Annotation 2

4/19/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 031
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 191

Joson vs. Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources
ANNOTATION
CONCEPTS AND PROCEDURES OP PUBLIC LAND

DISPOSITION
I. General Concepts
Under the Constitution, all agricultural, timber and

mineral lands of the public domain, including waters,
minerals and other
1
natural resources found therein, belong
to the State. For this reason, their disposition,
exploitation, development or utilization are vested
exclusively in the State, subject to such safeguards as are
embodied in the Constitution. Moreover,
2
in the disposition
of public lands, specific limitations are intended to be
imposed for the promotion of the general welfare and the
conservation of national patrimony, and, for this purpose,
Congress has been designated to determine by law the size
of land which individuals,
3
corporations or associations may
acquire and hold.
On the basis of the foregoing constitutional provision, all
lands are presumed to be public lands belonging to the
Government, unless it is clearly shown and fully
established
4
that they have been segregated from the public
domain.
_______________
1 Article XIII, Sec. 1, Constitution of the Philippines.

2 Article XIII, Sec. 2, Ibid.
3Article XIII, Sec. 3, Ibid.
4 Fontanilla vs. Director of Lands, et al., CA. G.R. No. 8371-R, August
4, 1952.
192
192 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000162dc1d054d981a7795003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 1/15
Therefore, if it is not satisfactorily shown that the land has

been segregated from the public domain and has been
disposed in his favor by the Government,
5
claimant cannot
have it registered in his name.
Under existing laws, the function of disposition of
disposable public lands is shared by the Bureau of Forestry
and the Bureau of Lands in the Department of Agriculture
and Natural Resources. For this purpose, the Bureau of
Forestry possesses the primary responsibility of reserving
forest and mineral public lands and certifying such other
lands as are better adapted and 6
more valuable for
agricultural than forest purposes. On the other hand, the
Bureau of Lands serves as the custodian and administrator
of the public lands classified by the Bureau of Forestry as
non-timber lands, and subject to the supervision and
control of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources assumes the direct executive control of the
survey, classification, lease, sale or any other form of
concession, or disposition
7
and management of the lands of
the public domain.
Be it however understood that the term public lands or
“lands of the public domain” does not embrace or include all
lands of government ownership but only so much of said
lands as are thrown open to private appropriation and
settlement in accordance with general laws. For this
purpose, government lands and public lands are not
synonymous terms; the first includes not only the second
but also other lands of the Government already reserved
8
or
devoted to public use or subject to private rights.
II. Historical Development of the Policy on Disposition of

Public Lands
The present policy of the government in the disposition of

public lands was introduced by the American an-
_______________
5 Abing vs. Amistad, G.R. No. L-16235, October 26, 1961.

6 Sec. 1827, Revised Administrative Code.
7 Sec. 1844, Ibid., Sec. 4, Commonwealth Act No. 141.
8 Montano vs. Insular Government, 12 Phil. 572; Mapa vs. Insular
Government, 10 Phil. 175.
193
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 193

thorities at the turn of the century. Under such policy

enunciated in a law enacted in 1902 by the United States
Congress, the Philippine Government which had been
empowered to administer the extensive public lands for the
benefit of the Filipinos, was authorized to dispose in favor
of each individual not more than 16 hectares and 9in favor of
each not more than 1,024 hectares of public land.
Significantly, the foregoing policy restricting the
disposition of public lands in the Philippines was opposed
by the American Democrats and other entrepreneurs who
wanted to gain extensive foothold in the islands. It was
argued by the opponents of the policy that since the public
domain in the Philippines was so vast that it would take
the Filipinos hundreds of years to develop their country
with their meagre financial resources, the inducement of
outside capitalists to share in the development of the
islands would be advantageous to the progressive
development of the nation. On the other hand, the
defenders of a restricted land policy feared that a policy of
giving large grants to individuals or corporations would
turn the Philippines into a plantation colony and the
Filipinos into mere plantation workers, to the detriment of
the political and economic future of the country. In this
connection. General Arthur MacArthur, while serving as
American Military Governor in the Philippines, asserted
that the rapid exploitation of the country would deprive the
Filipinos of their resources and relegate them eventually to
a position of social inferiority which they did not like. Thus,
backed up by a powerful lobby of American beet-and-cane
sugar interests, which looked with alarm upon possible
competition of the Philippine sugar industry, and the Anti-
Imperialist League, which fought against a strong
entrenchment of American plantation capital in the
Philippines, a restricted land policy was formulated for the
_______________
9 Philippine Bill of 1002, Act of the U.S. Congress of July 1, 1902.
194

