II.

CLASSIFICATION
OF PUBLIC LANDS
PIA ROELEN C. PAHATI
JD 2A
1. Classification of public lands
is an executive prerogative
It is an exclusive prerogative of the
executive department and not of the courts.

In the absence of such classification, the

land remains an unclassified land until it is
released therefrom and rendered open to
disposition.
1. Classification of public lands
is an executive prerogative
1. Only A and D land may be the subject of disposition.

CA 141
SECTION 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to the lands of the public
domain; but timber and mineral lands shall be governed by special laws and
nothing in this Act provided shall be understood or construed to change or
modify the administration and disposition of the lands commonly called "friar
lands'' and those which, being privately owned, have reverted to or become the
property of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, which administration and
disposition shall be governed by the laws at present in force or which may
hereafter be enacted.

1. Classification of public lands

is an executive prerogative
Section 6.The President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of
Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to time classify the lands of the
public domain into

(a)Alienable or disposable;

(b)Timber, and

(c)Mineral lands,

and may at any time and in a like manner transfer such lands from one class
to another, for the purposes of their administration and disposition.
1. Classification of public lands
is an executive prerogative
Section 9.For the purpose of their administration and disposition, the lands of
the public domain alienable or open to disposition shall be classified, according to
the use or purposes to which such lands are destined, as follows:

(a)Agricultural

(b)Residential commercial industrial or for similar productive purposes

(c)Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes

(d)Reservations for town sites and for public and quasi-public uses.

The President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture and

Commerce, shall from time to time make the classifications provided for in this
section, and may, at any time and in a similar manner, transfer lands from one
class to another.
1. Classification of public lands
is an executive prerogative
Alienable and disposable.
1. President must first officially classify these lands as
alienable or disposable.
2. Declare them open to disposition
3. There must be no law reserving these lands for
public or quasi-public uses.
1. Classification of public lands
is an executive prerogative
PUBLIC LANDS GOVERNMENT LANDS
Equivalent to public domain
Include not only public
Does not include all lands of lands but also other lands of
government ownership, but the government already
only those that are thrown reserved or devoted to
open to private public use or subject to
appropriation and
private right.
settlement by homestead
and other general laws.
1. Classification of public lands
is an executive prerogative
3. Cadastral survey of municipality

A survey made in a cadastral proceeding merely identifies each lot

preparatory to a judicial proceeding for adjudication of title to any
of the lands upon claim of interested parties; it does not follow that
all lands comprised therein are automatically released as alienable.

The adverse possession which may be the basis of a grant of title

in confirmation of imperfect title cases applies only to alienable
lands of the public domain.
2. Burden of proof
1. Where there is a showing that the lands sought to be
registered are part of the public domain
Applicant has the burden to prove that the lands he claims to
have possessed as owner are alienable and disposable

2. Where there is sufficient evidence on record which

shows that the parcel of land applied for is alienable and
disposable and has been in the possession of the
applicants and their predecessors-in-interest since time
immemorial
It becomes the duty of the government to demonstrate that the
land is indeed not alienable but is forest land.
III. NON-
REGISTRABLE
PROPERTIES
1.Property of public domain
2.Forest lands
3.Watersheds
4.Mangrove swamps
5.Mineral lands
6.National parks
7.Military or naval reservation
8.Foreshore lands and reclaimed lands
9.Lakes
10.Navigable rivers
11.Creeks
12.Reservation public and semi-public purposes
1. Property of public dominion
Those intended for public use, such as roads,
canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges
constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads
and others of similar character;

Those which belong to the State, without being for

public use, and are intended for some public service
or for the development of the national wealth.
1. Property of public dominion
A. Land intended for public use or service
not available for private appropriation
A person who obtains a title under the Torrens system which
includes lands that cannot be registered under the Torrens
cannot be deemed the owner of said property.

Patrimonial property all other property of public dominion

which are no longer needed for public use or for public
service
1. Property of public dominion
B. Roppongi property

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.
1. Property of public dominion
C. Patrimonial Property property that is open to
disposition by the government, or otherwise property
pertaining to the national domain, or public lands.
D. Land may be alienated when declared no longer
needed for public use or service
Marshy land or reclaimed lands there must be a law
E. Ownership of waters
PD No. 1067 Water Code of the Philippines which
repealed Arts. 502 516 of the Civil Code
1. Property of public dominion
F. A and D lands held by government entities under
Sec. 60, CA No. 141
The registration of lands of the public domain under the
Torrens system, by itself, cannot convert public lands into
private lands.

G. Lands titled in the name of government entities form

part of the public domain
2. Forest Lands
Forest It is a tract of land covered with trees, usually
of considerable extent
Bureau of Forestry

A. Conservation of natural resources

B. Classification of land is descriptive of its legal
nature, not what it actually looks like
3. Watersheds
4. Mangrove swamps
5. Mineral Lands
Possession of mineral land does not confer
possessory rights
XPN: Perfection of a mining claim before 1935
Constitution
Ownership of land does not extend to minerals
underneath
Land cannot be partly mineral and partly
agricultural
6. National parks
a scenic or historically important area of countryside
protected by the federal government for the
enjoyment of the general public or the preservation
of wildlife.

Where a certificate of title covers a portion of land

within the area reserved for park purposes, the title
should be annulled with respect to said portion.
7. Military or naval reservation
Baguio Townsite Reservation
8. Foreshore lands and
reclaimed lands
The strip of land that lies between the high
and low water marks and that is alternately
wet and dry according to the flow of the tide
These land remained sui generis, as the
only alienable or disposable lands of the
public domain the government could not sell
to private parties.
8. Foreshore lands and
reclaimed lands
Spanish Law of Waters of 1866 first statutory law
governing the ownership and disposition of
reclaimed lands.
ART. 5. Lands reclaimed from the sea in consequence of
works constructed by the State, or by the provinces,
pueblos or private persons, with proper permission,
shall become the property of the party
constructing such works, unless otherwise provided by
the terms of the grant of authority.
8. Foreshore lands and
reclaimed lands
The following laws provided for the lease, but not the sale
of reclaimed lands of the government to corporations and
individuals:
Act No. 1654
Act No. 2874
CA No. 141 continues to this day as the general law
governing the classification and disposition of lands of the
public domain.
Public Estates Authority EO No. 525
9. Lakes
Art. 464. Islands which may be formed
on the seas within the jurisdiction of
the Philippines, on lakes, and on
navigable or floatable rivers belong to
the State.
10. Navigable rivers
Art. 464. Islands which may be
formed on the seas within the
jurisdiction of the Philippines, on
lakes, and on navigable or
floatable rivers belong to the
State.
11. Creeks
Construction or irrigation dikes
on a creek which prevents the
water from flowing or converts
it into a fishpond, does not
alter or change the nature of
the creek as property of the
12. Reservations for public and
semi-public purposes
SEC. 83. of CA No. 141
SEC 14. Administrative Code of 1987
- both laws give the President the power
to reserve by executive proclamation lands
of the public domain for public or quasi-
public purposes.
12. Reservations for public and
semi-public purposes
While the President may classify and reserve
any disposable land of the government for a
specific public purpose or service, he may
release the land from the reservation at any
time pursuant to Sec 9 of the Public Land Act
which states that the President upon
recommendation of the Secretary of
Environment and Natural Resources, shall
from time to time make the classifications
provided for in this section, and may, at any