PROPERTY, OWNERSHIP AND
MODIFICATION
TITLE ONE – CLASSIFICATION OF
PROPERTY:
Property in the Civil Code VS Property as a
Subject:
Property in the Civil code – (Article 414.) All
things which are or may be the object of
appropriation are considered either:
(1) Immovable or real property; or
(2) Movable or personal property.
Property as a law subject - property is that
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.
Thing VS. Property:
Thing is a broader concept for it includes both
appropriable and non-appropriable objects. The
planets, the stars, the sun for example, are
“things’’ (cosas), but since we cannot
appropriate them, they are not technically
“property” (bienes), while Property Property
involves not only material objects but also
intangible things, like rights or credits. It can be
the subject of appropriation.
Classification of things according to the
nature of their ownership:
1. Res Nullius - These things belong to no one,
and the reason is that they have not yet been
appropriated, like fish still swimming in the
ocean, or because they have been abandoned
(res derelictae) by the owner with the intention
of no longer owning them. Other examples
include wild animals (ferae naturae), wild birds,
and pebbles lying on the seashore.
2. Res Alicujus - These are objects, tangible or
intangible, which are owned privately, either in a
collective or individual capacity. And precisely
because they can be owned, they really should
be considered “property.” Examples: your book,
your shares of stock, your parcel of land.
3. Res Communes - While in particular no one
owns common property, still in another sense,
res communes are really owned by everybody
in that their use and enjoyment are given to all
of mankind. Examples would be the air we
breathe, the wind, sunlight, and starlight.
Other classifications:
Mobility and non-mobility
1) movable or personal property (like a car)
2) immovable or real property (like land)
Ownership
1) public dominion or ownership (like rivers)
2) private dominion or ownership (like a fountain
pen)
Alienability
1) within the commerce of man (or which may
be the objects of contracts or judicial
transactions)
2) outside the commerce of man (like prohibited
drugs)
Existence
1) present property (res existentes)
2) future property (res futurae) [NOTE: Both
present and future property, like a harvest, may
be the subject of sale but generally not the
subject of a donation.].
Materiality or Immateriality
1) tangible or corporeal (objects which can be
seen or touched, like the paper on which is
printed a P1,000 Bangko Sentral Note)
2) intangible or incorporeal (rights or credits, like
the credit represented by a P1,000 Bangko
Sentral Note).
Dependence or Importance
1) Principal
2) Accessory
Capability of Substitution
1) fungible (capable of substitution by other
things of the same quantity and quality)
2) non-fungible (incapable of such substitution,
hence, the identical thing must be given or
returned)