10
Philippines.
Pursuant to the restricted land policy, the Philippine
11
Government through the passage of the Public Land Act
on October 7, 1903, established appropriate procedures for

the homesteading, selling or leasing of public lands and the
granting of free patents to occupants and cultivators of
public land who had cultivated the same for a certain
length of time. Similarly, the government permitted the
sale or lease of public lands not only to citizens of both the
Philippines and the United States but also to corporations
organized in the Philippines or the United States,
regardless of the nationality of their stockholders.
Subsequent developments show an important change in
the Philippine land laws. 12
The Philippine Legislature
enacted in 1919 a law limiting the exploitation and
utilization of the public lands to Filipinos and American
citizens, and to the citizens of other countries whose laws
give the same rights to Filipinos as to their own citizens. At
the same time, the law increased from 16 to 24 hectares the
maximum area that could be acquired by 13homestead and
likewise increased from 16 to 100 hectares the maximum
area that could be acquired by purchase from the
government. Finally, the restricted policy in the disposition
of public lands 14became incorporated in the constitution
adopted in 1935.
_______________
10 Karl J. Pelzer, “Pioneer Settlement in the Asiatic Tropics” (New

York: American Geographical Society, 1945), p. 105.
11 Act No. 926 which was enacted on October 7, 1903 and approved on
July 26, 1904.
12 Act No. 2874.
13 An amendment to Act No. 2874 increased to 144 the maximum area
that could be acquired by purchase.
14 Article XIII, Sec. 2 of the Constitution provides as follows: “No
private corporation or association may acquire, lease or hold public
agricultural lands in excess of one thousand and twenty four hectares, nor
may any individual acquire such lands by purchase in excess of one
hundred and forty-four hectares, or by lease in excess of one thousand and
twenty-four hectares or by homestead in excess of twenty-four hectares.
Lands adapted to grazing, not exceeding two thousand hectares, may be
leased to an individual, private corporation, or associations.”
195
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 195

III. Models and Criteria for the Disposition of Public Lands
A. Under the Public Land Law

Disposable public lands are disposed in several different
ways. Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes,
denominated in the law as public agricultural lands, are
disposed through homestead, lease, sale and confirmation
of imperfect or incomplete title. Public lands intended for
residential, commercial or industrial purposes are with
certain exceptions transferable to private ownership only
by sale. Public lands for educational, charitable and other
similar purposes are disposable by way of grants in the
form of donation, sale, exchange or any other form, subject
to the provisions of the Public Land Law. Finally,
reservations for town sites are disposable by lots through
sale 15in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the
law.
Under the procedures adopted pursuant to law for
homestead purposes, any citizen of the Philippines being
the head qf a family or over the age of 18 years, who does
not own more than 24 hectares of land in the Philippines or
who has not had the benefit of any gratuitous allotment of
more than 24 hectares of land, since the occupation of the
Philippines by the United States, may enter a homestead
by filing an application with the Bureau of Lands. If the
Director of Lands finds that the application is meritorious
and approves the same, the applicant is thereby authorized
to take possession of the land upon payment of the
corresponding entry fee, subject to the condition that
applicant shall cultivate the homestead beginning within
six months from, but not more than five years after, the
approval of the application. If within that period of five
years, as required by law, the homesteader has
continuously resided in the municipality, or adjacent
municipality, where the land is located and has cultivated
at least one-fifth of the land continuously since the
approval of the application,
_______________
15 Sections 11, 69, 61, 70 & 79, Commonwealth Act No. 141, December
31, 1936, as amended.
196

then after making an affidavit that no part of said land has

been alienated or encumbered and that he has complied
with all the requirements of the law, the applicant shall be

