G.R. No. 179987 31/01/2020, 3(10 PM G.R. No.

179987 31/01/2020, 3(10 PM

Today is Friday, January 31, 2020

other proofs adduced in the name of MARIO MALABANAN, who is of legal age, Filipino, widower, and with
residence at Munting Ilog, Silang, Cavite.
Custom Search
Once this Decision becomes final and executory, the corresponding decree of registration shall forthwith issue.

SO ORDERED.3

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) appealed the judgment to the CA, arguing that Malabanan had failed to
Malabanan v. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 179987, 3 September 2013
♦ Resolution, Bersamin, [J] prove that the property belonged to the alienable and disposable land of the public domain, and that the RTC erred
♦ Separate Opinion, Brion [J] in finding that he had been in possession of the property in the manner and for the length of time required by law for
♦ Concurrinig and Dissenting Opinion, Leonen [J]
confirmation of imperfect title.

Republic of the Philippines On February 23, 2007, the CA promulgated its decision reversing the RTC and dismissing the application for
SUPREME COURT registration of Malabanan. Citing the ruling in Republic v. Herbieto (Herbieto),4 the CA declared that under Section
Manila 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree, any period of possession prior to the classification of the land as
alienable and disposable was inconsequential and should be excluded from the computation of the period of
EN BANC possession. Noting that the CENRO-DENR certification stated that the property had been declared alienable and
disposable only on March 15, 1982, Velazco’s possession prior to March 15, 1982 could not be tacked for purposes
G.R. No. 179987 September 3, 2013 of computing Malabanan’s period of possession.
HEIRS OF MARIO MALABANAN, (Represented by Sally A. Malabanan), Petitioners, Due to Malabanan’s intervening demise during the appeal in the CA, his heirs elevated the CA’s decision of
vs. February 23, 2007 to this Court through a petition for review on certiorari.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.

RESOLUTION The petitioners assert that the ruling in Republic v. Court of Appeals and Corazon Naguit5 (Naguit) remains the
controlling doctrine especially if the property involved is agricultural land. In this regard, Naguit ruled that any
BERSAMIN, J.: possession of agricultural land prior to its declaration as alienable and disposable could be counted in the reckoning
of the period of possession to perfect title under the Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act No. 141) and the Property
For our consideration and resolution are the motions for reconsideration of the parties who both assail the decision Registration Decree. They point out that the ruling in Herbieto, to the effect that the declaration of the land subject of
promulgated on April 29, 2009, whereby we upheld the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) denying the application of the application for registration as alienable and disposable should also date back to June 12, 1945 or earlier, was a
the petitioners for the registration of a parcel of land situated in Barangay Tibig, Silang, Cavite on the ground that mere obiter dictum considering that the land registration proceedings therein were in fact found and declared void
they had not established by sufficient evidence their right to the registration in accordance with either Section 14(1) ab initio for lack of publication of the notice of initial hearing.
or Section 14(2) of Presidential Decree No. 1529 (Property Registration Decree).
The petitioners also rely on the ruling in Republic v. T.A.N. Properties, Inc.6 to support their argument that the
Antecedents property had been ipso jure converted into private property by reason of the open, continuous, exclusive and
notorious possession by their predecessors-in-interest of an alienable land of the public domain for more than 30
The property subject of the application for registration is a parcel of land situated in Barangay Tibig, Silang Cavite, years. According to them, what was essential was that the property had been "converted" into private property
more particularly identified as Lot 9864-A, Cad-452-D, with an area of 71,324-square meters. On February 20, 1998, through prescription at the time of the application without regard to whether the property sought to be registered was
applicant Mario Malabanan, who had purchased the property from Eduardo Velazco, filed an application for land previously classified as agricultural land of the public domain.
registration covering the property in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Tagaytay City, Cavite, claiming that the
property formed part of the alienable and disposable land of the public domain, and that he and his predecessors-in- As earlier stated, we denied the petition for review on certiorari because Malabanan failed to establish by sufficient
interest had been in open, continuous, uninterrupted, public and adverse possession and occupation of the land for evidence possession and occupation of the property on his part and on the part of his predecessors-in interest since
more than 30 years, thereby entitling him to the judicial confirmation of his title.1 June 12, 1945, or earlier.

