OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS REVIEWER || A.

Regado

CHAPTER 1 : GENERAL PROVISIONS

(Hand written notes)
CHAPTER 2: PRESCRIPTION OF OWNERSHIP AND OTHER REAL
RIGHTS
Art. 1117. Acquisitive prescription of dominion and other real rights may
be ordinary or extraordinary.
Ordinary acquisitive prescription requires possession of things in good
faith and with just title for the time fixed by law.
 Ordinary prescription requires: (IJU)
1. Uninterrupted possession for required statutory period of years
2. In good faith
3. Just Tittle
 Extra-ordinary prescription requires: (U)
1. Uninterrupted possession for required statutory period of years
2. WITHOUT need of just title and good faith (possessor)
Art. 1118. Possession has to be in the concept of an owner, public,
peaceful and uninterrupted.
Take note: (OPPU)
 Possessor asserts dominion on property to the exclusion of all others
 Mere possession w/ juridical title not being a concept of ownership
cannot ripen into ownership by acquisitive prescription
UNLESS
1.) Juridical relation repudiated
2.) Repudiction communicated to other party
 Possession must be public : notorious holding of property known o
community
 Peaceful : No valid Interferrence
Art. 1119. Acts of possessory character executed in virtue of license or by
mere tolerance of the owner shall not be available for the purposes of
possession.

(De Leon Additional)  Possession by tolerance therefore does not imply assertion of ownership
and does not produce effect w/ respect to possession or prescription
1. Capacity of Possessor
 To constitute as foundation of prescription the right must be:
2. Susceptibility of object to prescription
1. In possession under claim of title
3. Adverse possession
2. Adverse
 No matter how long so continued (possession) , does not start running
of period of prescription
Ordinary Prescription Extra-Ordinary Prescription
Immovable 10 years 30 years
Movable 4 years 8 years
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Art. 1120. Possession is interrupted for the purposes of prescription,  NOT : filing of complaint = interrupt possession
naturally or civilly. (1943)  BUT it is interrupted upon receipt of possessor of judicial summons after

 Continuity of holding property filing of complaint

 Uninterrupted possession strengthens adverse right of possessor  CASES: JUDICIAL SUMMONS DOES NOT GIVE RISE TO INTERRUPTION
1. Served by person not authorized by court
2. Plaintiff desist from claim/allow proceedings to lapse
Art. 1121. Possession is naturally interrupted when through any cause it 3. Possessor absolved from complaint (Complaint not fully
should cease for more than one year. substantiated)

The old possession is not revived if a new possession should be Art. 1125. Any express or tacit recognition which the possessor may
exercised by the same adverse claimant. make of the owner's right also interrupts possession.

Art. 1122. If the natural interruption is for only one year or less, the time  Interrupts possession – possession must always be in the concept of an
elapsed shall be counted in favor of the prescription. owner to the exclusion of all others
Art. 1123. Civil interruption is produced by judicial summons to the
possessor. ADVERSE

 For Civil interruption to take place possessor must have received judicial
TO THE
summons EXCLUSION
POSSESION CONTINUOUS
OF ALL
OTHERS
Art. 1124. Judicial summons shall be deemed not to have been issued and
shall not give rise to interruption:
PUBLIC
(1) If it should be void for lack of legal solemnities;

(2) If the plaintiff should desist from the complaint or should allow the  Recognition must be made before prescription has already obtained
proceedings to lapse;

(3) If the possessor should be absolved from the complaint.

