ORIGINAL REGISTRATION
No. CASE
1 REPUBLIC v NAGUIT
G.R. No. 144057. January 17, 2005
TINGA, J.:
2 PALOMO v CA
G.R. No. 95608. January 21, 1997
3 ACABAL v ACABAL
G.R. No. 148376. March 31, 2005
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
4 MALABANAN v REPUBLIC
GR No. 179987 April 29, 2009
5 RAMOS v DIR. OF LANDS
G.R. No. L-13298 November 19, 1918
MALCOLM, J.:
6 LIMCOMA v REPUBLIC
G.R. NO. 167652, July 10, 2007
7 LACAMEN v LARUAN
G.R. No. L-27088 July 31, 1975
MARTIN, J.:
DOCTRINE
 Section 14(1) merely requires the property sought to be registered as already alienable and disposable at the time the application for registration of title is filed.
 Although tax declarations and realty tax payment of property are not conclusive evidence of ownership, nevertheless, they are good indicia of the possession in the concept
of owner for no one in his right mind would be paying taxes for a property that is not in his actual or at least constructive possession.
 Lands, possession over which commenced only after June 12, 1945, can still be registered under Section 14 (2) - application of those who have acquired ownership of private
lands by prescription under the provisions of existing laws.
 Forest land is not registrable and possession thereof, no matter how lengthy, cannot convert it into private property, unless such lands are reclassified and considered
disposable and alienable
 Registration alone of the properties in the name of the husband does not destroy the conjugal nature of the properties. What is material is that the land was acquired during
the during the lawful existence of his marriage
 Since a co-owner is entitled to sell his undivided share, a sale of the entire property by one co-owner without the consent of the other co-owners is not null and void. However,
only the rights of the co-owner-seller are transferred., thereby making the buyer a co-owner of the property.
o Proper action: PARTITION under Rule 69 of RoC, not nullification of sale or recovery of possession
 Where a parcel of land, forming part of the undistributed properties of the dissolved conjugal partnership of gains, is sold by a widow to a purchaser who merely relied on
the face of the certificate of title thereto, issued solely in the name of the widow, the purchaser acquires a valid title to the land even as against the heirs of the deceased
spouse.
 The issue of good faith or bad faith of a buyer is relevant only where the subject of the sale is a registered land but not where the property is an unregistered land. One who
purchases an unregistered land does so at his peril.
 Section 48(b) merely requires possession since 12 June 1945 and does not require that the lands should have been alienable and disposable during the entire period of
possession. Hence, the possessor is entitled to secure judicial confirmation of his title thereto as soon as it is declared alienable and disposable, subject to the timeframe
imposed by Section 47 of the Public Land Act.
 Public domain lands become only patrimonial property not only with a declaration that these are alienable or disposable. There must also be an express government
manifestation that the property is already patrimonial or no longer retained for public service or the development of national wealth, under Article 422 of the Civil Code. And
only when the property has become patrimonial can the prescriptive period for the acquisition of property of the public dominion begin to run.
 There are two kinds of prescription by which patrimonial property may be acquired, one ordinary and other extraordinary. Under ordinary acquisitive prescription, a person
acquires ownership of a patrimonial property through possession for at least ten (10) years, in good faith and with just title. Under extraordinary acquisitive prescription, a
person’s uninterrupted adverse possession of patrimonial property for at least thirty (30) years, regardless of good faith or just title, ripens into ownership.
 Doctrine of Constructive Possession laid down the general rule that the possession and cultivation of a portion of a tract under claim of ownership of all is a constructive
possession of all, if the remainder is not in the adverse possession of another. This actual occupancy of a part of the land described in the instrument giving color of title is
sufficient to give title to the entire tract of land.
 Agricultural public lands are those lands which are not timber or mineral lands.
 Lands in public forests, not including forest reserves, must be must be certified by the Dir. of Forestry to be better adapted and more valuable for agricultural than for forest
purposes and shall be declared by the Department Head to be agricultural lands. (here, the default is land is not agricultural and it becomes agricultural only if certified and
declared)
 Forest reserves, on the other hand, if ownership is claimed by a person, the government must prove that the land is not more valuable for agricultural than for forest purposes.
 A certification and report from the DENR-CENRO enjoys the presumption of regularity and is sufficient proof to show the classification of the land described therein.
 The classification or re-classification of public lands into alienable or disposable, mineral, or forest lands is now a prerogative of the Executive Department of the government.