To prove that the property was an alienable and disposable land of the public domain, Malabanan presented during Petitioners’ Motion for Reconsideration
trial a certification dated June 11, 2001 issued by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office
(CENRO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which reads: In their motion for reconsideration, the petitioners submit that the mere classification of the land as alienable or
disposable should be deemed sufficient to convert it into patrimonial property of the State. Relying on the rulings in
This is to certify that the parcel of land designated as Lot No. 9864 Cad 452-D, Silang Cadastre as surveyed for Mr. Spouses De Ocampo v. Arlos,7 Menguito v. Republic8 and Republic v. T.A.N. Properties, Inc.,9 they argue that the
Virgilio Velasco located at Barangay Tibig, Silang, Cavite containing an area of 249,734 sq. meters as shown and reclassification of the land as alienable or disposable opened it to acquisitive prescription under the Civil Code; that
described on the Plan Ap-04-00952 is verified to be within the Alienable or Disposable land per Land Classification Malabanan had purchased the property from Eduardo Velazco believing in good faith that Velazco and his
Map No. 3013 established under Project No. 20-A and approved as such under FAO 4-1656 on March 15, 1982.2 predecessors-in-interest had been the real owners of the land with the right to validly transmit title and ownership
thereof; that consequently, the ten-year period prescribed by Article 1134 of the Civil Code, in relation to Section
After trial, on December 3, 2002, the RTC rendered judgment granting Malabanan’s application for land registration, 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree, applied in their favor; and that when Malabanan filed the application for
disposing thusly: registration on February 20, 1998, he had already been in possession of the land for almost 16 years reckoned from
1982, the time when the land was declared alienable and disposable by the State.
WHEREFORE, this Court hereby approves this application for registration and thus places under the operation of
Act 141, Act 496 and/or P.D. 1529, otherwise known as Property Registration Law, the lands described in Plan Csd- The Republic’s Motion for Partial Reconsideration
04-0173123-D, Lot 9864-A and containing an area of Seventy One Thousand Three Hundred Twenty Four (71,324)
Square Meters, as supported by its technical description now forming part of the record of this case, in addition to The Republic seeks the partial reconsideration in order to obtain a clarification with reference to the application of
the rulings in Naguit and Herbieto.

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Chiefly citing the dissents, the Republic contends that the decision has enlarged, by implication, the interpretation of proclamation in cases where the President is duly authorized by law to that effect.27 Thus, until the Executive
Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree through judicial legislation. It reiterates its view that an applicant is Department exercises its prerogative to classify or reclassify lands, or until Congress or the President declares that
entitled to registration only when the land subject of the application had been declared alienable and disposable the State no longer intends the land to be used for public service or for the development of national wealth, the
since June 12, 1945 or earlier. Regalian Doctrine is applicable.
Ruling Disposition of alienable public lands
We deny the motions for reconsideration. Section 11 of the Public Land Act (CA No. 141) provides the manner by which alienable and disposable lands of the
public domain, i.e., agricultural lands, can be disposed of, to wit:
In reviewing the assailed decision, we consider to be imperative to discuss the different classifications of land in
relation to the existing applicable land registration laws of the Philippines. Section 11. Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes can be disposed of only as follows, and not otherwise:
Classifications of land according to ownership (1) For homestead settlement;

