MODULE NO.

1
TITLE I. CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY
1. Articles 414 to 426
 Memorize: Articles 415, 416, 417, 420, 423 and 424

2. Definition of Property. Distinguish from ‘Thing’

 As an object - Property is that which is, or may be, appropriated
- It is an object or a right which is appropriated or susceptible of
appropriation by man, with capacity to satisfy human wants and needs
(Pineda, 1999)
- ‘appropriate’ -to take something for one’s own use
 As a subject – branch of civil law which classifies and defines the different kinds of
appropriable objects, provides for their acquisition and loss, and in general, treats of the
nature and consequences of real rights.

 Characteristics of a Property: utility for the satisfaction of moral or economic wants,

susceptibility of appropriation and individuality or substantivity

 Thing includes appropriable and non-appropriable objects (planets, stars, moon).

Three kinds: res nullius (belonging to no one, either they have not been appropriated or have
been abandoned)- undomesticated or wild animals; may or may not be a property
: res communes (belonging to everyone)- may or may not be a property
: res alicujus (belonging to someone) -definitely considered property
 Human body- not a property whether alive or dead.
-Under the Organ Donation Act of 1991, donation can only be legally made after or
immediately before the death of the donor. Consent will be given by the relatives of a
deceased person.

-There is a 2018 Bill that seeks to impose a ‘presumed consent’ on all deceased Filipino
citizens to donate transplantable organs or tissues.

-Republic Act No. 10364 - An Act Expanding Republic Act No. 9208, Entitled "An Act To
Institute Policies To Eliminate Trafficking In Persons Especially Women And Children,
Establishing The Necessary Institutional Mechanisms For The Protection And Support Of
Trafficked Persons, Providing Penalties For Its Violations And For Other Purposes"

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in

Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the "Expanded Anti-Trafficking
in Persons Act of 2012″.

Section 2. Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9208 is hereby amended to read as follows:
 "SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared that the State values the
dignity of every human person and guarantees the respect of individual rights. In
pursuit of this policy, the State shall give highest priority to the enactment of
measures and development of programs that will promote human dignity, protect the
people from any threat of violence and exploitation, eliminate trafficking in persons,
and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude of persons, not only to
support trafficked persons but more importantly, to ensure their recovery,
rehabilitation and reintegration into the mainstream of society.

3. Classification of Properties
1. As to mobility
a. Immovable or real property – land, railroads, canals,bridges
b. Movable or personal property- books, pen,
2. As to ownership
a. Public dominion – national roads
b. Private ownership- private pathway
3. As to alienability
a. Alienable (within the commerce of man)- clothes
b. Inalienable (outside the commerce of man) – illegal items
4. As to individuality
a. Specific property -ballpen held by A
b. Generic property – ballpen
5. As to susceptibility to touch
a. Tangible (corporeal) – can be identified by the human sense of touch or sight – road
b. Intangible (incorporeal) – rights or credits, road right of way
6. As to susceptibility to substitution
a. Fungible (capable of substitution) - water
b. Non fungible (incapable of substitution)- swab specimen of A
7. As to accession/dependence/importance
a. Principal - car
b. Accessory- stereo
8. As to existence
a. Existing or present property (res existentes) – mother pig
b. Future property (res futurae)- cannot be the subject of a donation – piglets to be borne
by the mother pig
9. As to consumability
a. Consumable – rice grains
b. Non-consumable – machine, tractor
10. As to divisibility
a. Divisible – machine
b. Indivisible- lake

4. Distinguish Movable and Immovable Properties

Immovable properties – those enumerated under Article 415 and those fixed in a definite place
in general. All similar properties that are considered as Real by nature, incorporation, destination
or purposes and by analogy

Article 415. The following are immovable property:

(1) Land, buildings, roads and constructions of all kinds adhered to the soil;
-building regardless of the person who erected it and regardless of the owner of the land
where it is erected; if agreed by parties to be considered a movable property, valid only
insofar as the parties are concerned but void as to third persons; proper subject of a real
estate mortgage; if the building will be the subject of an immediate demolition, it is
considered movable

