
dead hedges, or by any other means without detriment to servitudes constituted thereon.

limitation to this right is the right of others to existing servitudes imposed on the land or tenement.
(building of dam that obstructed the natural flow of water)
Art. 431. The owner of a thing cannot make use thereof in such manner as to injure the rights of a third
person.

When any property is condemned or seized by competent authority in the interest of health, safety or
security, the owner thereof shall not be entitled to compensation,  unless he can show that such
condemnation or seizure is unjustified.

Requisites:

1. The interest of the public in general, as distinguished from those of a particular class, requires such
interference.

2. The means employed are reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of a purpose, and not unduly
oppressive upon individuals.

Art. 432. The owner of a thing has no right to prohibit the interference of another with the same, if the
interference is necessary to avert an imminent danger and the threatened damage, compared to the
damage arising to the owner from the interference, is much greater. The owner may demand from the
person benefited indemnity for the damage to him.

state of necessity justifies it

Requisite:

1. The interference is necessary.

2. The damage to another is much greater than the damage to the property.

(a) that the evil sought to be avoided actually exists;

(b) that the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;

(c) that there be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it

Art. 433. Actual possession under claim of ownership raises a disputable presumption of ownership. The
true owner must resort to judicial process for the recovery of the property. (movable and immovable)

Requirements to raise disputable presumption of ownership: (a) actual possession; and (b) claim of
ownership.

The true owner has to resort to judicial process to recover his property, only if the possessor does not
want to surrender the property to him, after proper request or demand has been made.

Art. 434. In an action to recover, the property must be identified, and the plaintiff must rely on the
strength of his title and not on the weakness of the defendant’s claim.

burden of proof lies on the person who claims that he has a better right to the property. He must
satisfactorily prove both ownership and identity.

-describing the location, area and boundaries thereof

Ownership may be shown by any evidence, written or oral, admissible in law, such as:
(1) a Torrens title; (2) title from the Spanish government (3) patent duly registered in the Registry of
Property by the grantee (4) deed of sale (5) long and actual possession (6) occupation of a building for a
long time by a party without paying rent

Art. 435. No person shall be deprived of his property except by competent authority and for public use
and always upon payment of just compensation.

Should this requirement be not first complied with, the courts shall protect and, in a proper case,
restore the owner in his possession.

Eminent domain, or the superior right of the State to own certain properties under certain conditions

Essential Requisites of Eminent Domain:

(a) taking by competent authority

(b) observance of due process of law

(c) taking for public use (whatever is beneficially employed/ advantageous for the community)

(d) payment of just compensation (value of the property at the time of its taking; determination is
judicial function)

Due process (notice to owner, opportunity to be hear and present his side)

Restoration to the owner:

 Where there is estoppel or acquiescence on part of the owner

 Where power exercised without authority

Art. 436. When any property is condemned or seized by competent authority in the interest of health,
safety or security, the owner thereof shall not be entitled to compensation, unless he can show that
such condemnation or seizure is unjustified.

Art. 437. The owner of a parcel of land is the owner of its surface and of everything under it, and he can
construct thereon any works or make any plantations and excavations which he may deem proper,
without detriment to servitudes and subject to special laws and ordinances. He cannot complain of the
reasonable requirements of aerial navigation.

Surface rights of a landowner - that whatever is in a direct line between the surface of any land and the
center of the earth belongs to the owner of the surface BUT

so that whatever is in a direct line between the surface of any land and the center of the earth belongs
to the owner of the surface works or make any plantations and excavations on his land is subject to:

(1) existing servitudes or easements (Title VII.),

(2) special laws,

(3) local ordinances,

(4) the reasonable requirements of aerial navigation, and

(5) the rights of third persons.

Art. 438. Hidden treasure belongs to the owner of the land, building, or other property on which it is
found. Nevertheless, when the discovery is made on the property of another, or of the State or any of its
sub-divisions, and by chance, one-half thereof shall be allowed to the finder. If the finder is a trespasser,
he shall not be entitled to any share of the treasure. If the things found be of interest to science or the
arts, the State may acquire them at their just price, which shall be divided in conformity with the rule
stated

Rules:

a. The treasure belongs to the owner of the land if he is the finder.

b. The finder is entitled to 1/2 if he is not the owner of the land, provided the discovery is by chance.

c. If the finder is a trespasser, he shall not be entitled to any share of the treasure.

d. If the things found be of interest to science or the arts, the State may acquire them at their just price,
which shall be divided equally among the land owner and the finder.

e. If the treasure is found by the lessee or usufructuary on the land or tenement, he gets one-half; if
found by another person, one-half goes to him and the other half to the owner of the property in which
it was found.

Art. 439. By treasure is understood, for legal purposes, any hidden and unknown deposit of money,
jewelry, or other precious objects, the lawful ownership of which does not appear.

Requisites:

(1) It consists of money, jewelry or other precious objects

(2) Its existence is hidden and unknown (finding it can really be said to be a discovery or totally
unexpected)
(3) Its lawful ownership does not appear