In all these cases, the period of the interruption shall be counted for the
prescription.
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Art. 1126. Against a title recorded in the Registry of Property, ordinary
prescription of ownership or real rights shall not take place to the
prejudice of a third person, except in virtue of another title also recorded;
and the time shall begin to run from the recording of the latter.
As to lands registered under the Land Registration Act, the provisions of
that special law shall govern.
 Doctrine of Laches is applicable to cases where possessor/ transferee
apparently obtained property for some apparent mode of conveyance
 But if possessor cannot prove any mode of acquisition, laches will not
apply
 Laches w/c is a principle based on equity may not prevail against a
specific provision of law
- It is applied in absence and not against statutory law/rules of
procedure
REQUISITES : LACHES
1. Conduct (Defendant) Give rise to situation
2. Delay in asserting complainant’s rights
3. Lack of knowledge
4. Injury/Prejudice to defendant
Art. 1127. The good faith of the possessor consists in the reasonable
belief that the person from whom he received the thing was the owner
thereof, and could transmit his ownership.
Art. 1128. The conditions of good faith required for possession in Articles
526, 527, 528, and 529 of this Code are likewise necessary for the
determination of good faith in the prescription of ownership and other real
rights.
GOOD FAITH REQUISITES
1. Believed : person from whom he received thing : owner
2. Could transmit ownership
3. Reasonable basis
 Good faith must be present at time of acquisition and continue
throughout required prescriptive period
Art 526 Not aware: Acquisition (flaw that invalidates it)
Art 527 Good faith always presumed
: Person who alleges bad faith – burden of proof
Art 528 Not aware: Possess thing improperly/wrongfully
Art 529 Presumption continues until contrary is proved
 Good faith : honest belief of validity of one’s right ; ignorance of
superior claim; absence of intention to overreach another
 Cannot be invoked if claimant has actual/constructive notice of
legal/valid rights of possession of another during prescriptive period
Art. 1129. For the purposes of prescription, there is just title when the
adverse claimant came into possession of the property through one of the
modes recognized by law for the acquisition of ownership or other real
rights, but the grantor was not the owner or could not transmit any right.
Art. 1130. The title for prescription must be true and valid.
Art. 1131. For the purposes of prescription, just title must be proved; it is
never presumed.
“True and valid title”
 Of itself sufficient to transfer ownership w/o necessity of lapse of
prescriptive period (OPPU)
 OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS REVIEWER || A. Regado
 There is just title when adverse claimant comes into possession of
property through one of modes recognized by law for the acquisition of
ownership or other real rights but the grantor is not the owner or cannot
transmit any right
 Occupation or use alone no matter how long cannot confer title by
prescription or adverse possession UNLESS coupled with element of
hostitlity towards true owner that is possession under claim of title
Art. 1132. The ownership of movables prescribes through uninterrupted
possession for four years in good faith.
The ownership of personal property also prescribes through
uninterrupted possession for eight years, without need of any other
condition.
With regard to the right of the owner to recover personal property lost or
of which he has been illegally deprived, as well as with respect to
movables acquired in a public sale, fair, or market, or from a merchant's
store the provisions of Articles 559 and 1505 of this Code shall be
observed.
Ordinary Prescription Extra-Ordinary Prescription
Movable 4 years 8 years
Requirement Good faith w/o need of any other
+ OPPU condition
Article 559
Possession movable property + Good faith = title
Lost/Unlawfully deprived -- may recover : person in possession
If possessor (movable lost/owner has been unlawfully deprived) : GF at
public sale --- cannot be returned w/o reimbursement of P.price
Art 1505
Good sold (not owner & no authority/consent of owner)
Buyer (no better title than seller) –Goods
UNLESS owner of goods BY his conduct : precluded from denying the
seller’s authority to sell
 Nothing in this title shall affect
1. Provisions of any factors’ acts, recording laws or any other provision
of law enabling the apparent owner of goods to dispose the as if he
were the true owner thereof
2. Validity of contract of sale under order of court of competent
jurisdiction
3. Purchases made in merchant’s store or in fairs/markerts (C. of
Commerce and Special laws)
Art. 1133. Movables possessed through a crime can never be acquired
through prescription by the offender.
 No one must benefit from an evil act
 Benefits of prescription are denied to the offender, nonetheless if thing
was in meanwhile passed to a subsequent holder, prescription begins to
run.
Art. 1134. Ownership and other real rights over immovable property are
acquired by ordinary prescription through possession of ten years.
 Only 10 years of possession by adverse claimant are needed for
acquisitive prescription
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 Must however be by virtue of a just and valid title + concept of an
owner + uninterrupted + adverse + public
Art. 1135. In case the adverse claimant possesses by mistake an area
greater, or less than that expressed in his title, prescription shall be
based on the possession.
 Extent of property = actually possessed or held by claimant regardless
of size indicated in title
 Metes and bounds (title > actual)
Art. 1136. Possession in wartime, when the civil courts are not open,
shall not be counted in favor of the adverse claimant.
REQUISITES
1.) Wartime
2.) Civil courts are closed
 Because there is no way by which any person claiming title over a certain
property can file a case of recovery from person in adverse possession of
property
Art. 1137. Ownership and other real rights over immovables also
prescribe through uninterrupted adverse possession thereof for thirty
years, without need of title or of good faith. (1959a)
 Uninterrupted adverse possession for 30 years regardless of whether
there was title or good faith [extra-ordinary prescription]
 Public Land Act provides
(b) Those who by themselves or through their predecessrs in interest
have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation of aricultural land of public domain, under a bona fide claim
of acquisition of ownership for atleast 30 years immediately preceeding
the filing of 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 government grant and shall be
entitled to certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter
Art. 1138. In the computation of time necessary for prescription the
following rules shall be observed:
(1) The present possessor may complete the period necessary for
prescription by tacking his possession to that of his grantor or
predecessor in interest;
(2) It is presumed that the present possessor who was also the
possessor at a previous time, has continued to be in possession
during the intervening time, unless there is proof to the contrary;
(3) The first day shall be excluded and the last day included.
FIRST RULE
 Present possessor may complete the period necessary for prescription
by tacking his possession to that of his grantor or predecessor in interest
 Grantor/Predecessor in interest = transfer in manner provided by law of
property from one person to another
 Tacking and possession is allowed only when there is a privity of
contract/relationship between previous and present possessors
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 In absence of such privity, possession of new occupant should be

counted only from time it actually began and cannot be lengthened by
connecting it with possession of the former possessors
 Deed does not of itself create privity between grantor and grantee as to
land not described in the deed but occupied by grantor in connection
therewith, although grantee enters into possession of land not described
and uses it in connection with that conveyed.
 When grantor conveys a specific piece of property, grantee may not tack
onto the period of his holding an additional pieace of property the
period of grantor’s occupancy thereof to make up the statutory period.
 Art 1135 : in case he adverse claimant possess by mistake an area
greater or less than that expressed in title: prescription based on
possession.

SECOND RULE:

 Provides presumption that the present possessor who was also the
possessor at previous time have CONTINUED TO BE IN POSSESSION
during intervening time. --- unless there is proof to the contrary.
 There must be prior showing of fact that person possessing prop was
also one in possession of same before intervening time
 Presumption – rebuttable by showing the contrary

THIRD RULE: first day counted and last day included. DUH?