Nature or Definiteness
1) generic (one referring to a group or class)
2) specific (one referring to a single, unique
object)
Whether in the Custody of the Court or Free
1) in custodia legis (in the custody of the court)
— when it has been seized by an offi cer under
a writ of attachment or under a writ of execution.
(De Leon v. Salvador, L-30871, Dec. 28, 1970).
2) “free’’ property (not in “custodia legis’’).
Characteristics of Property:
(a) utility for the satisfaction of moral or
economic wants
(b) susceptibility of appropriation
(c) individuality or substantivity (i.e., it can exist
by itself, and not merely as a part of a whole).
(Hence, the human hair becomes property only
when it is detached from the owner.
Article 414. All things which are or may be
the object of appropriation are considered
either:
(1) Immovable or real property; or
(2) Movable or personal property.
Why is there a need to distinguish immovable
from movables?
- Different provisions of the law govern the
acquisition, possession, disposition, loss,
and registration of immovables and
movables.
Example:
 Real Property vs. Personal Property:
**Donation – Public instrument/ Private
instrument.
**Acquisition by prescription – Bad faith (30
yrs)/Bad faith (8yrs)
**Registration to affect 3rd person – There is a
need for registration in the register of deed/ no
need na.
Reclassification vs. Conversion:
Reclassification- is the act of specifying how
agricultural lands shall be utilized for non-
agricultural uses such as residential, industrial,
or commercial –– as embodied in the land use
plan, subject to the requirements and
procedures for land use conversion.
Conversion - is the act of changing the current
use of a piece of agricultural land into some
other use as approved by the Dept. of Agrarian
Reform (DAR).
Human body – it is neither immovable nor
movable, it is not a property, rather it is a thing
for it exists. While a human being is alive, he
cannot, as such, be the object of a contract, for
he is considered outside the commerce of man.
He may, of course, offer to another the use of
various parts of his body, even the entire body
itself in obligations requiring demonstration of
strength or posing in several ways, as when he
poses for a painter or sculptor. He may donate
part of his blood, may even sell part of his hair,
but he cannot sell his body
“Organ Donation Act of 1991,” otherwise
known as RA 7170 - “An Act Authorizing the
Legacy or Donation of All or Part of a Human
Body After Death for Specified Purposes.” This
means that all or part of a human body may only
occur after a person’s “death”
- Who may execute a Legacy? (Gift of
personal property or money/Devisee if
real property) :
1. Any person at least 18 years old.
2. The person is of sound mind.
- Who may execute a Donation of organ
incase the person dies, provided that
there is absence of actual notice of
contrary intentions or actual notice of
opposition by a member of the family?
1. spouse;
2. son or daughter of legal age;
3. either parent;
4. brother or sister of legal age; or
5. guardian over the person of the
decedent at the time of his death.
- Manner of executing a legacy:
1. Made by executing a will and effective
upon the death of person without waiting
for the probate of the will. – if the will is
later on declared invalid, the donation
 shall be valid provided it was done in
GOOD FAITH.
- the donation shall be binding upon:
1. executor;
2. administrator;
3. heirs;
4. assign;
5. successors-in-interest
6. all members of the family
International Sharing of Human Organs or
Tissues – this is allowed provided the recipient
country also provides for a reciprocal
privilege/right.
Title vs. Interest:
Title - a title is a bundle of rights in a piece of
property in which a party may own either a legal
interest or equitable interest.
Interest - any right in the nature of property less
than title.
CHAPTER 1 – IMMOVABLE PROPERTY
Art. 415. The following are immovable
property:
(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.
Immovable property - as that which is firmly
fixed, settled, or fastened, and while in general,
immovable property is that which is fixed in a
definite place, still there are many exceptions to
this general criterion.
Academic Classification of Real Properties:
(a) Real property by nature (like trees and
plants)
(b) Real property by incorporation (like a
building)
(c) Real property by destination or purpose (like
machinery placed by the owner of a tenement
on it for direct use in an industry to be carried on
therein)
(d) Real property by analogy (like the right of
usufruct, or a contract for public works, or
easements and servitudes, or “sugar quotas”
under Republic Act 1825 and Executive Order
873.
Leung Yee v. Strong Machinery Co. 37 Phil.
644
- The mere fact that the parties decided to
deal with the building as personal
property does not change its character as
real property. Thus, neither the original
registry in the chattel mortgage registry,
nor the annotation in said registry of the
sale of the mortgaged property had any
effect on the building. However, since the
land and the building had fi rst been
purchased by “Strong Machinery” (ahead
of Leung Yee), and this fact was known
to Leung Yee, it follows that Leung Yee
was not a purchaser in good faith, and
should therefore not be entitled to the
property. “Strong Machinery” thus has a
better right to the property.
would still be considered immovable
property even if dealt with separately and
apart from the land.
Chattel mortgage on a house built on a land:
- Two conditions must be present; namely,
that
1. the parties to the contract so agree,
and;
2. that no innocent third party will be
prejudiced.
Thus, if a chattel mortgage, duly
registered, is made on a building, and
subsequently a real mortgage is made on
the land and the building, it is the real
mortgage, not the chattel mortgage
which should be preferred. This is
particularly true with respect to third
persons.
Ministerial Duty of the Registrar of Property:
- When parties present to the registrar of
property a document of chattel mortgage,
the registrar must record it as such even
if in his opinion, the object of the contract
is real property. This is because his
duties in respect to the registration of
chattel mortgages are of a purely
ministerial character, as long as the
proper fee has been paid.

