G.R. No. 174964 . October 05, 2016.
SANGGUNIANG PANLALAWIGAN OF BATAAN, PETITIONER, VS. CONGRESSMAN ENRIQUE T. GARCIA, JR., MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY, CONCERNED STUDENTS AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE BATAAN POLYTECHNIC STATE COLLEGE, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

Lot Nos. 2193 and 2194, registered under OCT No. N-182 in the name of the Province of Bataan, were occupied by state-run schools. Republic Act No. 8562 , authored by respondent Congressman Garcia, converted these schools into the Bataan Polytechnic State College (BPSC). Section 24 of the law declared all government lands occupied by these schools as property of BPSC, to be titled under its name, with a proviso for reversion to the province if the college is abolished or the lands are no longer needed. Despite a formal request, the provincial government, through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, refused to transfer the title.
Respondents, including the BPSC Board of Trustees, filed a petition for mandamus to compel the transfer. The petitioner argued that the lots were its patrimonial property, acquired with corporate funds and even mortgaged to the Land Bank, and thus could not be taken without due process and just compensation. It also challenged the respondents’ legal standing. The Regional Trial Court granted the writ of mandamus, an order affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

ISSUE

The core issues are: (1) whether the subject parcels of land are patrimonial properties of the Province of Bataan, and (2) whether a writ of mandamus may issue to compel their transfer without compensation.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the lower courts. The land is not patrimonial property of the province but remains property of the State. Under the Regalian doctrine, all lands of the public domain belong to the State. The issuance of a Torrens title in the name of the province does not automatically convert the property into patrimonial or private property. The petitioner failed to present conclusive evidence that the province acquired the lots with its own corporate or private funds. Absent such proof, the presumption remains that lands held by a local government unit are public in character, intended for public use. The province’s act of mortgaging the property does not alter its public character, as the power to mortgage is incidental to its administrative control over property devoted to public use.
Consequently, Section 24 of R.A. No. 8562 is a valid exercise of the State’s power to reclassify and reallocate its own public property for another public purpose—education. Since the property was never the province’s private property, the transfer does not constitute a taking that requires just compensation. The writ of mandamus was properly issued to compel the performance of a ministerial duty mandated by a valid law. The Court also found that BPSC, as the entity directly benefited by the law, was a real party in interest. The claim that the law violates local autonomy was unavailing, as the State retains ultimate ownership and control over public domain lands.