[ORSUA]
FACTS:
The spouses Ladrido were the owners of Lot No. 7511 of the Cadastral Survey situated in barangay Cawayan, Pototan, Iloilo. This lot was registered in the names of the spouses under TCT of the Register of Deeds of Iloilo. Spouses Te were also the registered owners of a parcel of land described in their title as Lot No. 7340 of the Cadastral Survey. Te sold this lot Spouses Viajar. A Torrens title was later issued in their names. Later, Angelica Viajar had Lot No. 7340 relocated and found out that the property was in the possession of Ricardo Ladrido. Consequently, she demanded its return but Ladrido refused.
Spouses Viajar instituted a civil action for recovery of possession and damages against Ricardo Ladrido and Rosendo Te. Plaintiffs sought the annulment of the deed of sale and the restitution of the purchase price with interest in the event the possession of defendant Ladrido is sustained.
It is admitted by the parties that Lot No. 7511 and Lot No. 7340 were separated by the Suague River. Petitioners also contend that Article 457 of the New Civil Code must be construed to limit the accretion mentioned therein as accretion of unregistered land to the riparian owner, and should not extend to registered land. The lower court and CA ruled in favour of defendants.
ISSUES:
1. Is the change in the course of the Suague River sudden as claimed by the plaintiffs in order to negate the right of accretion by the defendants?
2. Is accretion under Art. 457 limited to unregistered lands, as such protecting registered lands against diminution in area?
RULING:
1. NO. For a period of more than 40 years (before 1940 to 1980) the Suague River overflowed its banks yearly and the property of the defendant gradually received deposits of soil from the effects of the current of the river. The consequent increase in the area of Lot No. 7511 due to alluvion or accretion was possessed by the defendants whose tenants plowed and planted the same with corn and tobacco. Art. 457 provides that 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.
2. NO. It also applies to registered lands. The rule that registration under the Torrens System does not protect the riparian owner against the diminution of the area of his registered land through gradual changes in the course of an adjoining stream is well settled.
VDA. DE NAZARENO v. COURT OF APPEALS G.R. No. 98045, 26 June 1996
[PAGAYANAN] FACTS:
The subject of this controversy is a parcel of land situated in Telegrapo, Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City. Said land was formed as a result of sawdust dumped into the dried-up Balacanas Creek and along the banks of the Cagayan River. Sometime in 1979, private respondents Jose Salasalan and Leo Rabaya leased the subject lots on which their houses stood from one Antonio Nazareno, petitioners’predecessor-in-interest. In the latter part of 1982, private respondents allegedly stopped paying rentals. As a result, Antonio Nazareno and petitioners filed a case for ejectment with the MTC of Cagayan de Oro. A decision was rendered against private respondents, which decision was affirmed by the RTC of Misamis Oriental.
The case was remanded to the municipal trial court for execution of judgment after the same became final and executory. Private respondents filed a case for annulment of judgment before the RTC of Misamis Oriental, which dismissed the same. Subsequently, the decision of the lower court was finally enforced with the private respondents being ejected from portions of the subject lots they occu
Before he died, Antonio Nazareno caused the approval by the Bureau of Lands of the survey plan with a view to perfecting his title over the accretion area being claimed by him. Before the approved survey plan could be released to the applicant, however, it was protested by private respondents before the Bureau of Lands. In compliance with the order of respondent District Land Officer Alberto M. Gillera, respondent Land Investigator Avelino G. Labis conducted an investigation and rendered a report to the Regional Director recommending that the survey plan in the name of Antonio Nazareno, be cancelled and that private respondents be directed to file appropriate public land applications.
Based on said report, respondent Regional Director of the Bureau of Lands Roberto Hilario rendered a decision ordering the amendment of the survey plan in the name of Antonio Nazareno by segregating therefrom the areas occupied by the private respondents who, if qualified, may file public land applications covering their respective portions.
ISSUE: Is the subject private land, which was formed as a result of a sawdust
dumped into the dried-up creek and along the banks of a river, can be considered as alluvion?