-construction – those built with the intention to attach the same permanently; railroad tracks,
fence: barong barong and wooden scaffoldings are not included

(2) Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached to the land or form an integral part
of an immovable;

- Trees attached to the soil whether spontaneous products of the soil or planted thru labor,
includes uprooted timber or trees that remain on the timberland
- Growing Crops- real property as long as attached to the soil regardless of the owner of the
land. Considered movable under the Chattel Mortgage Law since it will ultimately be
harvested in time.

(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;

- ‘breaking’ entails substantial destruction or deterioration

-regardless of who placed it: chimney, fire escape embedded

(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;
-should be placed by the owner of the tenement or by his agent; may be removed but is intended
to be permanently incorporated on the tenement
(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;
- Elements: 1)must be placed by the owner or his agent; may be placed by the tenant with the
promise to leave the machine at the end of the lease or if he acted as the agent 2)machine
essential and principal elements in the industry, not merely incidental and 3) the industry or
works must be carried on in the building or on the land
-if machine is separated: separation temporary + still used in the industry = still real property;
machine still on the building but no longer used =chattel or personal property;
-a mortgage on the building or land automatically includes the machines (sawmill, sugar central)
Read:

a. PASTOR D. AGO, petitioner, vs. The Hon. Court Of Appeals, et al. (G.R. No. L-17898            
October 31, 1962)– the consequence of the nature of the machinery in relation to the
proper mode of execution under the Rules of Court

b. People's Bank And Trust Co. And Atlantic Gulf And Pacific Co. Of Manila, Plaintiffs-
Appellants Vs. Dahican Lumber Company,  et al. (G.R. No. L-17500 , May 16, 1967) –
nature of after acquired properties and effect to a contract of mortgage

c. MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY, Petitioner, v. THE CITY ASSESSOR AND CITY

TREASURER OF LUCENA CITY, G.R. No. 166102, August 05, 2015
https://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/2015augustdecisions.php?id=705
-machinery under Article 415 vs. machinery under the Local Government Code
-compare with the Board of Assessment Appeals vs Meralco 10 SCRA 68 cited in the
book of Paras

(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;

-animals must have the intent to return: however, criminal law treats all kinds of animals as
personal property subject of theft/robbery

(7) Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;

-must be actually used or spread over the land

(8) Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed, and waters
either running or stagnant;
-mines- hole in the ground made for extraction of minerals; include minerals which have not yet
been extracted
-quarries- open areas for mining
-slag dump- dirt +minerals still piled upon the surface of the ground
-waters pertaining to bodies of water; different from the word water

(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;
-docks- enclosed area of water for ships in which the water level can be adjusted
-structures like floating house tied to a shore or bank post
-Vessels are personal property because they do not remain at a fixed place on a river, lake, or
coast but they partake to some extent of the nature and conditions of real property. The rule on
double sale which applies in general to land (real property) applies also to the sale and
registration of vessels

(10) Contracts for public works, and servitudes and other real rights over immovable property.
-intangible real properties
-real rights over real properties: easements- an encumbrance established over an immovable for
the benefit of another immovable belonging to another person, or for the benefit of a person,
group of persons, or a community

Movable Properties
1. Test by description- property is capable of being carried from place to place; change in
location can be made without injuring the property to which it is attached
2. Test by exclusion- the object is not one of those enumerated or included under Article 415

Article 416. The following things are deemed to be personal property:

(1) Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in the preceding
article;
(2) Real property which by any special provision of law is considered as personalty
-growing crops under the Chattel Mortgage Law
(3) Forces of nature which are brought under control by science; and
-oxygen, electricity, gas,
(4) In general, all things which can be transported from place to place without impairment of
the real property to which they are fixed.
-incorporeal movables: patent (exclusive right to market invention), copyright (legal right
of creative artists or publishers to control the use and reproduction of their original works),
personal effects (possession that somebody wears or carries regularly)

