THE CIVIL CODE OF THE

PHILIPPINES
BOOK II
PROPERTY, OWNERSHIP, AND ITS MODIFICATIONS
Title I. - CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
ART. 414.

▪All things which are or may be the object of

appropriation are considered either:

▪(1) Immovable or real property; or

▪(2) Movable or personal property.
ART. 417.

▪The following are 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.
ART. 419

▪. Property is either of
public dominion or of
private ownership
ART. 420

▪The following things are property of public dominion:

▪(1) Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals,
rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the
State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of similar
character;
▪(2) Those which belong to the State, without being for
public use, and are intended for some public service or
for the development of the national wealth.
▪Art. 421. All other property of the State, which is not of the
character stated in the preceding article, is patrimonial
property. (340a)
▪Art. 422. 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. (341a)
▪Art. 423. The property of provinces, cities, and
municipalities is divided into property for public use and
patrimonial property.
▪Art. 424. 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.
TITLE V. — PRESCRIPTION

▪Article 1106.
By prescription, one acquires ownership and other real
rights through the lapse of time in the manner and under
the conditions laid down by law.
In the same way, rights and actions are lost by
prescription.
 DEFI NITION OF PRESCRIPTION

Prescription is a mode of acquiring (or losing) ownership and other real rights thru the
lapse of time in the manner and under the conditions laid down by law, namely, that the
possession should be:
▪ (a) in the concept of an owner
▪ (b) public
▪ (c) peaceful
▪ (d) uninterrupted. (Arts. 1106, 1118, Civil Code).
▪ (e) adverse. In order that a possession may really be adverse, the claimant must clearly,
definitely, and unequivocally notify the owner of his (the claimant’s) intention to avert
an exclusive ownership in himself.
PROOF NEEDED

▪Because prescription is an extraordinary

mode of acquiring ownership, all the essential
ingredients, particularly the period of time,
must be shown clearly.
REASONS OR BASES FOR
PRESCRIPTION
CLASSIFICATION OF PRESCRIPTION

(A) as to whether rights are acquired or lost:

1) acquisitive prescription (prescription of ownership and other
real rights).
a) ordinary prescription
b) extraordinary prescription
2) extinctive prescription (“liberatory prescription;’’ prescription
of actions); (“Statute of Limitations’’).
(b) as to the object or subject matter:

1) prescription of property
a) prescription of real property
b) prescription of personal rights
2) prescription of rights
 ART. 1121. POSSESSION IS NATURALLY INTERRUPTED WHEN
THROUGH ANY CAUSE IT SHOULD CEASE FOR MORE THAN ONE
YEAR. THE OLD POSSESSION IS NOT REVIVED IF A NEW
POSSESSION SHOULD BE EXERCISED BY THE SAME ADVERSE
CLAIMANT.
ART. 1126.

Against a title recorded in the Registry of Property,

ordinary prescription of ownership or real rights shall
not take place to the prejudice of a third person, except
in virtue of another title also recorded; and the time
shall begin to run from the recording of the latter.
As to lands registered under the Land Registration
Act, the provisions of that special law shall govern.
ART. 1132

The ownership of movables prescribes through uninterrupted

possession for four years in good faith.
The ownership of personal property also prescribes through
uninterrupted possession for eight years, without need of any other
condition.
With regard to the right of the owner to recover personal
property lost or of which he has been illegally deprived, as well as
with respect to movables acquired in a public sale, fair, or market,
or from a merchant’s store the provisions of Articles 559 and 1505
of this Code shall be observed.
ART. 1135.

In case the adverse claimant

possesses by mistake an area
greater, or less, than that expressed
in his title, prescription shall be
based on the possession.
BOOK II

Art. 419. Property is either of public

dominion or of private ownership.
 ART. 420

The following things are property of public dominion:

(1) Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals,
rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by
the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of
similar character;
(2) Those which belong to the State, without being for
public use, and are intended for some public service
or for the development of the national wealth.
‘PUBLIC DOMINION’

means ownership by the State in that the State has

control and administration; in another sense, public
dominion means ownership by the public in
general, in that not even the State or subdivisions
thereof may make them the object of commerce as
long as they remain properties for public use. Such
is the case, for example, of a river or a town plaza.
THREE KINDS OF PROPERTY OF PUBLIC
DOMINION
(a) For public use — like roads, canals (may be
used by ANYBODY).
(b) For public service — like national government
buildings, army rifles, army vessels (may be used
only by duly authorized persons).
(c) For the development of national wealth — like
our natural resources.
ART. 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.
(1) PRIVATE PROPERTIES OTHER
THAN PATRIMONIAL

Other private properties are those that

belong to private persons: individually
or collectively. Incidentally, by virtue
of Art. 425, the Code recognizes the
rights to private property.
COLLECTIVE OWNERSHIP

“Collectively’’ refers to ownership by private

individuals as co-owners; or by corporations,
partnerships, or other juridical persons (such as
foundations) who are allowed by the Civil
Code to possess and acquire properties.
OWNERSHIP

Art. 427. Ownership may be exercised

over things or rights.
‘OWNERSHIP’ DEFINED
Ownership is the independent and general right of a
person to control a thing particularly in his
possession, enjoyment, disposition, and recovery,
subject to no restrictions except those imposed by
the state or private persons, without prejudice to the
provisions of the law.
KINDS OF OWNERSHIP

▪(a) Full ownership (dominium ▪(c) Sole ownership — where

or jus in re propia) the ownership is vested in
only one person.
— this includes all the
rights of an owner.
▪(d) Co-ownership (or Tenancy
▪(b) Naked ownership (nuda
in Common) — when the
proprietas) — this is
ownership is vested in two or
ownership where the right to
more owners.
the use and the fruits has been
denied.
ART. 428.

