PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

Property v. things
Things refer to those which may or may not be susceptible to appropriation; whereas,
property are all things which are or may be object of appropriation or those already in
the possession of man.

Characteristics of property:
1. Utility – capable of satisfying human wants. This is which generally economically
endows property with value, susceptible of pecuniary estimation.
2. Appropriability – susceptible to ownership or possession even if not yet actually
appropriated.
3. Substantivity – has a separate and autonomous existence.

Classification of property:
1. By object (Art. 414)
a. Real or immovable (Art. 415)
i. Land, buildings, roads, and constructions of all kinds adhered to the soil.
(Nature)
ii. Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached to the land or
form an integral part of an immovable. (Nature)
iii. Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way that
it cannot be separated therefrom without breaking the material or
deterioration of the object. (Incorporation)
iv. Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed
in buildings or on lands by the owner of the immovable in such a manner
that it reveals the intention to attach them permanently to the tenements.
(Incorporation and destination)
Par. 3 Par. 4
Cannot be Can be
separated from separated from
the immovable the immovable
without breaking without breaking
or deterioration. or deterioration.
Need not be Must be placed
placed by the by the owner or
owner. his agent.
Real property by Real property by
incorporation. incorporation
 and designation.

v. Machinery, receptacles, instruments, or implements intended by the owner

of the tenement for an industry or works which may be carried on in a
building or on a piece of land, and which tend directly to meet the needs of
the said industry or works. (Incorporation & destination)
vi. Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish ponds or breeding places of
similar nature in case their owner has placed them or preserves them with
the intention to have them permanently attached to the land, and forming a
permanent part of it; the animals in these places are included.
(Incorporation & destination)
vii. Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land. (Incorporation & destination)
viii.Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of
the bed, and waters either running or stagnant. (Incorporation &
destination)
ix. Docks and structures which, though floating, are intended by their nature
and object to remain at a fixed place on a river, lake, or coast.
(Incorporation & destination)
x. Contracts for public works and servitudes and other real rights over
immovable property. (Analogy)
b. Personal and movable (Art. 416 & 417)
i. Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in the
preceding article.
ii. Real property which by any special provision of law is considered as
personalty.
iii. Forces of nature which are brought under control by science.
iv. In general, all things which can be transported from place to place without
impairment of the real property to which they are fixed.
v. Obligations and actions which have for their object movables or
demandable sums.
vi. Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial, and industrial entities,
although they may have real estate.
2. By ownership (Art. 419)
a. Public dominion (Arts. 420-421): ownership by the State in that the State
has control and administration or ownership by the public in general.
i. Public use
ii. Public service
iii. Development of national wealth
b. Private dominion
i. Patrimonial property (Arts. 422-425): owned by the State in its private
capacity which is not devoted to public use, public service, or the
development of national wealth.
 ii. Private ownership: belonging to private individuals or entities collectively
or individually.
3. Consumable or non-consumable
a. Consumable: cannot be used according to its nature without being
deteriorated or reduced.
b. Non-consumable: can be used according to its nature without being
deteriorated or reduced.
4. By substitution
a. Fungible: replaceable by a property of equal quality and quantity, either by
the nature of things or by common agreement.
b. Non-fungible: irreplaceable.
5. Depending on their ownership:
a. Res nullius: belonging to no one; have not yet been appropriated or have
been abandoned.
b. Res communes: belonging to everyone; for the use and enjoyment of all
mankind.
c. Res alijucus: belonging to someone; owned privately either collectively or
individually.
6. Alienability:
a. Within the commerce of man
b. Outside the commerce of man
i. Physical impossibility
ii. Legal impossibility
7. Existence
a. Future property
b. Present property
8. Materiality
a. Tangible
b. Intangible
9. Importance
a. Principal
b. Accessory
10. Definiteness
a. Generic
b. Specific
11. Custody of court
a. In custodia legis
b. Free

 Serg’s Products, Inc. v. PCI Leasing & Finance: The contracting parties may
validly stipulate that a real property be considered as personal. After agreeing to
such stipulation, they are estopped from claiming otherwise.
Human body is not property
The human body, whether dead or alive, is neither real nor personal property, for it is
not even property at all, in that generally, it cannot be appropriated although there is a
right of possession over it for burial purposes.

Rights as property
Rights are not things and are thus neither movable nor immovable. Since they must be
classified for legal purposes, their classification should naturally follow that of the things
or objects over which they are exercised and to which they are considered united.
1. Real right or jus in re: the right or interest belonging to a person over a specific
thing without a definite passive subject against whom such right may be
personally enforced.
a. Domino pleno: the powers to enjoy and to dispose are united.
b. Domino menos pleno: the power to enjoy and to dispose are separated.
c. Domino limitado: the powers to enjoy and to dispose, though united, are
limited by a charge, guaranty, or privilege.
2. Personal right or jus in personam: the right of a person to demand from
another as a definite passive subject, the fulfillment of the latter’s obligation.

