G.R. No. 159589 , December 23, 2008.
Republic of the Philippines, petitioner, vs. Heirs of Juan Fabio, namely: Dominga C. Fabio, Socorro D. Fabio, Lydia D. Fabio, Rolando D. Fabio, Norma D. Fabio, Norma L. Fabio, Angelita Fabio, Rosalie Fabio, Danilo Fabio, Renato Fabio, Levita Fabio, Irene Fabio, Teresita Molera, Rosemarie C. Pakay, Ligaya C. Masangkay, Alfredo F. Castillo, Melinda F. Castillo, Mercedita F. Castillo, Estela De Jesus Aquino, Felecito Fabio, and Alexander Fabio, represented herein by Angelita F. Esteibar as their Attorney-in-Fact, respondents.

FACTS

On November 21, 1996, the heirs of Juan Fabio filed an application for registration of title under Act No. 496 , as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1529, for Lot No. 233, Cad-617-D, Ternate Cadastre, with an area of approximately 109.6 hectares in Barangay Sapang, Ternate, Cavite. They claimed ownership through a bona fide claim, alleging that they and their predecessors-in-interest had been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession in the concept of an owner for more than 100 years. They submitted various documents including tax declarations in the name of Juan Fabio from 1947 to 1994, certifications of tax payments, a survey plan, and a letter from a DENR Land Management Inspector stating the land was alienable and disposable. During trial, witnesses testified to the long-term possession and cultivation of the land by Juan Fabio and his heirs. The survey plan contained a notation that the survey falls within the Calumpang Point Naval Reservation per Proclamation No. 1582-A, and disposition was subject to its final delimitation. The government prosecutor interposed no objection to the exhibits and submitted the case for resolution. The Regional Trial Court granted the application and ordered the registration of the land in the name of Juan Fabio. The Republic appealed, arguing the land was part of a naval reservation and thus inalienable. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision. The Republic then filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether the respondents have sufficiently established that the subject land is alienable and disposable public land and that they have acquired a registrable title thereto.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the lower courts and denied the application for registration. The Court held that the respondents failed to prove that the land was alienable and disposable. The notation on the approved survey plan stating the land falls within the Calumpang Point Naval Reservation per Proclamation No. 1582-A created serious doubt about its alienable status. The respondents did not present a certification from the proper government agency that the land was classified as alienable and disposable, nor did they present a copy of the official proclamation declaring the naval reservation to prove that the subject land was excluded from it. The letter from the DENR Land Management Inspector was insufficient to prove the land’s alienable status; what is required is a certification from the DENR Secretary or a duly authorized representative. Furthermore, the Court ruled that possession of the land before its declaration as a naval reservation in 1976 cannot ripen into ownership, as the land was not yet declared alienable. The tax declarations and payments, while indicative of possession, are not conclusive evidence of ownership or of the land’s alienable character. The government’s failure to object during trial does not amount to an admission that the land is alienable. The burden of proof rests on the applicant to overcome the presumption that land of the public domain belongs to the State.