LAUREL

vs
GARCIA
GR No. 18700, Sept. 26, 1922

Facts:
The subject property is the Roppongi property, one of the properties
acquired by the Philippines from Japan pursuant to a Reparation Agreement.
The Philippine Embassy was once located in the said property, before it
transferred to the Nampeidai property. It was decided that the properties in
Japan would be available to sale or disposition. One of the first properties
opened up for public auction was the Roppongi property, despite numerous
oppositions from different sectors through the issuance of Executive Order
296.

Issue:
Whether or not the sale of the Roppongi property is valid?

Ruling:
No. The Roppongi property is of public dominion unless it is convincingly
shown that the property has become patrimonial. The respondents have failed
to do so. It was acquired together with the other properties through
reparation agreements after World War II. They were assigned to the
government sector and that the Roppongi property was specifically
designated under the agreement to house the Philippine embassy.

As property of public dominion, the Roppongi lot is outside the commerce of

man and cannot be alienated. Its ownership is a special collective ownership
for general use and payment, in application to the satisfaction of collective
needs, and resides in the social group. The purpose is not to serve the State
as the juridical person but the citizens; it is intended for the common and
public welfare and cannot be the object of appropriation.

The fact that the Roppongi site has not been used for a long time for actual
Embassy service doesn’t automatically convert it to patrimonial property. Any
such conversion happens only if the property is withdrawn from public use. A
property continues to be part of the public domain, not available for private
appropriation or ownership until there is a formal declaration on the part of the
government to withdraw it from being such.