LLANTINO V.

CO LIONG CHONG (1990) Facts: Co Liong Chong entered a contract with Llantino Sps for a lease of land for a period of 60 years. Note that Co Liong Chong was naturalized as a Filipino citizen (changed name to Juan Molina).Llantino sps wanted to recover the property from Co Liong Chong. Issue: WON the lease contract is INvalid because at the time of its execution, he was a Chinese? Held: NO. it was VALID. Lease contracts with Aliens allowed since an alien's stay in RP is temporary, they may be granted temporary rights such as a lease contract which is not prohibited by the constitution -the lease contract is valid as long as there are no circumstances attendant to its execution which are used to circumvent the constitutional prohibition such as an option to buy the contract or a lease for more than 50 years.An exception to this exception is when the alien subsequently acquires Philippine Citizenship

LLANTINO V. CO LIONG CHONG Short summary: Chinese national entered a contract with Filipinos for lease of a land in Catanduanes for 60 years. Court held that the lease is valid. Anyways, Chinese national later was naturalized to a Filipino. Facts -Llantino Sps entered a lease contract over a commercial residential (ano ba talaga?) in Catanduanes w/ Co Liong Chong (who later became Juan Molina). -lease contract: for a period of 60 years -Llantino wanted to get back the property from Molina, saying that it was to expire soon. Molina counters that the lease was for 60 years, that he already build a commercial building on it and that in any case, he is already a Filipino -Llantino sps filed COMPLAINT TO QUIET TITLE W/ DAMAGES -TC: ruled for MOLINA WON the lease contract is invalid because at the time of execution, he was Chinese? YES (being Chinese actually irrelevant) 1. GR: LEASE CONTRACT W/ ALIENS ALLOWED -there's no option for Molina to buy the said property -no scheme to circumvent the Consti prohibition -Sps admitted that Molina merely wanted to lease the land (and not buy it from them) -nothing to prevent Llantino sps from disposing their title to land to any qualified party, but subject to the right of Molina to the lease Ratio why allowed: since alien's stay in RP is temporary, they may be granted temporary rights such as a lease contract which is not prohibited by the constitution 2. IF THERE'S AN OPTION TO BUY THE PROPERTY GR: INVALID X: if the alien subsequently acquires Philippine Citizenship 3. X (to valid lease contracts w/ aliens): If there are circumstances attendant to its execution which are used to circumvent the constitutional prohibition -example: Option to buy + lease contract lasts for more than 50 years virtual transfer of ownership: the owner divests himself in stages not only of the right to enjoy the land (jus possidendi, jus utendi, jus fruendi, jus abutendi) 4. Even if the lease contract was virtually a transfer of ownership, it would be a moot point because Molina became a naturalized citizen of RP, thus, has capacity to own land

LLANTINO V. CO LIONG CHONG (1990) Facts: Co Liong Chong entered a contract with Llantino Sps for a lease of land for a period of 60 years. Note that Co Liong Chong was naturalized as a Filipino citizen (changed name to Juan Molina). Llantino sps wanted to recover the property from Co Liong Chong. Issue: WON the lease contract is INvalid because at the time of its execution, he was a Chinese? Held: NO. it was VALID. Lease contracts with Aliens allowed since an alien's stay in RP is temporary, they may be granted temporary rights such as a lease contract which is not prohibited by the constitution

-the lease contract is valid as long as there are no circumstances attendant to its execution which are used to circumvent the constitutional prohibition such as an option to buy the contract or a lease for more than 50 years. An exception to this exception is when the alien subsequently acquires Philippine Citizenship.

EAP Notes -it's merely TEMPORARY possession of property - not ownership -Why prohibit ownership of lands of aliens? To preserve properties in favor of Filipinos