TITLE I.
CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY Human Body not a property; cannot be appropriated; it is
Property
- considered as an object which may be
appropriated (Art. 414)
- Includes intangible things like rights or credits
Branch of Civil Law which classifies and defines
the different kinds of appropriated objects
CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY
1. Mobility and Non- Mobility movable
(personal); immovable (real)
2. Ownership public dominion; private
dominion
3. Alienability within the commerce of man;
outside the commerce of man
4. Existence present property (res
existentes); future property (res futurae)
5. Materiability or Immateriability tangible
(corporeal); intangible (incorporeal)
6. Dependence or Importance principal;
accessory
7. Capability of Substitution fungible; non-
fungible
8. Nature or Definiteness generic; specific
9. Whether in the custody of court or free
free property; custodial egis
CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPERTY
a. Utility for satisfaction of moral or economic
wants
b. Susceptibility of appropriation
c. Individuality or substantivity
Thing
Includes both appropriable and non-appropriable
objects
Examples: planets, stars, sun
CLASSIFICATION OF THINGS:
1. Res Nullius belonging to one
Reason: things have not yet been
appropriated or such was abandoned
Wild animals, fishes still swimming in
the ocean, pebbles lying in the
seashore
2. Res Communes belonging to everyone
Air, wind, light, starlight
3. Res Alicujus belonging to someone
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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
Importance of Classification of Properties
Different provisions of law govern the acquisition,
possession, disposition, loss and registration of
movables and immovables
Ownership of real property may be acquired by
prescription although there is BF in 30 years;
whereas acquisition in BF of personal property
needs only 8 years
Transactions of real property must be recorded in
the Registry of Property to affect 3rd persons
Mixed or Semi-Movables refers to movable properties
which under certain conditions may be considered
immovable by virtue of being attached to an immovable for
certain specified reasons
Reclassification act of specifying how agricultural lands
shall be utilized for non-agricultural uses
Conversion act of changing the current use of a piece of
land of agricultural into some other use, as approved by
DAR
a tangible or corporeal being
Organ Donation Act (RA 7170 or An Act Authorizing the
Legacy or Donation of All or a Part of a Human Body
After Death for Specified Purposes)
Who may execute a Legacy
Any individual, at least 18 years of age and of
sound mind may give by way of legacy, to take
effect after his/her death, all or part of his/her
body for any specified purposes.
Who may execute a Donation
1. Spouse
2. Son/Daughter
3. Either parent
4. Brother/Sister
5. Guardian
Manner of Executing a Legacy
Will, which becomes effective upon testators
death without waiting for the probate of the will.
Donation shall be respected by
1. Executor
2. Administrator
3. Heirs
4. Assign
5. Successors-in-Interest
6. Al members of the family
Interests any right in nature less than title
Estate totality of interests which a person has from
absolute ownership down to naked possession
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ART. 415. The following are immovable property:
1) Lands, buildings, roads and constructions of all
kinds adhered to the soil
Land: IM even if moved by an extraordinary happening
or catastrophe; shovelful of land: M since it is no
longer adhered to the soil
Buildings: IM provided they are more or less of a
permanent structure, substantially adhering to the
land, and not mere barong-barongs, and provided
there is an intent of permanent annexation
2) Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are
attached to the land or formed an integral part of
an immovable
Trees and Plants: RP by nature if they are
spontaneous products of the soil, and by incorporation
if they were planted through labor / / / if detached, they
becomes PP except in the case of uprooted timber if
the land is a timber land /// trees blown by a typhoon
still remains oart of the land upon which they rest and
are still RP
Growing crops on ones own land: RP by
incorporation // BUT, may be a PP if subject to a
mortagage
Growing crops on anothers land: RP // once
severed, PP na
3) Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed
manner, in such a way that it cannot be separated
therefrom without breaking the material or
deterioration of the object
For the incorporated thing to be considered RP, the
injury or breakage or deterioration in case of
separation must be SUBSTANTIAL
Examples: A fixed fire escape stairway firmly
embedded in the walls of a house, an aqueduct or a
sewer or a well
4) Statutes, reliefs, paintings, or other objects for
use or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on
lands by the owner of the immovable in such a
 manner that it reveals the intention to attach them
permanently to the tenements
Examples: A fixed statue in the garden of a house, a
permanent painting on the ceiling, a picture embedded
in the concreted walls of a house, a rug or carpet
fastened to the floor, as in the case of a wall to wall
carpeting
If placed by the owner/agent = RP
If placed by the tenant = PP
5) Machinery, receptacles, instruments or
implements intended by the owner of the
tenement of 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
Requisites:
a. Placing must be made by the owner of the
tenement, his agent or duly authorized legal
representative
b. The industry or works must be carried on in the
building or on the land.
c. The machines etc., must tend directly to meet the
needs of said industry or work
d. The machines must be essential and principal
elements in the industry and not merely incidental
(cash registers, typewrites, calculators,
computes, fax machines usually found and used
in hotels, restaurants are merely incidental and
should not be considered immobilized by
destination)
Examples: machineries pf breweries used in the
manufacture of liquor and soft drinks used in the
manufacture of liquor and soft drinks, though movable
by nature, are immobilized because they are essential
to said industries
