G.R. No. 41901 ; August 15, 1935
MATIAS N. SALES, petitioner-claimant-appellee, vs. THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS, ET AL. oppositors-claimants. THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS, appellant.

FACTS

Matias N. Sales applied for registration under Act No. 496 and the Cadastral Law of a 117-hectare parcel of land in Calabanga, Camarines Sur. The Director of Lands opposed, claiming the land was part of the public domain. The land originated from Eusebio Falcon, who obtained a possessory information in 1892 for 50 hectares. Falcon sold this to Agapito Escaro in 1923. Escaro later donated a portion to Sales in 1925. However, Escaro himself had previously obtained registration of 268 hectares from the same original Falcon property. The total area claimed from Falcon’s original 50 hectares had ballooned to 445 hectares across various transactions. The land was largely unimproved pasture, with only recent, minor cultivation by Sales and homesteader-oppositors.

ISSUE

Whether Matias N. Sales has a registrable title to the 117-hectare land based on the possessory information of his predecessor-in-interest and alleged open, continuous possession.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s decision ordering registration. The land is declared public domain. The possessory information covered only 50 hectares, and the 117 hectares claimed by Sales could not be traced to it, given the gross and unexplained increase in area. Falcon himself had insisted his property was only 50 hectares. Neither Sales nor his predecessors exhibited the required open, continuous, and exclusive possession that could ripen into ownership. The land remained largely unimproved pasture, and possession was shared with others. The possessory information, even if applicable, was insufficient without the accompanying requisite possession. The two houses built by Sales were declared his private property.

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