Pascual vs.

Sarmiento
Facts:
Petitioner [pet] Damaso Pascual filed a complaint with the CFI, against responde
nt [resp] Sarmiento and 2 others regarding ownership & possession of a parcel of
land
Pet's contention - that Domingo Pascual was the absolute owner of a certain parc
el of land situated in Pug-pug [22hectars and 6 ares]; that upon his death, his
widow and children took possession of the land as the owners thereof, until the
said heirs sold their respective interest in the land to the pet through a notar
ial instrument, who therefore, became its absolute owner; that after some time,
the resps, without any right whatever and against the pet's will, took possessio
n of said land and refused to return it despite repeated demands from pet; that
the resps were also gathering the fruits of the land
Resp's answer - denied the allegegations; and that the issue was already previou
sly resolved by the justice of the peace court of Angat, the CFI of Bulacan, and
the SC in favor of resps and the decisions have been final and executory
The CFI rendered a decision in favor of resps; pet asked for a reopening of the
case and a new trial; hence, this petition
Basically, the Norzagaray River separates the pueblos of Norzaragay and Angat; p
et owned the 22 hectare land situated in the pueblo of Norzaragay; while the res
ps owned their respective lands in the pueblo of Angat; that after some time, th
e river had a change in its course destroying the pertinent portions of lands of
the resps; as a result, the detached southern part of the resps' lands united w
ith the northern part of the pet's land
Resps allegation - that the land in question was a strip of land that belonged t
o them; that it was included in the pet's land, by the change in the course of t
he river that formed the boundary line b/w the 2 properties
This change in the course of the Norzagaray River has been duly proven by variou
s testimonies, and was even affirmed by the records of the provincial board of B
ulacan
Pet's contention - founded his claim on the document of sale; and that by virtue
of the right of accession, under art. 370 of the Old Civil Code, he has the rig
ht to occupy as owner the old bed of said river
Issue: Who is the lawful owner of the parcel of land
Ruling:
SC rules in favor of resp
Art. 370 of the OCC - The beds of rivers which remain abandoned because the ocur
se of the water has naturally changed belong to the owners of the riparian lands
throughout their respective lengths. If the abandoned bed divided estates belon
ging to different owners, the new dividing line shall run at equal distances the
refrom
The said article grants property rights only to the riparian owners, in the resp
ective one-half of the bed of the river that has been abandoned by a change in t
he course of the stream; but it does not grant any property right whatever to th
e owner of the riparian land, in the portion of land belonging to another, lying
between the abandoned river bed and the new channel opened by the strem in its
new course