REGISTERED PROPERTY COULD NOT BE ACQUIRED THROUGH ADVERSE

POSSESSION
Samahan ng Masang Pilipino sa Makati, Inc. (SMPMI) vs. Bases Conversion
Development Authority (BCDA)
G. R. No. 142255; January 26, 2007
Velasco, Jr., J.
FACTS:
The petitioner Samahan ng Masang Pilipino sa Makati, Inc., (SMPMI) filed a Petition for
the Issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order and Injunction to prohibit the respondent,
Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) from evicting its members from their
houses in Fort Bonifacio. The case was filed pursuant to RA 7227, otherwise known as
The Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, which grants sole jurisdiction to
the Supreme Court for the issuance of Injunction or Restraining Order against BCDA.
SMPMIs members are residents of Fort Bonifacio who have been peacefully and
continuously occupying portions of land in the name of BCDA. BCDA, pursuant to RA
7227, and the Municipality of Taguig, through its mayor, sent 30-day notices of eviction
to SMPMIs members.
SMPMI alleged that Fort Bonifacio is covered by Transfer of Certificate of Title (TCT) No.
2288, in the name of the United States of America (USA), which has not been cancelled.
BCDA, on the other hand, contended that the property covered by TCT No. 2288 covers
Hacienda de Maricaban, which was adjudged to be government property in the case of
Acting Registrars of Land Titles and Deeds of Pasay City, Pasig and Makati v. RTC,
Branch 57, Makati. It also claimed ownership over Fort Bonifacio pursuant to Sec. 7, in
relation to Sec. 8 of RA 7227, whereby the President transferred the ownership of the
lots in question to BCDA for important government infrastructure projects.
Issue:
Do the members of the SMPMI have the right to retain the lands they have been
occupying in Fort Bonifacio?
Held:
No, the members of the SMPMI failed to prove that they have the right to retain the lands
they have been occupying in Fort Bonifacio. The case of Acting Registrars of Land
Titles and Deeds of Pasay City, Pasig and Makati is conclusive on the ownership of the
then Hacienda de Maricaban by the Republic of the Philippines. Other than the
argument that the USA is still the owner, SMPMI has not put forward any claim of
ownership or interest in them.
As such, SMPMIs members had taken possession of the government land by illegal
means without any legal basis and hence, cannot claim adverse possession of public
land. In a plethora of cases, the Court has reiterated the doctrine that registered property
could not be acquired through adverse possession.
Therefore, SMPMIs members have no right to retain the lands they have been
occupying in Fort Bonifacio.