The owner has the right to enjoy and

dispose of a thing, without other limitations
than those established by law.
The owner has also a right of action against
the holder and possessor of the thing in
order to recover it.
RIGHTS OF AN OWNER UNDER THE CIVIL
CODE
Under Art. 428, the owner has:
(a) the right to enjoy
(b) the right to dispose
(c) the right to recover or vindicate.
The right to enjoy includes:
(a) the right to possess
(b) the right to use
(c) the right to the fruits.
The right to dispose includes:
RIGHTS OF AN OWNER UNDER ROMAN
LAW

(a) jus possidendi — the right to possess

(b) jus utendi — the right to use
▪(c) jus fruendi — the right to the fruits
▪(d) jus abutendi — the right to consume (and also to
transform or abuse)
▪(e) jus disponendi — the right to dispose
▪(f) jus vindicandi — the right to recover.
ACTIONS TO RECOVER

(a) Recovery of Personal Property

The proper action to recover personal property
is replevin, governed by Rule 60, Rules of
Court.
(B) RECOVERY OF REAL PROPERTY

▪There are three usual actions to recover the possession of

real property:
1) Forcible entry or unlawful detainer (either action was
formerly referred to as accion interdictal).
2) Accion publiciana (or the plenary action to recover the
better right of possession).
3) Accion reivindicatoria (or a reivindicatory action).
ACCION PUBLICIANA OR PLENARIA DE
POSESION

is also used to refer to an ejectment suit

filed after the expiration of 1 year from the
accrual of the cause of action or from the
unlawful withholding of possession of the
realty.
RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP NOT
ABSOLUTE
The right of ownership is not absolute. There are
limitations which are imposed for the benefit of humanity,
and which are based on certain legal maxims, such as the
following:
(a) The welfare of the people is the supreme law of the
land.
(b) Use your property so as not to impair the rights of
others.
 THE LIMITATIONS ON OWNERSHIP

(a) Limitations imposed by the State — police power, power of taxation, power of
eminent domain.
(b) Limitations imposed by the Law — the legal easement of waters, the legal
easement of right of way.
(c) Limitations imposed by the owner — when the owner leases his property to
another, said owner in the meantime cannot physically occupy the premises; when
the owner pledges his personal property, he has in the meantime to surrender its
possession.
(d) Limitations imposed by the grantor — the donor may prohibit the donees from
partitioning the property for a period not exceeding twenty (20) years.
 ART. 435

No person shall be deprived of his property

except by competent authority and for public
use and always upon payment of just
compensation.
Should this requirement be not first complied
with, the courts shall protect and, in a proper
case, restore the owner in his possession.
 EMINENT DOMAIN

the superior right of the State to own certain

properties under certain conditions, is a
limitation on the right of ownership, and may be
exercised even over private properties of cities
and municipalities, and even over lands
registered with a Torrens title.
ESSENTIAL REQUISITES OF EMINENT
DOMAIN

▪(a) taking by competent authority

▪(b) observance of due process of law
▪(c) taking for public use
▪(d) payment of just compensation.
DUE PROCESS OF LAW

1) a notice to the owner of the property;

2) a full opportunity to present his side on whether
or not the purpose of the taking is public; or
whether or not the government reasonably needs the
property;
3) and such other procedural requisites as may be
prescribed under the law.
MEANING OF “JUST COMPENSATION”

means a fair and full equivalent value

of the loss sustained. Indeed, it must be
“just” not only to the individual whose
property is taken, but also to the public
which is to pay for it.
ART. 436.

When any property is condemned or

seized by competent authority in the
interest of health, safety or security, the
owner thereof shall not be entitled to
compensation, unless he can show that
such condemnation or seizure is
unjustified.
SEIZURE AS AN EXERCISE OF POLICE
POWER
Police power can refer not merely to condemnation and seizure,
but also to total destruction itself, provided that
(a) the public interest is served and

(b) the means used are not unduly harsh, abusive, or oppressive.
Thus, nuisances can be abated; and rotting canned goods may be
destroyed. If the condemnation, seizure, or destruction is
unjustified, the owner is entitled to compensation
ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES

A State, in the exercise of police power, may abate

nuisances, whether public or private, whether per se or per
accidens.
[NOTE:
(a) public nuisance — that which affects a community or a
considerable number of persons. (Art. 695).
(b) private nuisance — that which is not public. (Art. 695).
ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES

(c) nuisance per se — that which is a nuisance

under all circumstances.

(d) nuisance per accidens — that which is a

nuisance only under certain circumstances, like a
factory, situated in a residential district.].
ART. 437.

The owner of a parcel of land is the owner of its surface

and of everything under it, and he can construct thereon
any works or make any plantations and excavations which
he may deem proper, without detriment to servitudes and
subject to special laws and ordinances. He cannot
complain of the reasonable requirements of aerial
navigation.
ART. 438

Hidden treasure belongs to the owner of the land, building, or

other property on which it is found.
Nevertheless, when the discovery is made on the property of
another, or of the State or any of its subdivisions, and by
chance, one-half 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.