IMMOVABLE PROPERTY
Kinds of immovable property:
1. Immovable by nature: Those which by their essence and nature are immovable
or cannot be moved from one place to another.
2. Immovable by incorporation: Those which are treated as immovable by reason
of their attachment or incorporation to an immovable in such manner as to be an
integral part thereof.
3. Immovable by destination: Those which are essentially movable, but by the
purpose for which they have been placed in an immovable, partake of the nature
of the latter because of the added utility derived therefrom.
4. Immovable by analogy or law: Those mentioned in par. 10 of Art. 415.

Immovable property under Art. 415:

1. Land, buildings, roads, and construction of all kinds adhered to the soil;
2. Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached to the land or form an
integral part of an immovable;
 3. Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way that it
cannot be separated therefrom without breaking the material or deterioration of
the object;
4. Statues, reliefs, paintings, or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed in
buildings or on lands by the owner of the immovable in such a manner that it
reveals the intention to attach them permanently to the tenement;
5. Machinery, receptacles, instruments, or implements intended by the owner of the
tenement for an industry or works which may be carried on in a building or on a
piece of land, and which tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or
works;
6. Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish ponds, or breeding places of
similar nature in case their owner has placed them or preserves them with the
intention to have them permanently attached to the land, and forming a
permanent part of it; the animals in these places are included;
7. Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;
8. Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed,
and waters either running or stagnant;
9. Docks and structures which, though floating, are intended by their nature and
object to remain at a fixed place on a river, lake, or coast;
10. Contracts for public works, and servitudes and other real rights over immovable
property.

 A shovelful of land is a personal property since this no longer adheres to the soil but
when it is used to cover a land, it becomes immovable again.

GR: Machinery, receptacles, instruments, or implements intended by the owner of

the tenement for an industry or works which may be carried on in a building or on
a piece of land, and which tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or
works are considered immovable (par. 5, Art. 415).
XPN: When placed on the land or tenement by tenant.
XPN to XPN: When the tenant had promised to leave the machinery on the
tenement at the end of the lease, or when he acted only as agent of the owner of
the land.

MOVABLE PROPERTY
Movable property:
1. Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in the
preceding article;
 2. Real property which by any special provision of law is considered as personalty;
3. Forces of nature which are brought under the control by science;
4. All things which can be transported from place to place without impairment of the
real property to which they are fixed;
5. Obligations and actions which have for their object movables or demandable
sums;
6. Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial, and industrial entities, although they
may have real estate.

Tests to determine whether property is movable or not:

1. Whether the object does not fall within any of the 10 cases enumerated in Art.
415. (Test of exclusion)
2. Whether the property can be transported or carried from place to place. (Test of
mobility)
3. Whether such change of location can be made without injuring the immovable to
which the object may be attached.

Importance of classification
Classification is important because of the various consequences flowing therefrom such
as:
a. Acquisitive prescription: Ownership of movables prescribes through
uninterrupted possession for 4 years in good faith or 8 years in bad faith.
Ownership of immovables prescribes in 10 years in good faith or 30 years in bad
faith.
b. Pledge, chattel mortgage, real estate mortgage: Only movables can be the
object of pledge and chattel mortgage. Only immovables can be the object of a
real estate mortgage. Thus, a chattel mortgage executed over a real property is
null and void.
c. Donation: If the value of the personal property donated exceeds P5,000, the
donation and the acceptance must be in writing; otherwise, it is void. The
donation and acceptance of an immovable property must be made in a public
instrument.
d. Extrajudicial deposit: Only movables may be the object of extrajudicial deposit.
e. Crimes: Only personal property can be the object of theft and robbery.
Usurpation is committed with respect to real property.
f. Venue: If the action affects title to or possession of real property or interest
therein, the action is a real action and must be filed in the proper court wherein
the real property is situated. All other actions referred to as personal actions may
 be commenced where the plaintiff or defendant resides or at the election of the
plaintiff.

PROPERTY IN RELATION TO THE PERSON TO WHOM IT BELONGS

Patrimonial property
Patrimonial properties of the State cannot ipso facto ripen into ownership through
adverse possession as it is an iron-clad dictum that prescription can never life against
the State.

Property of public dominion

1. Public use
2. Public service
3. Development of the national wealth
Public dominion means ownership by the public in general or public ownership;
special collective ownership for the general use and enjoyment, an application to the
satisfaction of collective needs, and resides in the social group.
Since the ownership of these properties belong to the public in general and not to the
State, the latter may not make them the object of commerce unless they are properly
converted into patrimonial properties.
When property of public dominion is no longer intended for public use or public service,
it shall form part of the patrimonial property of the State through a legislative or
executive act. Conversion is not automatic.

Regalian doctrine
All lands of the public domain as well as all natural resources are owned by the State.
While these properties are owned by the State, they remain to be part of the public
dominion.

Roppongi property
The Roppongi property was specifically designated to house the Philippine Embassy in
Japan. As such, the nature of the Roppongi lot as property for public service is
expressly spelled out. Thus, it is outside the commerce of men and cannot be alienated.
Any conveyance of a real property falling under the patrimonial property of the State
must be authorized and approved by a law enacted by the Congress.