CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS

Classifications of lands, generally.

Government lands are classified in a number of ways. They may be
(a) Lands of public domain, either alienable or inalienable, or
(b) Lands of the private domain, which refers to “land belonging to and owned by the
state as a private individual, without being devoted for public use, public service or the
development of national wealth… similar to patrimonial properties of the State.
Under the Civil Code, government lands can either be properties of the public dominion,
or those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports, bridges constructed
by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and other similar character, or those which belong to the
State, without being for public use, intended for some public service or for the development of
the national wealth; or patrimonial properties of the State, i.e., properties other than properties of
the public domination or former properties of the public dominion that are no longer intended for
public use or for public service. (Chavez vs. Public Estates Authority, G.R. No. 133250)

A) Classification of lands of the public domain under the Constitution.

Under the 1987 Constitution, lands of the public domain are classified into four categories,
namely:
a) Agricultural
b) Forest or Timber
c) Mineral Lands and,
d) National Parks.
Only agricultural lands, which may be further classified according to the uses or purposes to
which they are destined, may be disposed of in accordance with law.

The 1935 Constitution classified lands of public domain into three groups, namely agricultural,
timber, and mineral, and the term “public agricultural lands” has always been construed as
referring to those lands that were neither timber nor mineral, and as including residential lands.
In contrast, the 197 Constitution classified lands of the public domain into agricultural,
industrial, or commercial,

residential, resettlement, mineral, timber or forest, and grazing lands, and such other classes as
may be provided by law.( Section 10, Article XIV)
The Public Land Act, as amended, governs lands of the public domain, but timber and mineral
lands are governed by special laws. The administration and disposition of “friar lands” and those
lands which, being privately owned, have reverted to or become the property of the State, are
governed by laws presently in force. (Section 2, CA No. 141)
Under Section 6 of the Public Land Act, the prerogative of classifying or reclassifying lands
of the public domain, from forest or mineral to agricultural and vice versa, belongs to the
executive branch of the government and not the court. The presumption that the lands subject
of an application for registration is alienable or disposable rests with the applicant.

CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS UNDER THE PUBLIC LAND

ACT
For purposes of the administration and disposition of alienable or disposable public lands, the
President, upon recommendation of the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, shall
from time to time declare what lands are open to disposition or concession under this Act.
Section 6 of the Public Land Act classifies lands of the public domain into:
a) Alienable or Disposable
b) Timber
c) Mineral lands
The President may at any time and in like manner transfer such lands from one class to another,
for the purposes of their administration and disposition.

CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS OPEN FOR DISPOSITION

For purposes of their administration and disposition, lands of the public domain which are
alienable or open for disposition may be further classified according to the use or purposes to
which such lands are destined, as follows:
a) Agricultural;
b) Residential, commercial, industrial, or for similar productive purposes;
c) Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes;
d) Reservations for town sites and for public and quasi- public uses

Section 6 of CA No. 141 provides that the classification or reclassification of public lands into
alienable or disposable, mineral or forestlands is a prerogative of the executive department of the
government and not of the courts.
Section 9 of CA No. 141 provides that alienable or disposable public lands shall be classified,
according to the use or purposes to which they are destined, into agricultural, residential,
commercial, industrial, etc. lands. The classification provided in Section 9 is only for purposes of
administration and disposition, according to the purposes to which said lands are especially
adopted. Notwithstanding this classification, all of said lands are essentially agricultural public
lands because only agricultural public lands are subject to alienation or disposition under Section
2, Article XII of the Constitution.

MODES OF DISPOSITION
a) No public land can be acquired except by a grant from the State.

