PROPERTY NOTES

ART. 419. PROPERTY IS EITHER OF

DOMINION OR OF PRIVATE OWNERSHIP.

b. For public service

c. For the development of national wealth
PUBLIC

and others of similar in character

PNRWC

->State may own properties both in its public capacity

and in its private capacity (patrimonial property)

Public streams
Natural beds of rivers
River channels

ART.
420.
THE FOLLOWING THINGS
PROPERTY OF PUBLIC DOMINION:

ARE

1. THOSE INTENDED FOR PUBLIC USE, ROADS,

CANALS, RIVERS, TORRENS, PORTS AND
BRIDGES CONSTRUCTED BY THE STATE,
BANKS, SHORES, ROADSTEADS AND OTHER
SIMILAR CHARACTER.
2. THOSE WHICH BELONG TO THE STATE,
WITHOUT BEING FOR PUBLIC USE, AND ARE
INTENDED FOR SOME PUBLIC SERVICE OR
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL
WEALTH.
>Public means ownership by the public in general or
public ownership.
>The relation of the state to these properties arise
from the fact that the State is the juridical
representative of the social group, and as such it takes
care of them, preserves them and regulates their use
for general welfare.
3 Kinds of property of public dominion:
a. For public use

Waters of rivers
Creeks arm extending from a river and participating
in the flow of the sea.
>Intent to devote
The SC clarified that in order to be a property of public
dominion an intention to devote it to public use is
sufficient and it is not necessary that it must be
actually used as such.
Public use vs. Public Service
>public use may be used indiscriminately by the
public.
>public service although used for the benefit of public,
cannot be used indiscriminately by anyone but only by
those that are authorized by proper authority.
Roads
Are the National highways and roads constructed and
maintained by the national government through the
DPWH.

Canals
Canals constructed by the State and devoted to public
use are of public ownership.
Rivers
Rivers is a composite term which includes:
1. Running waters
2. The bed
3. The banks

Ports
Includes seaports and airports.
Shore
Is understood to be that space which is alternately
covered and uncovered by water with the movements
of the tides.
*REGALIAN DOCTRINE ALL LANDS NOT OTHERWISE
APPEARING TO BE CLEARLY WITHIN PRIVATE
OWNERSHIP ARE PRESUMED TO BELONG TO THE
STATE.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPERTIES OF PUBLIC
DOMINION:
1. They are outside the commerce of man. It
cannot be alienated or leased or otherwise be
the subject of contracts.
2. They cannot be acquired by prescription.
Property of the State or any of its subdivisions

3.

4.

5.
6.

not patrimonial in character shall not be the

object of prescription.
They cannot be registered under the Land
Registration Law and be the subject of a Torrens
Title.
They are not subject to execution and
attachment properties of public dominion,
being for public use, are not subject to levy,
encumbrances or disposition through public or
private sale.
In general, they can be used by everybody.
They may be either real or personal property.
the law makes no distinction.

ART. 421. ALL OTHER PROPERTY OF THE STATE,

WHICH IS NOT OF THE CHARACTER STATED IN
THE PRECEDING ARTICLES, IS PATRIMONIAL
PROPERTY.
->Patrimonial property of the State is the property it
owns but which is not devoted to public use, public
service or the development of national wealth.
Friar lands
Lands acquired by the government from religious
corporation or orders. They can only be alienated only
upon proper compliance with the requirements of the
Friar Lands Act.
Acquisition thru prescription
Patrimonial properties may be acquired by private
individuals or corporations thru prescription.
ART. 422. PROPERTY OF PUBLIC DOMINION,
WHEN NO LONGER INTENDED FOR PUBLIC USE

OF FOR PUBLIC SERVICE, SHALL FORM PART OF

THE PATRIMONIAL PROPERTY OF THE STATE.

Donation by the National Government to a

Political Subdivision

->Property of public dominion, when no longer

intended for public use or for public service, shall form
part of the patrimonial property of the State.

The National Government may donate its patrimonial

property to a municipality, and the latter may own the
same. This is because a municipality is a juridical
person capable of acquiring properties.

