A LCALDÍAS M UNICIPALES
GOBIERNO DE LA ASOCIACION
A. Arts. 407-413
Acts, events and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons shall be
recorded in the civil register.370
The following shall be entered in the civil register: (1) Births;
(2) marriages; (3) deaths;
(4) legal separations;
(5) annulments of marriage;
(6) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (7) legitimations;
(8) adoptions;
(9) acknowledgments of natural children; (10) naturalization;
(11) loss, or
(12) recovery of citizenship; (13) civil interdiction;
(14) judicial determination of filiation; (15) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and
(16) changes of name.371
In cases of legal separation, adoption, naturalization and other judicial orders mentioned in the preceding article, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court which issued the decree to ascertain whether the same has been registered, and if this has not been done, to send a copy of said decree to the civil registry of the city or municipality
where the court is functioning.372
370 Art. 407 371 Art. 408 372 Art. 409
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The books making up the civil register and all documents relating thereto shall be considered public documents and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein
contained.373
Every civil registrar shall be civilly responsible for any unauthorized alteration made in any civil register, to any person suffering damage thereby. However, the civil registrar may exempt himself from such liability if he proves that he has taken every reasonable
precaution to prevent the unlawful alteration.374
No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected, without a judicial order.375
All other matters pertaining to the registration of civil status shall be governed by special laws.376
B. Correction of Clerical Errors377
C. Rule 108, Rules of Court378
373 Art. 410 374 Art. 411 375 Art. 412 376 Art. 413
377 R.A. 9048, entitled “An Act Authorizing the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General to Correct a Clerical or Typographical Error in an Entry and/or Change of First Name or Nickname in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order….”, See Reference
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PROPERTY379
I. Characteristics
1. Utility for the satisfaction of moral and economic wants 2. Susceptibility of appropriation
3. Individuality or substantivity380
II. Classification381
Immovables or real382 Movables383
a) By nature – those which cannot be
carried from place to place.384
1. Lands, buildings, roads and
constructions (adhered to the soil).385
2. Mines, quarries and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed, and waters either running or stagnant. b) By incorporation – essentially movables but are attached to an immovable in a fixed
manner to be an integral part thereof.386
1. Trees, plants and growing fruits while they are attached to the land or form
General Rule: All things which can be transported from place to place without impairment of the real property to which they are fixed.
Exclusions: those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in the enumeration of immovables.
a. Special: real property which by any special provisions of law is considered as personalty.
b. In parts: forces of nature which are brought under control by science.
379 All things which are, or may be the object of appropriation
380 that is, it can exist by itself, and not merely as a part of the whole; hence, the human hair becomes property only when it is detached from the hair
381 Tests:
a. Immovable - cannot be transferred from place to place.
b. Movable – excluded from the enumeration of immovable and can be moved from place to place without damage thereto.
c. Mixed/semi-movable - those which move by themselves (both immovable and movable in nature).
382 Art. 415 383 Art. 416 to 417 384 Pars. 1 & 8
385 The materials constituting a building which is the subject of demolition are movable.
A structure which is merely superimposed, not adhered, to the soil may be considered movable. 386 Pars. 2, 3 & 7
83 an integral part of an immovable.
2. 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.387
3. Fertilizers actually used on a piece of land.
c) By destination – essentially movables but are placed in an immovable as an added utility.
1. Statutes, reliefs painting or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed in a building 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.388
2. Machinery, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the tenement for an industry or works which may be carried on in a building or land, and which tend directly to meet the needs of such industry or works.389
3. Animal houses or breeding places, in case the owner has placed or preserved them with the intention to attach them permanently to the land, and the animals in these places.
4. 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.
c. Obligations and actions which have
for their object movables391 or demandable
sums.392
d. Shares of stocks or interests in juridical entities.
387 Rex vinta 388 Indirect utility 389 Direct utility
84 d) By analogy - classified by express provision of law because it is regarded as
united to the immovable property.390
1. Contracts for public works. 2. Servitudes.
3. Real rights over immovable
property.
A. Hidden Treasure393
Belongs to the owner of the land, building, or other property on which it is found. When the discovery is made on the property of another, or of the State or any of its subdivisions, and by chance, one-half (1/2) thereof shall be allowed to the finder. If the finder is a trespasser, he shall not be entitled to any share of the treasure.