No public land can be acquired by private persons without any grant, express, or implied from
the government. In other words, it is indispensable that there be a showing of a title from the
state. This may come in the form of a homestead, sales, or free patent or grant. One claiming
“private rights” must prove that he has complied with the Public Land Act which prescribes the
substantive as well as the procedural requirements for acquisition of public lands”
b) Specific modes of disposition
Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes can be disposed of only as follows:

a) For Homestead settlement

b) By sale;
c) By lease; and
d) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles:
1. By judicial legalization
2. By administrative legalization (free patent)
The word “alienation” “disposition” or “concession” as used in the Public Land Act means
any of the methods authorized by the Act for the acquisition, lease, use, or benefit of the lands of
the public domain other than timber or mineral lands. Each mode of disposition is appropriately
covered by separate chapters of the Public Land Act because there are specific requirements and
application procedure for every mode. (Republic vs. Herbieto)

a) For Homestead settlement

Chapter IV ( Homesteads) of the Public Land Act governs the disposition of alienable
public lands through homestead.

Who are qualified to apply?

 All Citizens of the Philippines are qualified to apply;

 Over 18 years old or head of the family and not an owner of more than 12
hectares of land pursuant to the 1987 Constitution.
 Must have cultivated the improved at least one fifth of the land continuously since
the approval of the application
 Resided for at least one year in the municipality adjacent to the same
 Effect of the compliance with legal requirements
When a homesteaded has complied with all the terms and conditions, which entitle him to
a patent for a particular tract of public land, he acquires a vested interest therein, and is to
be regarded as the equitable owner thereof.
In Mesina vs. Sonza, the Supreme Court, citing Susi vs. Razon, held that once a
homestead applicant has complied with all the conditions essential to a government grant,
he acquires not only a right to grant, but a grant of the government. Thus:
“… where all the necessary requirements for a grant by the Government are complied
with through actual physical possession openly, continuously, and publicly, with a right
to a certificate of title to said land under the provisions of Chapter VII of Act No, 2874,
amending Act No, 926( carried over Chapter VIII of the Commonwelath Act No. 141)
the possessor is deemed to have already acquired by operation of the law not only a right
to a grant. But a grant of the Government, for it is not necessary that a certificate of title
be issued in order that said grant may be sanctioned by the courts-applicatiom therefore
being sufficient under the provisions of Section 47 of Act No. 2874 reproduced by
Section 50, CA No, 141)
b) Sale of public agricultural lands

Alienable lands of the public domain may be disposed of through sale or lease under specific
provisions of the Public Land Act or under special laws.
The acquisitions of public agricultural lands by purchase is governed by Chapter V (sale) of the
Public Land Act. Any citizen of the Philippines of lawful age or the head of a family may
purchase any tract of public agricultural land not exceed 12 hectares which shall be sold through
sealed bidding. The land shall be awarded to the highest bidder, but the applicant may equal the
highest bid. The purchase price may be paid in full upon making of the award or in not more than
ten equal annual installment from the date of the award. It is required that the purchaser shall
have not less than one fifth of the land cultivated within five years from the date of the award,
and before any patent is issued, he must show actual occupancy, cultivation, and improvement of
at least one fifth of the land until the date of the final payment.
C. Lease
Any citizen of lawful age of the Philippines, and any corporation or association of which at least
sixty per centum of the capital stock or any interest in said capital stock belongs to wholly citizen
of the Philippines, may least any track of agricultural public land available for least under
Chapter VI( Lease)of the Act. Pursuant to Section 3, Article XII of the present Constitution,
private corporations may lease alienable lands of the public domain for a period not exceeding
25 years, and not to exceed 1000 hectares. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than
500 hectares, or acquire not more than 12 hectares thereof by purchase, homestead, or grant.
It shall be an inherent and essential condition of the lease that the lessee shall have not less than
one-third of the land broken and cultivated within five years after the date of the approval of the
lease. However, in case the land leased is to be devoted to pasture, it shall be sufficient
compliance with this condition if the lessee shall graze on the land as many heads of cattle as
will occupy at least one-half dozen of the entire area at the rate of one-head per hectare.
d. Confirmation of imperfect or incomplete title (judicial legalization)
The confirmation of imperfect of imperfect or incomplete titles may be done in two ways:
a) Judicial legalization or judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles under
Chapter VIII of the Public Land Act
b) Administrative legalization or free patents under Chapter VII of the same act.
Section 48(b) and (c) of the Public Land Act, as amended reads:
Section 48: The following described citizen of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public
domain or claiming to own any such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been
perfected or completed, may apply to the Regional Trial Court of the province where the land is
located for the confirmation of their claims and issuance of a certificate of title therefor, under
the Property Registration Decree.
1. Ownership based on adverse possession
As a rule, no title or right to, or equity in, any lands of the public domain may be acquired by
prescription or by adverse possession or occupancy except as expressly provided by law.
However, the Public Land Act (CA No, 141) recognizes the concept of ownership under the civil
law. This ownership is based on adverse possession and the right of acquisition is governed by
Chapter VIII on judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles. The applicant must prove
that:
a) The land is alienable public land
b) His possession and occupation has been exercised in the manner and for the period
prescribed by law, or since June 12, 1945. Registration under the Act presumes that the
land was originally public agricultural land but because of adverse possession since June
12, 1945, the land has become private.

