2. INVENTARIO
2.1. DESCRIPCIÓN DEL MONTE
2.1.2. ESTADO NATURAL
2.2.2.2. Inventario del sistema forestal y del recurso corcho
2007.
Reclaimed land is public land. Before it can be registed as private property is must be classified as alienable.190 Once classified it becomes alienable.
A presidential proclamation is a sufficient instrument for classifying reclaimed land. Thus when President Aquino issued MO 415 conveying the land covered by the Smokey Mountain Dumpsite to the National Housing Authority as well as the area to be reclaimed across R-10, the coneyance implicitly carried with it the declaration that said lands are alienable and disposable. Otherwise, the NHA could not effectively use them in its housing and resettlement project. President Ramos made similar conveyances to the NHA. RA 6957 as amended by RA 7718 provides ample authority for the classification of reclaimed land. The fact that RA 6957 as modified by RA 7718 declared that t reclaimed lands that shall serve as payment to the project proponent already implies that the the land has been classified. This conclusion is necessary for how else can the land be used as the enabling component for the Project if such classification is not deemed made.
We ruled in PEA that “alienable lands of public domain must be transferred to qualified private parties, or to government entities not tasked to dispose of public lands, before these lands can become private or patrimonial lands (emphasis supplied).” To lands reclaimed by PEA or through a contract with a private person or entity, such reclaimed lands still remain alienable lands of public domain which can be transferred only to Filipino citizens but not to a private corporation. This is because PEA under PD 1084 and EO 525 is tasked to hold and dispose of alienable lands of public domain and it is only when it is transferred to Filipino citizens that it becomes patrimonial property.
On the other hand, the NHA is a government agency not tasked to dispose of public lands under its charter—The Revised Administrative Code of 1987. The NHA is an “end-user agency” authorized by law to administer and dispose of reclaimed lands. The moment titles over reclaimed lands based on the special patents are transferred to the NHA by the Register of Deeds, they are automatically converted to patrimonial properties of the State which can be sold to Filipino citizens and private corporations, 60% of which are owned by Filipinos. The reason is obvious: if the reclaimed land is not converted to patrimonial land once transferred to NHA, then it would be useless to transfer it to the NHA since it cannot legally transfer
190 Republic v. Enciso, G.R. 160145, November 11, 2005.
or alienate lands of public domain. More importantly, it cannot attain its avowed purposes and goals since it can only transfer patrimonial lands to qualified beneficiaries and prospective buyers to raise funds for the SMDRP.
From the foregoing considerations, we find that the 79-hectare reclaimed land has been declared alienable and disposable land of the public domain; and in the hands of NHA, it has been reclassified as patrimonial property.191
G. Exploration, Development and Utilization of Inalienable Resources.
“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…”
Q: Section 2 speaks of “co-production, joint
venture, or production sharing agreements” as modes of exploration, development, and utilization of inalienable lands. Does this effectively exclude the lease system?
A: Yes, with respect to mineral and forest lands.
(Agricultural lands may be subject of lease)192
Q: Who are qualified to take part in the exploration,
development and utilization of natural resources?
A: Filipino citizens and corporations or associations
at least sixty percent of whose capital is owned by Filipino citizens. (Note however, that as to marine wealth, only Filipino citizens are qualified. This is also true of natural resources in rivers, bays, lakes and lagoons, but with allowance for cooperatives.)193
Q: If natural resources, except agricultural land,
cannot be alienated, how may they be explored, developed, or utilized?
A: (1) Direct undertaking of activities by the State
or
(2) Co-production, joint venture, or production- sharing agreements with the State and all “under the full control and supervision of the State.”
Q: May the State enter into service contracts with
foreign owned corporations?
A: Yes, but subject to the strict limitations in the
last two paragraphs of Section 2. Financial and e technical agreements are a form of service contract. Such service contacts may be entered into only with respect to minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils. The grant of such service contracts is subject to several safeguards, among
191 Chavez v. NHA, G.R. No. 164527, August 15, 2007. 192 Bernas Primer at 457 (2006 ed.)
them: (1) that the service contract be crafted in accordance with a general law setting standard of uniform terms, conditions and requirements; (2) the President be the signatory for the government; and (3) the President report the executed agreement to Congress within thirty days. (La Bugal B’laan Tribal Assoc., 2004, Reconsideration, 2005)
Q: When technical and financial assistance
agreement is entered into under Section 2, can it include some management role for the foreign corporation?
