Professional Documents
Culture Documents
vs.
INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT & HEIRS OF SINFOROSO
PASCUAL, respondents.
G.R. No. 68166 February 12, 1997
FIRST DIVISION
FACTS:
Pascual was the owner of a parcel of land, its east side bounded by the
Talisay River, the west bounded by the Bulacan River, and the north side
bounded by the Manila Bay. The flow of both rivers meet and empty into the
Manila Bay. An accretion formed at the tip of Pascual's land (adjacent to Manila
Bay) and he sought to register it in his name as a riparian owner. During trial,
Pascual testified that the waves of Manila Bay used to hit the land being part of
Manila Bay's foreshore, but after he had planted palapat and bakawan trees
thereon in 1948, the land began to rise.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the land sought to be registered be deemed an accretion
in the sense that it naturally accrues in favor of the riparian owner or should
the land be considered as foreshore land?
RULING:
Petitioners' claim of ownership over the disputed property under the
principle of accretion, is misplaced. Requisites underArticle 457 are: 1. The
accumulation of the soil or sediment is gradual and imperceptible; 2. That it be
the result of the action of RIVER waters; and 3. The land where the accretion
takes place is adjacent (lying next) to the RIVER bank.
DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
WHEREFORE, the instant Petition for Review is hereby DENIED and
DISMISSED.
DESAMPARADO VDA. DE NAZARENO and LETICIA NAZARENO
TAPIA, petitioners,
vs.
THE COURT OF APPEALS, MR. & MRS. JOSE SALASALAN, MR. & MRS. LEO
RABAYA, AVELINO LABIS, HON. ROBERTO G. HILARIO, ROLLEO I. IGNACIO,
ALBERTO M. GILLERA and HON. ABELARDO G. PALAD, JR., in their official
and/or private capacities, respondents.
G.R. No. 98045 June 26, 1996
SECOND DIVISION
PONENTE: ROMERO, J.:
FACTS:
Sometimes in 1979, private respondents Salasalan and Rabaya leased the
subject lots on which their houses stood from one Antonio Nazareno,
petitioners’ predecessor-in-interest. In the latter part of 1982, private
respondents allegedly stopped paying rentals. As a result, petitioners filed a
case for ejectment with the MTC of Cagayan De Oro.
A decision was rendered against private respondents, which decision was
affirmed by the RTC of Misamis Oriental.
Before he died, Antonio Nazareno caused the approval by the Bureau of
Lands of the Survey plan with a view of perfecting his title over the accretion
which are being claimed by him. Before the approved survey plan could be
released to the applicant, however it was protested by private respondents
before the Bureau of Lands.
Regional Director of the Bureau of Lands Roberto Hilario rendered a
decision ordering the amendment of the survey plan in the name of Antonio
Nazareno by segregating therefrom the areas occupied by the private
respondents who, if qualified, may file public land applications covering their
respective portions.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the accretion that formed in the land of the petitioner
was man-made or artificial.
RULING:
Petitioners claim that the subject land is private land being an accretion
to his titled property, applying Art. 457 of the Civil Code which provides: • To
the owner of lands adjoining the banks of river belong the accretion which they
gradually receive from the effect of the current of the water.
In the case of Meneses v. CA, this Court held that accretion, as a mode
of acquiring property under Art. 457 of the Civil Code, requires the concurrence
of these requisites : (1) that the deposition of soil or sediment be gradual and
imperceptible; (2) that it be the result of the action of the waters of the river (or
sea); and (3) that the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the banks
of rivers (or the sea coast). These are called the rules on alluvion which if
present in a case, give to the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers or
streams any accretion gradually received from the effects of the current of
waters.
For petitioners to insist on the application of these rules on alluvion to
their case, the above-mentioned requisites must be present. However, they
admit that the accretion was formed by the dumping of boulders, soil and other
filling materials on portions of the Balacanas Creek and the Cagayan River
bounding their land. 3 It cannot be claimed, therefore, that the accumulation of
such boulders, soil and other filling materials was gradual and imperceptible,
resulting from the action of the waters or the current of the Balacanas Creek
and the Cagayan River. In Hilario v. City of Manila, 4 this Court held that the
word "current" indicates the participation of the body of water in the ebb and
flow of waters due to high and low tide. Petitioners' submission not having met
the first and second requirements of the rules on alluvion, they cannot claim
the rights of a riparian owner.
Furthermore, the Bureau of Lands, classified the subject land as an
accretion are which was formed by deposits of sawdust in Balacanas Creek and
the Cagayan river, in accordance with the ocular inspection conducted by the
Bureau of Land. It is this Court's irresistible conclusion, therefore, that the
accretion was man-made or artificial.
DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED for lack of merit.
PEDRO P. ROXAS, petitioner-appellee,
vs.
JULIA TUASON, THE MUNICIPALITY OF SAN PEDRO MACATI, AND
ALEJANDRO AND CONSOLACION AGUIRRE, respondents-appellants.
G.R. No. L-3788 December 21, 1907
EN BANC
FACTS:
On February 19, 1906, petitioner Pedro Roxas, through counsel, caused
the registration of four different parcels of land (A, B, C, D) which he acquired
by inheritance. Julia Tuason, one of the owners of the adjoining properties set
forth her opposition as to the registration and authentication of the title of the
petitioner as regard to the parcel of land marked “C”. The only subject of
controversy is the question of the boundary line, between their respective
contiguous premises. The representative of the petitioner affirms that the real
boundary of the hacienda on the side that adjoins the land of Tuason was and
still is a creek or sapa separating both properties, and that in former years said
creek was wider than that at the present time.
The respondent, however, maintains that the boundary between the sitio
called Suavoy, formerly an island of that name, and the Hacienda of San Pedro
Macati is determined by straight lines drawn between some old monuments
distant a few yards from the bank of the said creek.
ISSUE:
Who has the better right to the accretion?
RULING:
Pedro Roxas the better right to the accretion. Article 366 as amended by
Article 457 of the Civil Code in dealing with the right of accession to real
property reads:
The accretions which banks of rivers may gradually receive from the
effects of the currents belong to the owners of the estates bordering
thereon.
FACTS:
On November 5, 1982, private respondents Domingo Apostol et al. filed a
complaint for quieting of title against petitioners Leonida Cureg et al. The
complaint alleged that private respondents, except Apostol, are the legal and/or
the forced heirs of the late Domingo Gerardo, and his predecessors-in-interest
have been in actual, open, peaceful and continuous possession, under a bona
fide claim of ownership of a parcel of land (referred to as their “motherland”).
Subsequently, the heirs verbally sold the “motherland” to Apostol. The
“motherland” showed signs of accretion caused by the movement of the
Cagayan River. When private respondents were about to cultivate their
“motherland” together with its accretion, they were prevented by the
petitioners.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the petitioners are entitled to the accretion.
RULING:
Yes. The petitioners are entitled to the accretion. The “subject land” is an
alluvial deposit left by the northward movement of the Cagayan River and
pursuant to Article 457 of the New Civil Code:
“To the owners of land adjoining the banks of river belong the accretion
which they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the waters.”
However, the increase in the area of the petitioner’s land, being an accretion left
by the change of course or the northward movement of the Cagayan River does
not automatically become registered land just because the lot which receives
such accretion is covered by a Torrens title. As such, it must also be placed
under the operation of the Torrens system.
DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
ACCORDINGLY, the petition is hereby GRANTED. The decision appealed
from is REVERSED and SET ASIDE and judgment is hereby rendered DISMISSING
Civil Case No. Br. III-373 for quieting of title and damages.