REGALIAN DOCTRINE

·         The foundation of the time-honored principle of land-ownership that “all lands that were not acquired from the government, either by purchase or by grant, belong to the public domain”

·         Generally, under the concept of jura regalia, private title to land must be traced to some grant, express or implied, from the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Colonial government, and thereafter, the Philippine Republic. The belief that the Spanish Crown is the origin of all land titles in the Philippines has persisted because title to land must emanate from some source for it cannot issue forth from nowhere.

·         In its broad sense, the term “jura regalia” refers to royal rights, or those rights which the King has by virtue of his prerogatives.

·         The theory of the feudal system was that title to all lands was originally held by the King, and while the use of lands was granted out to others who were permitted to hold them under certain conditions, the King theoretically retained the title. By fiction of law, the King was regarded as the original proprietor of all lands, and the true and only source of title, and from him all lands were held. The theory of jura regalia was therefore nothing more than a natural fruit of conquest.