Title
AFP Retirement and Separation Benefits System vs. Republic
Case
G.R. No. 180086
Decision Date
Jul 2, 2014
AFP-RSBS sought land registration; Supreme Court ruled pre-alienability possession counts, allowing registration for government-owned corporation.
possession
registration rights
government corporation

Case Summary (G.R. No. 180086)

Factual Background

On July 10, 1997, AFP-RSBS filed an application for original registration of three parcels listed as Lot Nos. 2969-A, 2969-B, and 2969-C, totaling 48,151 square meters, located in Barangay Biluso, Silang, Cavite. The application alleged acquisition on March 13, 1997 from Narciso Ambrad, Alberto Tibayan, and Restituto Tibayan and asserted that the applicants' predecessors-in-interest had been in possession since June 12, 1945. The parcels were later shown to have been declared alienable and disposable on March 15, 1982.

Trial Court Proceedings

The Municipal Circuit Trial Court, in a decision dated July 28, 2001, approved AFP-RSBS’s application for original registration and directed the Register of Deeds to register the properties in the name of AFP-RSBS. The REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES moved for reconsideration, which the trial court denied on February 19, 2003.

Court of Appeals Proceedings

The REPUBLIC appealed to the Court of Appeals on March 14, 2003, advancing several grounds: alleged improper identification of the properties; noncompliance with SC Administrative Circular No. 7-96 requiring that lists of lots be furnished to the Bureau of Lands; non-submission of a tracing cloth plan; and absence of a Department of Environment and Natural Resources certification showing that the properties were declared alienable and disposable at the time of predecessors’ possession. On January 10, 2007, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and dismissed the application for original registration. The Court of Appeals held, inter alia, that because Lot 2969 was declared alienable and disposable only on March 15, 1982, possession prior to that date should be excluded in computing the period required under Section 14(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1529, and therefore the possessions of AFP-RSBS and its predecessors could not ripen into ownership. The Court of Appeals also ruled that AFP-RSBS, characterized as a private corporation or association in its view, could not acquire alienable public land under Section 3, Article XII of the Constitution. A motion for reconsideration filed by AFP-RSBS was denied in the Court of Appeals’ October 5, 2007 resolution.

Issue Presented

The controlling issue presented to the Supreme Court was whether periods of possession prior to the declaration that land is alienable and disposable agricultural land must be excluded from the computation of the period of possession required for original registration under Section 14(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1529 and Section 48(b) of Commonwealth Act No. 141.

Petitioner's Contentions

AFP-RSBS contended that the statutory requirement is that the property sought to be registered be already declared alienable and disposable at the time of the application for registration before the court. Accordingly, it argued that possession by itself and its predecessors-in-interest before the 1982 declaration should be counted toward the statutory period. AFP-RSBS relied on Republic v. Court of Appeals and Naguit and Republic v. Bibonia and Manahan to support the view that possession prior to classification is includable so long as the land is declared alienable and disposable at the time the application is filed. AFP-RSBS also argued that the land was effectively private long before its 1997 acquisition by virtue of ancestral possession and that its status as a government-owned corporation did not preclude registration.

Respondent's Contentions

The REPUBLIC argued that possession in the concept of an owner cannot ripen into ownership unless the land was already classified as alienable and disposable, and therefore any possession prior to the declaration that an area is alienable and disposable must be excluded in computing the period of adverse possession. The REPUBLIC further contested the sufficiency of the evidence demonstrating open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession under a bona fide claim of ownership prior to June 12, 1945. Finally, the REPUBLIC asserted that AFP-RSBS, characterized as a corporation, could not acquire title to alienable public land under Section 3, Article XII of the Constitution.

Supreme Court's Ruling

The Supreme Court granted the petition. It set aside the Court of Appeals' January 10, 2007 decision and October 5, 2007 resolution and reinstated the Municipal Circuit Trial Court decision of July 28, 2001 approving AFP-RSBS’s application for original registration. The Court held that possession prior to the declaration that land is alienable and disposable may be included in the computation of the required period if, at the time of the application for registration, the land has been declared alienable and disposable.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court began with the statutory framework. Section 14(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1529 and Section 48(b) of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, require that applicants show open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945 or earlier, and that the land be alienable and disposable. From those provisions, the Court distilled four requisites for a successful application: (one) open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession; (two) declaration that the land is alienable and disposable; (three) possession under a bona fide claim of ownership; and (four) possession since June 12, 1945 or earlier. The Court reiterated the interpretation adopted in Republic v. Naguit that Section 14(1) should be read to permit inclusion of pre-declaration possession in the computation so long as the land is alienable and disposable at the time of the application. The Court rejected the contrary rule in Republic v. Herbieto, explaining that Naguit correctly avoided an absurd result that would render the statutory provision virtually inoperative by limiting eligibility to lands declared alienable prior to June 12, 1945. The Court further relied on its en banc pronouncement in Heirs of Mario Malabanan v. Republic of the Philippines, which expressly followed Naguit and disapproved Herbieto insofar as Section 14(1) is concerned. The Court concluded that the date June 12, 1945 simply qualifies the requisite period of possession and does not impose a requirement that the land be classified as alienable and disposable as early as that date.

Evidence and Findings on Possession

The Court examined the evidence offered by AFP-RSBS and found it sufficient to establish open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession in the concept of an owner prior to 1945 through the testimony of descendants and documentary proof. Testimony from Emilia Amadure established familial possession and occupation dating back to her birth in 1917 and knowledge of her father Maximo Amadure's ownership and possession; she could describe the lots’ metes and bounds and adjoining owners. Corroborative testimony from Rogelio Amadure described cultivation and occupation of the land by Maximo and his children and confirmed continuity of possession following Maximo’s death. The Court also considered tax declarations from 1948 to 1998 under Maximo’s and other predecessors’ names. On this factual record the Court concluded that AFP-RSBS, through its predecessors-in-int

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