G.R. No. 45859 ; September 28, 1938
Gold Creek Mining Corporation vs. Eulogio Rodriguez, Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, and Quirico Abadilla, Director of the Bureau of Mines

FACTS

Petitioner Gold Creek Mining Corporation located the “Nob Fraction” mineral claim on public lands in 1929 under the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, as amended. It performed all required acts for patent issuance: location, survey, labor/improvement expenditures exceeding P1,600, application filing, notice publication, and tender of purchase price. Respondents, the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce and the Director of the Bureau of Mines, refused to approve the patent application, citing Section 1, Article XII of the 1935 Constitution, which prohibits alienation of natural resources except public agricultural land.

ISSUE

Whether the petitioner, holder of an unpatented mining claim located under the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, as amended, prior to the 1935 Constitution, is entitled to a patent as a matter of right, or whether the constitutional prohibition against alienation of natural resources bars such issuance.

RULING

The petition is denied. The Supreme Court held that the constitutional prohibition applies. A perfected mining location under the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, as amended, only grants the locator a possessory right, sufficient to explore and work the mine, and a privilege to purchase the land from the government upon compliance with conditions. It does not vest in the locator an absolute, alienable title or ownership. The fee simple title remains with the government until the patent is issued. Since the petitioner had not obtained a patent before the 1935 Constitution took effect, it had no vested right to the patent, and its inchoate privilege was subject to the new constitutional rule prohibiting alienation. The constitutional intent to conserve natural resources for Filipino citizens prevails, and the government is not obligated to issue the patent.

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