The applicant invokes the Land Registration Act (Act No.

496), or should it not be applicable to the

case, then he would apply for the benefits of the Public Land Act (C.A. No. 141).

the disposition exploitation, development or utilization of the natural resources, including agricultural

lands of the public domain is limited to citizens of the Philippines or to the corporations or
associations therein mentioned. It also clearly appears from said provision that natural
resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, are not subject to alienation.

On November 7, 1936, or more than one year after the adoption of the Constitution, Commonwealth
Act No. 141, known as the Public Land Act, was approved. Under this Act the lands of the public
have been classified into three divisions: (a) alienable or disposable, (b) timber, and (c) mineral
lands

section 5, Article XII of the Constitution, which reads as follows:

"Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private agricultural land shall be transferred or assigned
except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public
domain of the Philippines."

"This interpretation is in harmony with the nationalistic policy, spirit and purpose of our Constitution
and laws, to wit, `to conserve and develop the patrimony of the nation,' as solemnly enunciated in
the preamble to the Constitution.

"A narrow and literal interpretation of the phrase 'private agriculture land' would impair and defeat the
nationalistic aim and general policy of our laws and would allow a gradual, steady, and unlimited
accumulation in alien hands of a substantial portion of our patrimonial estates, to the detriment of our
national solidarity, stability, and independence. Nothing could prevent the acquisition of a great
portion or the whole of a city by subjects of a foreign power. And yet a city or urban area is more
strategical than a farm or rural land.

"We conclude, therefore, that the residential lot which the applicant seeks to register in his name
falls within the meaning of private agricultural land as this phrase is used in our Constitution and,
consequently, is not subject to acquisition by foreigners except by hereditary succession."

Whether or not an alien can acquire a residential lot and register it in his name is the only question
raised in this appeal from a decision of the Court of First Instance of Tayabas which sustained the
affirmance and decreed the registration of the said property in favor of the applicant who, by his own
voluntary admission, is a citizen of the Chinese Republic. This question is raised in connection with
the constitutional provision that no private agricultural land shall be transferred or assigned to
foreigners except in cases of hereditary succession. (Pags. 1, 2, alegato del apelante.)