CHAPTER 3 possesses, said additional property being the result of a

natural increase, like land, by deposit of a river; or

RIGHT OF ACCESSION
houses, when built on one’s own land; or the young of
GENERAL PROVISIONS animals.
c. According to Del Viso, Vol. II, p.33 – Accession is the right
which ownership of property gives over everything
which the same produces, or which is attached or
Art. 440. The ownership of property gives the right by
incorporated thereto, naturally or artificially.
accession to everything which is produced thereby, or which
is incorporated or attached thereto, either naturally or CLASSIFICATION OF ACCESSION
artificially.
A. ACCESSION DISCRETA (TO THE FRUITS)
 Accession – is the right of a property owner to everything 1. Natural fruits
which is: 2. Industrial fruits
a. Produced thereby (accession discreta) 3. Civil fruits
b. Or which is incorporated or attached thereto, either B. ACCESSION CONTINUA (ATTACHMENT OR
naturally or artificially (accession continua or accession INCORPORATION)
non-interrumpida), which in turn is divided into: 1. With reference to REAL PROPERTY
i. Natural accession (accession natural) a. Accession industrial
ii. Artificial accession (accession artificial or 1. Building
accession industrial) 2. Planting
3. Sowing
Note: Because of the word “artificially,” it is understood that
b. Accession natural
IMPROVEMENTS made on the property are included within the
1. Alluvium
scope of “accession”.
2. Avulsion
OTHER DEFINITIONS OF ACCESSION: 3. Change of course of rivers
4. Formation of islands
a. According to Sanchez Roman - Accession is the right of
an owner of a thing to the products of said thing as well 2. With respect to PERSONAL PROPERTY
as to whatever is inseparably attached thereto as an a. Adjunction or conjunction
accessory. 1. Inclusion (engraftment)
b. According to Stimson’s Law Dictionary, Revised Edition, 2. Soldadura (attachment)
p.58 – Accession is that by which property is given to a 3. Tejido (weaving)
person in addition to what said person already 4. Pintura (painting)
 5. Escritura (writing)
b. Mixture (confusion – liquids; Commixtion –
Solids)
c. Specification
IS ACCESSION A MODE OF ACQUIRING OWNERSHIP?
- In book III of civil code, which deals with “different modes
of acquiring ownership,” the different modes are
enumerated, namely:
a. Occupation
b. Intellectual creation
c. Law
d. Donation
e. Succession
f. Tradition, as a consequence of certain contracts
g. Prescription
- It will be noted that accession is not one of those listed
therein. It is therefore safe to conclude that accession is not
a mode of acquiring ownership.
- The reason is simple: accession presupposes a previously
existing ownership by the owner over the principal. This is
not necessarily so in the other modes of acquiring
ownership. Therefore, fundamentally and in the last
analysis, accession is a right implicitly included in
ownership, without which it will have no basis or
existence. Truly, it is one of the attributes or
characteristics which will make up the concept of dominion
or ownership.
- We can of course refer to acquisition by accession as
acquisition by LAW. (For the law itself gives the right)
REASON BEHIND ACCESSION
a. For accession discreta (to the fruits) – justice, pure and
simple, for one who owns a thing should justly enjoy its
fruits;
