G.R. No. L-12790; February 17, 1919
ANICETO LACSON, petitioner-appellant, vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, objector-appellee.

FACTS:
Aniceto Lacson filed an application for the registration and inscription in the Registry of Property of the entire Island of Sicogon, located in Iloilo. He claimed ownership by purchase from its former owners and by acquisitive prescription, alleging that he and his predecessors-in-interest (Ynchausti & Co. and later Ramon Fontanet) had possessed the island openly, continuously, and under a claim of ownership for a period exceeding the legal requirement. The opposition from the municipality of Balasan and several residents was withdrawn after an agreement was reached. The main opposition was maintained by the Government.

Lacson asserted that during the Spanish regime, the State granted a gratuitous composition title over the island to Ynchausti & Co., which later sold it to Ramon Fontanet, who in turn ceded it to Lacson in payment of a debt. However, Lacson could not present the original composition title or the deed of sale from Ynchausti & Co. to Fontanet. He explained that these documents, along with Fontanet’s other papers, were burned when insurgents attacked and burned Fontanet’s house in 1898, and that relevant government archives in Iloilo and Manila were also destroyed by fire during the revolution. Testimonial evidence was presented to support the existence of the title, the chain of possession, and the long-standing, exclusive control exercised by Ynchausti & Co., Fontanet, and finally Lacson over the island.

ISSUE:
Whether Aniceto Lacson is entitled to have the Island of Sicogon registered in his name.

RULING:
Yes, in part. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision denying the application. The Court held that while the forest zone of the island is not susceptible to private ownership and must be excluded, Lacson is entitled to the registration of the agricultural portions.

The Court found the testimonial evidence credible and sufficient to establish that a composition title was indeed issued by the Spanish government to Ynchausti & Co. The loss of the original documents was satisfactorily explained by the fires during the revolution. Furthermore, the Court ruled that Lacson and his predecessors had possessed the island under a claim of ownership, openly, continuously, exclusively, and adversely to all others for a period far exceeding the ten years required by Section 54, paragraph 6 of Act No. 926 . The withdrawal of oppositions by the municipality and residents constituted an implied recognition of Lacson’s ownership.

Therefore, the Court ordered the inscription in Lacson’s name of all agricultural portions of the Island of Sicogon, upon presentation of a corresponding plan segregating these from the inalienable forest zone.