entitled to a homestead patent16 issued to him upon payment
of the corresponding final fee.
For the purpose of acquiring by purchase from the
government a disposable land from the public domain or
townsite reservations, any citizen of lawful age or
corporation of which at least sixty per cent of its capital
stock belongs to citizens of the Philippines, if authorized by
its charter to do so, may file an application with the
Director of Lands for the purchase either of a parcel of
agricultural land not in excess of 144 hectares for
(individual applicants and 1,024 hectares for corporate
applicants or of a parcel of land intended for a residential,
commercial or industrial purposes not in excess of forty-
eight hectares. As soon as the application for the purchase
of agricultural land or the authorization to dispose
residential, commercial or industrial land is received, and
an appraisal of the land has been conducted, by the
Director of Lands with the approval of the Secretary of
Agriculture, a notice of sale will be published, as prescribed
by law, fixing a date not earlier than sixty days after the
date of the notice upon which the land will be sold in a
public bidding. After the result of the bidding, in which the
applicant is given the opportunity to equal the highest bid,
the purchaser shall pay either in full at the time of the
award or in not more than ten equal installments from the
date of the award the balance of the purchase price, after
deducting the amount submitted at the time of bidding.
Within five years after the award, the purchaser of an
agricultural land is required to cultivate not less than one-
fifth of the land and to show actual occupancy. On the other
hand, the purchaser of a residential, commercial or
industrial land is required to make improvements of a
permanent character appropriate for the purpose for which
the land is purchased within six months from the receipt of
the order of awarded and to complete the construction of
said improve-
_______________
16 Sections 12-14, Commonwealth Act 141, as amended.
197
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 197

ments within 18 months from the date of such award. In

case the land purchased is to be devoted to pasture, the
purchaser is required to show evidence that he has
pastured on the land as many heads of his cattle as will
occupy at least one-half of the entire area at the rate of one
head per hectare. Upon satisfactory compliance with all the
requirements, the purchaser shall be 17
entitled to the
issuance of a sales patent in his favor.
The requirement of public bidding in the sale of
disposable public land is waived by the government in
special cases. Accordingly, any Filipino citizen of legal age
who is not the owner of a home lot in the municipality or
city in which he resides and who has in good faith
established his residence on a parcel of public land which is
not needed for the public service is given preference to
purchase at a private sale not more than 1,000 square
meters at a price to be fixed by the Director of Lands with
the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources. Upon the approval of the sale without public
bidding, the qualified purchaser is allowed to pay ten per
cent of the purchase price and18the balance either in full or
ten equal annual installments.
For those who claim title over a disposable land of the
public domain, the law allows an option to perfect their
title either through administrative legalization or judicial
confirmation. Under administrative legalization the
occupant-applicant must show by competent evidence that
he is a natural born citizen of the Philippines, that he is
not an owner of twenty four hectares of land and that he by
himself or through his predecessors in interest has
continuously occupied and cultivated the land since July 4,
1945, and, if after two consecutive weeks that his
application was publicized, no objection or adverse claim
thereto has been received by the Director of Lands, he shall
be entitled to a free patent vesting in him the title over
_______________
17 Sections 22, 24, 27, 28, 60, 67 & 79, Commonwealth Act 141, as
amended.
18 Republic Act No. 730, June 18, 1952.
198

19
19
the land. On the other hand, under judicial confirmation
of imperfect title, the applicant must show by competent
evidence in his petition before the proper Court of First
Instance that he has been in open, continuous, exclusive
and notorious possession and occupation of a public
agricultural land, under a bona fide claim of ownership for
at least thirty years, or that prior to the transfer of
sovereignty from Spain to the United States he applied for
the purchase, composition or other form of grant but
without default on his part did not receive title therefor, to
support his prayer that a certificate of title be issued20to him
under the provision of the Land Registration Act. After
the corresponding number of days required for responsive
pleading has elapsed, the Court of First Instance in which
the application was filed shall conduct a hearing thereon.
After said hearing, in which the Bureau of Lands,
represented by the Solicitor General, and others who
appear to have interest therein, were given the opportunity
to contest the petition, the Court shall issue the
corresponding final decree that would serve as the basis for
the issuance by 21the Register of Deeds of an original
certificate of title.
The bona fide occupant of a public land is allowed by law
a preemptive right to purchase the land actually occupied
by him as soon as the land is declared disposable or
alienable. Correspondingly, if the occupant has not filed an
application for administrative legalization of an imperfect
title over the land, the Director of Lands shall inform him
of his prior right to apply for the land and shall give him
120 days to file the application or apply for the concession
by any of the forms of disposition authorized by law, if such
occupant is qualified to acquire
_______________
19 Republic Act No. 782, June 21, 1952.

