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* SECOND DIVISION.
416
under Section 14(1) and Section 14(2) of P.D. 1529, to wit: (1) In
connection with Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree,
Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act recognizes and confirms that
“those who by themselves or through their predecessors in
interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious
possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the
public domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of
ownership, since June 12, 1945” have acquired ownership of, and
registrable title to, such lands based on the length and quality of
their possession. (a) Since Section 48(b) merely requires
possession since 12 June 1945 and does not require that the lands
should have been alienable and disposable during the entire
period of possession, the possessor is entitled to secure judicial
confirmation of his title thereto as soon as it is declared alienable
and disposable, subject to the timeframe imposed by Section 47 of
the Public Land Act. (b) The right to register granted under
Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act is further confirmed by
Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree. (2) In
complying with Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree,
consider that under the Civil Code, prescription is recognized as a
mode of acquiring ownership of patrimonial property. However,
public domain lands become only patrimonial property not
only with a declaration that these are alienable or
disposable. There must also be an express government
manifestation that the property is already patrimonial or
no longer retained for public service or the development of
national wealth, under Article 422 of the Civil Code. And
only when the property has become patrimonial can the
prescriptive period for the acquisition of property of the public
dominion begin to run. (a) Patrimonial property is private
property of the government. The person acquires ownership of
patrimonial property by prescription under the Civil Code is
entitled to secure registration thereof under Section 14(2) of the
Property Registration Decree. (b) There are two kinds of
prescription by which patrimonial property may be acquired, one
ordinary and other extraordinary. Under ordinary acquisitive
prescription, a person acquires ownership of a patrimonial
property through possession for at least ten (10) years, in good
faith and with just title. Under extraordinary acquisitive
prescription, a person’s uninterrupted adverse possession of
patrimonial property for at least thirty (30) years, regardless of
good faith or just title, ripens into ownership.
417
MENDOZA, J.:
In this Petition for Review on certiorari under Rule 45,
the Republic of the Philippines, represented by the Office of
the Solicitor General (OSG), assails the November 28, 2008
Decision1 of the Court of Appeals (CA), in CA-G.R. CV No.
00318-MIN, reversing the December 3, 2002 Resolution2 of
the Regional Trial Court, Butuan City, Branch 2 (RTC),
disallowing the Application for Registration of Title of
respondent Jose Ching, represented by his Attorney-in-
Fact, Antonio Ching, in Land Registration Case No. N-290.
The Facts
On August 9, 1999, respondent Jose Ching, represented
by his Attorney-in-Fact, Antonio Ching, filed a verified
Application for Registration of Title covering a parcel of
land with improvements identified as Lot 1, SGS-13-
000037-D, being a portion of Lot 2738, GSS-10-000043,
before the RTC. The subject lot is a consolidation of three
(3) contiguous lots situated in Banza, Butuan City, Agusan
del Norte, with an area of 58,229 square meters. The first
parcel of land is covered by Tax Declaration No. 96GR-11-
003-0556-A; the second parcel by Tax Declaration No.
96GR-11-003-0444-I; and the third parcel by Tax
Declaration No. 96GR-11-003-0537-A. In support of his
application, respondent attached the (a) Sketch
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418
418 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
Republic vs. Ching
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3 Id., at p. 80.
4 Id.
5 Id., at p. 82.
6 Id.
7 Id., at pp. 80-81.
8 Id., at p. 79.
9 Id., at p. 80.
10 Id., at p. 83.
11 Id., at pp. 83-84.
419
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12 Id., at p. 85.
13 Id., at pp. 79-99.
420
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421
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422
Issues
I
The Court of Appeals erred in reversing and setting aside
the Resolution dated December 23, 2002 of the Land
Registration Court denying the BELATED submission of
tax declarations which the herein respondent merely
attached in its supplemental motion for reconsideration
and which were NOT FORMALLY OFFERED in evidence
during the trial of the case, as required under Section 34
of Rule 132 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure;
II
The Court of Appeals erred in reversing and setting aside
the Resolution dated December 23, 2002 of the Land
Registration Court denying the admission of MERE
PHOTOCOPIES of tax declarations which have not been
verified or authenticated, in flagrant violation of the
requirements of both Act 496 (Land Registration Act) and
PD 1529 (Property Registration Act) providing that only
ORIGINAL muniments of titles or original copies thereof
shall be filed;
III
The Court of Appeals erred in reversing and setting aside
the subject Resolution of the Land Registration Court
which denied the application for registration on the
ground that
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423
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424
xxx
(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 of ownership, since June 12, 1945, or
earlier, 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.”
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28 Republic of the Philippines v. Roche, G.R. No. 175846, July 06, 2010,
624 SCRA 116, citing Pagkatipunan v. Court of Appeals, 429 Phil. 377,
386-387; 379 SCRA 621, 628 (2002).
425
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29 Rollo, p. 39.
30 Id., at pp. 39-40.
31 Id., at p. 40.
426
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427
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That this period shall apply only where the area applied for does not
exceed twelve (12) hectares: Provided, further, That the several periods of
time designated by the President in accordance with Section Forty-Five of
this Act shall apply also to the lands comprised in the provisions of this
Chapter, but this Section shall not be construed as prohibiting any said
persons from acting under this Chapter at any time prior to the period
fixed by the President.
36 Emphasis supplied.
428
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