A: Yes. While the Constitution mentions only
financial and technical assistance they necessarily include the managerial expertise needed in the creation and operation of the large-scale mining/extractive enterprise, but the government through its agencies (DENR/MGB) must actively exercises full control and supervision over the entire enterprise. (La Bugal B’laan Tribal Assoc., 2004, Reconsideration, 2005)
H. Marine Wealth
Article XII, Section 2: “…The State shall protect the nation's marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens. xxx”
Article XII, Section 2: “The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens, as well as cooperative fish farming, with priority to subsistence fishermen and fish- workers in rivers, lakes, bays, and lagoons. “
Marginal Fisherman: A marginal fisherman is
defined as an individual engaged in fishing by existing price levels, is barely sufficient to yield a profit or cover the cost of gathering the fish while a “subsistence” fisherman is one whose catch yields but the irreducible minimum to his livelihood. Section 131 of the Local Government Code defines a “marginal farmer or fisherman” as one engaged in subsistence farming or fishing, which shall be limited to the sale, barter or exchange of agricultural or marine products produced by himself and his immediate family. The preferential right granted to them is not absolute. (Tano v. Socrates, 1997)
F. Financial and Technical Agreements
The 1987 Constitution did not completely do away with service contracts; but now their scope has been limited and are now called financial and technical agreements and hey may be entered into with foreign corporations. The grant of such service contracts is subject to several safeguards, among them: (1) that the service contract be crafted in accordance with a general law setting standard or uniform terms, conditions and requirements; (2) the President be the signatory for the government; and (3) the President report the executed agreement to Congress within thirty days.194
Foreign contractors may provide not just capital, techonology and technical know-how but also managerial expertise to the extent needed for the creation and operation of the large-scale mining/extractive enterprise. But the government, through its agencies (DENR, MGB) must actively exercises full control and supervision over the entire enterprise.195
III. Lands of Public Domain
Section 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into
agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further classified by law according to the uses to which they may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve hectares thereof, by purchase, homestead, or grant.
Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and subject to the requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law, the size of lands of the public domain which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions therefor.
Classification of Public Lands. The classification
of public lands is a function of the executive branch of government, specifically the Director of Lands, now the Director of the Land Management Bureau. The decision of the Director, when approved by the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as to questions of fact, is conclusive upon the courts. (Republic v. Imperial, 1999)
The prerogative of classifying public lands pertains to administrative agencies which have been specially tasked by statutes to do so and the courts
194 La Bugal B’laan Tribal Assoc. DENR, G.R. No. 127882,
December 1, 2004. (On Reconsideration) and February 1, 2005.
will not interfere on matters which are addressed to the sound discretion of government and/or quasi- judicial agencies entrusted with the regulation of activities coming under their special technical knowledge and training.196
Q: Who may change the classification of public
lands, e.g., from inalienable to alienable, and how is the classification done?
A: The classification of public lands is the exclusive
prerogative of the President upon recommendation of the pertinent department head. (CA No. 141)
Q: Does the classification of land change
automatically when the nature of the land changes?
A: No. A positive act of the executive is needed.
Anyone who claims that the classification has been changed must be able to show the positive act of the President indicating such positive act. The classification is descriptive of its legal nature and not of what the land actually looks like. Hence, for instance, that a former forest has been denuded does not by the fact meant that it has ceased to be forest land. (Director of Lands v. Judge Aquino, 1990)
Q: Can a land have a mixed classification, e.g.,
partly mineral, partly agricultural?
A: No. “The Court feels that the rights over the land
are indivisible and that the land itself cannot be half agricultural and half mineral.(Republic v. CA)
Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. It was determined
that the lands subject of the decree of the Court of First Instance were not alienable lands of the public domain, being part of the reservation for provincial park purposes and thus part of the forest zone. Forest land cannot be owned by private persons; its is not registrable, and possession thereof, no matter how lengthy, cannot convert it into private land, unless the land is reclassified and considered disposable and alienable.
Foreshore land is that part of the land which is between the high and low water, and left dry by the flux and reflux of the tides. It is part of the alienable land of the public domain and may be disposed of only by lease and not otherwise. (Republic v. Imperial, 1999)
Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease. In Director of Lands v. IAC and Acme Plywood &Veneer Co., 146 SCRA 509, the
Supreme Court declared that the 1973 Constitution cannot impair vested rights. Where the land was acquired in 1962 when corporation were allowed to acquire lands not exceeding 1,024 hectares, the same may be registered in 1982, despite the
196 Republic v. Mendoza, GR 153727. March 28, 2007.
constitutional prohibition against corporations acquiring lands of the public domain. This is the controlling doctrine today.
The 1987 Constitution prohibits private corporations from acquiring alienable lands of the public domain. Amari being a private corporation, is barred from such acquisition. The Public Estates Authority (PEA) is not an end user agency with respect to the reclaimed lands under the amended Joint Venture Agreement, and PEA may simply turn around and transfer several hundreds of hectares to a single private corporation in one transaction. (Chavez v. PEA, 2003)
Q: When does land of the public domain become
private land?
