[G.R. No. 68166.

February 12, 1997]

HEIRS OF EMILIANO NAVARRO, Petitioner, v. INTERMEDIATE

APPELLATE COURT AND HEIRS OF SINFOROSO PASCUAL,
Respondents.

HERMOSISIMA, JR., J.:

FACTS:

Sometime in the early part of 1960, Sinforoso Pascual, now deceased,

filed an application to register and confirm his title to a parcel of land,
situated in Sibocon, Balanga, Bataan. It is bounded on the eastern side by
the Talisay River, on the western side by the Bulacan River, and on the
northern side by the Manila Bay. Pascual claimed that the Talisay River as
well as the Bulacan River flow downstream and meet at the Manila Bay
thereby depositing sand and silt on the northern part of his property and
that this land is an accretion to his property, thus, the riparian owner of such
land.

On February 13, 1961, Navarro, also now deceased, thereupon filed an

opposition to Pascual's application. Navarro claimed that the land sought to
be registered has always been part of the public domain, it being a part of
the foreshore of Manila Bay; that he was a lessee and in possession of a part
of the subject property by virtue of a fishpond permit issued by the Bureau
of Fisheries and confirmed by the Office of the President; and that he had
already converted the area covered by the lease into a fishpond.

Sinforoso Pascual filed a complaint for ejectment against Emiliano Navarro,

one Marcelo Lopez and their privies, alleged by Pascual to have unlawfully
claimed and possessed, through stealth, force and strategy, a portion of the
subject property and deprived Pascual of his premises to be registered.

The case was decided adversely against Pascual. Thus, Pascual appealed to
the Court. Because of the similarity of the parties and the subject matter,
the appealed case for ejectment was consolidated with the land registration
case and was jointly tried by the court a quo.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the accretion on the subject property can be

registered.
HELD:
The court ruled that the disputed property was brought forth by both
the withdrawal of the waters of Manila Bay and the accretion formed on the
exposed foreshore land by the action of the sea which brought soil and sand
sediments in turn trapped by the palapat and bakawan trees planted thereon
by petitioner Sulpicio Pascual in 1948.

Accretion is the process whereby the soil is deposited, while alluvium is the
soil deposited on the estate fronting the river bank. Accretion as a mode of
acquiring property under Article 457 of the Civil Code, requires the
concurrence of the following requisites: (1) that the accumulation of soil or
sediment be gradual and imperceptible; (2) that it be the result of the action
of the waters of the river; and (3) that the land where the accretion takes
place is adjacent to the bank of the river.

The disputed property was located on the northern portion which is adjacent
to the Manila Bay and not on the western and eastern part thereof, thus, it
lacks the third requisite of accretion in which the alluvium should be
deposited on the portion of the land which is adjacent to the river bank.

The disputed property is an accretion on a sea bank, Manila Bay being an

inlet or an arm of the sea; as such, the disputed property is, under Article 4
of the Spanish Law of Waters of 1866, part of the public domain.

Article 4 of the Spanish Law of Waters of August 3, 1866 provides as

follows:

"Lands added to the shores by accretions and alluvial deposits caused by the
action of the sea, form part of the public domain. When they are no longer
washed by the waters of the sea and are not necessary for purposes of
public utility, or for the establishment of special industries, or for the coast-
guard service, the Government shall declare them to be the property of the
owners of the estates adjacent thereto and as increment thereof."

There is no decision that either the executive or legislative department has

already declared the disputed land as qualified, under Article 4 of the
Spanish Law of Waters of 1866, to be the property of private respondents as
owners of the estates adjacent thereto.