Article 417. The following are also considered as personal property:

(1) Obligations and actions which have for their object movables or demandable sums;
and
-right to bring an action to recover persona property or enforce interest over personal
property
(2) Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial and industrial entities, although they may
have real estate. (336a)
-stock- equity participation in a business endeavor
-money is personal property; legal tender if it is domestic circulation, it becomes a
merchandise if exported or smuggled

-Consumable-cannot be used according to its nature without its being consumed

-Non consumable- any other kind of movable property
-Effect of agreement of parties- consumable things may be non-fungible (not capable of
substitution)

(6) Identify Properties of Public Dominion and Properties of Private Ownership

Article 419. Property is either of public dominion or of private ownership.

 Public dominion- ownership by the State or by the public;
Characteristics of Properties of Public Dominion
1. Outside the commerce of man and cannot be leased, sold, donated or be the or be
the object of a contract
Lease of a town plaza to a private individual is void
Owner of a fishery on a river does not acquire title over the river
Inclusion of properties of public domain in a title does not change the character of
the property
2. Cannot be acquired by prescription no matter how long
3. If included in a title, the land still remains at property of public dominion
4. Cannot be levied upon execution
5. Real or personal property and may be used by everybody

Private ownership-ownership by private individuals

Article 420. The following things are property of public dominion:

(1) 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;
- (roads, government computers, public streams, creeks, lands formed through accretion from
seawaves, reclaimed lands, shores,forest land)
-ports- harbor, place by the sea, river or waterway where ships and botas can dock, load and
unload
ports – includes airport and seaport-
-bank-steep side of a river, stream, lake/canal, side of waterway
-roadsteads-place for vessels at anchorage
-shore-that space alternately covered and uncovered by the movement of the tide
-torrent- that amount of water which in case of heavy rains gathers in deep places or canals
where it is supposed to flow afterwards
-rivers- the civil code does not distinguish whether or not it is navigable or non-navigable. In
some case, it was impliedly ruled that navigable rivers are the ones considered as property of
public domain
-esteros-small rivers included
-swamps- land which is always wet and grown with various shrubs and tree included
--And other of similar character- public streams, natural beds of rivers, river channels, waters
of rivers, creeks

(2) 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. (natural resources)

- Commonwealth Act 141. Public Land Act-November 7, 1936

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.
 SECTION 7. For the purposes of the administration and disposition of alienable or
disposable public lands, the President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of
Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to time declare what lands are open to
disposition or concession under this Act.
SECTION 8. Only those lands shall be declared open to disposition or concession which
have been officially delimited and classified and, when practicable, surveyed, and which
have not been reserved for public or quasi-public uses, nor appropriated by the
Government, nor in any manner become private property, nor those on which a private
right authorized and recognized by this Act or any other valid law may be claimed, or
which, having been reserved or appropriated, have ceased to be so However, the President
may, for reasons of public interest, declare lands of the public domain open to disposition
before the same have had their boundaries established or been surveyed, or may, for the
same reason, suspend their concession or disposition until they are again declared open to
concession or disposition by proclamation duly published or by Act of the National
Assembly.
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.
SECTION 10. The words "alienation, "'disposition, or "concession" as used in this Act,
shall mean any of the methods authorized by this Act for the acquisition, lease, use, or
benefit of the lands of the public domain other than timber or mineral lands. TITLE II
Agricultural Public Lands CHAPTER III Forms of Concession of Agricultural Lands
SECTION 11. Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes can be disposed of only as
follows, and not otherwise: (1) For homestead settlement (2) By sale (3) By lease (4) By
confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles: (a) By judicial legalization (b) By
administrative legalization (free patent)

-1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Article XII. NATIONAL ECONOMY AND

