BOOK II

PROPERTY, OWNESHIP AND ITS MODIFICATIONS

Title I
CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

Property
- Considered as an object
- Is that which is, or may be, appropriated

- That branch of civil law

- which classifies and defines the different kinds of appropriable
objects,
- provides for their acquisition and loss
- and in general, treats of the nature and consequences of real rights

Things vs. Property

- “thing” is broader in scope for it includes both appropriable and

non-appropriable objects

Classifications of Things

a. Res Nullius

- Belonging to no one
- They have not yet been appropriated or because they have been
abandoned (res derelictae) by the owner with the intention of no
longer owning them

b. Res Communes

- Really owned by everybody in that their use and enjoyment are

given to all of mankind

c. Res Alicujus

- Objects, tangible or intangible, which are owned privately, either

in a collective or individual capacity

1
Classification of Property

1. Mobility and non-mobility

a.) Movable or personal property
b.) Immovable or real property

2. Ownership
a.) Public dominion or ownership
b.) Private dominion or ownership

3. Alienability
a.) Within the commerce of man (objects of contracts/judicial
transactions)
b.) Outside the commerce of man

4. Existence
a.) Present property (res existents)
b.) Future property (res future)

5. Materiality or Immateriality
a.) Tangible and corporeal
b.) Intangible or incorporeal

6. Dependence or Importance
a.) Principal
b.) Accessory

7. Capability of Substitution
a.) Fungible (capable of substitution by other things of the same
quantity and quality)
b.) Non-fungible (incapable of such substitution, hence, the
identical thing must be given or returned)

8. Nature or Definiteness
a.) Generic (refer to group or class)
b.) Specific (single, unique object)

9. Whether in the Custody or Free

a.) In custodia legis
b.) Free property

Characteristics of Property

a. Utility for the satisfaction of moral or economic wants

b. Susceptibility of appropriation
c. Individuality or substantivity (can exist by itself and not merely as a part
of a whole)

2
Article 414

- All things which are or may be the subject of appropriation

a. Immovable or real property

b. Movable or personal property

 Important classification due to different provisions of the law which

governs the acquisition, possession, disposition, loss and registration of
immovables and movables

 Incomplete

- There should be a mixed or semi-immovable

- Movable properties which under certain conditions, may be
considered immovable by virtue of their being attached to an
immovable for certain specified purposes

Chapter 1
Immovable Property
(Art. 415)

 Immovable Property
- Defined as that which is firmly fixed, settled, or fastened

 Academic Classification of Real Properties

a. Real Property by nature

b. Real property by incorporation
c. Real property by destination or purpose
d. Real Property by Analogy

 Par. 1

a. Land
o A shovelful is personal… no longer adheres to the soil
o By nature

b. Buildings

o By incorporation
o More or less permanent structure not only
superimpositions (like barong-barong)
o May even be subject of a chattel mortgage provided
 Parties agreed
 No innocent third party will be prejudiced

3
 o If a chattel mortgage duly registered is made on the
building and subsequently a real mortgage is made on the
land and the building, it is the real mortgage not the chattel
mortgage which should be preferred (particularly true with
respect to 3rd person)

 Par. 2

Elements
 Attached to the land
 Form an integral part of an immovable

o By nature (spontaneous product)

o By incorporation (planted thru labor)

 Par. 3
Elements
 Attached to an immovable
 In a fixed manner
 In such a way that it cannot be separated therefrom
without breaking the material or deterioration of
the object

- The breakage or injury must be SUBSTANTIAL

- Example: fire exit, sewer, aqueduct

 Par. 4
Elements
 Objects for use or ornamentation
 Placed in buildings or on land
 By the owner of the immovable
 In such a manner that it reveals the intention to
attach them permanently to the tenements

- Example: landscape, carpet, walls

- If attached by the tenant considered as chattel

Par. 3 Par. 4
a. Cannot be a. Can be separated
separated from from immovable
immovable without breaking
without breaking or deterioration
or deterioration
b. Must be placed by
b. Need not be the owner, or by
placed by the his agent, express
owner or implied

4
 c. Real property by c. Real property by
incorporation incorporation and
destination

