G.R. No. L-6098 August 12, 1911
FACTS
The
Attorney-General filed a written complaint in the CFI of Surigao against the
firm of Aldecoa & Co., alleging that the defendant, a mercantile
copartnership company with a branch office in Surigao, continues to operate as
such mercantile copartnership company under the name of Aldecoa & Co.,;
that the said defendant, knowing that it had no title or right whatever to two
adjoining parcels of land has been occupying them illegally for the past
seventeen years, more or less, having constructed on the land a wharf, located
along the railroad, and built warehouses of light material for the storage of
coal — all for its exclusive use and benefit. These lands, situated in Surigao,
belonged to the late Spanish Government in the Philippines and are now the
property of the Government of the United States and were placed under the
control of the Insular Government
Since
the year 1901, the defendant has been requested repeatedly by the
Attorney-General, in representation of the Insular Government, to recognize the
latter's right of dominion over the same and to deliver to it the said property,
and that, by reason of such demands, Aldecoa & Co. agreed to return the
land, but that later, after several delays, it concluded by persisting in its
attempt illegally to continue occupying the said land and refused to return it
to the Insular Government.
The
defendant alleged that it held and possessed, as owner, and had full and
absolute dominion over, the lands claimed by the plaintiff.
CFI
rendered judgment and found that the land in question was public land and
belonged to the State, and ordered the defendant to return it to the plaintiff.
ISSUE
Whether
the subject lands as claimed by the defendant is a part of the public dominion.
RULING
Yes. It is incontrovertible that the
land in question is of the public domain and belongs to the State, inasmuch as
at the present time it is partly shore land and in part, was such formerly, and
now is land formed by the action of the sea.
On the supposition that Aldecoa &
Co. commenced to occupy the land and shore herein concerned, prior to the
enforcement of the Civil Code in these Islands, it is unquestionable that the issue
must be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Waters of
August 3, 1866, inasmuch as the shores, as well as the lands united thereto by
the accretions and alluvium deposits produced by the action of the sea, are of
the public use and domain.
All
this said land, together with the adjacent shore, belongs to the public domain
and is intended for public uses. Thus, the defendant, in construction on the
two aforementioned parcels of land a retaining wall, a pier or wharf, a
railway, and warehouses for the storage of coal, for its exclusive use and
benefit, did all this without due and competent authority and has been
illegally occupying the land since 1901.
Aldecoa
& Co. endeavored to prove that the land, consisting of the two united
parcels, belonged to them in fee simple, on account of their having begun to
occupy it through a verbal permit from the then politico-military governor of
Surigao. The said permit was a verbal authorization to occupy the land on
condition that the defendant should later on prepare title deeds thereto, and
that this authorization was granted for the purpose of furnishing facilities
to, and benefiting the merchants of Surigao, in view of the backward condition
of things in those regions at the time. It is certain, however, that Aldecoa
& Co. did not obtain or solicit permission from the Government to establish
themselves there and erect thereon their buildings and works, nor did they
endeavor to obtain any title of ownership to the said land.
Defendant
has not proven that it obtained for itself, in conformity with the provisions
of the said Law of Waters.
The
Civil Code, which went into effect in these Islands on December 7, 1889,
confirms the provisions of the said Law of Waters. The shores and the lands
reclaimed from the sea, while they continue to be devoted to public uses and no
grant whatever has been made of any portion of them to private persons, remain
a part of the public domain and are for public uses, and, until they are
converted into patrimonial property of the State. Inasmuch as, being dedicated
to the public uses, they are not subject of commerce among men, in accordance
with the provision of the Civil Code.
The record does not disclose that
Aldecoa & Co. had obtained from the Spanish Government of the Philippines
the requisite authorization legally to occupy the said two parcels of land of
which they now claim to be the owners. Wherefore, the occupation or possession
which the allege they hold is a mere detainer that can merit from the law no
protection such as is afforded only to the person legally in possession.
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