Secretary of DENR v.

Mayor Yap
October 8, 2008

Summary
Petitioners are possessors of the lands in Boracay and wants to apply for a title to register
their ownership on such lands, claiming that Boracay is already a public land. On the
contrary, the OSG defended that the Boracay Island is still a public forest owned by the State
and cannot be owned by private individuals. The Supreme Court held that all lands of public
dominion are presumed to belong to the State or all lands not otherwise appearing to be
clearly within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State. In order that a land
may be owned by private individuals, there must be a positive act or law declaring the land
as alienable and disposable.
In this case, Proclamation No 1064 positively declared some parts of Boracay as alienable
lands. However, those who would want to acquire a judicial confirmation of imperfect or
incomplete title, (1) must be in possession of the land from June 12, 1945 and (2) the land
must be a public land. In this case, the claimants failed to satisfy requisite 1. Hence, they are
not entitled to apply for judicial confirmation of imperfect title under CA No. 141.

Facts
This case stems from two consolidated petitions regarding the same issue, which is, the
right of the present occupants of Boracay Island to secure titles over their occupied lands.

In GR No. 167707, the RTC and CA has granted the petition granted the petition for
declaratory relief led by respondents-claimants Mayor Jose Yap, et al. and ordered the
survey of Boracay for titling purposes. Mayor Yap and other claimants asserted that they
had the right to have the lots registered in their names through judicial confirmation of
imperfect titles pursuant to Section 48 (b) of Commonwealth Act (CA) No. 141 or the Public
Land Act. On the other hand, the OSG countered that Boracay Island was an unclassified
land of the public domain, hence, it cannot be owned by private individuals.

In GR No. 173775, petitioners filed a a petition for prohibition, mandamus, and nullification
of Proclamation No. 1064 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo classifying Boracay
into reserved forest and agricultural land. Petitioner-claimants asserted that the
Proclamation infringed on their "prior vested rights" over portions of Boracay for having
been in continued possession of their respective lots in Boracay since time immemorial.
Petitioner-claimants argued that Boracay is an agricultural land pursuant to Philippine Bill of
1902 and Act No. 926. On the contrary, the OSG alleged that Boracay is an unclassified
public forest land pursuant to Section 3 (a) of PD No. 705. Being public forest, the claimed
portions of the island are inalienable and cannot be the subject of judicial confirmation of
imperfect title.

Issue
Is Boracay a public agricultural lands as defined by laws then on judicial confirmation of
imperfect titles or public forest as defined by sec. 3a, PD 705?

Are the claimants entitled to judicial confirmation of imperfect title?

Held
Under the Regalian Doctrine, all lands of the public domain belong to the State, that the
State is the source of any asserted right to ownership of land and charged with the
conservation of such patrimony. All lands not otherwise appearing to be clearly within
private ownership are
presumed to belong to the State. All lands that have not been acquired from the
government, either by purchase or by grant, belong to the State as part of the inalienable
public domain. Moreover, the determination it is up to the State, through their plenary
power, to determine if lands of the public domain will be disposed of for private ownership.

Consequently, there must be a positive act declaring land as alienable and disposable is
required. The positive act may be an official proclamation, declassifying inalienable public
land into disposable land for agricultural or other purposes. To overcome the presumption
of State ownership of the lands of the public domain is on the person applying for
registration (or claiming ownership), who must prove that the land subject of the
application is alienable or disposable.

In the case at bar, no such proclamation, executive order, administrative action, report,
statute, or certification was presented to the Court. The records are bereft of evidence
showing that, prior to 2006, the portions of Boracay occupied by private claimants were
subject of a government proclamation that the land is alienable and disposable. Hence, it is
still presumed that Boracay Island is not an agricultural land but still public forest land.

However, Proclamation No. 1064 positively declared part of Boracay as alienable and
opened the same to private ownership. It classifies Boracay into 400 hectares of reserved
forest land and 628.96 hectares of agricultural land. But, only the President, upon the
recommendation of the proper department head, who has the authority to classify the
lands of the public domain into alienable or disposable, timber and mineral lands.

There are two requisites for judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete title: (1) open,
continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of the subject land by
himself or through his predecessors-in-interest under a bonafide claim of ownership since
time immemorial or from June 12, 1945; and (2) the classification of the land as alienable
and disposable land of the public domain.

In this case, the claimants did not comply with the first requisite since their tax declarations
were issued in 1993, contrary to their claim that they are occupying the land since 1945.
Therefore, private claimants are not entitled to apply for judicial confirmation of imperfect
title under CA No. 141. Neither do they have vested rights over the occupied lands under
the said law.

Other Notes
1. The cases of Ankron and de Aldecoa did not make the whole of Boracay Island, or
portions of it, agricultural lands.
2. Private claimants' continued possession under Act No. 926 does not create a
presumption that the land is alienable
o Such argument was rejected by the Court in Collado v. CA
3. Except for lands already covered by existing titles, Boracay was an unclassified land
of the public domain prior to Proclamation No. 1064. Such unclassified lands are
considered public forest under PD No. 705.
4. Private claimants cannot rely on Proclamation No. 1801 as basis for judicial
confirmation of imperfect title. The proclamation did not convert Boracay into an
agricultural land.