Prudential Bank v. Panis GR 50008, Aug. 31,

1988
- While a mortgage of land necessarily
includes, in the absence of stipulation of
the improvements thereon, buildings, still
a building by itself may be mortgaged
apart from the land on which it has been
built. Such a mortgage would still be a
real estate mortgage for the building
CHAPTER 2 – MOVABLE PROPERTY:
Art. 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;
(3) Forces of nature which are brought under
control by science; and
(4) In general, all things which can be
transported from place to place without
impairment of the real property to which they
are fixed.
Examples of each paragraph:
1 – Pen
2 – Growing crops as under the chattel
mortgage law
3 – Electricity, gas, nitrogen
4 – portable radio, laptop in the office
 Mobilization by anticipation – as used in
growing crops in relation to the chattel
mortgage law, it is the gathering in
advance a crop, rendering it movable.
Three Tests to Determine whether Property
Is Movable or Immovable:
(a) If the property is capable of being carried
from place to place (test by description);
(b) If such change in location can be made
without injuring the real property to which it may
in the meantime be attached (test by
description); and
(c) If finally, the object is not one of those
enumerated or included in Art. 415 (test by
exclusion). Then the inevitable conclusion is
that the property is personal property. (3
Manresa 46-47).
[NOTE: Test by exclusion is superior to the test
by description.]
Corporeal vs. Incorporeal property:
Corporeal property that which has material
existence, that which is tangible. Incorporeal
property is one which no material form or
physical substance.
Art. 417. The following are also considered
as personal property:
(1) Obligations and actions which have for
their object movables or demandable sums;
and
(2) Shares of stock of agricultural,
commercial and industrial entities, although
they may have real estate.
Example:
- If somebody steals my car, my right to
bring an action to recover the automobile
is personal property by itself.
- If my debtor owes me P1 million, my
credit as well as my right to collect by
judicial action is also personal property.
This is because, although the law uses
the term “obligations,” same really refers
to rights or credits.
- If the object is illegal, it is not considered
demandable and therefore no right
exists.
- BUT if the object is a land, then it is a
real property. (Agent follows the
principal)
- A share of stock in a gold mining
corporation is personal property; but the
gold mine itself, as well as any land of the
corporation, is regarded as real property
by the law.
MONEY is a legal tender and not a
merchandise, however if it the money itself is
smuggled, it is now considered as merchandise
or commodity – Personal property.
Art. 418. Movable property is either
consumable or non-consumable. To the first
class belong those movables which cannot
be used in a manner appropriate to their
nature without their being consumed; to the
second class belong all the others.
According to their nature:
 consumable and non-consumable.
According to the intention of the parties:
 fungible and non-fungible (res fungibles
and res nec fungibles).
 Fungible – interchangeability
 Non-fungible- not capable of being
interchanged.
 Mutuum- thing of equal amount.
 Commodatum - exact thing must be
returned
CHAPTER 3 - PROPERTY IN RELATION TO
THE PERSON TO WHOM IT BELONGS
Art. 419. Property is either of public
dominion or of private ownership.
Public dominion or property owned by the
State (or its political subdivisions) in its public or
sovereign capacity and intended for public use
and not for the use of the State as a juridical
person.
Private ownership or property owned by the
State in its private capacity, and is known as
patrimonial property. It may also be owned by
private persons, either individually or
collectively.
Art. 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;
(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.
Three Kinds of Property of Public Dominion:
 For public use — like roads, canals
(may be used by ANYBODY).
 For public service — like national
government buildings, army rifles, army
vessels (may be used only by duly
authorized persons).
 For the development of national
wealth — like our natural resources.
NOTE: WON the river is navigable
or not, the law makes no
distinction, but jurisprudence
dictates that the river must be
navigable.
Characteristics of Properties of Public
Dominion:
1. They are outside the commerce of man,
and cannot be leased, donated, sold, or be
the object of any contract
2. They cannot be acquired by prescription
3. They cannot be registered under the Land
Registration Law and be the subject of a
Torrens Title.
4. They, as well as their usufruct, cannot be
levied upon by execution, nor can they be
attached.
5. In general, they can be used by everybody.
6. They may be either real or personal
property, for it will be noted that the law here
makes no distinction.
NOTES:
- Registration of land as private property
does not remove it from its real
classification as Public dominion.
- Doctrine of indefeasibility(Doctrine of
indefeasibility of torrens titles. A
certificate of title, once registered, should
not thereafter be impugned, altered,
changed, modified, enlarged or
diminished except in a direct proceeding
permitted by law.) DOES NOT apply to
government lands.
 - The land produced by the action of the
sea is of public ownership and cannot
therefore be acquired by any private
person or entity inasmuch as same
belongs to the state.
Public Lands
- Those that has not been subjected to
private right or devoted to public use …
They are that part of government lands
which are thrown open to private
appropriation and settlement by
homestead and other like general laws.’’
(Montano v. Insular Gov’t., 12 Phil. 570).
Among the public lands are mining,
forest, and agricultural lands.
- NOTE: While agricultural lands may be
sold to or acquired by private individuals
or entities, ownership over mining and
forest lands cannot be transferred, but
leases for them may be had.
Bureau of Forestry that has the
jurisdiction and authority over the
demarcation, protection,
management, reproduction,
occupancy and use of all public
forests and forest reservations
and over the granting of licenses
for the taking of products
therefrom, including stone and
earth.
Ownership of Roman Catholic Churches
- Said churches therefore did not belong to
