Property - 092416

BOOK III
DIFFERENT MODES OF ACQUIRING OWNERSHIP

PRELIMINARY PROVISION

Law as a mode of acquisition

When the Civil Code speaks of law as a mode of acquisition, it refers to it as a distinct mode or to
those cases where the law, independent of the other modes, directly vest ownership of a thing in a
person once the prescribed conditions or requisites are present or complied with.
Examples:
1. Hidden treasure
2. Art 445
3. River beds (Art 461)
4. Art 466
5. Art 681
6. Art 1434
7. Art 1456

Art. 712. Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation.

Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by
law, by donation, by estate and intestate succession, and in consequence of certain
contracts, by tradition.
They may also be acquired by means of prescription. (609a)
What is mode?
Mode is the specific cause which produces them as the result of the presence of a special
condition of things, of the capacity and intention of persons, and of the fulfillment of the
requisites established by law.
What is title?
Title is the juridical act, right or condition which gives the means to their acquisition but which
in itself is insufficient to produce them.
In a contract of sale, the contract is the title and tradition, as a consequence of sale, is the
mode.
Sometimes, the mode is at the same time the title (as in with succession)
Mode
Directly and immediately produces a real
right
The cause
Proximate cause
Essence of the right which is to be created or
transmitted

Title
Serves merely to give the occasion for its
acquisition or existence
The means
Remote cause
The means whereby that essence is
transmitted

Contracts only constitute titles or rights to the transfer or acquisition of ownership, while
tradition or delivery is the mode of accomplishing the same.

What are the different modes and titles of acquiring ownership and other real rights? (OLDTIPS)
1. Original modes or those independent of any pre-existing right of another person, namely:
a. Occupation (condition of being without known owner); and
b. Work which includes intellectual creation (creation, discovery, or invention)
2. Derivative modes or those based on a pre-existing right held by another person, namely:
a. Law (existence of required conditions)
b. Donation (contract of parties)
c. Succession, estate and intestate (death)
d. Tradition, as a consequence of certain contracts (contract of the parties), and
e. Prescription (possession in the concept of owner)

The derivative modes are modes both for the acquisition and transmission of ownership and
other real rights. The transmission may involve a right in its entirety or only a part thereof
(pledge, mortgage, and usufruct).

Registration is not a mode of acquiring ownership, and other real rights but only a means of
confirming the fact of their legal existence with notice to the world at large.

Tradition as a mode of acquistion

Tradition is a derivative mode of acquiring ownership and other real rights by virtue of which,
there being intention and capacity on the part of the grantor and grantee and the preexistence of said rights in the estate of the grantor, they are transmitted to the grantee
through a just title.

Requisites:
i.
Pre-existence in the estate of the grantor of the right to be transmitted
ii.
Just cause or title for the transmission
iii. Intention on the part of the grantor to grant and on the part of the grantee to acquire
iv. Capacity to transmit and to acquire
v.
An act which gives it outward form, physically, symbolically or legally

Purpose: non nudis pactis, sed traditione dominia rerum transferuntur. Ownership is
transferred, among other means, by tradition. The delivery of a thing constitutes a necessary
and indispensable requisite for the purpose of acquiring the ownership of the same by virtue
of a contract.

Kinds:
a. Real tradition
b. Constructive tradition
i. Symbolic
ii. Tradition by public instrument
iii. Traditio longa manu
iv. Tradition brevi manu
v. Tradition constitutum possessorium
c. Quasi tradition
d. Tradition by operation of law
What do you actually deliver?
Ownership, possession and control of the subject matter.
What if the vendor points to the vendee a certain house which he already sold to the vendee, but
there are security guards roaming around the lot?

No tradition. (Ask Jaymie Reyes.)

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Case doctrines

A stranger to the succession of a dead person cannot conclusively claim ownership over the
subject lot on the sole basis of the waiver document which neither recites the elements of
either a sale, or a donation, or any other derivative mode of acquiring ownership. (Acap v CA)

An affidavit not accompanied by any instrument showing the sale between a purported vendor
and vendee is not a basis of ownership. (Heirs of dela Cruz v Heirs of Quintos)

For lands of public domain, in order to acquire it by prescription, there must be a declaration
of the State that its alienable and disposable and a positive act that states that it is no longer
needed for public use. Only at that point will the counting for prescription start. (Heirs of
Malabanan)
TITLE ONE - OCCUPATION
Art. 713. Things appropriable by nature which are without an owner, such as animals that
are the object of hunting and fishing, hidden treasure and abandoned movables, are
acquired by occupation. (610)
What is the concept of occupation?
1. Defined as the appropriation of things appropriable by nature which are without an owner.
2. The seizure of things corporeal which have no owner with the intention of acquiring the
ownership thereof.
What are the requisites of occupation?
1. Seizure of a thing
2. Must be corporeal personal property
3. Must be susceptible of appropriation by nature
4. Must be without an owner
5. Must be an intention to appropriate
6. Requisites or conditions laid down by law must be complied with
What constitutes seizure?

