Judge Serrano

2 exceptions
 Native title
 Ecclesiastical property
Cruz v. Sec. of DENR
 Summarized by J. Capunan
 Case where the constitutionality of the IPRA (Indegeneous people rigths act
of 1997) was settled or determined
 Only 14 members of the SC
 They voted 7/7
o 7 for the declaration of unconstitutionality of the lawsuit
o and 7 for the dismissal of the petition meaning that the law is
constitutional or valid
 what was the consequence of the tie
o the law is regarded as constitutional
o because the constitution requires majority of the members of the
Supreme Court for a law to be declared unconstitutional
 J. Roberot Capunan (sep. opinion)
o By fiction of law the king of spain was regarded as the original
proprietor or owner of all lands and the true and only source of title
o So from him all lands were there
o What is this theory?
 Jura Regalia which is the regalia doctrine
o The Regalian doctrine however does not negate native title; one of
the exceptions
o What is native title?
 It is actually title by person (Ownership) established by his
possession under a claim of ownership since time immemorial
and independent of any grant from the Spanish Crown
o Under the regalia doctrine how will you acquire lands under or
during the Spanish era?
 Purchase
 Grant
o If you did not acquire the land by grant /purchase from the state?
  The land is still owned by the state because you have no basis
of ownership because title must emanate from the state
which is the regalia doctrine
o It means that the grantee must have?
 A Document of title from the State/ King of Spain/ a
representative of the king of spain
o Native title whicich is ownership of land by filipinos by virtue of
possession under claim of ownsership since time immemorial and
independent from any grant by the Spanish crown is an exception to
the theory of jura regalia
o What is the basis?
 US Supreme Court
 Carino v. insular government
 Facts:
o An igorot by the name of mateo carino applied for
registration his name of an ancestral land located
in benguet
o So the applicant established that he and his
ancestors have lived on the land , had cultivated
it, and had used it as far as they could remember
o He also proved that they were always recognized
as owners
o The land can be passed on by inheritance
according to native custom
o However, neither him or his ancestors had any
document of title from the Spanish Crown
o So the government opposed the application for
registration invoking the theory of jura regalia
o Because carino did not have any document of
grant/purchase the property from the state
o Government: So under the regalia doctrine, you
cannot register the land because it belongs to the
state.
o The PH SC decision was appealed to the US SC
o Carino was decided in 1909 at the time
decususins from the US SC was binding as
precedent in our jurisdiction
 o Applied Oh Cho v. director of lands which stated
that all lands that were not acquired from the
government wither by purchase or grant belong
to the public domain – jura regalia- BUT an
exception to the rule would be any land that
should have bee in in the possession of an
occupant and pf his predecessors in interest
since time immemorial
 Basis:
 Because such possession since time
immemorial would justify the
presumption that the land had never
been part of the pubic domain or
that it had been private property
even before the Spanish conquest so
the King of Spain cannot claim
ownership because it is already
owned by the occupant and his
predecessors in interest since time
imemmorial
 Ruling:
o J. oliver wendel holmes
Ecclesiastical title/property
 Why?
o Because the king o spain decided he is not the owner of these lands
o At the time of middle ages, there is unity in church and state
 Title or ownership over ecclesiastical properties could not have passed to
the United States of America under the treatey of paris because church
properties do not pertain to the Spanish government
 Nemo dat quod non habet
o You cannot give what you do not have

Why is mode of acquiring ownership important?

 Because registration merely confirms title so it means that you are already
the owner of the land
 So how can you prove that you are the owner of the land?
 o Because you acquire it through some mode of acquiring ownership
or land title

Acquisitive prescription
 Section 14
 Basis:
o Open, Continous, exclusive, notorious possession/occupation in the
concept of an owner for a period of time prescribed by law
 When the period of possession prescribed by law expires, the possession
ripens into ownership
 Possession becomes the basis of the acquisition of ownership
 What kind of land?
o Unregistered lands
 If it is registered?
o The title is imprescriptible
 It can no longer be acquired by?
o Acquisitive prescription

Accretion
 Process
 A mode of acquiring ownership
 Art. 440
o The ownership of gives the right of accession to everything which is
produced thereby or that is attached or incorporated thereto, either
naturally or artificially
 Basis of ownership
o By right of accession
 Accession with respect to immovable and there is noe for movable
 Accession with respect to immovable property
o Alluvion
o Avulsion
o Formation of island
o Change of river course
o Abandoned river bed
 Alluvion
o Art. 457
  To the owners of the land adjoining the banks of rivers belong
the accretion which they gradually receive from the current of
the waters
o Riparian owners
 Ownsers of land adjoin banks of rivers
o Because of the gradual action of the current of the river soil and
other materials area attached to the land bordering the river
o Over a period of time, continuous deposit of soild and other
materials what happens to the land?
 The land increase in area
o The additional area is created by accretion by the process of alluvion
o The additional area belongs to whom?
 To the riparian owner/ owner of the land adjoining the bank of
the river, the land which received the deposits by the right of
accession
o basis: right of accession
o process: accretion
 accretion is the process of adding, incorporating or attaching
something to another
 alluvion
o Principle:
 The land is considered as the principal and the alluvial
deposits, which became the additional area , is called the
accessory
o Principle in civil law
 The accessory follows the principal
o Whoever is the owners of the principal becomes the owner fo the
accessory
o To the owner of principal belongs the accessory
 Supposing the land of the riparian owner is already registered under the
torrens system of registration, what happens to the additional area, is it
considered registered also?
o NO why?
 Because what is registered is the land that is described in the
certificate of title
 The additional area is not described in the certificate of title
  Since it is not covered by the certificate of title then the
additional area is not registered
o Can the additional area be acquired by acquisitive prescription?
 Yes because it is unregistered
 What can be acquired by acquisitive prescription is
unregistered lands
o What is the remedy of the riparian owner?
 You apply for registration, you file another application for
registration covering the additional area