A: When it is acquired from the government either
by purchase of by grant. (As held in Oh Cho v.
Director of Lands, 75 Phil 980, “all lands that were
not acquired from the Government, either by purchase or by grant, belong to the public domain. An exception to the rule would be any land that should have been in the possession of an occupant and of his predecessors-in-interest since time immemorial, for such possession would justify 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.”)
Q: Can prescription transform public land into private
land?
A: Yes, if it is alienable land. (“Open, exclusive and
undisputed possession of alienable public land for the period prescribed by law creates the legal fiction whereby the land, upon completion of the requisite period ipso jure and without need of judicial or other sanction, ceases to be public land and becomes private property. Such open, continuous, exclusive and notorious occupation of the disputed properties for more than 30 years must, however, be conclusively established. This quantum of proof is necessary to avoid erroneous validation of actually fictitious claims or possession over the property in dispute. (San Miguel Corporation v. CA, 1990)
Q: In computing the thirty-year period for acquisitive
prescription under Section 49(9) of the Public Land Law, can the period before the land (e.g. forest land) is converted into alienable public land be included?
A: NO. The thirty-year period only begins to toll only from
the time the land is converted into alienable land. (Almeda v. CA, 1991)
Q: Do mining claims acquired, registered, perfected, and
patentable under the Old Mining Law mature to private ownership that would entitle the claimant to the ownership thereof?
A: “Mere location does not mean absolute ownership
over the affected land or the mining claim. It merely segregates the located land or area form the public domain by barring other would-be locators from locating the same and appropriating for themselves the minerals found therein. To rule otherwise would imply that location is all that is needed to acquire and maintain rights over a
located mining claim. This, we cannot approve or sanction because it is contrary to the intention of the lawmaker that the locator should faithfully and consistently comply with the requirements for annual work and improvements in the located mining claims.” (Director of Lands v. Kalahi Investments, 1989)
Q: May aliens lease land of the public domain? A: No, because that would enjoy enjoyment of the
natural resources of the public domain.
Q: May an alien lease a private land?
A: Yes. A lease to an alien for a reasonable period
is valid. So is an option giving an alien the right to buy the real property on condition he is granted Philippine citizenship.
IV. Citizenship Requirement Co-production, joint venture
or production sharing agreements [for exploration, development and utilization of natural resources]
Filipino citizens or
Corporations or associations at least 60% of whose capital is Filipino owned. (Art. XII, Section 2)
Note:Agreements shall not exceed a period of 25 years, renewable for anther 25 years.
Use and enjoyment of the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone {PD 1599]; UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (ratified by RP in August, 1983)]
Exclusively for Filipino Citizens (Art. XII, Section 2)
Alienable lands of the public domain [which shall be limited to agricultural lands]:
Only for Filipino citizens may acquire not more than 12 hectares by purchase, homestead or grant; or lease not more than 500 hectares. Private corporations may lease not more than 1,000 hectares for 25 years, renewable for another 25 years.
Certain areas of investment [as Congress shall provide when the national interest so dictates]
See Annex 1:”Sixth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List,” Lists A and B)
Reserved for Filipino citizens or corporations 60% of whose capital is Filipino owned, although Congress may prescribe a higher percentage of Filipino ownership (Art. XII, Section 10)
Franchise, certificate or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility.
Only to citizens of the Philippines or corporations at least 60% of whose capital is Filipino owned. (Art. XII, Section 11)
V. Forest Lands and Parks
Section 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible,
determine, by law, the specific limits of forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by law. The Congress shall provide for such period as it may determine, measures to prohibit logging in endangered forests and watershed areas.
VI. Ancestral Lands and Ancestral Domain
Section 5. The State, subject to the provisions of this
Constitution and national development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural well-being.
The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.
VII. Stewardship Concept; Transfer of Lands
Section 6. The use of property bears a social function, and all
economic agents shall contribute to the common good. Individuals and private groups, including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall have the right to own, establish, and operate economic enterprises, subject to the duty of the State to promote distributive justice and to intervene when the common good so demands.
Section 7. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private
lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.
Section 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this
Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.
A. Stewardship Concept
See Section 6.
B. Private Lands
1. Rule and Exceptions
RULE: No private lands shall be transferred or
associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.
EXCEPTIONS:
1. Hereditary Succession (This does not apply to testamentary dispositions, Ramirez v. Vda. De Ramirez, 111 SCRA 740)
2. A natural born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands (Section 8, Article XII)
3. Americans hold valid title to private lands as against private persons
No private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.
Any sale or transfer in violation of the prohibition is null and void. In Ong Ching Po v. CA, 239 SCRA
341, it was held that even if the petitioner proves
that the Deed of Sale in his favor is in existence