the public in general, nor to the State, nor
to any private individual, nor to the
priests, nor to the Church itself. But
certainly, the Church had the possession
and control of the churches. And it is not
necessary or important to give any name
to this right of possession and control
exercised by the Roman Catholic Church
in the church buildings of the Philippines
prior to 1898.
The Public Land Act requires that the
applicant must prove:
(a) that the land is alienable public land; and
(b) that his open, continuous, exclusive and
notorious possession and occupation of the
same must be since time immemorial or for the
period prescribed in the Public Land Act (When
the conditions set by law are complied with, the
possessor of the lands, by operation of law,
acquires a right to a grant, a government grant,
without the necessity of a certificate of title being
issued.)
Art. 421. All other property of the State,
which is not of the character stated in the
preceding article, is patrimonial property.
Patrimonial property of the State is the property
it owns but which is not devoted to public use,
public service, or the development of the
national wealth. It is wealth owned by the State
in its private, as distinguished from its public,
capacity.
Other example of patrimonial property:
1. Friar lands
2. The San Lazaro Estate
3. Properties obtained by the Government in
escheat proceedings (as when there is no other
legal heir of a decedent), or those inherited by
or donated to the Government.
4. A municipal-owned waterworks system is
patrimonial in character, for while such a system
is open to the public (in this sense, it is public
service), still the system serves only those who
pay the charges or rentals (thus, the system is
PROPRIETARY)
Prescription:
Patrimonial properties may be acquired by
private individuals or corporations thru
prescription. (Art. 1113)
Art. 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.
- Formal declaration on the part of the
Government thru the executive
department or the legislature, the parcel
 in question continues to be part of the
public domain, and cannot be subject to
acquisitive prescription.
Art. 423. The property of provinces, cities,
and municipalities is divided into property
for public use and patrimonial property.
NOTE: Reclaimed lands are no
longer foreshore or submerged lands,
and thus may qualify as alienable
agricultural lands of the public domain
provided the requirements of public land
laws are met. ---- For “reclaimed land’’
does not fall under the category of natural
resources which under the Constitution
are inalienable; it is statutory law which
determines the status of reclaimed land.
- “Submerged lands’’ are owned by the
State and are inalienable; submerged
lands, like the waters (sea or bay) above
them, are part of the State’s inalienable
natural resources.
Properties of Political Subdivisions
(a) property for public use- Properties of a
political subdivision for public use cannot be
alienated as such, and may not be acquired by
prescription.
(b) patrimonial property- Properties of a
political subdivision which are patrimonial in
character may be alienated, and may be
acquired by others thru prescription.
- The National Government may donate its
patrimonial property to a municipality, and the
latter may own the same.
National Government of the PH vs.
Government of the PH:
- The former refers to the central
government whereas the latter refers to
the Government of the PH itself.
Conversion to patrimonial
- Of course, by analogy, and applying Art.
422, when a municipality’s properties for
public use are no longer intended for
such use, the properties become
patrimonial, and may now be the subject
of a common contract.
Art. 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.
Salas v. Jarencio, L-29788, Aug. 30, 1972:
- The Supreme Court ruled that the
National Government still controls the
disposition of properties of political
subdivisions (regardless of the use to
which they are devoted) provided that
the properties CAME FROM THE
STATE. The Court further said that in
the absence of proof that the province,
city, or municipality acquired the
properties with their own funds, we
should PRESUME that they really had
come from the State.
- Those acquired with their own funds (in
their private or corporate capacity) —
here the political subdivision has
ownership and control.
- Those which do not fall under (a) —
these are subject to the control and
supervision of the state. In fact, they are
held by the political subdivision in trust
for the state for the benefi t of the
inhabitants (whether the purpose of the
property is governmental or proprietary).
Art. 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.
 - Other private properties are those that
belong to private persons: individually or
collectively. Incidentally, by virtue of Art.
425, the Code recognizes the rights to
private property.
Collective ownership
- “Collectively’’ refers to ownership by
private individuals as co-owners; or by
corporations, partnerships, or other
juridical persons (such as foundations)
who are allowed by the Civil Code to
possess and acquire properties. (Arts.
44-47).
Possession by private persons since time
immemorial carries the presumption that the
land had never been part of the public domain,
or that it had been private property even before
the Spanish conquest.
Private Lands Within a Military Zone If
private lands of a person should lie within a
military zone, said lands do not necessarily
become property of public dominion (public
service).
Improvements constructed during the
Japanese occupation by the Japanese army
on private lands do not belong to the private
owner but to the Philippine government which
emerged as victor in the last world war.
Acquisition by alien
An alien has had no right to acquire since the
date of effectivity of the Philippine Constitution,
any public or private agricultural, commercial,
or residential lands (except by hereditary
succession).
PROVISIONS COMMON TO THE THREE
PRECEDING CHAPTERS
Art. 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 in
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, scientifi c 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.

What should an applicant establish to prove

that the land subject of an application for
registration is alienable?
1. 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 statute

2. Secure a certification from the government

that the lands applied for are alienable and
disposable.