PATRIMONY
Section 1. The goals of the national economy are a more equitable distribution of
opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods and
services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and an expanding
productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged.
The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on sound agricultural
development and agrarian reform, through industries that make full and efficient use of
human and natural resources, and which are competitive in both domestic and foreign
markets. However, the State shall protect Filipino enterprises against unfair foreign
competition and trade practices.
In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country shall
be given optimum opportunity to develop. Private enterprises, including corporations,
cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall be encouraged to broaden the base
of their ownership.
Section 2. All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other
mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and
fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State. With the exception of
agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration,
development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and
supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter
into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens,
or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such
citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable
for not more than twenty-five years, and under such terms and conditions as may be
provided by law. In cases of water rights for irrigation, water supply fisheries, or industrial
uses other than the development of water power, beneficial use may be the measure and
limit of the grant.
The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea,
and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino
citizens.
The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino
citizens, as well as cooperative fish farming, with priority to subsistence fishermen and
fishworkers in rivers, lakes, bays, and lagoons.
The President may enter into agreements with foreign-owned corporations involving either
technical or financial assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and utilization of
minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils according to the general terms and conditions
provided by law, based on real contributions to the economic growth and general welfare
of the country. In such agreements, the State shall promote the development and use of
local scientific and technical resources.
The President shall notify the Congress of every contract entered into in accordance with
this provision, within thirty days from its execution.
Section 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber,
mineral lands and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further
classified by law according to the uses to which they may be devoted. Alienable lands of
the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. Private corporations or associations
may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period not
exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to
exceed one thousand hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than
five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve hectares thereof, by purchase,
homestead, or grant.
Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and
subject to the requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law, the
size of lands of the public domain which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased and
the conditions therefor.
Section 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine, by law, the specific limits of
forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground. Thereafter,
such forest lands and national parks shall be conserved and may not be increased nor
 diminished, except by law. The Congress shall provide for such period as it may determine,
measures to prohibit logging in endangered forests and watershed areas.
Section 5. The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national
development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural well-
being.
The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property
rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.

—      Secs. 6 and 7 of the Public Land Act provide that 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 mayat any
time and in a like manner transfer such lands from one class to another, for the purposes of their
administration and disposition; for the purposes of the administration and disposition of alienable
or disposable public lands, the President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture
and Commerce, shall from time to time declare what lands are open to disposition or concession
under this Act. (Rep. of the Phils. vs. Heirs of Meynardo Cabrera, G.R. No. 218418, Nov. 08,
2017)

—      The burden of proving that the property is an alienable and disposable agricultural land of
the public domain falls on the applicant, not the State; the Office of the Solicitor General,
however, has the correlative burden to present effective evidence of the public character of the
land; in order to establish that an agricultural land of the public domain has become alienable and
disposable, an applicant must establish 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 a statute. (Rep. of the Phils. vs. Sps.
Noval, G.R. No. 170316, Sept. 18, 2017)

—      The 1987 Constitution classifies lands of the public domain into five (5) categories; forest
lands, agricultural lands, timber lands, mineral lands, and national parks; in the absence of any
prior classification by the State, unclassified lands of the public domain assume the category of
forest lands not open to disposition; in turn, the classification of unclassified lands of the public
domain, and the reclassification of those previously classified under any of the categories set
forth in the 1987 Constitution are governed by Commonwealth Act No. 141 dated November 7,
1936, otherwise known as the Public Land Act. (Rep. of the Phils. vs. Heirs of Meynardo
Cabrera, G.R. No. 218418, Nov. 08, 2017)

—      The declaration of alienability must be through executive fiat, as exercised by the Secretary
of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (Rep. of the Phils. vs. Sps. Noval,
G.R. No. 170316, Sept. 18, 2017)

—      The Public Land Act is a special law that applies only to alienable agricultural lands of the
public domain and not to forests, mineral lands, and national parks; alienable and disposable
lands into: (a) patrimonial lands of the State, or those classified as lands of private ownership
under Art. 425 of the Civil Code, without limitation; and (b) lands of the public domain, or the
public lands as provided by the Constitution, but with the limitation that the lands must only be
agricultural. (Rep. of the Phils. vs. Sps. Noval, G.R. No. 170316, Sept. 18, 2017)