RULING:
NO. Court held that accretion, as a mode of acquiring property under Art. 457
of the Civil Code, requires the concurrence of these requisites: (1) that the deposition of soil or sediment be gradual and imperceptible; (2) that it be the result of the action of the waters of the river (or sea); and (3) that the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the banks of rivers (or the sea coast). These are called the rules on alluvion which if present in a case, give to the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers or streams any accretion gradually received from the effects of the current of waters.
For petitioners to insist on the application of these rules on alluvion to their case, the above-mentioned requisites must be present. However, they admit that the accretion was formed by the dumping of boulders, soil and other filling materials on portions of the Balacanas Creek and the Cagayan River bounding their land. It cannot be claimed, therefore, that the accumulation of such boulders, soil and other filling materials was gradual and imperceptible, resulting from the action of the waters or the current of the Balacanas Creek and the Cagayan River.
The accretion was man-made or artificial. The requirement that the deposit should be due to the effect of the current of the river is indispensable. This excludes from Art. 457 of the Civil Code all deposits caused by human intervention. Putting it differently, alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature. In the case at bar, the subject land was the direct result of the dumping of sawdust by the Sun Valley Lumber Co. consequent to its sawmill operations.
HEIRS OF EMILIANO NAVARRO v. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT G.R. No. 68166, 12 February 1997
[PARUNGAO] FACTS:
Sinforoso Pascual filed an application to register and confirm his title to a parcel of land, situated in Sibocon, Balanga, Bataan. Pascual claimed that this land is an accretion to his property, situated in Barrio Puerto Rivas, Balanga, Bataan. It is bounded on the eastern side by the Talisay River, on the western side by the Bulacan River, and on the northern side by the Manila Bay. The Talisay River as well as the Bulacan River flow downstream and meet at the Manila Bay thereby depositing sand and silt on Pascual's property resulting in an accretion thereon. Sinforoso Pascual claimed the accretion as the riparian owner.
Navarro thereupon filed an opposition to Pascual's application claiming that the land sought to be registered has always been part of the public domain, it being a part of the foreshore of Manila Bay; that he was a lessee and in
possession of a part of the subject property and that he had already converted the area covered by the lease into a fishpond.
The case was decided adversely against Pascual. Thus, Pascual appealed to the Court of First Instance (now Regional Trial Court) of Balanga, Bataan. During the pendency of the trial of the consolidated cases, Emiliano Navarro and Pascual died and were substituted by their heirs.
The court a quo rendered judgment finding the subject property to be foreshore land and, being a part of the public domain, it cannot be the subject of land registration proceedings. The heirs of Pascual appealed before the respondent appellate court which reversed the findings of the court a quo and granted the petition for registration of the subject property.
ISSUE: Whether the disputed land is an accretion caused by the joint action of
the Talisay and Bulacan Rivers which run their course on the eastern and western boundaries, respectively, of petitioners' own tract of land.
RULING:
Accretion as a mode of acquiring property under said Article 457, requires the concurrence of the following requisites: (1) that the accumulation of soil or sediment be gradual and imperceptible; (2) that it be the result of the action of the waters of the river; and (3) that the land where the accretion takes place is adjacent to the bank of the river. Accretion is the process whereby the soil is deposited, while alluvium is the soil deposited on the estate fronting the river bank; the owner of such estate is called the riparian owner. Riparian owners are, strictly speaking, distinct from littoral owners, the latter being owners of lands bordering the shore of the sea or lake or other tidal waters. The alluvium, by mandate of Article 457 of the Civil Code, is automatically owned by the riparian owner from the moment the soil deposit can be seen but is not automatically registered property, hence, subject to acquisition through prescription by third persons.
DEL BANCO v. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT G.R. No. 72694, 1 December 1987
[PULMA] FACTS:
Three brothers, Benedicto Pansacola, Jose Pansacola and Manuel Pansacola (known as Fr. Manuel Pena) entered into an agreement which provided, among others:
(1) That they will purchase from the Spanish Government the lands comprising the Island of Cagbalite which is located within the boundaries of the Municipality of Mauban, Province of Tayabas (now Quezon) and has an approximate area of 1,600 hectares;