“the government should exercise a positive act to re-classify inalienable land to alienable for proper disposition; action to recover property of public domain never prescribes”
Facts:
Petitioners acquired 2 pieces of lands by inheritance and in a court decision they were declared as owners in fee simple. 23 years later the Republic filed a petition to annul the judgment and cancel the decree of registration and title and to reverse the property to the State as unclassified forest lands.
Issue:
The court ruled that the Executive Proclamation No. 219 classified these lands as a national reserve and it appears that the said property was never released for public disposition. At the time of the petitioner’s predecessor’s occupancy, the land remained inalienable. For a public dominion to be subject for a registration proceeding, the government should exercise a positive act to re-classify inalienable land to alienable for proper disposition. In an application for a land registration of a property of public domain, the applicant for land registration must secure a certification from the government that the land claimed (1) has been possessed in the concept of an owner for more than 30 years and (2) alienable and disposable. Moreover, action to recover property of public domain never prescribes.
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