Connected To This Is The State'S Power of Dominuum
Connected To This Is The State'S Power of Dominuum
Connected To This Is The State'S Power of Dominuum
(REGALIAN DOCTRINE)
Generally, under this concept, private title to land must be traced to some grant, express or implied, from
the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Colonial Government, and thereafter, the Philippine
Republic
In a broad sense, the term refers to royal rights, or those rights to which the King has by virtue of his
prerogatives
The theory of jure regalia was therefore nothing more than a natural fruit of conquest
The Regalian Doctrine, also known as “jura regalia”, is a fiction of Spanish colonial law that has been said to apply
to all Spanish colonial holdings. More specifically, the Regalian Doctrine refers to the feudal principle that private
title to land must emanate, directly or indirectly, from the Spanish crown with the latter retaining the underlying title.
Lands and resources not granted by the Crown remain part of the public domain over which none but the sovereign
holds rights. Generally, under this concept, private title to land must be traced to some grant, express or implied,
from the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Colonial Government, and thereafter, the Philippine
Republic. In a broad sense, the term refers to royal rights, or those rights to which the King has by virtue of his
prerogatives.
Based on the Laws of the Indies, the capacity of the State to own or acquire property is the state's power of
dominium, as cited in the Cruz v. DENR case. This was the foundation for the early Spanish decrees embracing the
feudal theory of jura regalia. The "Regalian Doctrine" or jura regaliais a Western legal concept that was first
introduced by the Spaniards into the country through the Laws of the Indies and the Royal Cedulas. The Laws of the
Indies, i.e., more specifically, Law 14, Title 12, Book 4 of the Novisima Recopilacion de Leyes de las Indias, set the
policy of the Spanish Crown with respect to the Philippine Islands in the following manner: "We, having acquired
full sovereignty over the Indies, and all lands, territories, and possessions not heretofore ceded away by our royal
predecessors, or by us, or in our name, still pertaining to the royal crown and patrimony, it is our will that all lands
which are held without proper and true deeds of grant be restored to us as they belong to us, in order that after
reserving before all what to us or to our viceroys, audiencias, and governors may seem necessary for public squares,
ways, pastures, and commons in those places which are peopled, taking into consideration not only their present
condition, but also their future and their probable increase, and after distributing to the natives what may be
necessary for tillage and pasturage, confirming them in what they now have and giving them more if necessary, all
the rest of said lands may remain free and unencumbered for us to dispose of as we may wish.”
The Philippines passed to Spain by virtue of "discovery" and conquest. Consequently, all lands became the exclusive
patrimony and dominion of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish Government took charge of distributing the lands by
issuing royal grants and concessions to Spaniards, both military and civilian. Private land titles could only be
acquired from the government either by purchase or by the various modes of land grant from the Crown (Cruz v.
DENR).
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. The doctrine has been
consistently adopted under the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitutions. All lands not otherwise appearing to be clearly
within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State. Thus, 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. Necessarily,
it is up to the State to determine if lands of the public domain will be disposed of for private ownership. The
government, as the agent of the state, is possessed of the plenary power as the persona in law to determine who shall
be the favored recipients of public lands, as well as under what terms they may be granted such privilege, not
excluding the placing of obstacles in the way of their exercise of what otherwise would be ordinary acts of
ownership.
The Regalian Doctrine is enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the country’s earlier Constitutions. In the
1987 Constitution, Section 2 of Article XII (National Economy and Patrimony) provides the following:
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
The abovementioned provision provides that except for agricultural lands for public domain which alone may be
alienated, forest or timber, and mineral lands, as well as all other natural resources must remain with the State, the
exploration, development and utilization of which shall be subject to its full control and supervision albeit allowing it
to enter into coproduction, joint venture or production-sharing agreements, or into agreements with foreign-owned
corporations involving technical or financial assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and utilization.
The said provision in the 1987 Philippine Constitution had its roots in the 1935 Philippine Constitution. Section 1 of
Article XIII (Conservation and Utilization of Natural Resources) of the 1935 Philippine Constitution provides the
following:
Section 1. All agricultural timber, and mineral lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and
other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy and other natural resources of the Philippines belong to the State,
and their disposition, exploitation, development, or utilization shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines or to
corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to
any existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time of the inauguration of the Government established under
this Constitution. Natural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, shall not be alienated, and no
license, concession, or lease for the exploitation, development, or utilization of any of the natural resources shall be
granted for a period exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for another twenty-five years, except as to water rights
for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, in which cases
Then in the 1973 Philippine Constitution, the classifications of land and the Regalian Doctrine are provided under
Section 8, Article XIV (The National Economy and The Patrimony of The Nation), which states the following:
Section 8. All lands of public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral oils, all forces of
potential energy, fisheries, wildlife, and other natural resources of the Philippines belong to the State. With the
exception of agricultural, industrial or commercial, residential, or resettlement lands of the public domain, natural
resources shall not be alienated, and no license, concession, or lease for the exploration, or utilization of any of the
natural resources shall be granted for a period exceeding twentyfive years, except as to water rights for irrigation,
water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than development of water power, in which cases, beneficial use may
forest or timber. Meanwhile, the 1973 Constitution provided the following classifications: agricultural, industrial or
commercial, residential, resettlement, mineral, timber or forest and grazing lands, and such other classes as may be
provided by law, giving the government great leeway for classification. However, the 1987 Constitution reverted to
the 1935 Constitution classification with one addition—national parks. Of these classifications, only agricultural
lands may be alienated. Prior to Proclamation No. 1064 of May 22, 2006, Boracay Island had never been expressly
and administratively classified under any of these grand divisions. Boracay was an unclassified land of the public
domain