Republic v CA

Facts:

Sometime in December, 1972, respondent Morato filed a Free Patent Application on a parcel of
land. The patent was approved and the Register of Deeds of Quezon at Lucena City issued Original
Certificate of Title. Both the free patent and the title specifically mandate that the land shall not be
alienated nor encumbered within five (5) years from the date of the issuance of the patent.

The District Land Officer in Lucena City conducted an investigation. It was established that the
subject land is a portion of the Calauag Bay and not suitable to vegetation.

A portion of the land was mortgaged by respondent Morato to respondents Nenita Co and
Antonio Quilatan. The spouses Quilatan constructed a house on the land. Another portion of the land
was leased to Perfecto Advincula where a warehouse was constructed.

Petitioner filed an amended complaint against respondents Morato, spouses Nenita Co and
Antonio Quilatan, and the Register of Deeds of Quezon for the cancellation of title and reversion of a
parcel of land to the public domain on the grounds that the land is a foreshore land and was mortgaged
and leased within the five-year prohibitory period.

Lower court: Dismissed

CA: Affirmed

Issue:

Whether the questioned land is part of a disposable public land and not a foreshore land

Ruling:

It is a foreshore land.

In the Enciclopedia Juridica Española, volume XII, page 558, we read the following:chanrob1es
virtual 1aw library

‘With relative frequency the opposite phenomenon occurs; that is, the sea advances and private
properties are permanently invaded by the waves, and in this case they become part of the shore or
beach. They then pass to the public domain, but the owner thus dispossessed does not retain any right
to the natural products resulting from their new nature; it is a de facto case of eminent domain, and not
subject to indemnity.’"

When the sea moved towards the estate and the tide invaded it, the invaded property became
foreshore land and passed to the realm of the public domain. In fact, the Court in Government v.
Cabañgis annulled the registration of land subject of cadastral proceedings when the parcel
subsequently became foreshore land. In another case, the Court voided the registration decree of a trial
court and held that said court had no jurisdiction to award foreshore land to any private person or
entity. The subject land in this case, being foreshore land, should therefore be returned to the public
domain.

The subject land therefore REVERTS to the State.

Note: Foreshore land - that part of (the land) which is between high and low water and left dry by the
flux and reflux of the tides.