Ignacio vs Director of Lands

The SC ruled that 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, either
through the Executive department or the Legislative,
to effect that the property is no longer needed for
public use or for special industries.

ART. 424. PROPERTY FOR PUBLIC USE, IN THE

PROVINCES,
CITIES
AND
MUNICIPALITIES
CONSIST OF THE PROVINCIAL ROADS, CITY
STREETS, MUNICIPAL STREETS, THE SQUARES,
FOUNTAINS, PUBLIC WATERS, AND PUBLIC
WORKS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE PAID FOR BY SAID
PROVINCES, CITIES, OR MUNICIPALITIES.

ART, 423. THE PROPERTY OF PROVINCES, CITIES,

AND MUNICIPALITIES IS DIVIDED INTO PROPERTY
FOR PUBLIC USE AND PATRIMONIAL PROPERTY.

ALL OTHER PROPERTY POSSESSED BY ANY OF

THEM IS PATRIMONIAL AND SHALL BE GOVERNED
BY THIS CODE, WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE
PROVISIONS OF SPECIAL LAWS.

->Property for public use consists of the provincial

roads, city streets, municipal streets, squares,
fountains, public waters, promenades, and public
works for public services paid for by said provinces,
cities or municipalities. All other property possessed by
said provinces, cities or municipalities is patrimonial.

The basis for classification would be the use, however,

the SC ruled that the National Government still
controls the disposition of the properties of political
subdivisions provided that the properties came from
the State.

Reclaimed lands

The properties of the provinces, cities,

municipalities may also be classified into:

These are not plain and simple patches of the earth as

agricultural, timber, or mineral lands are, in the full
sense of being products of nature, but are the result of
the intervention of man just like extraction of mineral
resources.

and

a. Those acquired with their own funds. here the

political subdivision has ownership and control.
b. Those which do not fall under a. these are
subject to the control and supervision of the
state. In fact, they are held by the political

subdivision in trust for the state for the benefit

of the inhabitants.
Rules with respect to properties for public use
Properties for public use may not be leased to private
individuals. If possession has already been given, the
lease must return the possession to the municipality,
which in return must reimburse him for whatever
advanced rentals had been given.
ART. 425. PROPERTY OF PRIVATE OWNERSHIP,
BESIDES THE PATRIMONIAL PROPERTY OF THE
STATE, PROVINCES, CITIES, AND MUNICIPALITIES,
CONSISTS OF ALL PROPERTY BELONGING TO
PRIVATE PERSONS, EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR
COLLECTIVELY.
->Collectively refers to ownership by private
individuals as co-owners; or by corporation,
partnership or other juridical persons who are allowed
by the Civil Code to possess and acquire properties.
Ownership of roads

Ownership evidenced by a Torrens Title

If there is an error in Torrens title, it is only the
government which can properly question that fact, and
a judicial pronouncement is necessary in order to have
the portion excluded from the Torrens title.
Acquisition by Aliens
An alien has had no right to acquire since the date of
effectivity of the Philippine Constitution, any public or
private agricultural, commercial or residential lands.
Thus, the transfer of ownership over land in favor of
aliens is not permissible in view of the Constitutional
prohibition.
Confirmation of imperfect title:

Roads may be either public or private property; hence,

if a person constructs on his own land a road, it is
private one.
Private lands within a military zone
If private lands of a person should lie within a military
zone, said land do not necessarily become property of
public dominion.
Improvements Introduced by the
Occupation Forces on Private Lands.

Improvements constructed during the Japanese

occupation by the Japanese army on private lands do
not belong to the private owner but to the Philippine
government which emerged as victor in the last world
war. But automobiles seized by the Japanese army, the
true owner may recover the same.

Japanese

1. That the land forms part of the alienable and

disposable agricultural lands of the public
domain; and
2. That they have been in open, continuous,
exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation of the same under a bona fide claim
of ownership either since time immemorial or
since June 12, 1945.
*An applicant must established the existence of a
positive act of the government such as a presidential

proclamation or an executive order, an administrative

action, investigation reports of Bureau of Lands
investigators, and a legislative act or statute.

peaceful and lawful possession of the land when they

commanded him and his men, through the use of force
and intimidation, to vacate the area.

