Republic v.

Corazon Sese and Fe Sese been issued by the DENR, a competent

G.R. 185092 | June 4, 2014 | Mendoza, J. authority. Its contents were prima facie evidence
of the facts stated therein. Thus, the evidence
FACTS was sufficient to establish that the subject
Records show that on September 17, 2002, property was indeed alienable and disposable.
Corazon C. Sese and Fe C. Sese (respondents)
filed with the MTC an application for original With respect to the second issue, the CA was of
registration of land over a parcel of land with an the view that the doctrine of constructive
area of 10, 792 square meters, situated in possession was applicable. Respondents
Barangay Sto. Cristo, Municipality of Pulilan, acquired the subject property through a donation
Province of Bulacan, and more particularly inter vivos executed on July 22, 1972 from their
described as Lot 11247. mother. The latter acquired the said property
from the Santoses on October 4, 1950 by virtue
Respondents alleged that on July 22, 1972, they of a deed of absolute sale. Further, respondent
acquired, through a donation inter vivos from Corazon testified that a small hut was built on
their mother, Resurreccion L. Castro the said land, which was occupied by the worker
(Resurreccion), the subject agricultural land; that of her mother. Moreover, neither the public
they, through their predecessors-in-interest, had prosecutor nor any private individual appeared
been in possession of the subject property; and to oppose the application for registration of the
that the property was not within a reservation. subject property.

