G.R. No. 200256. April 11, 2018.
Republic of the Philippines, Petitioner, vs. Northern Cement Corporation, Respondent.

FACTS

Respondent Northern Cement Corporation filed an application for original registration of title over a 58,617.96-square-meter parcel of land in Sison, Pangasinan. It claimed ownership by virtue of a 1968 Deed of Absolute Sale from Rodolfo Chichioco and presented tax declarations in its name, a CENRO report, and an approved survey plan. The CENRO report stated the land was within an alienable and disposable zone classified as such on November 21, 1927. The Regional Trial Court granted the application, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeals.
The Republic appealed, contending that Northern Cement failed to sufficiently prove the land was alienable and disposable and that it and its predecessors-in-interest had possessed the land for the required period. The Republic specifically argued that the CENRO report and survey plan were inadequate to establish the land’s alienable status and that the applicant did not meet the possession requirements under Section 14 of Presidential Decree No. 1529.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the grant of Northern Cement’s application for original registration of title.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition and denied the application for registration. The Court held that for original registration under Section 14(1) of P.D. No. 1529, an applicant must prove: (a) the land is alienable and disposable public land; and (b) the applicant and its predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.
Northern Cement failed on both counts. First, the CENRO report and survey plan merely stated the land was “inside alienable and disposable area as per project No. 63, L.C. Map No. 698, certified on November 21, 1927.” This is insufficient. The applicant must present a certified true copy of the original classification approved by the DENR Secretary and published in the Official Gazette or a bulletin to incontrovertibly prove the land’s alienable and disposable character. Second, the evidence of possession was inadequate. The earliest tax declaration presented was from 1970, and the possession of the predecessor-in-interest, Chichioco, was not established. The CENRO report’s notation of “Cogon” as the only improvement suggested the land was idle, negating the required cultivation and development indicative of possession. Thus, Northern Cement did not prove possession since June 12, 1945.