It is sufficient that there is an act of taking possession, material holding not being essential as
long as the possessor considers the thing as subjected to his control or disposition

The thing must be corporeal personal property without known owner (res nullius) or
abandoned by the owner. res communes are not appropriable by nature.

There must be intent to acquire ownership; otherwise, the seizure would not be appropriation
in the legal sense, but mere material holding.
Occupation
Mode of acquiring ownership
Corporeal personal property
Requires that the object be without an owner
Requires an intent to acquire ownership
May not take place without some form of
possession
Short duration
By itself, cannot lead to another mode of
acquisition

Possession
Merely raises the presumption of ownership
when it is exercised in the concept of owner
Any property
May refer to property owned by somebody
Concept of mere holder
May exist without occupation
Generally of longer duration
May lead to another mode, which is
prescription

What are the ways by which occupation may be effected?

1. By hunting and fishing
2. By finding of movables which never had any owner
3. By finding of movables which have been abandoned by the owner, and
4. By finding of hidden treasure
What about wild animals?
They are possessed only while they are under ones control.
When is a thing abandoned, lost or taken by force?

A thing is considered abandoned when the spes recuperandi (expectation to recover) is gone
and the animo revertendi (intention to have it returned) is finally given up by the owner.

A thing has been lost or taken by force is not ipso facto converted into a res nullius (nobodys
property) so as to belong to the first person who takes possession of the same without the
necessity of proving the mode of his acquisition and it may thus be recovered by the original
owner.
Art. 714. The ownership of a piece of land cannot be acquired by occupation. (n)

Land is not included among things that can be the object of occupation the reason is that
when the land is without an owner, it pertains to the state.
But, what about abandoned private land?

Art. 715. The right to hunt and to fish is regulated by special laws. (611)
Do I have a right to hunt and fish?
No.
Strictly speaking, no one has a right to hunt or fish.
The privilege to hunt or fish, however, may be granted and regulated by law.
Art. 716. The owner of a swarm of bees shall have a right to pursue them to another's land,
indemnifying the possessor of the latter for the damage. If the owner has not pursued the
swarm, or ceases to do so within two consecutive days, the possessor of the land may
occupy or retain the same. The owner of domesticated animals may also claim them within
twenty days to be counted from their occupation by another person. This period having
expired, they shall pertain to him who has caught and kept them. (612a)

This article talks of domesticated, not domestic animals.

With respect to domestic animals, he can claim them even beyond twenty days from their
occupation unless there is abandonment on his part.
This article does not apply to a case where a person has found a domestic animal and kept it
for a number of years not knowing its owner.
A domesticated animal which has not strayed or been abandoned cannot be acquired by
occupation by a person to whose custody it was entrusted
The periods of two days and twenty days are not periods of limitation, but conditions
precedent to recovery.

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Art. 717. Pigeons and fish which from their respective breeding places pass to another
pertaining to a different owner shall belong to the latter, provided they have not been
enticed by some article of fraud. (613a)

This article does not refer to wild pigeons and fish in a state of liberty or that live naturally
independent of man. Their occupation is regulated by Art 715.
What is contemplated here are pigeons and fishes considered as domesticated animals
subject to the control of man in private breeding places.
The pigeons and fish must change their breeding place to another belonging to a different
owner.
Unless enticed by some artifice or fraud, they shall belong to the owner of the breeding place
to which they shall have transferred.

Art. 718. He who by chance discovers hidden treasure in another's property shall have the
right granted him in article 438 of this Code. (614)
Art. 719. Whoever finds a movable, which is not treasure, must return it to its previous
possessor. If the latter is unknown, the finder shall immediately deposit it with the mayor of
the city or municipality where the finding has taken place.
The finding shall be publicly announced by the mayor for two consecutive weeks
in the way he deems best.
If the movable cannot be kept without deterioration, or without expenses which
considerably diminish its value, it shall be sold at public auction eight days after the
publication.
Six months from the publication having elapsed without the owner having
appeared, the thing found, or its value, shall be awarded to the finder. The finder and the
owner shall be obliged, as the case may be, to reimburse the expenses. (615a)
Art. 720. If the owner should appear in time, he shall be obliged to pay, as a reward to the
finder, one-tenth of the sum or of the price of the thing found. (616a)

See codal for rules. Fairly simple.

This article is based on the fact that one who lost his property does not necessarily abandon
it. If there is no abandonment, the lost thing has not become res nullius.
Paragraph 4 contemplates implied abandonment.

