PROPERTY

Title I
Classificati
on of
Property
Classification
of Property

Definition of Property:
1.

Under the Civil Code Property, considered as an

object, is that which, or may
be, appropriated

2. Under the Civil Code - That

branch of civil law which:
a. Classifies and defines the
different kinds of
appropriable objects,
b. Provides for their acquisition
and loss, and
c. In general, treats of the
nature and
consequences of real rights

Classification
of Property
Thing Distinguished
from Property:
As used in the Civil
Code,
thing
is
SYNONYMOUS
to
property

2. Technically thing is
broader
for
it
includes
both
appropriable or nonappropriable objects
Classification of Things
According to the
Nature of their
Ownership:
Res Nullius Belonging to NO ONE

2. Res Comunes Belonging to EVERY

ONE
3. Res Alicuus Belonging to
SOMEONE

Classification of Property:
1. Mobility and Non-mobility
- Movable [personal] or
Immovable [real]

2. Ownership - Public
dominion or Private
dominion
3. Alienability - Within the
commerce of man or
Outside the commerce of
man
4. Existence - Present or
Future
5. Materiality or
Immateriality - Tangible
[corporeal] or Intangible
[incorporeal]

6. Dependence or
Importance - Principal
or Accessory
7. Capability of
Substitution- Fungible
or Non-fungible
8. Nature or Definiteness
- Generic or Specific

9. Whether in the
Custody of the
Court or Free - In
custodia legis or
Free

Characteristics of
Property
1.UTILITY for the
satisfaction of
moral or economic
wants
2. SUSCEPTIBILITY
of appropriation
3.INDIVIDUALITY or
SUBSTANTIVITY

Art. 414.
All things which are or
may be the object of
appropriation are
considered either:
1. immovable or real
property; or
2. movable or
personal property
Classification of Immovable
Property:

By NATURE - those that

cannot be moved from place
to place because of their
nature

By INCORPORATION those which are essentially

movables but when
ATTACHED to an
immovable becomes an
integral part of the same

3. By DESTINATION or
PURPOSE - those w/c are
essentially movables but for
the purpose for w/c they
have been place, they
become immovable
4. By ANALOGY or LAW

Art. 415 [1]

Land, buildings,
roads, and
constructions
of all kinds
adhered to
the soil

Art. 415 [2]

Trees, plants and
growing fruits,
while they are
attached to the
land or form an
integral part of an
immovable
Art. 415 [3]

Everything attached
to an immovable
in a fixed manner,
in such way that it
cannot be
separated
therefrom without
breaking the
material or
deterioration of the
object

Characteristics [par.
3]:
1. Cannot be separated
from the immovable
w/o breaking or
substantial
deterioration
2. Need not be placed
by the owner
3. Real property by
INCORPORATION

4. The fact of
incorporation
determines the
thing

Art. 415 [4]

Statues, reliefs,
paintings, or other
objects for use or
ornamentation,
placed in buildings
or on lands by the
owner of the
immovable in such
manner that it
reveals the intention
to attach them
permanently to the
tenements

Characteristics [par. 4]:

1. It can be separated from
the immovable without
breaking or
deterioration

2. It MUST be placed by
the OWNER or by his
agent, express or
implied [If it is placed by
a mere tenant, it will will
be considered personal
or movable property]
3. It is real property by
INCORPORATION and
DESTINATION

Distinctions

Art. 415 [5]

Machinery, receptacles,
instruments or
implements intended
by the owner of the
tenement for an
industry or works
which may be carried
on in a building or on
a piece of land, and
which tend directly to
meet the needs of the
said industry or works

Essential Requisites [par.

5]:
1. The placing must be made
by the owner of the
tenement, his agent or
duly authorized
representative
2. The industry or works must
be carried on in the
building or the land
3. The machines must tend
directly to meet the needs
of such industry or said
works

4. The machines must be

essential and principal
elements in the industry
[not merely incidental]
Summary of Paragraph 5
1. General Rule - Machinery attached to the
land is considered immovable when:
a. It is placed by the owner of the
immovable, his agent or duly
authorized representative
b. It is placed for an industry or work
which is carried on in the
building or
land
c. The machine tends to directly meet the
needs of such industry or
work
d. The machine is essential to the
industry or work and not merely
incidental

2. Exception it is considered movable when

the machinery is placed on the land or
tenant by a mere tenant;
3. Exception to Exception it is considered
immovable when:
a. The tenant had promised to leave the
machinery on the
tenement or the
land even after the lease expires, or
b. The tenant acted only as an agent of
the owner of the land

[6]. Animal houses, pigeon houses,

beehives, fish ponds, or breeding
places of similar nature, in case
their owner has placed them or
preserves them with the intention to
have them permanently attached to
the land, and forming a permanent
part of it; the animals in these
places are included;

[7]. Fertilizer actually used in a piece of

land;
[8]. Mines, quarries, and slag dumps,
while the matter thereof forms part
of the bed, and waters either
running or stagnant;
[9]. Docks and structures which, though
floating, are intended by their
nature and object to remain at a
fixed place on a river, lake or coast;
[10]. Contracts for public works, and
servitudes and other real rights over
immovable property

Cases:

Movable
Property
Art. 416.
The
following
deemed to
property:

things
are
be personal

1. Those movables susceptible of

appropriation which are not
included in the preceding
article
2. Real property which by any
special provision of law is
considered as personalty;
3. Forces of nature which are
brought under control by
science; and

4. In general, all things which can

be transported from place to
place without impairment of
the real property to which they
are fixed

Tests to
Determine
Whether
Property is
Movable or
Immovable:

1. Test by
Description
2. Test by
Exclusion
Case: Sibal v. Valdez [50 PHIL] 512
Facts:
Sibal sued Valdez. Valdez won. For the
purpose of satisfying the judgment
won by Valdez, the sheriff attached the
sugar cane that was growing on the
land of Sibal. Earlier, the land was
attached by X, another creditor of
Sibal.