 Par. 5

Elements
 Intended by the owner of the tenement
 for industry or works which may be carried on in a
building or on a piece of land
 which tend directly to meet the needs of the said
industry or works

- machines must be essential and principal elements in the industry

and not merely incidental

- by destination or purpose

- exception is when placed on the land or tenement by a tenant

- exception to exception is when the tenant promised to leave the

machinery on the tenement at the end of the lease or when he
acted only as agent of the owner of the land (Valdez vs. Central
Altagracia, Inc. 225 U.S. 58)

 Par. 6

Elements
 Their owner has placed them or preserves them
 With intention to have them permanently attached
to the land
 And forming a permanent part of it

- Animals in these places are included as immovable

 Par. 7

Elements
 Actually used
 On a piece of land

 Par. 8
 Par. 9
 Par. 10

5
 Chapter 2
Movable Property
(Arts. 416 – 418)

Article 416

a. Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in

the preceding article;
b. Real property which by any special provision of law considered as
personality
c. Forces of nature which are brought under control by science
d. All things which can be transported from place to place without
impairment of the real property to which they are fixed

 Tests to Determine whether movable or immovable

a. If the property is capable of being carried from place to place (test

by mobilization)

b. If such change in location can be made without injuring the real

property to which it may in the meantime be attached (Test by
description)

c. The object is not one of those enumerated or included in Art. 415

(Test by exclusion)

Article 417

 Other kinds of Personal Property

a. Obligations and actions which for their object movables or

demandable sums

 Right to collect or to bring action personal property

b. Shares of Stock of agricultural, commercial and industrial entities,

although they may have real estate.

Article 418

 Consumables and Non-consumables / Fungibles and Non-fungibles

- Consumable
 this cannot be used according to its nature without
its being consumed
- Non-consumable
6
  Any other kind of movable property

- Fungibles
 Agreed that the equivalent be returned

- Non-fungibles
 Agreed that the identical thing be returned

Chapter 3
Property Relation to the Person to Whom it Belongs
(Arts. 419 – 425)

Article 419

 Property according to Ownership

a. Public Dominion
 Ownership by the State in that it has control and
administration
 Ownership by the public in general
 Not even the State or subdivision thereof may make
them the object of commerce

b. Private Ownership (patrimonial properties)

Article 420

 Kinds of Property of Public Dominion

a. For Public Use (used by anybody)

b. For Public Service (used by authorized persons)
c. For development of national wealth

 Characteristics Properties of Public Dominion

a. Outside the commerce of man, cannot be leased, donated, sold, or

be the object of any contract
b. They cannot be acquired by prescription
c. Cannot be registered under the Land Registration Law and be
subject of a Torrens Title
d. Cannot be levied upon by execution, nor can they be attached
e. Can be used by everybody

 Mun. of Cavite vs. Rojas, 30 Phil. 602

- Lease of public plaza

 Republic vs. Reyes, L-36610, June 18, 1976

7
 - Registration of land won by default judgment
- Public domain cannot be subject to torrens system

 Public Lands and Classification

Article 421

 Patrimonial Property

- Property which is owned by the State but which is not devoted to

public use, public service or the development of the national
wealth
- Wealth owned by the State in its private capacity

Article 422

 Conversion of Property of Public Dominion to Patrimonial Property

Article 423

 Properties of Political Subdivision

a. Property for public use

b. Patrimonial property

 Reclaimed lands … status determined by statute

Article 424

 Properties of Political Subdivision

a. Property for public use

 In State properties, properties for public service are

of public dominion

 In political subdivisions, properties of public service

are patrimonial (since they are not for public use)

 Province of Zamboanga del Norte vs. City of

Zamboanga, et.al. L-24440, Mar. 28, 1968
o Zamboanga del norte vs. del sur
o Properties of zamboanga province
given free to city of zamboanga
o No just compensation

o Civil law vs. Municipal Corporation

law

8
  Rules with respect to Properties for Public Use

o May not be leased to private

individuals
o Cannot be attached or levied upon

b. Patrimonial property

 Answer in liability to third persons

Article 425

 Private Properties
o Those that belong to private persons, individually or
collectively