PROPERTY AND LAND LAW - CY 2024

I. INTRODUCTION
a. Origin of the Word “Property”
Property – Latin word proprius, meaning belonging to one or one’s own
b. Concept of “Things” – objects external to man
– extends to all objects that exist, whether it is already in the
possession of man or not
– extends to all objects that exist, whether it is already in the
possession of man or not
– Under the Civil code: the concept of things embraces both
material objects and rights
c. Concept of “Property” – property is limited while things
– extends only to those things which are already possessed and
found in the possession of man but also to those susceptible of
appropriation, although not yet appropriated
– Inseparable from the relation which the object has with the person
exercising dominion or right over it
– Under the Civil Code: Art. 414: “All things which are or may be the
object of appropriation.” Thus, in this case property = things
d. Requisites of Property:
i. Susceptibility to appropriation – things which cannot, therefore, be
subjected to human control by reason of sheer physical impossibility are
not considered as property
1. Things which, because of their distance, their depth or their
immensity are not capable of human control such as the sun, the
stars and the ocean, are not properties;
2. Ordinarily, forces of nature such as lightning and rain are not
properties because of impossibility of appropriation in their
diffused state.
EXP. When brought under human control through help of science,
i.e., electricity
ii. Utility, or that it can serve as a means to satisfy human needs
iii. Substantivity or individuality, or that the thing must have an
autonomous and separate existence
II. CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY
a. Classification
i. Immovable “real” or movable “personal” (Articles 415-417)
ii. Movables, in turn, are classified into consumable or non-consumable
(Article 418)
iii. From the viewpoint of ownership, property is classified either as property
of public dominion or of private ownership (Articles 419-425)
b. Importance of Classification
i. For purposes of determining the venue in remedial law
ii. For purposes of real property taxation
iii. In crimes of theft, robbery and usurpation
iv. For purposes of determining the formalities of a donation
v. In determining the propriety of the object of contracts of security
vi. For purposes of applying the rules of acquisitive prescription
 Chapter 1 – IMMOVABLE PROPERTY

Art. 415. The following are immovable property:

(1) Land, buildings*, roads and constructions of all kinds adhered to the soil;
(2) Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached to the land or form an integral part
of an immovable;
(3) Everything 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;
(4) Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on
lands by the owner of the immovable in such a manner that it reveals the intention to attach
them permanently to the tenements;
(5) Machinery, receptacles, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the tenement
for an industry or works which may be carried on in a building or on a piece of land, and which
tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or works;
(6) Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in
case their owner has placed them or preserves them with the intention to have them
permanently attached to the land, and forming a permanent part of it; the animals in these
places are included;
(7) Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;
(8) Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed, and waters
either running or stagnant;
(9) Docks and structures which, though floating, are intended by their nature and object to
remain at a fixed place on a river, lake, or coast;
(10) Contracts for public works, and servitudes and other real rights over immovable property.

Legend:
Immovable by nature
Immovable by incorporation
Immovable by destination
Immovable by analogy. e.g., usufruct

III. IMMOVABLE PROPERTY

a. Definition – No definition of the New Civil Code because of the difficulty of
drawing precisely a definition of this term
b. Kinds of Immovable (Real) Property
i. Immovable by nature
1. Buildings are always immovable
 Rule is not affected by the fact that the building is treated
separately from the land
 Rule is not affected by the fact that the building is erected
on a land owned by another person
2. Instances where building is treated as personal property by the
parties
 The nature of a building does not depend on the
agreement of the parties
3. Doctrine of estoppel (Navarro and Tumalad Cases)
 Mortgagor was estopped from denying the existence of the
chattel mortgage which as between them, must be upheld
 Not a question of a house being subject to chattel
4. Compared with the cases of Associated Ins. & Surety Co. v. Iya,
Evangelista v. Surety & Ins. Co., Inc., Manarang v. Ofilada and
Piansay v. David

ii. Immovable by incorporation

iii. Immovable by destination
iv. Immovable by analogy or by law
IV. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415
a. Lands and roads
b. Buildings
c. Construction Adhered to the Soil
V. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (2)
VI. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (4)
VII. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (5)
VIII. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (6)
IX. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (7)
X. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (8)
XI. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (9)
XII. REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARTICLE 415 (10)

Chapter 1 – MOVABLE PROPERTY

XIII. MOVABLE PROPERTY
XIV. CONSUMABLE AND NON-CONSUMABLE
XV.
XVI.