Title II. - INTELLECTUAL CREATION

Art. 721. By intellectual creation, the following persons acquire ownership:
(1) The author with regard to his literary, dramatic, historical, legal, philosophical,
scientific or other work;
(2) The composer; as to his musical composition;
(3) The painter, sculptor, or other artist, with respect to the product of his art;
(4) The scientist or technologist or any other person with regard to his discovery
or invention. (n)
Art. 722. The author and the composer, mentioned in Nos. 1 and 2 of the preceding article,
shall have the ownership of their creations even before the publication of the same. Once
their works are published, their rights are governed by the Copyright laws.
The painter, sculptor or other artist shall have dominion over the product of his art
even before it is copyrighted.

The scientist or technologist has the ownership of his discovery or invention even
before it is patented. (n)
Art. 723. Letters and other private communications in writing are owned by the person to
whom they are addressed and delivered, but they cannot be published or disseminated
without the consent of the writer or his heirs. However, the court may authorize their
publication or dissemination if the public good or the interest of justice so requires. (n)
Art. 724. Special laws govern copyright and patent. (429a)
Title III. - DONATION
CHAPTER ONE
NATURE OF DONATIONS
Art. 725. Donation is an act of liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously of a thing
or right in favor of another, who accepts it. (618a)
Concept of donation
In its generic sense, the term donation includes all forms of gratuitous dispositions.
The donation the article speaks of and which is governed by Title Three is the donation proper
or the true (or real) donation, or ordinary donation.
What is the nature and effect of donation?

Although Art 725 defines donation as an act, it is really a contract, with all the essential
requisites of a contract.

It falls under contracts of pure beneficence, the consideration being the mere liberality of the
benefactor.

The Civil Code considers donation not among the contracts that transfer ownership but as a
particular mode of acquiring and transmitting ownership.

As a mode of acquiring ownership, donation results in an effective transfer of title over the
property from the moment the donor is made aware of the acceptance by the donee, provided
that the donee is not disqualified or prohibited by law from accepting the donation.

Once accepted, it is generally considered irrevocable, and the donee becomes owner of
property, except:
1. on account of officiousness,
2. failure of the donee to comply with the charge imposed on the donation,
3. or ingratitude.

The effect of donation is to reduce the patrimony or asset of the donor and to increase that of
the donee. Hence, the giving of a mortgage or any other security does not constitute a
donation.
Requisites of donation
1. Donor must have capacity to make the donation of a thing or right
2. Donative intent (animus donandi) or intent to make the donation out of liberality to benefit the
donee
3. There must be delivery, whether actual or constructive
4. Donee must accept or consent to the donation.

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a.

In certain donations, the form prescribed by law must be followed (See Art 748-749)
The subject matter of a donation may be a thing or right. A person may be a donee although
he is incapacitated to enter into a contract if he is not specially disqualified by law to accept
donations.
Not enough that the act is gratuitous; there must be an intent to benefit the donee.
The acceptance or consent of the donee is required because no one can be obliged to
receive a benefit against his will.

Case doctrines

The essential elements of donation are as follows:

o
Essential reduction of the patrimony of the donor
o
Increase in the patrimony of the donee
o
The intent to do an act of liberality or animus donandi (Heirs of Florencio v Heirs of
de Leon)

In order that the donation of an immovable property may be valid, the deed of donation must
be made in a public document. The acceptance must be in a public document as well. (Heirs
of Florencio)

Registration of the deed in the Office of the RD or in the Assessors Office is not necessary for
it to be considered valid and official. Registration does not vest title. The necessity of
registration comes into play only when the rights of third persons are affected. Furthermore,
the heirs are bound by the deed of contracts executed by their predecessors-in-interest.
(Heirs of Florencio)

A quitclaim is not a donation where those who executed the same merely acknowledged the
ownership of and better right over the lot by other persons. (Heirs of Reyes v Calumpang)

Acceptance is necessary in a donation. This applies to all kinds of donations because the law
does not make any distinction. A donation mortis causa takes effect only after the death of the
donor; consequently it is only after the latters death that its acceptance maybe made. (Vita v
Montanano)

Prudent thing to do when drafting deeds of donation: Place an acceptance clause. So, if court
considers it inter vivos, then it would have been accepted. If court considers it mortis causa,
then the clause would be a mere superfluity, still open to the acceptance of the donee upon
the death of the donor. (Atty Abrenica)

The purpose of the formal requirement for acceptance of a donation is to ensure that such
acceptance is duly communicated to the donor. The actual knowledge by the donor of the
construction and existence of the school building pursuant to the condition of the donation
fulfills the legal requirement that the acceptance of the donation by the donee be
communicated to the donor. (Republic v Silim)
Art. 726. When a person gives to another a thing or right on account of the latter's merits or
of the services rendered by him to the donor, provided they do not constitute a demandable
debt, or when the gift imposes upon the donee a burden which is less than the value of the
thing given, there is also a donation. (619)
What are the kinds of donation?
1. As to taking effect:
a. Inter vivos or that which takes effect during the lifetime of the donor
b. Moris causa or that which takes effect upon the death of the donor
c. Propter nuptias or that by reason of marriage
2. As to consideration

3.

