D. Joan Miquel Sala Sivera
3. Orientación educativa en el centro
(4) By exclusion
Everything NOT included in Article 415
Parties cannot by agreementtreat as immovable that which is legally movable
(5) By description
(a) Ability to change location – whether it can be carried from place to place;
(b) Without substantial injury to the immovable to which it is attached.
(c) Unless expressly included in Art. 415 (Test by Exclusion is Superior)
(6) By special provision of law
(a) Growing crops under the Chattel Mortgage Law
(b) Intellectual property – considered personal property; it consists in the pecuniary benefit which the owner can get by the reproduction or manufacture of his work.
(7) By forces of nature
e.g. electricity, gas, heat, oxygen
• Gas is a valuable article of merchandise, bought and sold like other personal property, susceptible of being severed from a mass of larger quantity and of being transported from place to place [US v Tambunting (1921)]
B. 3. IMPORTANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CLASSIFICATION UNDER THE NCC
(1) In criminal law
(a) Usurpation of property can take place only with respect to real property. [RPC 312]
(b) Robbery and theft can be committed only against personal property. [RPC 293, 308]
(2) In the forms of contracts
(a) Subject matter of specific contracts:
(i) Only real property can be the subject of real estate mortgage [NCC 2124] and antichresis. [NCC 2132]
(ii) Only personal property can be the subject of voluntary deposit [NCC 1966], pledge [NCC 2094] and chattel mortgage. [Act 1508]
(b) Donations of real property to be valid are required to be in a public instrument
PAGE 93 OF 574 [NCC 749] but a donation of a movable
may be made orally or in writing. [NCC 748]
(3) For acquisitive prescription
(a) Real property can be acquired by prescription in 30 years (bad faith) and 10 years (good faith). (NCC 1137, 1134) (b) Movables can be acquired by
prescription in 8 years (bad faith) and 4 years (good faith). (NCC 1132)
(4) Actions forrecovery of possession
(a) Possession of real property - recovered through accion reivindicatoria, accion publiciana, forcible entry and unlawful detainer (accion interdictal).
(b) Possession of movable property - recovered through replevin.
(5) Venue of actions
(a) Real actions - Actions concerning real property are commenced in the court that has jurisdiction over the area where the real property is situated. [Rules of Court Rule 4 Sec. 1]
(b) Personal actions - Commenced where the plaintiff or any of the principal plaintiffs, or where the defendant or any of the principal defendants resides, or if a non-resident defendant, where he may be found, at the election of the plaintiff.
[Rule 4 Sec. 2]
(6) The governing law (Private International Law):
(a) Immovables - governed by the law of the country where they are located (rei situs).
(b) Movables - governed by the personal laws of the owner. (which in some cases is the law of his nationality and in other cases, the law of his domicile)
(7) Affecting third persons
(a) In transactions involving real property – must be recorded in the Registry of Property to affect third persons.
(b) In transactions involving personal property – registration is not required,
except for chattel mortgages. [Chattel Mortgage Register, NCC 2140]
(8) Preference of credits
(a) Movables governed by NCC 2241 (b) Immovables governed by NCC 2242 (9) Double sales (NCC 1544)
(a) For movables – ownership shall be transferred to the person who first took possession thereof in good faith
(b) For immovables – ownership shall belong to the person acquiring it who in good faith first recorded it in the Registry of Property; or if there be no inscription, to the person who in good faith first took possession, or in the absence of possession, to the person who presents the oldest title, provided there is good faith.
C. BASED ON OWNERSHIP/ RIGHTS-HOLDER
NCC 419. Property is either of public dominion or of private ownership.
Churches and other consecrated objects are considered outside the commerce of man; they are considered neither public nor private property.
C.1. PUBLIC DOMINION
Property of public dominion is outside the commerce of man. They cannot be the subject matter of private contracts, cannot be acquired by prescription and they are not subject to attachment and execution nor burdened with a voluntary easement.
Public
Dominion As enumerated by NCC 420 Public
Domain
Used in Art XII, Section 2, 1987 Constitution
Public Lands Public Land Act
PAGE 94 OF 574 CHARACTERISTICS
Not owned by the State but pertains to it as territorial sovereign; to hold in trust for the interest of the community.
Purpose: For public use, and not for use by the State as a juridical person.
Cannot be the subject of appropriation either by the State or by private persons.
CLASSIFICATIONS
Administered by the State [NCC 420]
(1) Those intended for public use. (roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of similar character) (2) Those (w/o being for public use) and are
intended for some public service:
may be used only by authorized persons but exists for the benefit of all, e.g. fortresses, unleased mines and civil buildings.
(3) Those for the development of the national wealth. Includes natural resources such as minerals, coal, oil and forest.
(4) Patrimonial property:
(a) Owned by the State over which it has the same rights as private individuals in relation to their own property.
(b) Subject to the administrative laws and regulations on the procedure of exercising such rights, e.g. friar lands, escheated properties and commercial buildings.
(c) Purpose:
(i) Enables the State to attain its economic ends
(ii) Serves as a means for the State’s subsistence and preservation
(iii) Enables the State to fulfill its primary mission
(d) Conversion of property of public dominion for public use to patrimonial property:
(i) 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 [NCC 422]
(ii) An express declaration by the State (either by the Congress or by the President, if the power was provided by law) that the property of public dominion has been converted into patrimonial property, even though it was classified as alienable or disposable. [Heirs of Malabanan v.