Reclamation
 The method of filling submerged land by deliberate act and ___ title
thereto
 In the Philippines, only the government can assert ownership over
reclaimed land
 Best example:
o MOA
o Cultural center up to comm arts theater
o PICC
o Philippine plaza/ Sofitel
 Is a process, filliing, dredging, etc. using materials so that the submerged
area will become dry portion already/ surface, no longersubmerged
 Who owns the land reclaimed from the sea?
o The state
o Under art. 5 of the law of waters of 1866
 The government may declare it necessary for public use or public service or
development of the national wealth
 RA. 1899
o The national government granted municipalities and charetered
cities the authority to undertake and carry out, in their own expense,
reclamation by filling, diredging or other means, foreshore lands
bordering them and to establish docking and harbor facilities
 Who becomes the owner of the reclaimed area undertaken by the city?
o The city
o Ex. Cebu
o The owner can declare that it is patrimonial property ant tit can be
the subject of private ownership
 Reclamation undertaken by government or by agency authoried by the
state to reclaim submerged areas in manila bay?
o Case: Chavez (Sol Gen.) v. PEA
 Facts:
 The Public estates authority was created by PD 1084
 Under this law the PEA was given the power to reclaim
land, including the foreshore and submerged areas and
among others to develop into, acquire, lease and sell
alienable kinds of land
 Budget for the reclamation of foreshore of manila bay
 Before the reclamation was undertaken PEA started pre-
selling lots or lands in the area to be reclaimed at the
time because the land is still submerged, ther
reclamation has not yet been done
 What is the status of the sale?

 Issues:
 Whether or not private corporations can own public
lands/ lands of the public domain
o NO
o Because of the 1973 and 1987 constitution
o There is a prohibition to private corporations in
the acquisition of public lands
o What private corporation can do is merely to
lease public lands for 25 years renewable for
another 25 years
 The status of the submerged areas of manila bay
o Before the reclamation the lands are still under
the sea
o Can PEA already sell lots that would be reclaimed?
 NO
 Because the submerged areas of the
manila bay remain inalienable natural
resources of the public domain until it is
reclaimed and classified by the state as
alienable and disposable land of the public
domain
  2 steps
 reclamation
 reclassification to alienable and
disposable land of the public domain
 if it was still part of the inalienable natural
resources of the public domain it cannot be
legally transferred to any private
corporation sincethe property or
submerged area is still beyond the
commerce of man
 so under the civil code if a thing is beyond
the commerce of man it is an illicit object
of the contract and so the contract is void
because one of the essential requisites of a
contract is absent which is the object
certain
o when will the submerged land be the subject of
private ownership?
 Only after reclamation and reclassification
as alienable and disposable land of the
public domain
 Foreshore land
o It is that strip of land that lies between the high and low
watermarks, 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 by the ordinary flow of the tides (Republic v.
CA&real estate corporation)
o Status:
o When you go to the beach
 During low tide
 The foreshore land is that portion in the beach which is
dry during low tide
 But is submerged during high tide
o Yung hindi tinatamaan ng tubig hindi yan foreshore – can be
appropriated
o Chavez v. PEA
  Since the adoption of the regalia doctrine, the sea and its
foreshore area have always been part of the inalienable
lands of the public domain
 And this doctrine has remaind immutable since the spansih
law of waters of 1866
 (immutable –uncahngable)

Voluntary transfer
 most common mode of land transfer
 made by the owner himself or his duly authorized representative
 the consent of or voluntary cooperation fo the owner is necessary
 if it is a voluntary transfer, usually the registered owner enters into a
contract
 if the land is registered what should be doen with the contract
o it should be registered in order to bind and affect tjhird persons (sec.
51)
 but even if the contrat of the deed is not registered, nonentheless, it is
binding on the parties (Sec. 51)

Involuntary alienation
 does not require the cooperation or consent fo the owner
 the alienation may be effected against his will
 modes:
o eminent domain
 expropriateion
 taking
o escheat/ forefeiture proceedings
 guilty of plunder
 land is escheated or forefieted in favor of the
o seizure and sale of land through tax delinquency
 person who does not pay real estate taxes and sold at public
auction
o levy on attachment
o levy on execution

Succession
 acquisition of land by virtue of hereditary succession to the estate of
a deceased owner
 also called title by descent
 what you call the person who leaves estate/ inheritance?
o Decedent, he may either be a testator, if he executes a valid
last will and testament, or an intestate, he does not have
valid last will and testament
 What may be the object of registration
o Immovable/real property
o Real rights