—      When an applicant is shown to have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious
possession of a land for the period required by law, he or she has acquired an imperfect title that
may be confirmed by the State; the State may not, for the simple reason that an applicant failed
to show documents which the State is in the best position to acquire, indiscriminately take an
occupied property and unjustly and self-servingly refuse to acknowledge legally recognized
rights evidenced by possession, without violating due process; the burden of evidence lies on the
party who asserts an affirmative allegation. (Rep. of the Phils. vs. Sps. Noval, G.R. No. 170316,
Sept. 18, 2017) http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/case-index/2017/july-2017-december-2017/public-
land-act-c-a-no-141-3/
-forest lands, national parks, military reservation, mineral lands; use of forest lands and mineral
lands may be granted to private individuals as concession

-pubic markets- usufructuary rights over stalls or public market is public in character and cannot
be alienated except through succession

-lands formed by the actions of the sea are public lands;private lands covered by the sea but later
on reclaimed by the government are public lands

-coastal water-  interface or transition areas between land and sea, including large inland lakes;
part of public dominion, structures built on the area may be removed by the government
-Waters gathered in a private canal that forms a river like structure is still a private property

-Remedy if lands of public domain are included in a torrens title- Reversion to be filed by the
State. Principle: the Torrens system of registration is not a means of acquiring ownership over
private or public land; it merely confirms and registers whatever right or title may already be
possessed or had by the applicant.

Read:
a. Republic Of The Philippines, Petitioner, Vs. Sps. Ildefonso Alejandre And Zenaida
Ferrer Alejandre, G.R. No. 217336, October 17, 2018 ]-application for registration of a
land of public domain http://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/64792

b. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, PETITIONER, v. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, et al. G.R. No. 208480, September 25, 2019
c. https://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/2019septemberdecisions.php?id=780

Article 421. All other property of the State, which is not of the character stated in the preceding
article, is patrimonial property. (340a)

-Patrimonial Property- property it owns but which is not devoted to public use, public service
or the development of national wealth. Owned by the State in its private capacity.
 -Churches and properties of the Roman Catholic Church especially those built during and
before the Spanish Regime belong to the Church as private properties.
-can be validly leased by the government to private individuals
-Friar Lands.  Thousands of hectares of the best land in the archipelago were owned or held
by the religious orders. The friars had held these lands for centuries. The economic
effect of these holdings was detrimental on account of the prohibitive rents which
were demanded for them. The religious orders would not sell these lands of their own
accord, and thus the Filipino agriculturists who desired to utilize them were
prevented either from buying or renting. The government was also at a loss, since no
taxes were paid on the lands of the church. This state of affairs was held by the
American authorities to be inconsistent with the best interests of the Filipino people,
and with the ideals of a free government.(
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-
review/article/origin-of-the-friar-lands-question-in-the-
philippines/363A795A7FCBB92F3352A3E6B1CDDC5F)
Were purchased by the government for sale to actual occupants under the provisions
of Act 1120 or the Friar Lands Act
These lands are not public lands but private and patrimonial lands of the government.
The Land Management Bureau shall first issue a certificate stating therein that the
government has agreed to sell the land to such settler or occupant.
-properties obtained in escheat proceedings, donated to the government, municipal-owned
waterworks
-since these are private properties of the State, these can be acquired by private individuals

Article 422. 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. (341a)
-conversion- abandonment of intention to use a property for public service; abandonment
must be definite and made by authorized persons. Non-use does not automatically convert
a property of public dominion into patrimonial property.
-there must be a presidential proclamation by the President or a law/ordinance expressly
converting the use of a property from public use to private property
-reclaimed lands- result of the intervention of man; does not fall under the category of
natural resource which under the Constitution are inalienable; it is statutory law which
determines the status of reclaimed land