Land, which is an immovable property,10 may be classified as either of public dominion or of private ownership.11 (2) By sale;
Land is considered of public dominion if it either: (a) is intended for public use; or (b) belongs to the State, without
being for public use, and is intended for some public service or for the development of the national wealth.12 Land (3) By lease; and
belonging to the State that is not of such character, or although of such character but no longer intended for public
(4) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles;
use or for public service forms part of the patrimonial property of the State.13 Land that is other than part of the
patrimonial property of the State, provinces, cities and municipalities is of private ownership if it belongs to a private (a) By judicial legalization; or
individual.
(b) By administrative legalization (free patent).
Pursuant to the Regalian Doctrine (Jura Regalia), a legal concept first introduced into the country from the West by
Spain through the Laws of the Indies and the Royal Cedulas,14 all lands of the public domain belong to the State.15 The core of the controversy herein lies in the proper interpretation of Section 11(4), in relation to Section 48(b) of the
This means that the State is the source of any asserted right to ownership of land, and is charged with the Public Land Act, which expressly requires possession by a Filipino citizen of the land since June 12, 1945, or earlier,
conservation of such patrimony.16 viz:

All lands not appearing to be clearly under private ownership are presumed to belong to the State. Also, public lands Section 48. The following-described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or claiming to
remain part of the inalienable land of the public domain unless the State is shown to have reclassified or alienated own any such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been perfected or completed, may apply to the
them to private persons.17 Court of First Instance of the province where the land is located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a
certificate of title thereafter, under the Land Registration Act, to wit:
Classifications of public lands
according to alienability xxxx

Whether or not land of the public domain is alienable and disposable primarily rests on the classification of public (b) 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
lands made under the Constitution. Under the 1935 Constitution,18 lands of the public domain were classified into claim of acquisition of ownership, since June 12, 1945, or earlier, immediately preceding the filing of the applications
three, namely, agricultural, timber and mineral.19 Section 10, Article XIV of the 1973 Constitution classified lands of for confirmation of title, except when prevented by war or force majeure. These shall be conclusively presumed to
the public domain into seven, specifically, agricultural, industrial or commercial, residential, resettlement, mineral, have performed all the conditions essential to a Government grant and shall be entitled to a certificate of title under
timber or forest, and grazing land, with the reservation that the law might provide other classifications. The 1987 the provisions of this chapter. (Bold emphasis supplied)
Constitution adopted the classification under the 1935 Constitution into agricultural, forest or timber, and mineral, but
added national parks.20 Agricultural lands may be further classified by law according to the uses to which they may Note that Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act used the words "lands of the public domain" or "alienable and
be devoted.21 The identification of lands according to their legal classification is done exclusively by and through a disposable lands of the public domain" to clearly signify that lands otherwise classified, i.e., mineral, forest or timber,
or national parks, and lands of patrimonial or private ownership, are outside the coverage of the Public Land Act.
positive act of the Executive Department.22
What the law does not include, it excludes. The use of the descriptive phrase "alienable and disposable" further
Based on the foregoing, the Constitution places a limit on the type of public land that may be alienated. Under limits the coverage of Section 48(b) to only the agricultural lands of the public domain as set forth in Article XII,
Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution, only agricultural lands of the public domain may be alienated; all other Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution. Bearing in mind such limitations under the Public Land Act, the applicant must
natural resources may not be. satisfy the following requirements in order for his application to come under Section 14(1) of the Property
Registration Decree,28 to wit:
Alienable and disposable lands of the State fall into two categories, to wit: (a) patrimonial lands of the State, or those
classified as lands of private ownership under Article 425 of the Civil Code,23 without limitation; and (b) lands of the 1. The applicant, by himself or through his predecessor-in-interest, has been in possession and occupation of
public domain, or the public lands as provided by the Constitution, but with the limitation that the lands must only be the property subject of the application;
agricultural. Consequently, lands classified as forest or timber, mineral, or national parks are not susceptible of
2. The possession and occupation must be open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious;
alienation or disposition unless they are reclassified as agricultural.24 A positive act of the Government is necessary
to enable such reclassification,25 and the exclusive prerogative to classify public lands under existing laws is vested 3. The possession and occupation must be under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership;
in the Executive Department, not in the courts.26 If, however, public land will be classified as neither agricultural,
forest or timber, mineral or national park, or when public land is no longer intended for public service or for the 4. The possession and occupation must have taken place since June 12, 1945, or earlier; and
development of the national wealth, thereby effectively removing the land from the ambit of public dominion, a
declaration of such conversion must be made in the form of a law duly enacted by Congress or by a Presidential 5. The property subject of the application must be an agricultural land of the public domain.

