HEIRS OF MARIO MALABANAN vs.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, G.R. No. 179987, April 29, 2009
“x
x x.
II.
First,
we discuss Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree. For a full
understanding of the provision, reference has to be made to the Public Land
Act.
A.
Commonwealth Act No. 141, also known as the Public Land Act, has,
since its enactment, governed the classification and disposition of lands of
the public domain. The President is authorized, from time to time, to classify
the lands of the public domain into alienable and disposable, timber, or
mineral lands.[20] Alienable
and disposable lands of the public domain are further classified according to
their uses into (a) agricultural; (b) residential, commercial, industrial, or
for similar productive purposes; (c) educational, charitable, or other similar
purposes; or (d) reservations for town sites and for public and quasi-public
uses.[21]
May a private person validly seek the registration in his/her name
of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain? Section 11 of the
Public Land Act acknowledges that public lands suitable for agricultural
purposes may be disposed of by confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles
through judicial legalization.[22] Section
48(b) of the Public Land Act, as amended by P.D. No. 1073, supplies the details
and unmistakably grants that right, subject to the requisites stated therein:
Sec. 48. The following
described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or
claiming to own any such land or an interest therein, but whose titles have not
been perfected or completed, may apply to the Court of First Instance of the
province where the land is located for confirmation of their claims and the
issuance of a certificate of title therefor, under the Land Registration Act,
to wit:
xxx
(b) Those who by
themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in open,
continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and
disposable lands of the public domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of
ownership, since June 12, 1945, or earlier, immediately preceding the filing of
the application for confirmation of title except when prevented by war or force
majeure. These shall be conclusively presumed to have performed all the
conditions essential to a Government grant and shall be entitled to a
certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter.
Section
48(b) of Com. Act No. 141 received its present wording in 1977 when the law was
amended by P.D. No. 1073. Two significant amendments were introduced by P.D.
No. 1073. First, the term agricultural lands was changed to
alienable and disposable lands of the public domain. The OSG submits that this
amendment restricted the scope of the lands that may be registered.[23] This
is not actually the case. Under Section 9 of the Public Land Act, agricultural
lands are a mere subset of lands of the public domain alienable or open to
disposition. Evidently, alienable and disposable lands of the public domain are
a larger class than only agricultural lands.
Second, the length of the
requisite possession was changed from possession for thirty (30) years
immediately preceding the filing of the application to possession
since June 12, 1945 or earlier. The Court in Naguit explained:
When the Public Land Act
was first promulgated in 1936, the period of possession deemed necessary to
vest the right to register their title to agricultural lands of the public domain
commenced from July 26, 1894. However, this period was amended by R.A. No.
1942, which provided that the bona fide claim of ownership must
have been for at least thirty (30) years. Then in 1977, Section 48(b) of the
Public Land Act was again amended, this time by P.D. No. 1073, which pegged the
reckoning date at June 12, 1945. xxx
It bears further
observation that Section 48(b) of Com. Act No, 141 is virtually the same as
Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree. Said Decree codified the various
laws relative to the registration of property, including lands of the public
domain. It is Section 14(1) that operationalizes the registration of such lands
of the public domain. The provision reads:
SECTION 14. Who may
apply. The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an
application for registration of title to land, whether personally or through
their duly authorized representatives:
(1) those who by themselves
or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous,
exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable
lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of
ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.
Notwithstanding the
passage of the Property Registration Decree and the inclusion of Section 14(1)
therein, the Public Land Act has remained in effect. Both laws commonly refer
to persons or their predecessors-in-interest who have been in open, continuous,
exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable
lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of
ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier. That circumstance may have led
to the impression that one or the other is a redundancy, or that Section 48(b)
of the Public Land Act has somehow been repealed or mooted. That is not the
case.
The opening clauses of
Section 48 of the Public Land Act and Section 14 of the Property Registration
Decree warrant comparison:
Sec. 48 [of
the Public Land Act]. The following described citizens of the
Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or claiming to own any such
land or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been perfected or
completed, may apply to the Court of First Instance of the province where the
land is located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a
certificate of title therefor, under the Land Registration Act, to wit:
xxx
Sec. 14 [of the Property
Registration Decree]. Who may apply. The following persons may file in the
proper Court of First Instance an application for registration of title to
land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:
xxx
It is clear that Section
48 of the Public Land Act is more descriptive of the nature of the right
enjoyed by the possessor than Section 14 of the Property Registration Decree,
which seems to presume the pre-existence of the right, rather than establishing
the right itself for the first time. It is proper to assert that it is the
Public Land Act, as amended by P.D. No. 1073 effective 25 January 1977, that
has primarily established the right of a Filipino citizen who has been in open,
continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and
disposable lands of the public domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition
of ownership, since June 12, 1945 to perfect or complete his title by applying
with the proper court for the confirmation of his ownership claim and the
issuance of the corresponding certificate of title.
Section 48 can be viewed
in conjunction with the afore-quoted Section 11 of the Public Land Act, which
provides that public lands suitable for agricultural purposes may be disposed
of by confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles, and given the notion that
both provisions declare that it is indeed the Public Land Act that primarily
establishes the substantive ownership of the possessor who has been in
possession of the property since 12 June 1945. In turn, Section 14(a) of the
Property Registration Decree recognizes the substantive right granted under
Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act, as well provides the corresponding
original registration procedure for the judicial confirmation of an imperfect
or incomplete title.
There is another
limitation to the right granted under Section 48(b). Section 47 of the Public
Land Act limits the period within which one may exercise the right to seek
registration under Section 48. The provision has been amended several times,
most recently by Rep. Act No. 9176 in 2002. It currently reads thus:
Section 47. The persons
specified in the next following section are hereby granted time, not to extend
beyond December 31, 2020 within which to avail of the benefits of this
Chapter: Provided, That this period shall apply only where the area
applied for does not exceed twelve (12) hectares: Provided, further, That
the several periods of time designated by the President in accordance with
Section Forty-Five of this Act shall apply also to the lands comprised in the
provisions of this Chapter, but this Section shall not be construed as
prohibiting any said persons from acting under this Chapter at any time prior
to the period fixed by the President.[24]
Accordingly under the
current state of the law, the substantive right granted under Section 48(b) may
be availed of only until 31 December 2020.
X x x.”