2. Period of Possession
Pursuant to RA No. 1942 dated June 22, 1957, the required possession was “at least 30 years
immediately preceding the filing of the application” However, RA No. 1942 was repealed by
PD No, 1073 on January 25, 1977. PD No. 1073 now requires possession since June 12, 1945
or earlier. As clarified in La Tondena Inc. vs, Republic only applications for registration filed
prior to January 25, 1977 may invoke RA No. 1942.
Judicial legalization or judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles is governed by
Sec. 48 of the Public Land Act, as amended by R.A. No. 3872 and P.D. No. 1073; the Court
made an important qualification regarding the registration of lands through judicial confirmation
of imperfect title, thus: If the mode is judicial confirmation of imperfect title under Sec. 48 (b) of
the Public Land Act, the agricultural land subject of the application needs only to be classified as
alienable and disposable as of the time of the application, provided the applicant’s possession
and occupation of the land dated back to June 12, 1945, or earlier. (Taarvs. Lawan, G.R. No.
190922, Oct. 11, 2017)

e. Administrative legalization or grant of free patent 

The grant of free patents is governed by Sec. 44, paragraph 1 of the Public Land Act, as amended
by R.A. No. 6940; requisites:
(1) the applicant must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
(2) the applicant must not own more than 12 hectares of land;
(3) the applicant or his or her predecessors-in-interest must have continuously
occupied and cultivated the land;
(4) the continuous occupation and cultivation must be for a period of at least 30 years before
April 15, 1990, which is the date of effectivity of R.A. No. 6940; and (5) payment of real estate
taxes on the land while it has not been occupied by other persons. (Taarvs. Lawan, G.R. No.
190922, Oct. 11, 2017)

Application for land registration — A mere invocation of “private rights” does not
automatically entitle an applicant to have the property registered in his name; persons claiming
the protection of private rights in order to exclude their lands from military reservations must
show by clear and convincing evidence that the pieces of property in question have been
acquired by a legal method of acquiring public lands. (Diaz-Enriquez vs. Dir. of Lands, G.R. No.
168065, Sept. 06, 2017)

The necessary requirements for the grant of an application for land registration are the following:
1) the applicant must, by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest, have been in possession
and occupation of the subject land; 2) the possession and occupation must be open, continuous,
exclusive, and notorious; 3) the possession and occupation must be under a bona fide claim of
ownership for at least thirty years immediately preceding the filing of the application; and 4) the
subject land must be an agricultural land of the public domain. (Diaz-Enriquez vs. Dir. of Lands,
G.R. No. 168065, Sept. 06, 2017)

Judicial legislation and administrative legalization — Both judicial legalization and

administrative legalization involve agricultural lands of the public domain and require
“continuous occupation and cultivation either by the applicant himself or through his
predecessors-in-interest for a certain length of time”; judicial legalization or judicial
confirmation and free patent, distinguished; petitioners chose to apply for free patents. (Taarvs.
Lawan, G.R. No. 190922, Oct. 11, 2017)