LTD: Prescription

 

SECTION 14(2) [PRESCRIPTION]

·        PD1529 and its amendatory PD1073 didn’t preclude application for registration of alienable lands of the public domain, possession over which commenced only after June 12, 1945, considering Section 14 (2) which governs and authorizes the application of those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provisions of existing laws

·        Section 14(2) allows qualified individuals to apply for the registration of property, ownership of which he has acquired by prescription under existing laws.

·        While as a rule, prescription doesn’t run against the State, the exception is when the law expressly provides

·        The prescriptive period for acquisition of property applies to patrimonial properties of the State, or those which have been declared as no longer intended for public use or public service

SECTION 14(1) V. SECTION 14(2)

	SECTION 14(1)	SECTION 14(2)
Registration basis	possession	Prescription
Extended under	PD 1529 and Public Land Act	PD 1529 and Civil Code
30-year period relation	To possession without regard to Civil Code	Involves extraordinary prescription under Civil Code
As to when the land should be classified as A&D	At the time of the filing	At the start of the possession

TWO KINDS OF PRESCRIPTION

1.      Ordinary Acquisitive prescription

§  a person acquires ownership of a patrimonial property through possession for at least 10 years, in good faith, and with just title

2.      Extraordinary Acquisitive prescription

§  a person’s UNINTERRUPTED possession of patrimonial property for at least 30 years, regardless of good faith or just title, ripens into private ownership

CONCEPT OF POSSESSION FOR PURPOSES OF PRESCRIPTION

·        Actual possession of land consists in the manifestation of acts of dominion over it of such a nature as a party would naturally exercise over his own property

·        To consolidate prescription, the possession must be that of owner, and it must be public, peaceful, and uninterrupted. Acts of a possessory character done by virtue of a license or mere tolerance on the part of the owner aren’t sufficient

COMPUTATION OF PRESCRIPTION

·        The present possessor may complete the period necessary for prescription by tacking his possession to that of his grantor or predecessor-in-interest

·        Presumed that the present possessor who was also the possessor at the previous time, has continued to be in possession during the intervening time, unless there is proof to the contrary

PRESCRIPTION V. LACHES

PRESCRIPTION	LACHES
Effect of delay	Fact of delay
Matter of time	Question of inequity of permitting a claim to be enforce, this inequity being founded on some change in the condition of the property or the relation of the parties
Statutory	Not statutory
Applies at law	Applies at equity
Based on a fixed time	Not fixed time