Pure or simple; or that the cause of which is the pure liberality of the donor in
consideration of the donees merits
b. Remuneratory or compensatory; or that which is given out of gratitude on
account of the services rendered by the donee to the donor, provided they do
not constitute a demandable debt
c. Modal or that which imposes upon the donee a burden (services to be
performed in the future) less than the value of the gift
d. Onerous or that the value of which is considered the equivalent of the
consideration for which it is given, or that made for a valuable consideration,
and is thus governed by the rules on oblicon
As to effectivity or extinguishment
a. Pure
b. Conditional
c. With a term

Tell me more about remuneratory donations

In this kind of donation, the motivating cause is gratitude, acknowledgment of a favor, a desire
to repay for past services
A donation given for future services cannot be remuneratory
It is necessary that the past services do not constitute a demandable debt
o
A debt is demandable when it can be legally demanded or enforced by the donee
against the donor who has thus an obligation to pay it. But a debt that has been
renounced is not a demandable debt.
What about gratuities and pensions?
While technically a gratuity is different from a donation, in substance, they are the same.
A gratuity is similar to a pension and is essentially remunerative donation.
Tell me more about modal donations

In a modal donation, a burden (which is necessarily future) less than the value of the gift is
imposed upon the donee.

If the burden is considered the equivalent of the thing or right given, then its an onerous
donation.

The burden may consist in a real or personal charge which is capable of being valued in
terms of money.
What are donations with mixed features?

Strictly speaking, remuneratory donations are those which are given on account of services
rendered by the donee to the donor.

Modal donations are conditional only in the sense that a burden, charge, condition or
limitation is imposed y the donor but the burden is not technically a condition in the sense of
an uncertain event upon which the effectitivy or extinguishment of donation is made to
depend for it is really a mere obligation imposed by the donor upon the donee as a
consideration

Actually, a modal donation has dual nature, it is partly onerous and partly simple the portion
equivalent to the burden is onerous and is governed by the rules on obligations and contracts,
while the portion exceeding the value of the burdens imposed, is simple and must follow the
form of donations.

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Harry donates to Ron a parcel of land worth 300 galleons 1 but Ron has to give another parcel of
land or perform some service worth 100 galleons, the transaction is onerous as the 100 galleons
which must be in the form of a contract of barter or exchange, and simple as to the 200 galleons
which must follow the form of donations.
Case doctrines
An onerous donation is that which imposes upon the donee a reciprocal obligation, or to be
precise, this is the kind of donation made for a valuable consideration, the cost of which is
equal to or more than the thing donated. (CJ Yulo v Roman Catholic Bishop of San Pablo)
Since onerous donations are governed by the rules of contracts, the prescription period is 10
years (based on a written contract), and not the 4-year period based on Article 764
(revocation must be brought within 4 years from the non-compliance of the conditions of the
donation). (De Luna v Abrigo)
Remuneratory donation is one where the donee gives something to reward past or future
services or because of future charges or burdens, when the value of said services, burdens or
charges is less than the value of the donation. (De Luna -> this definition seems wrong as it
includes future charges, which are necessarily modal)
Art. 727. Illegal or impossible conditions in simple and remuneratory donations shall be
considered as not imposed. (n)
Whats the effect of illegal or impossible conditions?
Under Article 727, the illegal or impossible condition in a simple or remuneratory donation
would be deemed not imposed following the rule on testamentary dispositions. The donation
will be considered as simiple.
If the donation is onerous (or modal, as to its onerous portion), the illegal or impossible
condition shall render it void. Being contractual in nature, the rule applicable would be that
found in Article 1183 (check codal, if divisible, only condition will be void)
Case doctrine
The prohibition in the deed of donation against the alienation of the property for 100 years should
be declared as an illegal or impossible condition within the contemplation of Article 727.
Consequently, such condition shall be considered as not imposed. No reliance may accordingly be
placed on said prohibitory paragraph in the deed of donation. (Archbishop of Manila v CA)

1As of July 2006, the galleon-dollar exchange rate was 1:16.72. It hasnt gone below 1:15 ever
since. Wala lang, boring ng property eh. Harry Potter na lang.