CASES:

Dream Village Neighborhood Association Inc.,

Represented by its Incumbent President, Greg
Seriego,
Petitioner,
vs.
Bases
Conversion
Development Authority, Respondent

Republic vs Cortez, Sr.

Principle: An inalienable public land cannot be
appropriated and thus may not be the proper object of
possession. Hence, injunction cannot be issued in
order to protect ones alleged right of possession over
the same.
Facts: Respondent Rev. Claudio R. Cortez, Sr. (Rev.
Cortez), a missionary by vocation engaged in
humanitarian and charitable activities, established an
orphanage and school in Cagayan. He claimed that
since 1962, he has been in peaceful possession of
about 50 hectares of land located in the western
portion of Cagayan which he cleared and developed
for agricultural purposes in order to support his
charitable, humanitarian and missionary works.
President Fidel V. Ramos issued Proclamation No. 447
declaring Palaui Island and the surrounding waters
situated in the Municipality of Sta. Ana, Cagayan as
marine reserve.
On June 13, 2000, Rev. Cortez filed a Petition for
Injunction with Prayer for the Issuance of a Writ of
Preliminary Mandatory Injunction against Bias in his
capacity as Commanding Officer of the Philippine
Naval Command in Port San Vicente, Sta. Ana,
Cagayan. According to him, some members of the
Philippine Navy, upon orders of Bias, disturbed his

G.R. No. 192896, July 24, 2013

Facts: Dream Village, composed of more than 2,000
families have been occupying the disputed lot
continuously, exclusively and notoriously since the
year 1985. Said lot used to be a part of the Hacienda
de Maricaban, which was subsequently purchased by
the government of the United States of America (USA)
and was converted to Fort William McKinley. Later on,
USA transferred 30 hectares of it to the Manila Railroad
Company, while the rest were still in the name of US
Government. Finally, on December of 1956, the US
government ceded Fort William McKinley to the
Republic of the Philippines (RP) and was renamed Fort
Bonifacio, reserved for military purposes. On January
1986, President Marcos Issued Proclamation No. 2476
declaring certain portions of Fort Bonifacio alienable
and disposable, thus allowing sale to the settlers of
home lots in Upper Bicutan, Lower Bicutan, Signal
Village, and Western Bicutan. President Corazon
Aquino on the other hand amended the proclamation
of Pres. Marcos and limited the lots which were open
for disposition.
On March of 1992, the Bases
conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) was
created to oversee and accelerate the conversion of
Clark and Military Reservations to productive civilian

uses, which then authorized the President of the

Philippines to sell the lands covered in whole or in part,
specifically to raise capital for the BCDA. BCDA
asserted its title to Dream Village owing to the fact
that BCDAs titles over Fort Bonifacio are valid and
commercially valuable to the agency, however, due to
the passage of time, was contended to have been
abandoned to Dream Village, and that BCDAs right
over it has already prescribed.
Issue: Whether the area occupied by Dream Village is
susceptible of acquisition by prescription.
Ruling:
No. Property of the State or any of its
subdivisions not patrimonial in character shall not be
the object of prescription (Art.1113, NCC). Also, under
Article 422 of the Civil Code, public domain lands
become patrimonial property only if there is a
declaration that these are alienable or disposable,
together with an express government manifestation
that the property is already patrimonial or no longer
retained for public service or the development of

national wealth. Only when the property has become

patrimonial can the prescriptive period for the
acquisition of property of the public dominion begin to
run. It is also stipulated under PD 1529 that before the
acquisitive prescription can commence, the property
must expressly declared by the State that it is no
longer intended for public service or the development
of national wealth, and that absent such express
declaration, the land remains to be property of public
dominion. Subsequent proclamations over vast
portions of Maricaban exempted the lot where Dream
Village was situated from being open for disposition,
thus Fort Bonifacio remains a property of public
Dominion of the State because although declared
alienable and disposable, it is reserved for some public
service or development of national wealth, and thus,
the acquisitive prescription asserted by Dream Village
has not even begun to run. Thus, the area occupied by
Dream Village is still not susceptible of acquisition by
prescription.