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Taking into consideration that the Executive Department is vested with the authority to classify lands of the public Public Land Act but the Civil Code, in conjunction with Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree.35 As such,
domain, Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act, in relation to Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree, prescription can now run against the State.
presupposes that the land subject of the application for registration must have been already classified as agricultural
land of the public domain in order for the provision to apply. Thus, absent proof that the land is already classified as To sum up, we now observe the following rules relative to the disposition of public land or lands of the public
agricultural land of the public domain, the Regalian Doctrine applies, and overcomes the presumption that the land domain, namely:
is alienable and disposable as laid down in Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act. However, emphasis is placed on
the requirement that the classification required by Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act is classification or (1) As a general rule and pursuant to the Regalian Doctrine, all lands of the public domain belong to the State
reclassification of a public land as agricultural. and are inalienable. Lands that are not clearly under private ownership are also presumed to belong to the
State and, therefore, may not be alienated or disposed;
The dissent stresses that the classification or reclassification of the land as alienable and disposable agricultural
land should likewise have been made on June 12, 1945 or earlier, because any possession of the land prior to such (2) The following are excepted from the general rule, to wit:
classification or reclassification produced no legal effects. It observes that the fixed date of June 12, 1945 could not
be minimized or glossed over by mere judicial interpretation or by judicial social policy concerns, and insisted that (a) Agricultural lands of the public domain are rendered alienable and disposable through any of the
the full legislative intent be respected. exclusive modes enumerated under Section 11 of the Public Land Act. If the mode is judicial
confirmation of imperfect title under Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act, the agricultural land subject of
We find, however, that the choice of June 12, 1945 as the reckoning point of the requisite possession and the application needs only to be classified as alienable and disposable as of the time of the application,
occupation was the sole prerogative of Congress, the determination of which should best be left to the wisdom of provided the applicant’s possession and occupation of the land dated back to June 12, 1945, or earlier.
the lawmakers. Except that said date qualified the period of possession and occupation, no other legislative intent Thereby, a conclusive presumption that the applicant has performed all the conditions essential to a
appears to be associated with the fixing of the date of June 12, 1945. Accordingly, the Court should interpret only government grant arises,36 and the applicant becomes the owner of the land by virtue of an imperfect
the plain and literal meaning of the law as written by the legislators. or incomplete title. By legal fiction, the land has already ceased to be part of the public domain and has
become private property.37
Moreover, an examination of Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act indicates that Congress prescribed no
requirement that the land subject of the registration should have been classified as agricultural since June 12, 1945, (b) Lands of the public domain subsequently classified or declared as no longer intended for public use
or earlier. As such, the applicant’s imperfect or incomplete title is derived only from possession and occupation since or for the development of national wealth are removed from the sphere of public dominion and are
June 12, 1945, or earlier. This means that the character of the property subject of the application as alienable and considered converted into patrimonial lands or lands of private ownership that may be alienated or
disposable agricultural land of the public domain determines its eligibility for land registration, not the ownership or disposed through any of the modes of acquiring ownership under the Civil Code. If the mode of
title over it. acquisition is prescription, whether ordinary or extraordinary, proof that the land has been already
converted to private ownership prior to the requisite acquisitive prescriptive period is a condition sine
Alienable public land held by a possessor, either personally or through his predecessors-in-interest, openly,
qua non in observance of the law (Article 1113, Civil Code) that property of the State not patrimonial in
continuously and exclusively during the prescribed statutory period is converted to private property by the mere
character shall not be the object of prescription.
lapse or completion of the period.29 In fact, by virtue of this doctrine, corporations may now acquire lands of the
public domain for as long as the lands were already converted to private ownership, by operation of law, as a result To reiterate, then, the petitioners failed to present sufficient evidence to establish that they and their predecessors-
of satisfying the requisite period of possession prescribed by the Public Land Act.30 It is for this reason that the in-interest had been in possession of the land since June 12, 1945. Without satisfying the requisite character and
property subject of the application of Malabanan need not be classified as alienable and disposable agricultural land period of possession - possession and occupation that is open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious since June 12,
of the public domain for the entire duration of the requisite period of possession. 1945, or earlier - the land cannot be considered ipso jure converted to private property even upon the subsequent
declaration of it as alienable and disposable. Prescription never began to run against the State, such that the land
To be clear, then, the requirement that the land should have been classified as alienable and disposable agricultural has remained ineligible for registration under Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree. Likewise, the land
land at the time of the application for registration is necessary only to dispute the presumption that the land is continues to be ineligible for land registration under Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree unless
inalienable. Congress enacts a law or the President issues a proclamation declaring the land as no longer intended for public
service or for the development of the national wealth. 1âwphi1

