NATURAL RESOURCES

PUBLIC LAND ACT

(COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 141)

A. PRELIMINARY
I. Governing Law
 C.A 101 was enacted on November 7, 1936
o Its provisions apply to lands of the public domain; but timber and mineral lands are
governed by special laws
 “friar lands” those to which, being privately owned, have reverted to or become the property of
the Republic of the Philippines, are governed by the laws presently enforced or which may
hereafter be enacted.

II. Historical Background

 1st Public Land Act- Act No. 926
o It was passed in pursuance of the provisions of the Philippine Bill of 1902.
o The law governed the disposition of lands of the public domain.
o It also provides for the issuance of patents to certain native settlers upon public lands for
the establishment of town sites and sale of lots therein, for the completion of imperfect
titles, and for cancellation or confirmation of Spanish concessions and grants in the
Islands.
 2nd Public Land Act- Act No. 2874
o Passed under the Jones Law
o It was more comprehensive in scope but limited the exploitation of agricultural lands to
Filipinos and Americans and citizens of other countries which gave Filipinos the same
privileges.
 The present Public Land Act- CA 141
o It is essentially as the same with Act No. 2874
o It remains to this day the existing general law governing the CLASSIFICATION and
DISPOSITION of lands in public domain other than timber and mineral lands.
o Grants of public lands are brought under the operations of the Torrens system of
registration pursuant to Section 103 of PD no. 1529, or the Property Registration Decree

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o Provision under Section 103 directs the issuance of the grantee of “owner’s duplicate
certificate”
 Which land shall be deemed a registered land to all intents and purposes under
the PD no. 1529.
 It shall become private property which can no longer be the subject of
subsequent disposition by the Director of the Lands.
o Public lands patents when duly registered are veritable Torrens Titles subject to
encumbrances EXCEPT those stated therein, plus those specified by the statute.

III. Policy Considerations

“ The state shall ensure, for the benefit of the Filipino people, the full exploitation and development
as well as the judicious disposition, utilization, management, renewal and conservation of the
country’s forest, mineral, land, waters and other natural resources, consistent with the objective
of making the EXPLOITATION, DEVELOPMENT and UTILIZATION of such natural resources
equitably accessible to the different segments of the present as well as the future generations.
 The DENR shall primarily responsible for the implementation of the foregoing policy.
o It shall be in charge of carrying out the State’s constitutional mandate to control and
supervise the exploitation, development, utilization, and conservation of the country’s
natural resources.

IV. Regalian Doctrine (“All lands and other natural resources are owned by the State”)
 Provided by Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution
 All lands not appearing to be clearly of private dominion presumptively belong to the State.
 Accordingly, public lands not shown to have been reclassified or released as alienable agricultural
land or alienated to a private person by the state remain part of the inalienable public domain.
 Which CANNOT be alienated:
a. Natural Resources
o The E.D.U of the natural resources shall be under the FULL CONTROL and SUPERVISION
of the state.
 The state may DIRECTLY undertake the E.D.U; or
 May allow participation by the private sector through co-production, joint
venture or production- sharing agreements.

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 With Filipino citizens; or

 Corporations or associations AT LEAST 60% of whose capital is owned by
such citizen.
o Agreements may be for the period NOT EXCEEDING 25 years,
renewable for NOT MORE THAN 25 years, and under such terms
and conditions as may be provided by law.
b. Natural Wealth
o All that may be found in the bowels of the earth even if the land where the discovery is
made be private.
o Once minerals are discovered in the land, whatever the use to which it is being devoted
at the time, such use may be disconnected by the State to enable it to extract the minerals
therein in the exercise of its sovereign prerogative.

B. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
I. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
 The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources
- is the executive officer charged with carrying out the provisions of the Public Land Act,
through the Director of Lands, who shall act under his immediate control.
- it integrated regional offices of Bureau (Forest Development, Mines and Geosciences,
and Lands)
- it is charged with the mandate of protection of the environment and conservation of the
natural resources
 but mandate is concurrent to other government agency
 Such as: Municipal government in enacting ordinances
 The Director of Lands
- shall have direct executive control of SURVEY, CLASSIFICATION, LEASE, SALE or any form
of CONCESSION or DISPOSITION and MANAGEMENT of the lands of the public domain.
o Such decisions as to questions of FACT shall be conclusive when approved by the
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, in the absence of clear showing that
such decision was rendered in consequence of fraud, imposition, or mistake.
o Decisions may be annulled or reviewed in the direct proceeding and NOT collaterally
 as when the issue involves:

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 a QUESTION of law; or
 is based upon a MISCONSTRUCTION of the law; or
 when the conclusions drawn by the Secretary from the facts found are
ERRONEOUS;
 not WARRANTED by law
o The jurisdiction of the Department over public lands does NOT negate the authority of
courts of justice to resolve questions of possession
o Once the Department has decided, particularly with the grant of public land patent and
issuance of the corresponding certificate of title, its decision prevails.
 Director of Lands
- it is committed primarily for the administration and distribution of public lands
o Under E.O No. 192
 It established the newly created Lands Management Bureau (LMB)
 has absorbed the functions and powers of the Bureau of the Lands
EXCEPT those line functions and power which were transferred to the
regional field offices.
 It is headed by a Director who shall advise the Director of the Secretary
on matters pertaining to rational land classification management and
disposition.

C. CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS
I. Classification of the lands, generally.
 They may be:
o Lands of Public Domain, either Alienable or Inalienable; or
o Lands of the Private Domain
 Which refer to “land belonging to and owned by the state as a private individual,
without being devoted for public use, public service or the development of
national wealth—similar to patrimonial properties of the State.”

CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT LANDS

CIVIL CODE CONSTITUTION PUBLIC LAND ACT

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Properties of Public Dominion 1. Agricultural The President, upon recommendation of

a. for Public Use and public purpose - only property that can be disposed the Secretary of ENR, shall from time to
- Such as: roads, canals, rivers, torrents, 2. Forest or timber time declare what the lands are open to
ports and bridges, banks, shores, 3. Mineral lands disposition or concession
roadsteads, and other similar character 4. National parks 1. Alienable or disposable
b. for Public Service or for the a. Agricultural;
development of the national wealth b. Residential, commercial, industrial, or
c. Patrimonial Property- no longer for similar productive purposes;
intended for public use or for public c. Educational, charitable, or other
service. similar purposes;
d. Reservations for town sites and for
public and quasi- public uses.
2. Timber
3. Mineral

 Under the Public Land Act

- Under An Executive Prerogative
o The President must first officially classify those lands as alienable or disposable, and then
declare them to disposition or concession.
 The classification is a prerogative of the executive department and not the courts
 There must be a POSITIVE ACT of the government for the classification and to
convert it into alienable or disposable land for agricultural or other purposes
o There must be no law reserving these lands for public or quasi- public uses.

II. Public Lands vs Government Land

PUBLIC LAND GOVERNMENT LAND
Does not include government lands and Includes the public lands, but also other lands of the
synonymous to public domain, and does not by any government already reserved or devoted to public use or
means include all lands of government ownership, subject to private right.
but only so much of said lands are thrown open to
private appropriation and settlement by
homestead and other like general laws.

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D. MODES OF DISPOSITION
 No public land can be acquired by private persons without any grant, express or implied from the
government.
o It is therefore, indispensable that there be a showing of a title from the state.
o One claiming “private rights” must prove that he has complied with the Public Land Act
which prescribes the substantive as well as the procedural requirements for acquisition
of public lands.
 Only ALIENABLE and DISPOSABLE (A and D) lands may be subject for disposition.
o In the absence of such classification, the land remains as unclassified land until it is
released therefrom and rendered open to disposition
 “occupation thereof in the concept of owner, no matter how long, cannot ripen
into ownership and be registered as a title.”

I. Specific Modes of Disposition.

- Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes can be disposed of only as follows:
(Homestead, sale, lease, and confirmation of imperfect titles)

 Homestead Settlement
o Chapter IV of the Public Land Act
 It provides that, “Any citizen of the Philippines over the age of 18 years, or head
of a family, may enter a homestead of not exceeding 12 hectares of agricultural
land of public domain. The applicant must have CULTIVATED and IMPROVED at
least one-fifth of the land continuously since the approval of the application and
resided for at least 1 YEAR in the municipality in which the land is located, or in a
municipality adjacent to the same, and then, upon payment of the required fee,
he shall be entitled to a patent.”
o Effect of compliance with legal requirements:
 Once patent is granted and is registered, the certificate of title issued by virtue of
said patent has the force and effect of a Torrens title issued through judicial
registration proceedings.

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 Upon expiration of 1 year from its issuance, the certificate of title shall
become irrevocable and indefeasible
 He shall acquire vested rights therein, and regarded as the equitable owner
thereof.
 Even without a patent, a perfect homestead is a property right in the
fullest sense, unaffected by the fact that the paramount title to the land
is still in the government.
 Such land may be conveyed and or inherited
 He acquires not only a grant, but a grant of the government.
o Transfer of rights
 If at any time after the approval of the application and before the patent is issued,
but cannot continue with homestead, through no fault of his own, and there is a
bona fide purchaser for the rights and improvements of the applicant on the land,
and that the conveyance is not made for purposes of speculation.
 The applicant, WITH the PREVIOUS APPROVAL of the Dir. Of Lands, may
transfer his rights to the land and improvements to any person legally
qualified to apply for a homestead
o Every transfer WITHOUT PREVIOUS APPROVAL shall be null and
void and shall result in the cancellation of the entry and the
refusal of the patent.
 and immediately after such transfer, the purchaser shall file a homestead
application to the land so acquired and shall succeed the original
homesteader in his rights and obligations beginning with the date of the
approval of said application of the purchaser.
 Any person who has so transferred his rights may not again apply for a new
homestead.
o Registration court cannot be divested of jurisdiction by subsequent issuance of a
homestead patent over the same land subject of registration.
 The Dir. Of Lands jurisdiction, administrative supervision and executive control
extend only over lands of the public domain and not to lands already of private
ownership.
 Sale of public agricultural lands