20 Sections 47 & 48, Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended by
Republic Act No. 1942 (1957).
21 It should be noted that the benefits granted by the Public Land Law
can be availed of only until Dec. 31, 1968 under Rep. Act No. 2061.
However, House Bill No. 484, now pending in Congress, seeks to extend
the period until December 31, 1978.
199
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 199

a concession under the Public Land Law. However, if at the

expiration of the time limit fixed, the occupant fails to file
an application under any of the provisions of the Public
Land Law, then he shall lose any prior right to the land
and the improvements22
on the land, if any, shall be forfeited
to the governments .
Although the maximum area of public land that may be
acquired is fixed, yet the spirit of the Public Land Law is
that the rule which must determine the real area to be
granted is the beneficial use of the land. The concession or
disposition shall be for less than the maximum area
authorized if, at the time of the issuance of the patent or of
the concession or disposition, it shall appear that the
applicant is utilizing and is only able to utilize a smaller
area, even though the application is for a greater area. For
this purpose, the Director of Lands is authorized to
determine the area that may be granted to the applicant,
and to deny or cancel or limit any application for
concession, purchase or lease, if convinced of the lack of
means of the applicant for using23
the land for the purpose
for which he has requested it.
As the law only allows the acquisition of public land
subject to the maximum limit imposed, any excess in area
over this maximum and all right, title, interest, claim or
action held by any person, corporation, association or
partnership resulting directly or indirectly in such excess
shall revert to the State. Furthermore, any transfer,
assignment or lease of land or portion thereof originally
acquired under the provisions of the Public Land Law will
be considered null and void, if as a result of such contract
the area of the land owned by the transferee, assignee or
lessee will exceed that allowable under the law. Finally,
any person, or corporation or association which files or
induces or knowingly permits another to file an application
in his or its behalf, in violation of the limitations imposed
by the Public Land Law, will be punished by a fine or
imprisonment or both in the discretion of the
_______________
22 Sections 95 & 97, Commonwealth Act No. 141.

23 Section 92, Commonwealth Act No. 141.
200

24
24
court.
B. Under Cadastral Law 25
Pursuant to section 1 of the Cadastral Law, if in the
opinion of the President of the Philippines public interest
requires that the titles to lands in a certain municipality be
settled and adjudicated, he will direct the Director of Lands
to make the survey and the plan of the lands within the
territorial limits of the town. Correspondingly, the
claimants of the cadastral lots within the entire territory of
a given municipality, possessing the qualifications required
of applicants
26
under section 19 of the Land Registration
Law and section 48, as amended, of the Public Land Law,
should file their answers or claims in accordance with
sections 9 and 11 of the Cadastral Law.
In case any person who claims ownership of a cadastral
lot was unable for some justifiable reason to file a claim in
the court during the reglementary period and as a result
thereof the lot was declared public land, said claimant may
be allowed to file a petition for a reopening of the judicial
proceedings so that he 27
can prove that lie has a registrable
title to the property. Upon the filing of the petition, it is
necessary that notice thereof be given to those persons who
claim an adverse interest in the land sought to be
registered, as well as the general public, by publishing such
notice in the Official Gazette, in a conspicuous place on the
land, as well as in the municipal building of the city or
municipality in which
28
the land is situated, as required by
the Cadastral Act. 29Failure to do so vitiates jurisdiction
over the proceedings.
Concerning the phrase “justifiable reasons” which may
be the basis of a petition for reopening of judicial pro-
_______________
24 Sections 31, 122, 132 & 133, Commonwealth Act No. 141.
25 Act No. 2259 (1913).
26 Act No. 496.
27 Republic Act No. 931.
28 Sec. 1, Act No. 2259.
29 Director of Lands v. Benitez, 16 SCRA 557.
201
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 201

ceedings under Republic Act No. 931, the Supreme Court

declared that “such phrase is too broad as to include other
matters that may be deemed legally or factually justifiable,

30
such as poverty, lack of notice, sickness and the like”.
Therefore, in a case for reopening of judicial proceeding’s
under Republic Act No. 931, which the trial court dismissed
when petitioner admitted that he knew that there was a
reservation proceeding but did not know it was necessary
for him to file an answer, the Supreme Court has given due
course to the petition.
IV. Nature and Scope of the Power of Disposition
The authority to administer all laws relative to public