Par. 5 refers to RP by destination or purpose
Effect of Separation: If the machine is still in the
building , but is no longer used in the industry
conducted therein, the machine reverts to the
condition of a chattel. // if it is needed for the industry,
but separated temporarily, the property continues to be
immovable, inasmuch as par. 5 refers, not to RP by
incorporation, but to RP by destination or purpose
6) Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish
ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in
case their owner has placed them or preserve
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
Animals are temporarily outside: RP, as long as the
intent to return is present
Alienated animal: PP, unless the building or
tenement is also alienated
Temporary Structure of Cages: PP; birds inside are
also PP
7) Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land
Those still in the barn or ground, but wrapped inside
some newspapers or any other coverings = PP,
Reason: they have not been actually used yet or
spread over the land
8) Mines, quaries and slag dumps, while the matter
therefrom forms part of a bed, and waters wither
running or stagnant
Mines: including the minerals attached thereto are RP
// when extracted = PP
Slag Dump: dirt and soil taken from a mine and piled
upon the surface of the ground. Inside the dump,
minerals can be found
Waters under Par. 8: those which are still attached to
or running through the soil or ground
Waters itself = PP
Canals, rivers, lakes, and other parts of the sea =
RP
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
Floating House: if tied to a shore or bank post and
used as residence = RP, considering that the waters
on which it floats are RP
Accessory follows the principal principle applies
Vessels: PP; if mortgaged, it must be recorded at the
Collector of Customs Port of Entry // they partake to a
certain extent of the nature and conditions of a RP
because of their value and importance in the world of
commerce
10) Contracts for public works, and servitudes and
other real rights over immovable property
Rights = RP
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ART. 416. The following things are deemed to be personal
property:
1) Those movables susceptible of appropriation
which are not included in the preceding article
Fountain pen, piano, animals
2) Real property which by any special provision of
law is considered personalty
Growing crops for the purposes of Chattel Mortgage
Law
3) Forces of nature which are brought under the
control by science; and
Electricity, gas, light, nitrogen
4) In general, all things which can be transported
from place to place without impairment of the real
property to which they are fixed
Machinery not attached to the land nor needed for the
carrying on of an industry conducted therein
Portable radio, laptop, computer, diploma hanging on
the wall
Tests to Determine whether a Property is PP or RP
a. Capable of being carried from place to place
(Test by Description)
b. If such change in location can be made without
injuring the real property to which it may in the
meantime be attached (Test by Description)
c. If the object is not one of those enumerated under
Art. 415 (Test by Exclusion)
Other Incorporeal Movable patent, copyright, right to an
invention
Personal Effects include tangible property as applied to
a person and cannot include automobiles, although they are
PP
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ART. 417. The following are also considered as personal
property:
1) Obligations and actions which have for their
object movables or demandable sums; and
Ex: recovery of a car; promissory notes
2) Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial and
industrial entities, although they may have real
estates
All shares in all juridical persons should be considered
as PP for there is no reason to discriminate between
 shares in a corporation and shares in other juridical
persons
Shares of Stocks: peculiar kind of PP which can only
exist or be enforced where the corporation is organized
and has its place of business and can exist only as an
incident to and connected with the corporation, and
this class of property is inseparable from the domicile
of the corporation itself
Money: a LEGAL TENDER, not a Merchandise; PP //
If it is taken out of domestic circulation, it may now be
considered as M or commodity, subject to forfeiture
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ART. 418: Movable property is either consumable or non-
consummable. To the first class belong those movable
which cannot be used in a manner appropriate to their
nature without their being consumed; to the second class
belong all the others.
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ART. 419. Property is either of public dominion or of private
ownership
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ART. 420. The following things are of public dominion:
1) Those intended for public use, such as roads,
canals, rivers, torrents, ports, and bridges
constructed by the State, banks, 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
Public Dominion: ownership by the State in which the
latter has control and administration; ownership by the
public in general
Kinds of Public Dominion:
1. For public use
2. For public service
3. For the development of national wealth
And others of similar characters: public streams,
natural beds of rivers, river channels, waters of rivers,
creeks
Creek: a recess or arm extending from a river and
participating in the ebb and flow of the sea
Shore: space alternately covered and uncovered by
the movement of the tide
Foreshore Lands: the riparian or littoral owner has
preferential rights over the foreshore area // to qualify
as a FL, it must be shown that the land lies between
the high and low water marks and is alternately wet
and dry according to the flow of the tide
Torrent: amount of water which in case of heavy rains
gather in deep places or canals where it is supposed
to flow afterwards
Rivers: if non-navigable = not PD // if navigable = PD
Characteristics of a PD
1. Outside the commerce of man, and cannot be
leased, donated, sold, or be the object of a
contract
2. Cannot be acquired through prescription no
matter how long the possession of the property
has been
3. They cannot be registered under LRA and be the
