Notes on Module 3: Private Property / Private Lands

Module 3: Private Property / Private Lands

Overview of Laws on Public and Private Lands

  • Course: GENG 4 – Introduction to Laws on Public and Private Lands

  • Academic Year: 2nd Semester, A.Y. 2025 – 2026

  • Course Outline:

    • Overview of Law in General – Hierarchy and Dimensions of Law

    • Private Property / Private Lands

    • Lands of the Public Domain

    • Indigenous People's Rights Act and Ancestral Domains

Land Ownership Classifications

Total Land Classifications

  • Public Domain: Reserved for public use.

  • Private Lands:

    • Privately owned but subject to eminent domain.

    • Held by the state as a private entity.

    • Includes privately owned lands and those acquired by qualified individuals from the public domain.

Alienable and Disposable Lands

Definition and Criteria

  • Alienable and Disposable Lands:

    • These lands of the public domain are not needed for forest purposes and can be classified for disposal to qualified beneficiaries.

    • Reference: PD 1529, Sec. 14 as amended by RA 11573.

Eligibility Criteria for Application

  1. Individuals possess alienable and disposable public lands for at least twenty (20) years prior to filing for confirmation of title, unless interrupted by war or force majeure.

  2. Those who own private lands or have acquired abandoned riverbeds through accession or accretion.

  3. Other individuals acquiring ownership as per existing laws.

Residential Free Patent Application

Qualifications

  • Any Filipino citizen as an actual occupant of residential land can apply for a Free Patent Title.

  • Conditions: The land must not be required for public service or use.

Maximum Area Limits

  • Highly Urbanized Cities: Max 200 square meters

  • Other Cities: Max 500 square meters

  • First and Second-Class Municipalities: Max 750 square meters

  • All Other Municipalities: Max 1000 square meters

Required Documentation

  • Certification from CENRO or PENRO.

  • Copy of original certification of land approved by the DENR Secretary confirming alienability and disposability.

Judicial Confirmation of Titles

Requirements

  • Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect Titles:

    • Signed certification by a designated DENR geodetic engineer confirming land as part of alienable and disposable agricultural lands is required.

    • Certification must be included in the approved survey plan submitted in land registration court.

    • Must reference applicable Forestry Administrative Orders, DENR Administrative Orders, Executive Orders, Proclamations, and Land Classification Project Map Number.

Property Law Overview

Civil Code Reference

  • R.A. 386 – Civil Code of the Philippines, Book II: Property, Ownership, and Modifications

Classification Based on Mobility

  • Art. 414:

    • Objects of appropriation are classified as:
      A. Immovable or real property
      B. Movable or personal property

Immovable Property Characteristics

  1. Land, buildings, roads, and construction integral to soil.

  2. Trees, plants, and growing fruits attached to land.

  3. Permanently attached items that cannot be separated without damage.

  4. Statues and artworks intended to be permanently attached to buildings or land.

  5. Machinery and tools integrated into a business environment.

  6. Animal-related structures intended to remain on land permanently, along with the animals.

  7. Fertilizers on land.

  8. Mines and quarries while materials are part of the bed.

  9. Docks or structures meant to remain fixed to bodies of water.

  10. Contracts for public works and real rights over immovable property.

Categories of Immovable Property

  1. Real by Nature: Cannot be moved.

  2. Real by Incorporation: Permanently attached to another piece.

  3. Real by Destination: Items placed for the utility of the immovable.

  4. Real by Analogy: Classified by law.

Movable Property Characteristics

  1. Movables appropriable not classified as immovable.

  2. Real property designated as personal.

  3. Controlled forces of nature.

  4. Items transported without impairing real property.

  5. Claims involving movable objects or sums.

  6. Stock shares of entities with real estate involvement.

Classification by Ownership

Public Dominion

  • Property owned by the State for public or sovereign use, excluding its use as a legal entity.

Properties of Public Dominion

  1. For public use.

  2. For public service.

  3. For national development and wealth.

Private Ownership

  • Property owned by individuals or organizations, not the state.

  • Includes property of individuals and the patrimonial property of the state.

Patrimonial Property

  • Properties owned by the state not for public service or use.

Physical Classification of Property

Corporeal vs. Incorporeal

  • Corporeal Property: Tangible and perceptible by senses.

  • Incorporeal Property: Abstract creations of humans with intrinsic value.

Autonomy or Dependence Classification

  1. Principal Property: Property to which others are subordinate (e.g., land).

  2. Accessory Property: Subordinated properties meant to enhance or complete principal property.

Legal Implications of Property Classification

Criminal Law Aspects

  • Usurpation can only pertain to real property; theft can only call upon personal property.

Contractual Aspects

  • Donations of real property require public instruments.

  • Real property is subject to real mortgages; personal property is subject to chattel mortgages.

Acquisitive Prescription

  • Real Property Conditions:

    • 30 years if in bad faith.

    • 10 years if in good faith.

  • Personal Property Conditions:

    • 8 years if in bad faith.

    • 4 years if in good faith.

Property Regimes

Types of Property Regimes

  1. Absolute Community of Property (ACP):

    • Default regime for marriages after August 3, 1988.

    • All properties owned before and after marriage are common property.

    • Requires consent from both spouses for transactions.

  2. Conjugal Partnership of Gains (CPG):

    • Only assets acquired during marriage are common property.

    • Properties owned before marriage remain separate.

    • Conjugal properties are those acquired post-marriage; capital property belongs exclusively to the husband, and paraphernal property belongs to the wife.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Included in CPG

  1. Proceeds, products, fruits, and income from separate properties.

  2. Properties acquired through mutual efforts.

  3. Assets acquired through chance.

  4. Properties acquired by onerous title during marriage from common funds.

Excluded from CPG

  1. Properties owned before marriage.

  2. Properties acquired after marriage, including jewelries and game winnings.

  3. Personal and exclusive items, except jewelry if stated in a marriage settlement.