b. For accession continua (attachment or incorporation) –
economic convenience is better attained in a state of single
ownership than in a co-ownership. Moreover, natural
justice demands that the owner of the principal or more
important thing should also own the accessory.
RIGHT TO ACCESSION GENERALLY AUTOMATIC
- In general, the right to accession is automatic (ipso jure),
requiring no prior act on the part of the owner of the
principal.
- A good example is in the case of landowner over whose
land a river now flows. He is ipso facto the owner of the
abandoned river bed in proportion to the are he has lost .
(Art.461)
-
SECTION 1. - Right of Accession with Respect to
What is Produced by Property
(ACCESSION DISCRETA)
Art. 441. To the owner belongs:
(1) The natural fruits;
(2) The industrial fruits;
(3) The civil fruits.
ACCESSION DISCRETA (Right to the Fruits)
- This article refers to accession discreta which is defined as
the right to the ownership of fruits produced by our
property.
INSTANCES WHEN OWNER OF LAND DOES NOT OWN THE
FRUITS
- Under Art. 441, the owner of land owns the fruits. In the
following cases, it is not the owner who owns the fruits, but
somebody else.
a. POSSESSOR in good faith. (Art. 544 par.1)
Art. 544. A possessor in good faith is entitled to the
fruits received before the possession is legally
interrupted.
b. USUFRUCTUARY (Art. 566)
Art. 566. The usufructuary shall be entitled to all the
natural, industrial and civil fruits of the property in
usufruct.
With respect to hidden treasure which may be
found on the land or tenement, he shall be
considered a stranger
c. LESSEE gets the fruits of the land (of course, the owner
gets the civil fruits in the form of rentals) (Art.1654)
Art. 1654. The lessor is obliged:
(1) To deliver the thing which is the object of the
contract in such a condition as to render it fit for the
use intended;
(2) To make on the same during the lease all the
necessary repairs in order to keep it suitable for the
use to which it has been devoted, unless there is a
stipulation to the contrary;
(3) To maintain the lessee in the peaceful and
adequate enjoyment of the lease for the entire
duration of the contract. 
d. In the contract of antichresis, the antichretic creditor
gets the fruits, although of course, said fruits should be
applied first, to the interest, if any is owing, and then to
the principal amount of the loan. (Art. 2132)
Art. 2132. By the contract of antichresis the creditor
acquires the right to receive the fruits of an
immovable of his debtor, with the obligation to
apply them to the payment of the interest, if owing,
and thereafter to the principal of his credit.
Art. 442. Natural fruits are the spontaneous products of the
soil, and the young and other products of animals.
Industrial fruits are those produced by lands of any kind
through cultivation or labor.
Civil fruits are the rents of buildings, the price of leases of
lands and other property and the amount of perpetual or life
annuities or other similar income.
TECHNICAL MEANING OF “FRUITS”
- The term “Natural,” “Industrial,” and “Civil fruits” are
defined by the Code are Highly Technical. Therefore, when
they are found in a final judgement, there can be no doubt
as to their meaning. Thus, if a final judgement speaks only
of natural and civil fruits, it is understood that industrial
fruits are NOT included.