The declaration that land is alienable and disposable also serves to determine the point at which prescription may
run against the State. The imperfect or incomplete title being confirmed under Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act WHEREFORE, the Court DENIES the petitioners' Motion for Reconsideration and the respondent's Partial Motion
is title that is acquired by reason of the applicant’s possession and occupation of the alienable and disposable for Reconsideration for their lack of merit.
agricultural land of the public domain. Where all the necessary requirements for a grant by the Government are
complied with through actual physical, open, continuous, exclusive and public possession of an alienable and SO ORDERED.
disposable land of the public domain, the possessor is deemed to have acquired by operation of law not only a right
to a grant, but a grant by the Government, because it is not necessary that a certificate of title be issued in order that LUCAS P. BERSAMIN
such a grant be sanctioned by the courts.31 Associate Justice

If one follows the dissent, the clear objective of the Public Land Act to adjudicate and quiet titles to unregistered WE CONCUR:
lands in favor of qualified Filipino citizens by reason of their occupation and cultivation thereof for the number of
MARIA LOURDES P. A. SERENO
years prescribed by law32 will be defeated. Indeed, we should always bear in mind that such objective still prevails, Chief Justice
as a fairly recent legislative development bears out, when Congress enacted legislation (Republic Act No. 10023)33
in order to liberalize stringent requirements and procedures in the adjudication of alienable public land to qualified
applicants, particularly residential lands, subject to area limitations.34 ANTONIO T. CARPIO PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.
Associate Justice Associate Justice
On the other hand, if a public land is classified as no longer intended for public use or for the development of
national wealth by declaration of Congress or the President, thereby converting such land into patrimonial or private I submitted my vote joining the Separate In the Result: See Separate Opinion
land of the State, the applicable provision concerning disposition and registration is no longer Section 48(b) of the Opinion of Justice Brion ARTURO D. BRION

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TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO Associate Justice 14 Cruz v. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, G.R. No. 135385, December 6, 2000, 347 SCRA
Associate Justice 128, 165.

15 Section 2, Art. XII, 1987 Constitution.

DIOSDADO M. PERLATA MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO
Associate Justice Associate Justice
16 Republic v. Intermediate Appellate Court, No. L-71285, November 5, 1987, 155 SCRA 412, 419.

ROBERTO A. ABAD MARTIN S. VILLARAMA, JR. 17 Republic v. Lao, G.R. No. 150413, July 1, 2003, 405 SCRA 291, 298.
Associate Justice Associate Justice
18 1935 Constitution, Art. XIII, Sec. 1.
JOSE PORTUGAL PEREZ JOSE CATRAL MENDOZA
Associate Justice Associate Justice 19 Krivenko v. Register of Deeds of Manila, 79 Phil. 461, 468 (1947). 20 Section 3 of Article XII, 1987
Constitution states:
BIENVENIDO L. REYES ESTELA M. PERLAS-BERNABE
Associate Justice Associate Justice Section 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands,
and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further classified by law according to
the uses which they may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to
See separate concurring and dissenting opinion agricultural lands. Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public
MARVIC MARIO VICTOR F. LEONEN domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than
Associate Justice twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area.
CERTIFICATION Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than
twelve hectares thereof by purchase, homestead, or grant.
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution, I certify that the conclusions in the above Resolution had
been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the court. Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and subject to the
requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law, the size of lands of the public
MARIA LOURDES P. A. SERENO
Chief Justice domain which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions therefor. 21 Id.

