Unascertainable

All lands not otherwise appearing to be clearly within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State or to be public lands. But open, exclusive and undisputed possession of such alienable lands converts them into private lands from the moment the period of possession required by law (CA 141) becomes complete. Judicial confirmation is but a formality. This is the principle applied in this case of MPI, a private corporation organized under Philippine laws as represented by Jacinto, its President.

On September 29, 1994, MPI through Jacinto filed in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) an Application for the Registration of Title to Lots Nos. 9515 and 1006 located in San Fernando, La Union measuring around 1,480 square meters. After the requisite publication and proper notice to all the adjoining lot owners, the RTC proceeded to receive the evidence in support of the application. Aside from Jacinto who testified on the acquisition of the property, Benito, a co-owner and one of MPI’s predecessors in interest, also testified to prove the required length of time of possession. Also presented, as Exhibit Q-16, was a tax declaration filed under Section 202 of RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 which was subscribed and sworn to by the Deputy Assessor on November 28, 1950. The annotation at the back of this tax declaration indicated that it was issued to replace the 1945 tax declaration.

On the basis of these evidences, the RTC approved the application and ordered that the said lands be registered in accordance with PD 1529 or the Property Registration Decree. The Court of Appeals affirmed this ruling. But the Solicitor General (OSG) questioned it. According to the OSG, the lands in question were still part of the public domain, so MPI, as a private corporation is disqualified from holding alienable lands of the public domain, except by lease under Section 3 Article XII of the Constitution. MPI on the other hand claimed that the land was already private land when it acquired them from its predecessors in interest who had been in open and exclusive possession since the 1940s. Was the MPI correct?

No. The governing law is Commonwealth Act 141 or the Public Land Act. Under Section 48 (b) of said Act, the reckoning point is June 12, 1945. If the predecessors in interest of MPI have been in possession of the lands in question since this date or earlier, such land is, by operation of law (ipso jure), converted into private land so as to enable MPI to apply for confirmation of title to the said land. However, the evidence presented by MPI to prove the required length of possession is not sufficient. While a tax declaration may serve as sufficient basis for inferring possession, the tax declaration presented by MPI does not serve to prove its cause. A scrutiny of tax declaration reveals that it is not the tax declaration MPI claimed it to be. Exhibit Q-16 was in fact a substitute tax declaration allegedly issued on November 28, 1950. It was issued supposedly to replace the 1945 tax declaration. A substitute is not enough. The 1945 tax declaration must be presented considering that the date 12 June 1945, is material to this case. A tax declaration simply stating that it replaces a previous tax declaration issued in 1945 does not meet this standard. It is unascertainable whether the 1945 tax declaration was issued on, before or after 12 June 1945. Unless the date and month of issuance in 1945 is stated, compliance with the reckoning date in CA 141 cannot be established.

Besides, the said Exhibit Q-16 bears several irregularities. Most glaring is the form used in its preparation. It was filed under the Local Government Code of 1991 while it was issued on November 28, 1950. This means that the tax declaration was issued more than 40 years before the form used came into existence. MPI gave no explanation why its tax declaration used a form that did not exist at the time of its alleged issuance. All these circumstances show that Exhibit Q-16 was fabricated for the sole purpose of making it appear that MPI’s predecessors in interest have been in possession of the land in question since June 12, 1945.

So the lands in question have not become private lands and remain part of the public domain (Republic vs. Manna Properties Inc. etc. G.R. 146527, January 31, 2005).

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