 NATURAL FRUITS
- There are two kinds of natural fruits:
a. The Spontaneous products of the soil (that is, human
labor does not intervene).
Examples: herbs, common grass
b. The young and other products of animals
Example: chicks and chicken eggs.
 INDUSTRIAL FRUITS
- Those produced by lands of any kind thru cultivation or
labor (Art.422, par.2)
Examples:
a. Lanzones and banans
b. Palay and corn
c. Zacate (when this is cultivated as food for horses)
d. All kinds of cultivated vegetables, since these are no
doubt also produced by land thru human labor (but not
canned goods or manufactured products)
e.
 Are cultivated trees in themselves to be considered fruits?
- It is submitted that strictly, they are not fruits in the
juridical sense for they are really immovables as long as
they are still attached to the land, which may themselves
produce fruits.
- However, there is no doubt we may consider said trees as
fruits when they are expressly cultivated or exploited to
carry on an industry.
NOTE: Under American Law, distinction has been made
between:
a. Perennial crops (those growing each season without need
of replanting, like oranges and apples)
b. Annual crops (those which have to be planted each year,
like cereals and grains)
In America, (a) is referred to as Natural fruits while (b) is
called Industrial fruits.
YOUNG OF ANIMALS
- Whether brought about by scientific means or not, it would
seem that the young of animals should be considered as
“natural” fruits, since the law makes no distinction.
MEANING OF ‘OTHER PRODUCTS OF ANIMALS’
- The phrase no doubt refers to such things as chicken eggs,
or horse manure , or milk, or wool.
 CIVIL FRUITS
- As defined, civil fruits consist of:
a. Rent of building
b. Price of leases (rentals) of lands and other property
(even if personal property)
c. The amount of perpetual or life annuities or other
similar income (but not a bonus granted as a reward or
as a compensation to a person who mortgaged and thus
risks his land to secure another’s indebtedness.)
- Divident – whether in the form of cash or stock, is income or
fruits, because it is declared out of the profits of a
corporation, and not out of the capital.
Art. 443. He who receives the fruits has the obligation to pay
the expenses made by a third person in their production,
gathering, and preservation.
DUTY OF RECIPIENT OF FRUITS TO REIMBURSE NECESSARY
EXPENSES:
Example: A is the owner of a piece of land upon which fruits were NON-APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE WHEN PLANTER IS IN GOOD
grown, raised, harvested and gathered by B in bad faith. Who FAITH
should be considered the owner if the fruits?
- Art.443 does not apply when the planter is in good faith,
Ans: A should be considered the owner of the fruits, since he is the because in this case, he is entitled to the fruits already
owner of the land, and B is a planter in bad faith but he must received, hence, there is no necessity of reimbursing him
reimburse B for the expenses for production, gathering, and (Art. 544)
preservation.
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE EXPENSES REFERRED TO IN
- The reason for reimbursing B even though he is in bad faith, ART.443
is that were it not for the said necessary cultivation
a. They must have been used for production, gathering, or
expenses, there would not be any fruits grown at all, or left
preservation, not for the improvement of the property.
or preserved.
b. They must have been necessary, and not luxurious or
- Thus, this article is merely in consonance with the principle
excessive, indeed, they must be commensurate with
that no one may enrich himself unjustly at another’s
those ordinarily necessitated by the product.
expense.
QUERY
Note: Under Art. 449, “He who builds, plants, or sows in bad faith
on the land of another loses what is built, planted, or sown - Suppose the expenses exceed the value of the fruits (as
without right to indemnity.” How can this Art.449 be reconciled when, for example, typhoons have damaged the crops)
with the answer to the example given above? must there still be a reimbursement for the expenses. Must
there still be a reimbursement for the expenses?
Ans:
Ans: Yes, if the owner insists on being titled to the fruits. This is
ART.449 ART. 443
because:
Applies only if the crops have Applies when the crops have
not yet been gathered (here already been gathered (hence, a. The law makes no exception or distinction
the landowner gets the fruits accession continua cannot b. The same thing would have happened had the owner been
without indemnity by the apply) also the planter
principle of accession c. He who gets expected advantages must be prepared the
continua) shoulder losses.

It is understood, of course, that if the fruits had not yet been

gathered, no indemnity is required. (Art.449)
Art. 444. Only such as are manifest or born are considered as
natural or industrial fruits.

With respect to animals, it is sufficient that they are in the

womb of the mother, although unborn.

TWO KINDS OF CROPS (Annual and Perennial)

Annual crops (like cereals, grains, rice, corn, sugar) are deemed
manifest (existing) the moment their seedlings appear from the
ground, although the grains have not yet actually appeared.

Perennial crops (like oranges, apples, mangoes, and coconuts) are

deemed to exist only when they actually appear on the trees.

ANIMALS

- The young of animals are already considered existing even

if still in the maternal womb (Art.444 par.2). But doubt may
arise whether they are already in the womb or not, so
Manresa suggests that they should be considered existing
only at the commencement of the maximum ordinary
period of gestation.

RULES FOR CIVIL FRUITS AS DISTINGUISHED FROM NATURAL

AND INDUSTRIAL FRUITS

a. Civil fruits accrue DAILY. (Art. 544) and are therefore

considered in the category of personal property; natural
and industrial fruits., while still growing, are real property.
b. Civil fruits can be pro-rated; natural and industrial fruits
ordinarily cannot (Art. 544)