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o Governed by Chapter V of the Public Land Act, which provides,

“Any citizen of the Philippines of lawful age or the head of the family may
purchase any tract of public agricultural land not to exceed 12 hectares which shall be sold
through sealed bidding.”
 The land shall be awarded to the highest bidder, but the applicant may equal the
highest bid
 It is required that the purchaser shall have not less than one-fifth of the land
cultivated within 5 years from the date of the award.
 After the cultivation of the land has begun, the purchaser with the
approval of the Sec. of ENR, may convey or encumber his rights to any
person, corporation, or association legally qualified under the Act,
 PROVIDED, such acts does not affect any right or interest of the
government in the land, and
 PROVIDED FURTHER, that the transferee is not delinquent in the
payment of any installment due and payable
 Before any patent is issues, he must show actual occupancy, cultivation, and
improvement of at least one-fifth of the land until the date of final payment.
 Any sale and encumbrance made WITHOUT the previous approval of the
Secretary shall be null and void and shall produce the effect of annulling the
acquisition and reverting the property and all rights to the State, and all payments
on the purchase price theretofore made to the government shall be forfeited.
 After the sale has been approved, the vendor shall not lose his right to
acquire agricultural lands under the provisions of the Act, PROVIDED, he
has the necessary qualifications.

 Lease
o Chapter VI provides, “Any citizen of lawful age of the Philippines, and any corporation or
association of which AT LEAST 60% of the capital stock or of any interest in said capital
stock belongs wholly to citizens of the Philippines, may lease any tract of agricultural
public land available for lease.”

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 It shall be inherent and essential condition of the lease that the lessee shall have
NOT less than one-third of the land broken and cultivated within 5 years after the
date of the approval of the lease.
 In case the leased is to be devoted to pasture, it shall be sufficient compliance
with this condition if the lessee shall graze on the land as many heads of the cattle
as will occupy at least one-half of the entire area at any rate of one head per
hectare.
o Section 3, Article XII of 1987 Constitution:
 Private Corp may lease alienable land of the public domain for a period NOT
EXCEEDING 25 years, renewable for NOT MORE THAN 25 years, and NOT TO
EXCEED 1,000 hectares, or acquire NOT MORE THAN 12 hectares thereof by
purchase, homestead or grant.

 Confirmation of imperfect or incomplete title

Section48. The following-described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public
domain or claiming to own any such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been
perfected or completed, may apply to the Court of First Instance of the province where the land is
located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a certificate of title therefor, under the
Land Registration Act , to wit:

(a) Those who prior to the transfer of sovereignty from Spain to the prior United States have applied
for the purchase, composition or other form of grant of lands of the public domain under the laws
and royal decrees then in force and have instituted and prosecuted the proceedings in connection
therewith, but have with or without default upon their part, or for any other cause, not received title
therefor, if such applicants or grantees and their heirs have occupied and cultivated said lands
continuously since the filing of their applications.

(b) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in open,
continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession AND occupation of agricultural lands of the public
domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition or ownership, for at least thirty years immediately
preceding the filing of the application for confirmation of title except when prevented by war or force
majeure. These shall be conclusively presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a
Government grant and shall be entitled to a certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Members of the national cultural minorities who by themselves or through their predecessors-
in-interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of
lands of the public domain suitable to agriculture, whether disposable or not, under a bona fide
claim of ownership for at least 30 years shall be entitled to the rights granted in sub-section (b)
hereof.

