Ray John A.

Dorig
Law114

Can a foreigner own land in the Philippines?

The general rule is that ownership of lands in the Philippines is reserved exclusively to
Filipinos as stated in Sections 2, 3 and 7 of Article XII of the Philippine Constitution in order to
preserve national patrimony. In the case of Muller v. Muller, the Supreme Court ruled that even
if the foreign spouse funded the real property, a land in Antipolo and was registered under the
name of the Filipino spouse, the former does not have any legal rights over the subject property.
A Foreigner can own a property but cannot own the land where the property is situated.

However, in Section 7 of the same Article states that “Save in cases of hereditary
succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations,
or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” It was held in Ramirez v.
Vda. De Ramirez that a foreigner can inherit a land in the Philippines only through intestate
succession or through the default laws on inheritance which are not transfers of ownership by
way of a will.

It is worth considering that those who lost Philippine citizenship through acquiring a
citizenship in another country can also be classified as a “foreigner”. In this case, Section 8 Article
XII of the Philippine Constitution specifically provides that “a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to
limitations provided by law”. “Former Filipinos” can still buy or own lands but are subject to
limitations of Batas Pambansa Blg. 185 for residential purposes and Foreign Investment Act of
1991 as amended by Republic Act No. 8179 for investment purposes. Under these laws, a
“Former Filipino” may own a land for up to 1000 sq. m. of urban land or 1 hectare of rural land
for residential purposes and a maximum of 5000 sq. m. of urban land or 3 hectares of rural land
for purposes of business and commerce.

What about a condominium unit? Why or why not?

Foreigners may own or buy a condominium unit in the Philippines. The law that governs
this matter is Republic Act No. 4276 otherwise known as “The Condominium Act”. A foreign
national may acquire a condominium unit provided that not more than 40 percent of the
condominium project is owned by foreigner/s. In Jacobus Bernhard Hulst v. PR Builders Inc., the
Supreme Court ruled that foreign individuals are allowed to purchase condominium units and
shares in a condominium corporation in the Philippines up to no more than 40 percent of the
condominium corporation. The Court held that “under this setup, the ownership of the land is
legally separated from the unit itself. The land is owned by a condominium corporation and the
unit owner is simply a member in this condominium corporation. As long as 60 percent of the
members of this condominium corporation are Filipino, the remaining members can be
foreigners.” On the other hand, where the condominium is set up on leased land, the
condominium corporation may be wholly owned by foreigners.