The DENR-CENRO Certification constitute a positive government act, an administrative action, validly classifying a land.
 Even if the possession of alienable lands of the public domain commenced only after 12 June 1945, application for registration of the said property is still possible by virtue of
Section 14 (2) of the Property Registration Decree which speaks of prescription
 while a person may not acquire title to the registered property through continuous adverse possession, in derogation of the title of the original registered owner, the heir of
the latter, however, may lose his right to recover back the possession of such property and the title thereto, by reason of laches
 ORIGINAL REGISTRATION
No. CASE DOCTRINE
8 PANG-ODEN v LEONEN  Art 434 NCC: In action to recover, the property must be identified and the plaintiff must rely on the strength of his title and not on the weakness of the defendant’s claim.
G.R. No. 138939. December 6, 2006 Hence, in order that an action for recovery of property may prosper, it is indispensable that the party who prosecutes it must fully prove, not only his ownership of the thing
claimed, but also the identity of the same.
9 REPUBLIC v CA & TANCINCO  Art 457 NCC: 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.
G.R. No. L-61647 October 12, 1984 Requisites of alluvion:
GUTIERREZ, JR., J.: o that the deposit be gradual and imperceptible
o that it be made through the effects of the current of the water
o that the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the banks of rivers
 Alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature; it must NOT be caused by human intervention
 The reason behind the law giving the riparian owner the right to any land or alluvion deposited by a river is to compensate him for the danger of loss that he suffers because
of the location of his land.
10 CUREG v IAC  Tax declaration, being of an earlier date cannot defeat an original certificate of title which is of a later date. It is an elemental rule that a decree of registration bars all claims
G.R. No. 73645. September 7, 1989 and rights which arose or may have existed prior to the decree of registration. By the issuance of the decree, the land is bound and title thereto quieted, subject only to
exceptions stated in Section 39, Act 496 (now Sec. 44 of PD No. 1529).
 Accretion DOES NOT automatically become registered land just because the lot which receives such accretion is covered by a Torrens title. As such, it must also be placed
under the operation of the Torrens System.
11 MAYOR OF PARAÑAQUE CITY v EBIO  Alluvial deposits along the banks of a creek do not form part of the public domain as the alluvial property automatically belongs to the owner of the estate to which it may
G.R. No. 178411 June 23, 2010 have been added. The only restriction provided for by law is that the owner of the adjoining property must register the same under the Torrens system; otherwise, the alluvial
VILLARAMA, JR., J.: property may be subject to acquisition through prescription by third persons.
 While it is true that a creek is a property of public dominion, the land which is formed by the gradual and imperceptible accumulation of sediments along its banks does not
form part of the public domain by clear provision of law.
 It must be remembered that the purpose of land registration is not the acquisition of lands, but only the registration of title which the applicant already possessed over the
land. Registration was never intended as a means of acquiring ownership. A decree of registration merely confirms, but does not confer, ownership.
 Application for sales patent should not be used to prejudice or derogate what may be deemed as applicant’s vested right over the subject property. This is applicable in case
the land is already acquired by the applicant through acquisitive prescription but nevertheless applied for sales patent (administrative confirmation) instead of judicial
confirmation. The State, in this case, does not have any authority to convey a property through the issuance of a grant or a patent since the land is no longer a public land.
12 IGNACIO v DIR OF LANDS  The law on accretion is inapplicable to accretion caused by a bay, which is held to be a part of the sea, being a mere indentation of the same. It only refers to accretion or
G.R. No. L-12958. May 30, 1960 deposits in the banks of rivers.
 Until a formal declaration on the part of the Government, through the executive department or the Legislature, to the effect that accretion caused by the action of the sea
is no longer needed for coast guard service, for public use or for special industries, they continue to form part of the public domain, not available for private appropriation or
ownership.
13 INTERNATIONAL HARDWOOD v  The cession and transfer of the government of a timberland to an entity removes the subject land from the public domain and segregated the areas from the public forest.
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES By virtue of the cession and transfer, the authority and jurisdiction of the government over the land including the to collect duties and other forest charges thereon is lost.
G.R. No. L-52518 August 13, 1991  As owner (grantee), the entity has the right to enjoy and dispose of the thing without other limitations than those established by law. Hence, it may impose duties and
DAVIDE, JR., J.: obligations to the concessionaires and collect forest charges or royalties from them.