lands, not classified as timberlands nor mineral lands, friar
lands and of all other public real property not placed under
the control of any other branch, department, bureau or
office of the Government by legislative enactment or
competent administrative
31
authority, has been vested in the
Director of Lands. Such authority to administer public
land laws carries with it such powers over the disposition
of public lands as granting of licenses, permits, leases and
contracts, and approving, rejecting, reinstating
applications,
32
which are all of administrative and executive
nature. Correspondingly, the court cannot, in the guise of
official function, deprive the Director of Lands of direct
executive control over the sale or any other form of
concession or disposition and the management of the public
domain, any more than33it can divest the State of its title
and confer it to another.
Pursuant to the authority vested in the Director of
Lands over the disposition of public lands, a decision
rendered by it and approved by the Secretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, upon questions of fact,
is conclusive and may not be reviewed by the court, in the
absence of a showing that such decision was rendered in
conse-
_______________
30 Calse vs. Yadno, 12 SCRA 745.

31 Mejia Vda. de Alfafara vs. Mapa, et al., 50 O.G. 2507.
32 Espinosa vs. Makalintal, 79 Phil. 134.
33 Director of Lands vs. Abordo, 2 O.G. 390.
202

quence of fraud, imposition or mistake, other than error

34
of
judgment in estimating the value or effect of evidence. For
this purpose, section 4 of the Public Land Act, which
provides that decisions of the Director of Lands “as to
questions of fact shall be conclusive when approved by the
Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources” is indeed
clear. Accordingly,
35
in the case of Ramirez vs. Court of
Appeals, et al., the Supreme Court remarked:
“x x x In the case at bar, the Bureau of Lands had found, inter

alia, in its order of October 23, 1941, declaring that “patent should
issue” to Ramirez: “that the final proof papers” in connection with
the homestead application of the predecessor-in-interest of
Ramirez had “been submitted and were found to have been
properly accomplished”; and “that an investigation for the purpose
of verifying the statements contained in the final proof papers
was conducted by a representative of the Bureau of Lands, who
found that the applicant has fully complied with the residence
and cultivation requirements of the law x x x.” Moreover, patents
are issued by the Secretary or Under-Secretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources, acting “By Authority of the President of the
Philippines” with a statement to the effect that he does so because
the patentee “possesses all the qualifications required by law in
the premises” and “has fully complied with all the conditions,
requirements and provisions of Chapter VII of Commonwealth
Act No. 141, as amended x x x.” As a consequence, the issuance of
a patent necessarily implies an approval, not only by the
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, but, also, by
the President of the Philippines, of the aforementioned findings of36
fact of the Director of Lands, which thereby became “conclusive.”
The philosophy behind the foregoing doctrine is that if the

decision of the Director of Lands on a question of fact is
concurred in by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, faith and credit must be given said decision
upon the theory that the subject has been thoroughly
weighed and discussed. However, if there is a disagreement
or if the conclusions drawn by the Secretary from the facts
found are erroneous or not warranted
_______________
34 Ortura vs. Encarnacion, 59 Phil. 440; Alejo vs. Garchitorena, 83 Phil.

924.
35 30 SCRA 297.
36 30 SCRA 297, 303-304.
203
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 203

37
by law, the doctrine does not apply.
Moreover, the conclusive character of the findings of
question of fact rendered by the Director of Lands and
approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources does not apply to the President, because since he
has the constitutional power of control over executive
departments, he has authority to go over, confirm, modify,
reverse or otherwise substitute his judgment for that of the
latter. Correspondingly, the Executive Secretary, acting by
authority of the President, can reverse a decision of the
Director of Lands even if affirmed 38
by the Secretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources.
V. Significant Effects in Favor of Grantee
Although prior to the issuance of a patent and its

registration the government retains the title to the land,
the award however confers upon the grantee the right to
the possession of the land so that he could comply with
requirements prescribed by the law before said patent
could be issued in his favor. Therefore, if after a land had
been awarded by the Director of Lands in favor of a sales
applicant it is discovered that a part of said land was
subsequently granted to another by way of a homestead
patent, upon which a certificate of title was issued to the
latter, the Supreme Court in ordering the cancellation of
the certificate of title has recognized the right of the prior
grantee, of which he cannot be deprived without due
process, such right having the effect of withdrawing the
land awarded to him from the mass of the public39 domain
classified as “disposable” by the Director of Lands.
However, if the patentee and his successor-in-interest
were never in possession of the land and knew that the
other claimant and his predecessor-in-interest have been
_______________
37 Mejia Vda. de Alfafara vs. Mapa, et al., 60 O.G. 2507.