Within the 1-year redemption, Sibal

wanted to redeem the lots from X and
the sugar cane from Valdez. The lots
were redeemed, the redemption of the
sugarcane was refused by Valdez,
who contended that sugar cane is
personal property and therefore could
not be the subject of legal redemption.
Sibal claimed that the sugar cane is real
property for the same would be
considered as growing fruits under
Art. 415(2).
Issue:
How should the sugar cane be regarded,
as real property or personal property?

Held:

Although considered as
growing fruits and
therefore ordinarily real
property under Art. 415(2),
the sugar cane here must be
regarded as personal
property for the purposes of:
a. the Chattel Mortgage Law,
and
b. attachment
because the right to the growing
crops mobilizes (makes
personal) the crops by
anticipation.

More specifically, the existence

of a right on the growing
crop is a mobilization by
anticipation, a gathering as it
were, in advance, rendering
the crops movable

Art. 417. The following are

also considered as
personal property:
1. Obligations and actions
which have for their
object movables or
demandable sums; and

2. Shares of stock of
agricultural, commercial
and industrial entities,
although they may have
real estate
Art. 418.
Movable property is either
consumable or nonconsumable.

To the first class

[consumable] belongs
those movables which
cannot be used in a
manner appropriate to
their nature without being
consumed, to the second
class belong all others.

Property in
Relation
Art. 419.

Property is either of public dominion

or of private ownership.
Art. 420.
The following are property of public
dominion:
1. Those intended for public use,
such as roads, canals, rivers,
torrents, ports and bridges
constructed by the State, bank,
shores, roadsteads, and others
of similar character;
2. Those which belong to the State,
without being for public use, and
are intended for some public
service or for the development
of the national wealth.

Property of Public
Dominion
3 Kinds of Property
of Public Dominion
Property intended
for public use
Property intended
for some public
service
Property for the
development of
the national wealth

Property of Public
Dominion
Characteristics of Property of
Public Dominion:
1. OUTSIDE the COMMERCE of
MAN
2. CANNOT be acquired by
PRESCRIPTION
3. CANNOT be REGISTERED
under the Land Registration
Law and be subject to a
Torrens Title
4. CANNOT be ATTACHED or be
LEVIED upon by execution

5. CANNOT be BURDENED by
voluntary easements

Property of Public
Dominion
Classification
of
Land of Public
Dominion:
1. Agricultural
2. Forest or Timber
3. Mineral
4. National Parks

Property of Public
Dominion
Cases:
1. City of Manila v. Garcia
[Feb 21, 1967]
2. RP v.Vda. Del Castillo
[Jun 30, 1988]
3. RP v. Gonzales [Jul 31,
1991]
4. RP v. CA [Nov 14, 1997]
5. Febrera v. CA, Morato
[Aug 12, 1004]

6. Villarico v. Sarmiento
[Nov 11, 2004]
7. Domalsin v. Valenciano
[Jan 25, 2006]
8. MIAA v. CA [Jul 2, 2006]

Patrimonial
Property
Art. 421.
All other property of the
State, which is not of the
character stated in Art.
420, is patrimonial
property.

Art. 422.
Property of public
dominion, when no
longer intended for public
use or public service,
shall form part of the
patrimonial property of
the State.

Patrimonial
Property
Patrimonial
Property of the
State

Property owned by
the State in its
private capacity
and is not devoted
to public use,
public service or
the development of
national wealth

Patrimonial
Property

Characteristics of
Patrimonial Property
of the State
1. Acquired by the State
pursuant to its
proprietary function
2. May be acquired by
private individuals
through prescription
3. Withdrawn from public
use if no longer
intended for public use

Patrimonial
Property
Entities that may Effect a
Change or Conversion from
Property of Public Dominion
to Patrimonial Property:
1. Executive through a positive
act
2. Legislature through a
legislative enactment
Cases:
1. Cebu Oxygen v. Bercilles [Aug.
29, 1975]
2. Laurel v. Garcia [ Jul. 25, 1990]

3. International Hardwood v. UP
[Aug. 31, 1991]
4. Chavez v. PEA [July 9, 2002]

Property of
LGUs
Art. 423.
The property of
provinces, cities
and municipalities
is divided into:

1. property for
public use, and
2. patrimonial
property.

Property of
LGUs
Art. 424.
Property for public use, in the
provinces, cities and
municipalities consist of the:
1. provincial roads, city streets,
and municipal streets,

2. squares, fountains, public

waters, promenades,
3. public works for public service
paid for by said provinces,
cities or municipalities.
All other property possessed by
any of them is patrimonial and
shall be governed by this
Code, without prejudice to the
provisions of special laws.

Property of
LGUs
Case:

1. Province of Zamboanga del

Norte v. City of
Zamboanga [March 28,
1968]

Private
Property
Art. 425.

Property of private
ownership, besides
the patrimonial
property of the State,
provinces, cities and
municipalities consist
of all property
belonging to private
persons, either
collectively or
individually.