FUNDAMENTALS OF LAND OWNERSHIP

REGALIAN DOCTRINE

• The Regalian Doctrine dictates that all lands of the public domain belong to the State, that
the State is the source of any asserted right to ownership of land and charged with the
conservation of such patrimony.

• Article XII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution embodies the doctrine, and reads as follows:

“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. Xxx” (Emphasis supplied.)

• All lands are presumed to be owned by the State unless clearly proven to be privately
owned. Hence, all lands that have not been acquired from the government, either by
purchase or by grant, belong to the State as part of the inalienable public domain. It is
therefore up to the State to determine I lands of the public domain will be disposed of for
private ownership.

LANDS OF PUBLIC DOMAIN

• Lands of public domain are simply those that are owned and controlled by the State. Lands
of public domain are classified into:
1. Agricultural
2. Forest or timber
3. Mineral
4. National parks

• Only agricultural lands are alienable, or susceptible to private ownership.

RIGHT TO OWN LAND

• In general, only Filipino citizens and corporations or partnerships with at least 60% of the
shares are owned by Filipinos are entitled to own or acquire land in the Philippines.
Foreigners however may purchase condominiums, buildings, and enter into a long-term
land lease.

• Who are considered as Filipino citizens to qualify to own a land?

➢ Article IV of the 1987 Constitution provides:

SECTION 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:

(1) Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution;
 (2) Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
(3) Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine
citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and
(4) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

SECTION 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine
citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3),
Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.

SECTION 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by

law.

SECTION 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship,
unless by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.

SECTION 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be
dealt with by law.

• Foreigners may, under the following exceptions, own land in the Philippines:

➢ under Article XII, Section 7 of the Constitution, by virtue of hereditary succession if the
foreigner is a legal or natural heir of the decedent.
** the foreigner is however required, within a reasonable time, to dispose of the
property and collect the proceeds or the property will pass to any Filipino heirs
and/or relatives.

➢ under Article XII, Section 8 of the Constitution, a former natural-born Filipino citizen
subject to the limitations prescribed by law (natural-born Filipinos who acquired foreign
citizenship is entitled to own up to 5,000 sq.m. of residential land, and 1 hectare of
agricultural or farm land)
** Former natural-born Filipinos who are now naturalized citizens of another country
can buy and register, under their own name, land in the Philippines (but with
limitations in land area). However, those who avail of the Dual Citizenship Law in
the Philippines can buy as much as any other Filipino citizen.
** Under the Dual Citizenship Law of 2003 (RA 9225), former Filipinos who became
naturalized citizens of foreign countries are deemed not to have lost their Philippine
citizenship, thus enabling them to enjoy all the rights and privileges of a Filipino
citizen regarding land ownership in the Philippines.
** How to Gain Dual Citizenship
o If you are in the Philippines, file a Petition for Dual Citizenship and Issuance of
Identification Certificate (pursuant to RA 9225) at the Bureau of Immigration (BI)
and for the cancellation of your alien certificate of registration.
o Those who are not BI-registered and overseas should file the petition at the
nearest embassy or consulate.
o Requirements:
1) Birth Certificate authenticated by the Philippine National Statistics Office
(NSO)
2) Accomplish and submit a Petition for Dual Citizenship and Issuance of
Identification Certificate to a Philippine embassy, consulate or the Bureau of
Immigration
3) Pay a US$50.00 processing fee, schedule, and take an “Oath of Allegiance”
before a consular officer
4) The Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Manila receives the petition from the
embassy or consular office. The BI issues and sends an Identification
Certificate of Citizenship to the embassy or consular office.
 ** If a former Filipino who is now a naturalized citizen of a foreign country does not
want to avail of the Dual Citizen Law in the Philippines, he or she can still acquire
land based on Batas Pambansa (BP) 185 and RA 8179, but limited to the following:

For Residential Use (BP 185 – enacted in March 1982):

• Up to 1,000 square meters of residential land
• Up to one (1) hectare of agricultural of farmland

For Business/Commercial Use (RA 8179 – otherwise known as the Foreign

Investment Act of 1991):
• Up to 5,000 square meters of urban land
• Up to three (3) hectares of rural land

➢ Filipinos who are married to aliens and able to retain their Filipino citizenship (unless by
their act or omission they have renounced their Filipino citizenship)

➢ Purchase of not more than 40% interest in a condominium project

➢ Foreign ownership of a house or building in the Philippines is legal as long as the

foreigner or expat does not own the land on which the house was built.

➢ The Condominium Act of the Philippines (RA 4726) expressly allows foreigners to
acquire condominium units and shares in condominium corporations up to 40% of the
total and outstanding capital stock of a Filipino-owned or controlled condominium
corporation.

REAL ESTATE

• Real estate or real property refers to lands and all permanent improvements

• Article 415 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines provides the following immovable
properties:
(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.
MODES OF ACQUIRING LAND OWNERSHIP

• Land ownership may be acquired through any of the following modes:

1. Open, Continuous, Exclusive And Notorious possession and occupation
2. Prescription
3. Accession and Accretion of private lands or river beds
4. Modes provided by law (i.e. sale, donation, succession)

• An owner of a property exercises all rights over the property, as provided for in the Bundle
of Rights Theory, which refers to the rights or attributes which are inherent in, or
appurtenant to ownership and include the following rights:
1. Jus Possedendi – the right to posses
2. Jus Utendi - the right to use and enjoy
3. Jus Fruendi - the right to the fruits
4. Jus Abutendi - the right to abuse and consume
5. Jus Disponendi - the right to dispose and alienate
6. Jus Vindicandi - the right to recover possession
7. The right to construct any works
8. The right to the hidden treasures found therein
9. The right to exclude others
10. The right to fence

• Land or property ownership however is not absolute. There are limitations:

➢ Governmental or Legal
1. Zoning – refers to the restrictions in particular areas or the delineation of allowable
uses in particular areas
2. Subdivision regulations
3. Building Code – restrictions on heights, setbacks, etc.
4. Police Power – the power of the state to regulate the use of the private property for
the general welfare
5. Eminent Domain – the power of the state to take private property for public use
upon payment of just compensation
** just compensation is defined as the full and fair equivalent of the property taken
from its owner by the expropriator. The measure is not the taker's gain, but the
owner's loss. The word "just" is used to intensify the meaning of the word
"compensation" and to convey thereby the idea that the equivalent to be
rendered for the property to be taken shall be real, substantial, full, and ample.
** just compensation must be determined "as of the date of the taking of the
property or the filing of the complaint, whichever came first.
6. Taxation – power of the state to impose and collect taxes
7. Escheat – the power of the state to take private property

➢ Contractual or Voluntary
1. Lease Contract
2. Right of Way Easement
3. Usufruct
4. Use of Restrictions in Subdivision Contract