subject of a torrens title
4. Cannot be levied upon by execution nor can be
attached
5. Can be used by everybody
Can be either RP or PP
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ART. 421. All other property of the State, which is not of the
character stated in the preceding article, is patrimonial
property
Patrimonial Property: State property which is not
devoted for public service, public use or the
development of national wealth
Examples: friar lands, San Lazaro estate, properties
obtained by the State through escheat proceedings
(no legal heir of a decedent is existing); or those
inherited by or donated to the government; a
municipal-owned waterworks system
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ART. 422. Property of public dominion, when no longer
intended for public use or for public service, shall form part
of the patrimonial property of the State.
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ART. 423. The property of provinces, cities and
municipalities is divided into property for public use and
patrimonial property.
Reclaimed Lands: these are the result if the
intervention of man just like in the extraction of mineral
resources
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ART. 424. Property for public use, in the provinces, cities
and municipalities consist of the provincial roads, city
streets, municipal streets, the squares, fountains, public
waters, promenades, and 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 the special laws.
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ART. 425. Property of private ownership, besides the
patrimonial property of the State, provinces, cities and
municipalities, consists of all property belonging to private
persons, either individually or collectively.
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ART. 426. Whenever by provision of the law, or an
individual declaration, the expression immovable things or
property or movable things or property, is used, it shall be
deemed to include, respectively, the things enumerated un
Chapter 1 and in Chapter 2.
Whenever the word muebles or furnitures is used alone,
it shall bit be deemed to include money, credits, commercial
securities, stocks, and bonds, jewelry, scientific or artistic
collections, books, medals, arms, clothing, horses, or
carriages and their accessories, grains, liquids and
merchandise, or other things which do not have as their
principal object the furnishing or ornamenting of a building,
except where from the context of the law, or the individual
declaration, the contrary clearly appears.
 TITLE II: OWNERSHIP
ART. 427. Ownership may be exercised over things or
rights.
Ownership: is the independent and general right of a
person to control a thing particularly in his possession,
enjoyment, disposition, and recovery, subject to no
restrictions except those imposed by the State or
private persons, without prejudice to the provisions of
law
Kinds of Ownership
1. Full Ownership dominium or jus in re propia
It includes all rights of the owner
2. Naked Ownership nuda proprietas
This is ownership where the right to the use and
the fruits have been denied
NO + Usufruct = FO
U = FO-NO
NO=FO-U
3. Sole Ownership ownership is vested to only
one person
4. Co-Ownership ownership is vested to 2 or
more persons
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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 a right of action against the holder and
possessor of the thing in order to recover it.
Rights of the Owner: enjoy, dispose, recover
Right to Enjoy: possess, use, right to the fruits
Right to Dispose: consume or destroy or abuse,
encumber or alienate
Rights of the Owner under the Roman Law
1. Jus Possidendi right to possess // right to
hold a thing or to enjoy a right
2. Jus Utendi right to use // includes the right
to exclude any person from the enjoyment
and disposal thereof
3. Jus Fruendi right to fruits // right to the 3
kinds of fruits: natural, civil, industrial
4. Jus Abutendi right to consume, transform
or abuse //
5. Jus Dispodendi right to dispose // includes
the right to donate, sell, pledge or mortgage
6. Jus Vindicandi right to recover
Actions to Recover
vendor, vendee or other person of any land
or building is being unlawfully withheld after
the expiration or termination of the right to
hold possession, by virtue of any contract,
express or implied // refusal to vacate must
be unlawful // demand is needed // 1 yr
prescriptive period from the day
possession becomes unlawful
If there is a fixed period for the lease
termination = lease ends automatically
without demand
If there reason is non-fulfillment of the
conditions = 1yr period is counted from the
date of the demand to vacate
2. Accion Publiciana plenary action to recover
better right of possession // 10 year PP // Issue is
possession de jure
- Action to rescind contract in fraud of creditors is
AP
Kinds:
a. Entry was not obtained through FISTS =
can be brought as soon as possible without
waiting for the lapse of 1 year // failure to
make state that deprivation was caused by
FISTS would make the action not one of FE
but AP
b. Where the 1 yr period for bringing FE or UD
has already expired
3. Accion Reivindicatoria action to recover
ownership over real property
It may be brought within 10 or 30 years as the
case may be depending on whether the other
party seeks to obtain ownership by ordinary or
extraordinary prescription
4. Writ of Preliminary Injunction may be availed
of in the original case of forcible entry, and during
the appeal, in the case of unlawful detainer
5. Writ of Possession an order directing the
sheriff to place a successful registrant under the
Torrens System in possession if the property
covered by a decree in court

PERSONAL PROPERTY replevin

Provisional remedy where the complainant
prays for the recovery of the possession of
a PP
Applicant must give a bond, double the
amount of the value of the property

REAL PROPERTY
1. Forcible Entry or Unlawful Detainer (Accion
Interdictal)

Forcible Entry summary action to recover

material or physical possession of RP when
a person originally in possession was
deprived thereof by force, intimidation,
strategy, threat or stealth // 1 yr
prescriptive period from the day of the
dispossession

Unlawful Detainer action that must be

brought when possession by a landlord,