In support of their application, respondents With respect to the tax declarations, the CA
submitted tax declarations under their name, a added that although tax declaration or realty tax
Certificate of Technical Description, a payments of property were not conclusive
Certification in lieu of lost Surveyor’s Certificate, evidence of ownership, nevertheless, they were
Official Receipts of payment of real property tax, good indicia of possession in the concept of
a certification from the municipal treasurer, and owner.
the survey plan stating that the land subject of
the survey was alienable and disposable land, ISSUE
and as certified to by the Bureau of Forestry on WON the CA erred in ruling that the approved
March 1, 1927, was outside of any civil or survey plan is proof that the subject plan is
military reservation. On the lower portion of the alienable and disposable. YES.
plan, there was a note stating that a deed of
absolute sale over the subject property was HELD
executed by a certain Luis Santos and Fermina Applicants for registration of land title must
Santos (the Santoses) in favor of Resurreccion establish and prove: (1) that the subject land
on October 4, 1950. forms part of the disposable and alienable lands
of the public domain; (2) that the applicant and
Finding the application sufficient in form and his predecessors-in-interest have been in open,
substance, the MTC issued the Order, dated continuous, exclusive and notorious possession
October 10, 2002, setting the case for hearing and occupation of the same; and (3) that it is
with the corresponding publication. During the under a bona fide claim of ownership since June
trial on June 4, 2003, respondent Corazon C. 12, 1945, or earlier. Compliance with the
Sese (Corazon) testified on their claim over the foregoing requirements is indispensable for an
subject lot. Thereafter, respondents submitted application for registration of land title, under
their formal offer of evidence, after which the Section 14(1) of P.D. No. 1529, to validly
evidence offered were admitted by the MTC in prosper. The absence of any one requisite
the Order, dated July 10, 2003, without objection renders the application for registration
from the public prosecutor. The OSG did not substantially defective.
present any evidence to oppose the application.
MTC granted and orderred the registraiton of the Anent the first requisite, respondents presented
subject property in the name of the respondents. evidence to establish the disposable and
alienable character of the subject land through a
On December 19, 2003, the OSG interposed an survey plan, where on its lower portion, a note
appeal with the CA, docketed as CA-GR. CV No. stated, among others, as follows: "This survey is
81439. In its brief, the OSG argued that there inside the alienable and disposable area as per
was no proof that the subject property was Project No. 20 LC Map No. 637 certified by the
already segregated from inalienable lands of the Bureau of Forestry on March 1, 1927. It is
public domain. Verily, it was only from the date outside any civil or military reservation." The
of declaration of such lands as alienable and said plan was approved by the DENR, Land
disposable that the period for counting the Management Services, Regional Office III, San
statutory requirement of possession would start. Fernando, Pampanga on December 3, 1998.
The annotation in the survey plan, however,
CA affirmed MTC. It reasoned out, among fell short of the requirement of the law in
others, that the approved survey plan of the proving its disposable and alienable
subject property with an annotation, stating that character.
the subject property was alienable and
disposable land, was a public document, having
In Republic v. Espinosa, the court held that a
notation made by a surveyor-geodetic Thus, the present rule is that an application for
engineer that the property surveyed was original registration must be accompanied by (1)
alienable and disposable was not the a CENRO or PENRO Certification; and (2) a
positive government act that would remove copy of the original classification approved by
the property from the inalienable domain and the DENR Secretary and certified as a true copy
neither was it the evidence accepted as by the legal custodian of the official records.
sufficient to controvert the presumption that
the property was inalienable. Here, the only evidence presented by
respondents to prove the disposable and
This proof is not sufficient. Section 2, Article XII alienable character of the subject land was an
of the 1987 Constitution, provides: "All lands of annotation by a geodetic engineer in a survey
the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, plan. Although this was certified by the DENR, it
petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of clearly falls short of the requirements for original
potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, registration.
wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural
resources are owned by the State..." With regard to the third requisite, it must be
shown that the possession and occupation of a
For the original registration of title, the applicant parcel of land by the applicant, by himself or
(petitioners in this case) must overcome the through his predecessors-in-interest, started on
presumption that the land sought to be June 12, 1945 or earlier. A mere showing of
registered forms part of the public domain. possession and occupation for 30 years or more,
Unless public land is shown to have been by itself, is not sufficient.
reclassified or alienated to a private person by
the State, it remains part of the inalienable public In this regard, respondents likewise failed. As
domain. Indeed, "occupation thereof in the the records and pleadings of this case will
concept of owner, no matter how long, cannot reveal, the earliest that respondents and their
ripen into ownership and be registered as a predecessor-in-interest can trace back
title." To overcome such presumption, possession and occupation of the subject land
incontrovertible evidence must be shown by the was only in the year 1950,when their mother,
applicant. Absent such evidence, the land Resurreccion, acquired the subject land from the
sought to be registered remains inalienable. Santoses on October 4, 1950 by virtue of an
absolute sale. Evidently, their possession of the
In the present case, petitioners cite a surveyor subject property commenced roughly five (5)
geodetic engineer’s notation in Exhibit "E" years beyond June 12, 1945, the reckoning date
indicating that the survey was inside alienable expressly provided under Section 14(1) of P.D.
and disposable land. Such notation does not No. 1529. Thus, their application for registration
constitute a positive government act validly of land title was legally infirm.
changing the classification of the land in
question. Verily, a mere surveyor has no Accordingly, there must be an express
authority to reclassify lands of the public declaration by the State that the public dominion
domain. By relying solely on the said property is no longer intended for public service
surveyor’s assertion, petitioners have not or the development of the national wealth or that
sufficiently proven that the land in question the property has been converted into
has been declared alienable." patrimonial. Without such express declaration,
the property, even if classified as alienable or
The burden of proof in overcoming the disposable, remains property of the public
presumption of State ownership of the lands of dominion, pursuant to Article 420(2), and, thus,
the public domain is on the person applying for incapable of acquisition by prescription. It is only
registration (or claiming ownership), who must when such alienable and disposable lands are
prove that the land subject of the application is expressly declared by the State to be no longer
alienable or disposable. To overcome this intended for public service or for the
presumption, incontrovertible evidence must be development of the national wealth that the
established that the land subject of the period of acquisitive prescription can begin to
application (or claim) is alienable or disposable. run. Such declaration shall be in the form of a
The applicant must establish the existence of a law duly enacted by Congress or a Presidential
positive act of the government such as a Proclamation in cases where the President is
presidential proclamation or an executive order; duly authorized by law.
an administrative action; investigation reports of
Bureau of Lands investigators; or a legislative Thus, under Section 14(2) of P.D. No. 1529, for
act or a statute. The applicant may also secure a acquisitive prescription to commence and
certification from the government that the land operate against the State, the classification of
claimed to have been possessed for the required land as alienable and disposable alone is not
number of years is alienable and disposable. sufficient. The applicant must be able to show
The applicant must also show sufficient proof that the State, in addition to the said
that the DENR Secretary approved the land classification, expressly declared through either
classification and released the land in question a law enacted by Congress or a proclamation
as alienable and disposable. issued by the President that the subject land is
no longer retained for public service or the
development of the national wealth or that the
property has been converted into patrimonial.