Read:

a. Francisco I. Chavez, Petitioner, Vs.National Housing Authority, et al. G.R. No. 164527              

August 15, 2007
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2007/aug2007/gr_164527_2007.html) -rules related to reclaimed
lands

Article 423. The property of provinces, cities, and municipalities is divided into property for
public use and patrimonial property. (343)
Article 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,
promenades, and public works for public service paid for by said provinces, cities, or
municipalities.
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. (344a)

-under the Civil Code- the basis for classifying properties of public dominion is the use.
State property for public service= public dominion; Local government unit property for
public service= patrimonial property
-but law on Municipal corporation provides that as long as it is for public service, it is
property of public dominion (special law prevails)
-Power of the State over properties of political subdivisions: The State through the
National Government has residual power over patrimonial properties of political
subdivisions except if properties bought by the political subdivision using its own funds
-patrimonial properties of political subdivision may be attached on execution

Article 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. (345a)
-all other properties that do not belong to the State or its political subdivision
-improvements made by Japanese government on private lands remain to be properties of
the State
-For lands, apply the regalian doctrine. All lands, as a general rule, belong to the State.
Application by private individual for confirmation of title over a parcel of land must show that:1.
Land forms part of the alienable and disposable agricultural land of the public domain, 2)
applicant must have been in open and continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation of the land under a bona fide claim of ownership since time immemorial or since
June 12, 1945
Provisions Common to the Three Preceding Chapters

Article 426. Whenever by provision of the law, or an individual declaration, the expression

"immovable things or property," or "movable things or property," is used, it shall be deemed to
include, respectively, the things enumerated in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
Whenever the word "muebles," or "furniture," is used alone, it shall not be deemed to include
money, credits, commercial securities, stocks and bonds, jewelry, scientific or artistic
collections, books, medals, arms, clothing, horses or carriages and their accessories, grains,
liquids and merchandise, or other things which do not have as their principal object the
furnishing or ornamenting of a building, except where from the context of the law, or the
individual declaration, the contrary clearly appears. (346a)

-Muebles- principal object is the furnishing or ornamenting of a building,

(7) Legal concepts related to Movable Properties and to Immovable Properties

Rules of Court – nature of action to be filed, venue of the action, manner of execution of
court decisions
Registration of Mortgage – chattel mortgage or real estate mortgage
Tax- imposition of real property tax
Applicability of the Statute of Frauds - Article 1403. The following contracts are unenforceable,
unless they are ratified:
(1) Those entered into in the name of another person by one who has been given no
authority or legal representation, or who has acted beyond his powers;
(2) Those that do not comply with the Statute of Frauds as set forth in this number. In the
following cases an agreement hereafter made shall be unenforceable by action, unless the
same, or some note or memorandum, thereof, be in writing, and subscribed by the party
charged, or by his agent; evidence, therefore, of the agreement cannot be received
without the writing, or a secondary evidence of its contents:
(a) An agreement that by its terms is not to be performed within a year from the
making thereof;
(b) A special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another;
(c) An agreement made in consideration of marriage, other than a mutual promise
to marry;
(d) An agreement for the sale of goods, chattels or things in action, at a price not
less than five hundred pesos, unless the buyer accept and receive part of such
goods and chattels, or the evidences, or some of them, of such things in action or
pay at the time some part of the purchase money; but when a sale is made by
auction and entry is made by the auctioneer in his sales book, at the time of the
sale, of the amount and kind of property sold, terms of sale, price, names of the
purchasers and person on whose account the sale is made, it is a sufficient
memorandum;
(e) An agreement for the leasing for a longer period than one year, or for the sale
of real property or of an interest therein;
( f ) A representation as to the credit of a third person.
(3) Those where both parties are incapable of giving consent to a contract.

Crime – theft, robbery, usurpation of property

(8) Legal concepts related to Properties of Public Dominion and Properties of Private
Ownership
-validity of contracts over the property
-registrability
-capacity of private individuals to exercise ownership