EDUARDO, Ray Bradley B.

19-00327
ATP – Atty. Samson – Sec. A (Monday – Wednesday)

POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR NURSERY OF PLANTS

Nursery of plants involves either an immovable or movable properties. Under Art.

415(2) of the New Civil Code, “trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached
to the land or form an integral part of an immovable”. This can either be an immovable by
nature or incorporation. A plant is considered an immovable by nature if it was a
spontaneous product of the soil or an immovable by incorporation if it was planted through
labor (with intent of permanent attachment and without damaging the property to which it
was attached) 1. In our example, while it is true that the plants are spontaneous products
of the soil and attached in it, they are not intended to be adhered permanently due to sale
purposes.

Is there any relevance to know whether the subject property is a real property or
personal property? Not really. Art. 1878(5) states that an SPA shall be entered into when
any contract by which the ownership of an immovable is transmitted or acquired either
gratuitously or for a valuable consideration. In connection with the preceding paragraph,
5th instance of the law cannot be applied because the plants are not intended to be placed
permanently in the soil, thus making it a personal property and not an immovable. Even
though it is inapplicable, it must be noteworthy that the beginning phrase of the article
speaks of the necessity of an SPA only in “several cases” (15 to be precise), which means
that the inapplicability of one or more instances do not invalidate the applicability of others.

With respect to the query, a special power of attorney is still required to fully
dispose of the plants for sale. Under Art. 1878(15) of the New Civil Code, “Special powers
of attorney are necessary in the following cases: xxx (15) Any other act of strict dominion.”
An act of strict dominion involves disposition of properties, the power to sue, and the likes
on behalf of the principal, while an act of administration involves a manager who has
control and management of the corporation's business, or a specific part thereof 2.

In our case, a third person should have an SPA because his/her specific acts in
selling the plants are acts that require quasi-ownership or strict dominion, which are
somehow limited as opposed to acts of administration. Jurisprudence also provides that
the acts of strict dominion do not carry with it the authority to administer 3. An agent's
authority to file suit cannot be inferred from his authority to collect or receive payments;
the grant of special powers cannot be presumed from the grant of general powers 4. It is
clear that the power to dispose or the authority to sell does not imply an authority to
administer as provided by a general power of attorney.

Hence, an SPA shall be given to the third person in order to effect the sale of
plants.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Civil Code of the Philippines by Rabuya (2008)
2. Yu Chuck v. Kong Li Po - G.R. No. L-22450 - December 3, 1924
3. Florentina Bautista-Spille v. NICORP Management and Development Corporation -
G.R. No. 214057- October 19, 2015
4. V-GENT, INC. v. MORNING STAR TRAVEL and TOURS, INC. - G.R. No. 186305 -
July 22, 2015