22 See Bernas, The 1987 Constitution, 2009 Ed., pp. 1188-1189.

Footnotes 23 Article 425. Property of private ownership, besides the patrimonial property of the State, provinces, cities,
and municipalities, consists of all property belonging to private persons, either individually or collectively.
1 Rollo, pp. 16-17. (345a)

2 Id. at 37-38. 24 Director of Forestry v. Villareal, G.R. No. 32266, February 27, 1989, 170 SCRA 598, 608-609.

3 Id. at 87. 25 Heirs of Jose Amunategui v. Director of Forestry, No. L-27873, November 29, 1983, 126 SCRA 69, 75.

4 G.R. No. 156117, May 26, 2005, 459 SCRA 183. 26 Director of Lands v. Court of Appeals, No. L-58867, June 22, 1984, 129 SCRA 689, 692.

5 G.R. No. 144057, January 17, 2005, 448 SCRA 442. 27 Republic v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 127060, November 19, 2002, 392 SCRA 190, 201.

6 G.R. No. 154953, June 26, 2008, 555 SCRA 477. 28 Section 14. Who may apply. – The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an
application for registration of title to land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:
7 G.R. No. 135527, October 19, 2000, 343 SCRA 716.
(1) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous,
8 G.R. No. 134308, December 14, 2000, 348 SCRA 128. exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public
domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.
9 Supra note 6.
xxxx
10 Article 415(1), Civil Code.
29 Director of Lands v. Intermediate Appellate Court, No. L-73002, December 29, 1986, 146 SCRA 509, 518.

11 Article 419, Civil Code. See also the dissenting opinion of Justice Teehankee in Manila Electric Company v. Judge Castro-Bartolome,
No. L-49623, June 29, 1982, 114 SCRA 799, 813.
12 Article 420, Civil Code.
30 Director of Lands v. Intermediate Appellate Court, No. L-73002, December 29, 1986, 146 SCRA 509, 521.

13 Article 421, Civil Code.

31 Susi v. Razon and Director of Lands, 48 Phil. 424, 428 (1925); Santos v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 90380,

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September 13, 1990, 189 SCRA 550, 560; Cruz v. Navarro, No. L-27644, November 29, 1973, 54 SCRA 109,
115.

32 x x x WHEREAS, it has always been the policy of the State to hasten the settlement, adjudication and
quieting of titles to unregistered lands including alienable and disposable lands of the public domain in favor
of qualified Filipino citizens who have acquired inchoate, imperfect and incomplete titles thereto by reason of
their open, continuous, exclusive and notorious occupation and cultivation thereof under bonafide claim of
acquisition of ownership for a number of years prescribed by law; x x x (Presidential Decree 1073)

33 An Act Authorizing the Issuance of Free Patents to Residential Lands (Approved on March 9, 2010).

34 Republic Act No. 10023 reduces the period of eligibility for titling from 30 years to 10 years of untitled
public alienable and disposable lands which have been zoned as residential; and enables the applicant to
apply with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources having jurisdiction over the parcel subject of the application, provided the land subject of
the application should not exceed 200 square meters if it is in a highly urbanized city, 500 meters in other
cities, 750 meters in first-class and second-class municipalities, and 1,000 meters in third-class municipalities.

35 Section 14. Who may apply. – The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an
application for registration of title to land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:

xxxx

(2) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provisions of existing
laws.

36 Republic v. Intermediate Appellate Court, No. L-75042, November 29, 1988, 168 SCRA 165, 174.

37 Dissenting opinion of Justice Teehankee in Manila Electric Company v. Castro-Bartolome, supra,

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