If the things found be of interest to science or the arts, the State may acquire them
at their just price, which shall be divided in conformity with the rule stated.394
By treasure is understood, for legal purposes, any hidden and unknown deposit of money, jewelry, or other precious objects, the lawful ownership of which does not appear.395
391 corporeal or intangible
392 These are really personal rights because they have a definite passive subject (e.g. intellectual property).
390 Par. 10
393 Treasure consists of money, jewels, or other precious objects which are hidden and unknown, such that their finding is a real discovery.
394 Art. 438 395 Art. 439
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B. Right of Accession
The ownership of property gives the right by accession to everything which is produced thereby, or which is incorporated or attached thereto, either naturally or artificially.396
1. Fruits To the owner belongs: (1) The natural fruits; (2) The industrial fruits; (3) The civil fruits.397
Natural fruits are the spontaneous products of the soil, and the young and other products of animals.
Industrial fruits are those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation or labor.
Civil fruits are the rents of buildings, the price of leases of lands and other property
and the amount of perpetual or life annuities or other similar income.398
He who receives the fruits has the obligation to pay the expenses made by a third
person in their production, gathering, and preservation.399
Only such as are manifest or born are considered as natural or industrial fruits. With respect to animals, it is sufficient that they are in the womb of the mother,
although unborn.400 396 Art. 440 397 Art. 441 398 Art. 442 399 Art. 443 400 Art. 444
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2. With respect to Immovable Property
a. Builder, planter, sower on land of another in concept of owner
(1) Builder, planter, sower in good faith
The owner of the land on which anything has been built, sown or planted in good faith, shall have the right to appropriate as his own the works, sowing or planting, after
payment of the indemnity provided for in articles 546 and 548401, or to oblige the one who
built or planted to pay the price of the land, and the one who sowed, the proper rent. However, the builder or planter cannot be obliged to buy the land if its value is considerably more than that of the building or trees. In such case, he shall pay reasonable rent, if the owner of the land does not choose to appropriate the building or trees after proper indemnity. The parties shall agree upon the terms of the lease and in case of
disagreement, the court shall fix the terms thereof.402
In the cases of the two preceding articles,403 the landowner is entitled to damages
from the builder, planter or sower.404
The builder, planter or sower in bad faith is entitled to reimbursement for the
necessary expenses of preservation of the land.405
If there was bad faith, not only on the part of the person who built, planted or sowed on the land of another, but also on the part of the owner of such land, the rights of one and the other shall be the same as though both had acted in good faith.
It is understood that there is bad faith on the part of the landowner whenever the
act was done with his knowledge and without opposition on his part.406
When the landowner acted in bad faith and the builder, planter or sower proceeded
in good faith, the provisions of Article 447407 shall apply.408
401 See reference 402 Art. 448
403 Refers to Arts. 449 and 450, infra 404 Art. 451
405 Art. 452 406 Art. 453 407 supra 408 Art. 454
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If the materials, plants or seeds belong to a third person who has not acted in bad faith, the owner of the land shall answer subsidiarily for their value and only in the event that the one who made use of them has no property with which to pay.
This provision shall not apply if the owner makes use of the right granted by article 450. If the owner of the materials, plants or seeds has been paid by the builder, planter or
sower, the latter may demand from the landowner the value of the materials and labor.409
Good faith does not necessarily exclude negligence, which gives right to damages
under Article 2176.410
(2) Builder, planter, sower in bad faith
He who builds, plants or sows in bad faith on the land of another, loses what is
built, planted or sown without right to indemnity.411
The owner of the land on which anything has been built, planted or sown in bad faith may demand the demolition of the work, or that the planting or sowing be removed, in order to replace things in their former condition at the expense of the person who built, planted or sowed; or he may compel the builder or planter to pay the price of the land, and
the sower the proper rent.412
b. Usufructuary
The usufructuary may make on the property held in usufruct such useful improvements or expenses for mere pleasure as he may deem proper, provided he does not alter its form or substance; but he shall have no right to be indemnified therefor. He may, however, remove such improvements, should it be possible to do so without damage to the property.413
3. Lands adjoining river banks a. Alluvion
To the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belong the accretion which
they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the waters.414
409 Art. 455
410 Art. 456; see Reference for Art. 2176 411 Art. 449
412 Art. 450 413 Art. 579 414 Art. 457
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b. Change of course of river
River beds which are abandoned through the natural change in the course of the waters ipso facto belong to the owners whose lands are occupied by the new course in proportion to the area lost. However, the owners of the lands adjoining the old bed shall have the right to acquire the same by paying the value thereof, which value shall not exceed
the value of the area occupied by the new bed.415
Whenever a river, changing its course by natural causes, opens a new bed through a
private estate, this bed shall become of public dominion.416
When a river or stream suddenly changes its course to traverse private lands, the owners of the affected lands may not compel the government to restore the river to its former bed; nor can they restrain the government from taking steps to revert the river or stream to its former course. The owners of the land thus affected are not entitled to compensation for any damage sustained thereby. However, the former owners of the new bed shall be the owners of the abandoned bed in proportion to the area lost by each.