Republic (2009)]
Administered by Municipal Corporations [NCC 424 (1)]
(1) 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.
(2) Patrimonial property of Municipal Corporations:
All other property possessed by any of them (provinces, cities, and municipalities) [NCC 424 (2)
The province or municipality, as a juridical entity, also possesses private property to answer for its economic necessities.
Presumption: that land comes from the State upon the creation of the municipality. All lands in the possession of the municipality are roperties of public dominion held in trust for the State’s inhabitants are subject to the control and supervision of the State.
Exception: Properties acquired with their own funds in their private or corporate capacity over which the political subdivision has ownership and control. A municipal corporation must prove that they acquired the land with their own corporate funds. [Salas v. Jarencio, (1972)]
Note: The Local Government Code classifies property pf LGUs into:
(1) property of LGU in its governmental character, which is broader than NCC 424, (2) property of LGU in its proprietary character.
PAGE 95 OF 574 C.2. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
Can be exercised by the state in its private capacity or by private persons.
KINDS
(1) Patrimonial property - Property owned by the State and its political subdivisions in their private capacity; all property of the State not included in NCC 420 (on public dominion) [NCC 421-424]
(2) Property belonging to private persons, either individually or collectively [NCC 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.
Refers to all property belonging to private persons, natural or juridical, either individually or collectively
CONVERSION
Alienable Public Land converted to Private Property through Prescription
Alienable public land held by a possessor – personally/through predecessors-in-interest, openly, continuously and exclusively – for 30 years is converted to private property by the mere lapse or completion of the period. The application for confirmation is a mere formality, because land had already been converted, giving rise to a registrable title. [Director of Lands v. IAC (1986)]
Private Land converted to Property of Public Dominion through abandonment and reclamation
Through the gradual encroachment or erosion by the ebb and flow of the tide, private property may become public if the owner appears to have abandoned the land, and permitted it to be totally easten up by the sea so as to become part of the shore. The land having disappeared on account of the gradual erosion in case of natural expropriation, and having remained submerged until they were reclaimed by the government, they are public land. [Government v. Cabangis (1929)]
D. BASED ON CONSUMABILITY [NCC 418]
Only applies to movable property, determined by nature.
D.1. CONSUMABLE
(1) Movables which cannot be used in a manner appropriate to their nature without their being consumed. (e.g. food)
(2) Consumable goods cannot be the subject matter of a commodatum unless the purpose of the contract is not the consumption of the object, as when it is merely for exhibition.
D.2. NON-CONSUMABLE
All others not falling under ‘consumable’ e.g.
money in coin.
E. BASED ON SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SUBSTITUTION
Only applies to movables, determined by the intention of the parties.
E.1. FUNGIBLES
Things that, because of their nature or the will of the parties, are capable of being substituted by others of the same kind, not having a distinct individuality.
E.2. NON-FUNGIBLES
(1) Things that cannot be substituted for another;
(2) If the parties agreed that the same thing be returned, it is not fungible.
F. BASED ON THE CONSTITUTION [ARTICLE XII, SEC 3]
(1) Public Agricultural Land;
(2) Mineral Land;
(3) Timber Land;
(4) National Parks.
PAGE 96 OF 574
III. Ownership
A. DEFINITION AND CONCEPT
Independent right of exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing.
Has the purpose of deriving all advantages required by the reasonable needs of the owner/holder of right and promotion of general welfare.
A complete subjection to an owner’s will.
May be exercised in everything not prohibited by public law or the rights of another. (Art. 427)
B. TYPES OF OWNERSHIP
Full Ownership - With complete rights over the property.
Naked Ownership - Absence of jus fruendi and jus utendi.
Sole Ownership - Ownership vested only in one person.
Co-Ownership - Ownership vested in 2 or more persons in ideal shares or undivided interest.
C. RIGHT IN GENERAL
C.1. RIGHTS INCLUDED IN OWNERSHIP [NCC 428]
(1) Right to enjoy and dispose of a thing, without other limitations than those established by law.
(2) Right of action against the holder and possessor of the thing in order to recover it.
C.2. BUNDLE OF RIGHTS
(1) Jus Utendi: right to use and enjoy (2) Jus Fruendi: right to receive the fruits
(3) Jus Abutendi: right to consume a thing by use (4) Jus Disponendi: right to alienate, encumber,
transform or even destroy the thing owned (5) Jus Vindicandi: right to recover possession of
property based on a claim of ownership
(6) Jus Possidendi: right to possess the property (Implied from all the other rights)
(7) Jus Accessionis: right to whatever is attached to the thing in such a way that they cannot be separated without injury
(8) Jus Tresauris: right to hidden treasure
Other Specific Rights found in the NCC:
(1) Right to Exclude; Doctrine of Self-Help (Art.
429, NCC)
(2) Right to enclose or fence (Art. 430)
(3) Right to receive just compensation in case of expropriation (Art. 435)
(4) Right to hidden treasure (Art. 438- 439)
C.3. PROTECTING PROPERTY C.3.1 BASIC DISTINCTIONS