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- The confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles may be done in two ways:

o Judicial Legalization or judicial confirmation (Chapter VII)
 Ownership based on adverse possession
 GR: No title or right to, or equity in, any lands of the public domain may
be acquired by prescription or by adverse possession or occupancy
EXCEPT as expressly provided by law.
o It recognizes the concept of ownership under the civil law, which
the applicant must prove that;
 The land is alienable public land; and
 His possession and occupation has been exercised in the
manner and for the period prescribed by law, or since
June 12, 1945. Registration under the Act presumes that
the land was originally public agricultural is governed
land but because of adverse possession since June 12,
1945, the land has become private.
 Period of possession
 RA No.1942- required the possession was “at least 30 years immediately
preceding the filing of the application.”
 PD No. 1073 repealed RA No. 1942- requires possession since June 12,
1945 or earlier.
o It also:
 Extend the period for the filing of applications for judicial
confirmation of imperfect and incomplete titles to
December 31, 1987;
 Limited the area of the land applied for to 144 hectares;
 Repealed Section 48(b) on judicial confirmation on
unperfected Spanish grants; and
 Amended Sections 48(b) and (c) in the sense that these
provisions shall apply only to A and D lands of the public
domain which have been in OCEAN by the applicant
himself or through his predecessors-in-interest, under

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bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, since June

12, 1945.
 RA No. 9176- has extend period of filing to December 31, 2020, further
limiting the area applied for to 12 hectares; and providing that all pending
applications filed before the effectivity of the amendatory Act shall be
treated as having been filed in accordance with the provisions thereof.
o Rule is different where land is not registrable as when it forms
part of the public forest.
 It cannot be registered no matter how long the it was
possessed.
 Where applicant has acquired a right to a government grant, application is a mere
formality
 Vested rights cannot be impaired by subsequent law, nor can it invalidate
transactions perfectly valid and proper.
 Land declared public land in a previous registration case may be subject of judicial
confirmation
 Hearing shall be held in RTC
 Burden of Proof rests on applicant

Note: Only applications for registration filed prior to January 25, 1977 may invoke RA No. 1942)
Note: court’s jurisdiction depends on the law existing at the time an action is filed and a law continues to
be in force with regard to all rights which accrued prior the amended thereof.)

o Administrative Legalization or free patents (Chapter VII)

 Requisites for its availment:
(Only when these are met may the possessor of the land acquired, by operation
of law, “a right to grant, without necessity of a certificate of title being issued.)
 Applicant must be Filipino
 He must have, by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest,
possessed and occupied an alienable and disposable agricultural portion
of the public domain;

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 Such possession and occupation must have been OCEAN, since June 12,
1945; and
 The applicant must be files with the proper court.

 Issuance of free patents for residential lots under RA no. 10023

Section 1. Qualifications. - Any Filipino citizen who is an actual occupant of a residential land may apply for a
Free Patent Title under this Act: Provided; That in highly urbanized cities, the land should not exceed two
hundred (200) square meters; in other cities, it should not exceed five hundred (500) square meters; in first
class and second class municipalities, it should not exceed seven hundred fifty (750) square meters; and in all
other municipalities, it should not exceed one thousand (1,000) square meters; Provided, further, That the land
applied for is not needed for public service and/or public use.

Section 2. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all lands that are zoned as residential areas, including townsites
as defined under the Public Land Act; Provided, That none of the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 705
shall be violated.

Zoned residential areas located inside a delisted military reservation or abandoned military camp, and those
of local government units (LGUs) or townsites which preceded Republic Act No. 7586 or the National Integrated
Protected Areas System (NIPAS) law, shall also be covered by this Act.

Section 3. Application. - The application on the land applied for shall be supported by a map based on an
actual survey conducted by a licensed geodetic engineer and approved by the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) and a technical description of the land applied for together with supporting affidavit
of two (2) disinterested persons who are residing in the barangay of the city or municipality where the land is
located, attesting to the truth of the facts contained in the application to the effect that the applicant thereof
has, either by himself or through his predecessor-in-interest, actually resided on and continuously possessed
and occupied, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, the land applied for at least ten (10) years
and has complied with the requirements prescribed in Section 1 hereof.

Section 4. Special Patents. - Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary and subject to private rights,
if any, public land actually occupied and used for public schools, municipal halls, public plazas or parks and
other government institutions for public use or purpose may be issued special patents under the name of the
national agency or LGU concerned: Provided, That all lands titled under this section shall not be disposed of
unless sanctioned by Congress if owned by the national agency or sanctioned by the sanggunian concerned

through an approved ordinance if owned by the LGU.

Section 5. Removal of Restrictions. - The restrictions regarding encumbrances, conveyances, transfers or

dispositions imposed in Sections 118, 119,121, 122 and 123 of Chapter XII, Title VI of Commonwealth Act No.
141 as amended, shall not apply to patents issued under this Act.

Section 6. Period for Application. - All applications shall be filed immediately after the effectivity of this Act
before the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of the DENR. The CENRO is
mandated to process the application within one hundred and twenty (120) days to include compliance with the
required notices and other legal requirements, and forward this recommendation to the Provincial Environment
and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), who shall have five (5) days to approve or disapprove the patent. In
case of approval, patent shall be issued; in case of conflicting claims among different claimants, the parties
may seek the proper judicial remedies. 1avvphi1

Section 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Director of the Land Management Bureau of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall promulgate rules and regulations to carry
out the provisions of this Act, and shall see to it that such are gender responsive.

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