The owners of the affected lands may undertake to return the river or stream to its old bed at their own expense; Provided, a permit therefor is secured from the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communication and work pertaining thereto are
commenced within two (2) years from the change in the course of the river or stream.417
c. Avulsion
Whenever the current of a river, creek or torrent segregates from an estate on its
bank a known portion of land and transfers it to another estate, the owner of the land to which the segregated portion belonged retains the ownership of it, provided that he
removes the same within two years418
Trees uprooted and carried away by the current of the waters belong to the owner
of the land upon which they may be cast, if the owners do not claim them within six months. If such owners claim them, they shall pay the expenses incurred in gathering them
or putting them in a safe place.419
River beds which are abandoned through the natural change in the course of the
waters ipso facto belong to the owners whose lands are occupied by the new course in proportion to the area lost. However, the owners of the lands adjoining the old bed shall
415 Art. 461 416 Art. 462
417 Art. 58, P.D. 1067 or the Water Code 418 Art. 459
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have the right to acquire the same by paying the value thereof, which value shall not exceed
the value of the area occupied by the new bed.420
Whenever a river, changing its course by natural causes, opens a new bed through a
private estate, this bed shall become of public dominion.421
Whenever the current of a river divides itself into branches, leaving a piece of land or part thereof isolated, the owner of the land retains his ownership. He also retains it if a
portion of land is separated from the estate by the current.422
4. Islands
Islands which may be formed on the seas within the jurisdiction of the Philippines,
on lakes, and on navigable or floatable rivers belong to the State.423
Islands which through successive accumulation of alluvial deposits are formed in non-navigable and non-floatable rivers, belong to the owners of the margins or banks nearest to each of them, or to the owners of both margins if the island is in the middle of the river, in which case it shall be divided longitudinally in halves. If a single island thus formed be more distant from one margin than from the other, the owner of the nearer
margin shall be the sole owner thereof.424
C. By Object
1. Real or immovable425
(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;
420 Art. 461 421 Art. 462 422 Art. 463 423 Art. 464 424 Art. 465
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(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.
2. Personal or Movable426
(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.
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.
Movable property is either consumable or nonconsumable. 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.
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D. By Owner
1. Of public dominion
It is not owned by the state but pertains to the state, which, as territorial sovereign
exercises certain juridical prerogatives over such property.427 The ownership of such
properties is in the social group, whether national, provincial or municipal. 2. Of private ownership
a. Patrimonial property
(i) Distinction between private property of individual persons, and of State entities
Patrimonial property428 Property of private ownership
Property of the State owned by it in its private or proprietary capacity.
The state has the same rights over this kind of property as a private individual in relation to his own private property
This refers to all property belonging to private persons either individually or collectively and those belonging to the State and any of its political subdivisions which are patrimonial in nature.
E. By Nature
1. Consumable/non-consumable vs. Fungible/non-fungible
Consumable429 – cannot be used in a manner appropriate to
their nature without being consumed
427 a. For public use (e.g. roads, canals, rivers) b. For public service (e.g. public buildings) c. For the development of the national wealth.
428 Used by the political subdivision as a juridical person in its private capacity (e.g. property acquired through escheat proceedings, tax sales). It is the property which the unit has the same rights, and of which it may dispose, to the same extent as private individuals according to laws and regulations on the procedure of exercising such rights. Hence, it is subject to the principles on private properties (e.g. subject to prescription
429 Consumable goods cannot be the subject matter of a contract of commodatum unless the purpose of