TITLE II OWNERSHIP

Chapter 1 OWNERSHIP IN GENERAL

Art. 427. Ownership may be exercised over things and rights. OWNERSHIP defined. Ownership is the independent right of a person to the exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing including its disposition and recovery subject only to the restrictions and limitations established by law and the rights of others. Facts: Philippine Suburban - The corporation sold a parcel of land to the government which the latter Development Corporation vs. used it for the relocation of squatters. The Auditor-General Pedro M. - The govt occupied the land at once, although it had given only a Gimenez downpayment and the balance be paid in the future after the seller have first caused the registration of the property under its name. Issue: - Is the seller who has not been completely paid required to pay the real property taxes? Held: No, because he has already delivered the land to the govt. Ownership is transferred to the govt by virtue of delivery Payment of purchase price is not essential to effectuate the transfer of ownership. Not being an owner anymore, the corporation had no duty to pay said taxes. Since payment has already been made under protest, a refund must be made in favor of the government. The fact that the condition regarding the registration, has not yet been complied with is of no significance in so far as the payment of taxes is concerned.

Republic vs. CA

Forest lands or forest reserves are not capable of private appropriation and possession thereof cannot ripen into private ownership, unless such lands are classified and considered as disposable or alienable. Forest lands can be appropriate by private ownership. Under Art. 428, the owner has the right to dispose of a thing without other limitations than those established by law. As an incident of ownership, there is nothing to prevent a landowner from donating his naked title to the land. However, the new owner must respect the rights of the tenant. Sec 7 of RA 3844, as amended (Code of Agrarian Reforms of the Phils) gives the agricultural lessee the right to work on the landholding once the leasehold relationship is established. Security of tenure is a legal concession to agricultural lessees which they value as life itself and deprivation of landholdings is tantamount to deprivation of their only means of livelihood. Also under Sec 10 of the same Act, the law explicitly provides that the leasehold relation is not extinguished by the alienation or transfer of legal possession of the landholding.

PNB vs. CA

Kinds of Ownership (a) Full Ownership (dominium or jus in re propia) this includes all the rights of the owner. (b) Naked Ownership (nuda proprietos) this is ownership where the right to use and the fruits has been denied. a. Naked ownership plus usufruct equals full ownership b. Usufruct equals full ownership minus naked ownership c. Naked ownership equals full ownership minus usufruct. (c) Sole Ownership where the ownership is vested in only one person (d) Co Ownership (or tenancy in common) when the ownership is vested by two or more owners. The concept of co-ownership is the unity of the property and plurality of the subjects. Each coowner, together with the other co-owners, is the owner of the whole, and at the same time, the owner of an undivided aliquot part thereof. Where questions of ownership may be decided Questions relating to ownership or even to the validity or discharge of a mortgage should generally be ventilated in an ordinary civil action or proceeding and NOT under the proceedings provided in the Land Registration Act, inasmuch as the latter proceedings are summary in nature and more or less inadequate. Exceptions: As when both parties concerned, are given full authority to present their sides and the court is able to obtain sufficient evidence to guide the Land Registration Court in formulating its decision. This, however, naturally falls within the sound discretion of the Court. Possessory Information Querobin vs. Alconcel An informacion possessoria (possessory information) duly recorded in the Registry of Property is prima facie evidence that the registered possessor is also the owner of the land involved.

Art. 428. The owner has the right to enjoy and dispose of a thing, without other limitations than those established by law. The owner has also the right of action against the holder and possessor of the thing in order to recover it. The Rights of the Owner under the Civil Code: 1. Right to enjoy a. Right to possess i. The right to enjoy a thing or to enjoy a right. It means that the thing or right is subject to control of my will. b. Right to Use i. The right to exclude any person, as a rule, from the enjoyment and disposal thereof 1. Reasonable force may be used to prevent or repel physical invasion 2. But to recover, nor force, but legal means must be used c. Right to the Fruits 2. Right to dispose

a. Right to consume, destroy or abuse b. Right to encumber or alienate 3. Right to Recover Rights of the Owner under the Roman Law (1) Jus possidendi the right to possess (2) Jus utendi the right to use (3) Jus fruendi the right to the fruits (4) Jus abutendi the right to consume (and also to transform or abuse) (5) Jus disponendi the right to dispose (6) Jus vindicandi the right to recover

live with it use it receive rentals destroy it sell/mortgage/donate recover it from anyone who has deprived me of its rightful possession

Distilleria Washington Inc. vs. La Tondena Distillers, Inc.

The general rule on ownership must apply and petitioner be allowed to enjoy all the rights of an owner in regard the bottles in question, to wit: a. The jus utendi or the right to receive from the thing which it produces b. The Jus abutendi or the right to consume the thing by its use c. The jus disponendi or the power of the owner to alienate, encumber, transform or even destroy the thing owned d. The jus vindicandi or the right to exclude the possession of the thing owned any other person to whom the owner has not transmitted such thing. What is proscribed is the use of the bottles in infringement of anothers trademark or incorporeal rights.

JUS POSSIDENDI (a) The right to possess means the right to hold a thing or to enjoy a right. In either case , it means that the thing or right is subject to the control of my will.
Art. 1495. The vendor is bound to transfer the ownership of and deliver, as well as warrant the thing which is the object of the sale. Art. 1496. The ownership of the thing sold is acquired by the vendee from the moment it is delivered to him in any of the ways specified in Articles 1497 to 1501, or in any other manner signifying an agreement that the possession is transferred from the vendor to the vendee. Art. 1497. The thing sold shall be understood as delivered, when it is placed in the control and possession of the vendee.

(b) If I sell what I own, I am duty bound to transfer its possession, actually and constructively to the buyer (Art. 1495, 1496 and 1497) (c)

JUS UTENDI The right to use includes the right to exclude any person, as a rule, from the employment and disposal thereof. For this purpose, the owner-possessor may use such force as may be reasonably necessary to repel or prevent and actual or threatened unlawful physical invasion or usurpation of the property.
Art. 429. The owner or lawful possessor of a thing has the right to exclude any person from the enjoyment and disposal thereof. For this purpose, he may use such force as may be reasonably necessary to repel or prevent an actual or threatened unlawful physical invasion or usurpation of his property.

Upon the other hand, the owner of a thing cannot make use thereof in such manner as to injure the rights of a third person.
Art. 431. The owner of a thing cannot make use thereof in such manner as to injure the rights of a third person.

Otherwise, he may be held liable for damages, and if his property is a nuisance, it may even be destroyed. Also as a consequence of ownership, it has been held that when a person using his brothers land, with the latters permission is sued by a stranger who claims to be the owner thereof, the owner is entitled to intervene in the action so that he can adequately protect his rights. If he be not allowed to intervene, a judgment against the brother-possessor would generally not be binding on the brother-owner.

JUS FRUENDI The right to the fruits includes three kinds of fruits natural, industrial and civil fruits (such as rents from buildings). The right to natural fruits extends to the young of animals.
Art. 442. Natural fruits are the spontaneous products of the soil, and the young and other products of animals. Industrial fruits are those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation or labor. Civil fruits are the rents of buildings, the price of leases of lands and other property and the amount of perpetual or life annuities or other similar income.

It has been held that only owners and not mortgagees can claim damages for injury to the fruits of a piece of land and for injury caused by the deprivation of possession. The recovery of these damages is indeed an attribute of ownership.