38 Lacson-Magallanes Co., Inc. vs. Paño, 21 SCRA 895.
39 Director of Lands vs. Court of Appeals, 17 SCRA 71.
204

in possession thereof, then the court in the exercise of its

equity jurisdiction, without ordering the cancellation of the
Torrens Title issued upon the patent, may direct the
patentee, if already the registered owner, to reconvey the
parcel of land to the claimant who has been found to be the
true owner thereof, provided that the period prescribed 40
therefor in the statute of limitations has not expired. In
any event, upon the expiration of one year from entry of the
decree of registration—which, in the case of homestead,
must be construed as referring to the entry of the
homestead patent, since the latter and the order of the
Director of Lands directing its issuance take the place of
the “decree”—every certificate of title issued in accordance 41
with said requirement shall be incontrovertible.
Correspondingly, the land in dispute, having become
registered land for all purposes, is not subject to attack,
upon the ground of actual fraud, except in an action for the
specific purpose of reviewing the order directing the
issuance of the patent, filed within one year after the entry
42
of such patent in the records of the Register of Deeds. —
ATTY. SEVERIANO S. TABIOS
Notes.—(a) Findings of the Secretary of Agriculture and

Natural Resources.—See Ganitano vs. Secretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, 16 SCRA 543, and the
annotation thereunder on “Jurisdiction of Director of Lands
and Judicial Review of Decisions of Secretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources.” 548-551.
(b) Reversion of lands awarded under Commonwealth
Act 141.—Section 124 of said Act provides that “Any
acquisition, conveyance, alienation, transfer, or other
contract made or “executed in violation of any of the
provisions of Sections [120, 121, 122, and 123] of this Act
shall be unlawful and null and void from its execution and
_______________
40 Vital vs. Anore, 90 Phil. 855, 858-859.

41 Sec. 38, Act No. 496.
42 Ramirez vs. Court of Appeals, et al., 30 SCRA 297, 302.
205
VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 205

Aguilar vs. Tan
shall produce the effect of annulling and cancelling the

grant, title, patent, or permit originally issued, recognized
or confirmed, actually or presumptively, and cause the
reversion of the property and its improvements to the State.”
(Italics supplied).
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4/19/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 031

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 191

CONCEPTS AND PROCEDURES OP PUBLIC LAND

Under the Constitution, all agricultural, timber and

1 Article XIII, Sec. 1, Constitution of the Philippines.

192 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Therefore, if it is not satisfactorily shown that the land has

II. Historical Development of the Policy on Disposition of

The present policy of the government in the disposition of

5 Abing vs. Amistad, G.R. No. L-16235, October 26, 1961.

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 193

thorities at the turn of the century. Under such policy

9 Philippine Bill of 1002, Act of the U.S. Congress of July 1, 1902.

194 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

on October 7, 1903, established appropriate procedures for

10 Karl J. Pelzer, “Pioneer Settlement in the Asiatic Tropics” (New

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 195

III. Models and Criteria for the Disposition of Public Lands

A. Under the Public Land Law

196 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

then after making an affidavit that no part of said land has

with all the requirements of the law, the applicant shall be

16 Sections 12-14, Commonwealth Act 141, as amended.

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 197

ments within 18 months from the date of such award. In

198 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

19 Republic Act No. 782, June 21, 1952.

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 199

a concession under the Public Land Law. However, if at the

22 Sections 95 & 97, Commonwealth Act No. 141.

200 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 201

ceedings under Republic Act No. 931, the Supreme Court

matters that may be deemed legally or factually justifiable,

IV. Nature and Scope of the Power of Disposition

The authority to administer all laws relative to public

30 Calse vs. Yadno, 12 SCRA 745.

202 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

quence of fraud, imposition or mistake, other than error

“x x x In the case at bar, the Bureau of Lands had found, inter

The philosophy behind the foregoing doctrine is that if the

34 Ortura vs. Encarnacion, 59 Phil. 440; Alejo vs. Garchitorena, 83 Phil.

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 203

V. Significant Effects in Favor of Grantee

Although prior to the issuance of a patent and its

37 Mejia Vda. de Alfafara vs. Mapa, et al., 60 O.G. 2507.

204 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

in possession thereof, then the court in the exercise of its

Notes.—(a) Findings of the Secretary of Agriculture and

40 Vital vs. Anore, 90 Phil. 855, 858-859.

VOL. 31, JANUARY 30, 1970 205

shall produce the effect of annulling and cancelling the

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