H. Non-registrable Properties (Civil Code, Art. 420)

H. Non-Registrable Properties (Civil Code, art. 420)

> Article 420. The following things are property of public dominion:

(1) Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of similar character;

(2) Those which belong to the State, without being for public use, and are intended for some public service or for the development of the national wealth. (339a)

Non-Registrable Properties

An applicant for land registration should know what properties or lands cannot be subject to private appropriation.

Note: The Land Registration Court has no jurisdiction over non-registrable properties and cannot validly adjudge the registration of title in favor of the applicant for the registration of the same (Republic v. Feliza, G.R. No. 182913, Nov. 20, 2013).

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Non-Registrable Lands

• Property of public domain or those intended for public use, public service or development of the national wealth; (Art. 420, NCC)
• Forest or timber lands;
• Water sheds;
• Mangrove swamps;
• Mineral lands;
• National parks and plazas; NOTE: Where the certificate of title covers a portion of land within the area reserved for park purposes, the title should be annulled with respect to that portion. (Palomo v. CA, G.R. No. 95608., 21 Jan. 1997)
• Military or naval reservations;
• Foreshore lands;
• Reclaimed lands while they remain property of public dominion; registrability depends on the requisite classification and conversion to patrimonial property;
• Submerged areas;
• Riverbanks;
• Lakes, rivers, creeks and lagoons; NOTE: Areas beyond a lake’s natural bed, or the ground covered by the waters at their highest ordinary depth during the dry season, may be registered. (Republic v. CA, G.R. No. L-43105, 31 Aug. 1984) A dried-up creek is property of public dominion. Under Art. 420(1) and Art.502(1) of the Civil Code, rivers and their natural beds are property of public dominion. IN the absence of any provision of law vesting ownership of the dried-up river bed in some other person, it must continue to belong to the State. (Fernando v. Acuña, G.R. No. 161030, 14 Sept. 2011)
• Reservations for public and semi-public purposes;
• Protected areas;
• Resources within ancestral domains; and
• Others of similar character.

Q: In 1913, Gov. Gen. Forbes reserved a parcel of land for provincial park purposes. Sometime thereafter, the court ordered said land to be registered in Ignacio & Carmen Palomo’s name. What is the effect of the act of Gov. Gen Forbes in reserving the land for provincial park purposes.

Ans: As part of the reservation for provincial park purposes, they form part of the forest zone. It is elementary in the law governing natural resources that forest land cannot be owned by private persons. It is not registrable and possession thereof, no matter how lengthy, cannot convert it into private property, unless such lands are reclassified and considered disposable and alienable. (Sps. Palomo, et. al. v. CA, et. al., G.R. No. 95608, 21 Jan. 1997)

Q: Does land classified as forest loses its classification because it has been stripped of it forest cover?

A: NO. A forested area classified as forest land of the public domain does not lose such classification simply because loggers or settlers may have stripped it of its forest cover. Parcels of land classified as forest land may actually be covered with grass or planted with crops by kaingin cultivators or other farmers. Forest lands do not have to be on mountains or in out-of-the-way places. The classification of land is descriptive of its legal nature or status and does not have to be descriptive of what the land actually looks like. (Heirs of Jose Amunategui v. Director of Forestry, G.R. No. L-27873, 29 Nov. 1983)