PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

Art 414 All things which are or may be the object of appropriation are considered either:
1. Immovable or real property; or
2. Movable or personal property.

Whats a thing?
any object that exists and is capable of satisfying some human needs
includes both objects that are already possessed or owned and those that are susceptible of appropriation
more comprehensive term (than property), as there are things which are not susceptible of appropriation and they
are not included in the concept of property

Whats property?
refers to any thing which is already the object of appropriation or found in the possession of man

Requisites of property
1. Utility
Capacity to satisfy some human wants
2. Substantivity
Quality of having existence apart from any other thing
3. Appropriability
Susceptibility of being possessed by man
Res communes or common things are not capable of appropriation in their entirety, although they may be
appropriated under certain conditions in a limited way, and thereby become property in law
o Electricity, oxygen, etc
Res nullius or a thing may have no owner because it has not yet been appropriated, or because it has been lost
or abandoned by the owner. it constitutes property as long as it is susceptible of being possessed for the use of
man
o Wild animals, hidden treasure
Things cannot be considered as property when they are not susceptible of appropriation because of
o legal impossibility (you cant sell your body while youre alive, at least not legally) or
o physical impossibility (you cant own the moon, at least not yet)

Rights as property
property is sometimes used to denote the thing with respect to which legal relations between persons exist the
res over which rights (particularly ownership) may be exercised and sometimes to the rights with respect to the
thing
either real or property

What is a real right?

Right or interest belong to a person over a specific thing
Without a definite passive subject against whom such right may be personally enforced
Jus in re
The res of a real right may be
o Personal property (as in pledge and chattel mortgage)
o Real property (easement, real mortgage)
o Either personal or real (as in ownership, possession, usufruct)
If the res of a real right is real property, the right itself is real property; otherwise it is personal property

Classification of real rights based upon dominion

1. Domino pleno powers to enjoy and to dispose are united
a. Dominion, civil possession, hereditary right
2. Domino menos pleno powers to enjoy and dispose are separated
a. Surface right, usufruct
3. Domino limitado powers to enjoy and to dispose, though united, are limited
a. By a guaranty (mortgage, pledge)
b. By a charge (easement)
c. By a privilege (pre-emption, redemption)

What is a personal right?

Right or power of a person
To demand from another as a definite subject
 The fulfillment of the latters obligation.
Jus in personam or jus ad rem
Personal right, or right of obligation, has the following elements:
1. Active subject (person in whom the right resides)
2. Passive subject (person against whom the right is available)
3. Object or prestation or the conduct (to give, to do, or not to do)
4. Juridical or legal tie which binds the parties to the obligation

Real Right Personal Right

Definite active subject who
has a right against all
persons generally as an
indefinite passive subject
Object is generally a
corporeal thing
Created by mode and
title
Extinguished by the loss or
destruction of the thing
which it is exercised
Directed against the whole
world (actio in rem against
3rd persons)
Definite active subject and a
definite passive subject
Object always an incorporeal
thing
Created by title
Personal right survives the
subject matter
Directed against a particular
person (actio in personam)

Whats the importance of the classification into movables or immovables?

In private international law, general rule is that immovables are governed by the law of the country in which they
are located, whereas movables are governed by the personal law of the owner which in cases is the law of his
nationality or his domicile
In criminal law, usurpation of property can take place only with real property. On the other hand, robbery and theft
can be committed only against personal property
In procedural law, actions concerning real property are brought in the RTC where the property is located, whereas
actions involving personal property are brought in the court where either the defendant or plaintiff resides.
o Forcible entry and unlawful detainer for REAL property
o Replevin or manual delivery for PERSONAL
In contracts, only real property can be the subject matter of real mortgage and antichresis, while only personal
property can be the subject matter of mutuum, voluntary deposit, pledge
In order that the donation of an immovable may be valid, it must be made in a public instrument. For movables,
may be oral or in writing (if more than P5000, need only to be in a private instrument)
For prescription (4 and 8 years for movables; 10 and 30 years for immovables)
Transactions involving real property must be recorded in the Registry of property to affect 3rd parties. Not required
with personal property, except for chattel mortgage cases.

Art 415 The following are immovable property:

1. Land, buildings, roads, and constructions 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
tenements;
5. Machinery, receptacles, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the tenement for an industry
or works which may be carried on ina building or on a piece of land, and which tend directly to meet the
needs of said industry or works;
6. Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in cases their
owner has placed htem 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.

Classes of immovable or real property (NIDA)

1. By nature (cannot be carried from place to place)
2. By incorporation (attached to an immovable in a fixed manner to be an integral part thereof)
3. By destination (placed in an immovable for the utility it gives)
4. By analogy (by express provision of law because it is regarded as united to the immovable property)

Lands, buildings, roads and constructions of all kinds

Must adhere to the soil
Buildings must be more or less of a permanent structure independent of and regardless of the ownership of the
land on which it is erected since the law makes no distinction (so possible to mortgage building even if in the land
of another, since its separate from the land
Roads, whether public or private, are immovable
Real property treated by the parties as personal property
o A building is by itself an immovable property irrespective of whether or not said structure and the land on
which it is adhere to belong to the same owner
o A valid real estate mortgate can be constituted only on the building erected on the land belonging to another
o The parties to a contract of chattel mortgage may, by agreement, treat as personal property that which by
nature would be real property (estopped! So they can be subject to a writ of replevin between parties)
However, the chattel mortgage is not binding on third persons.

Trees, plants and growing fruits

Immovable while they are:
o Attached to the land, or
o Form an integral part of an immovable
Once cut or uprooted, they become movable
Growing crops or fruits, or ungathered products or fruits, may be treated as personal property for the purposes of
attachment, execution and the chattel mortgage law (Sibal v Valdez)
When growing crops are sold and before they are even harvested, the transaction is considered as sale of
movables because it is a given that they are to be gathered or harvested for delivery

Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner

Attachment must be such that
o It cannot be separated from the immovable
o Without breaking the material, or
o Deterioration of the object
If temporarily separated, will still be regarded as immovable if there is an intent to put them back (but there are
different opinions to this)
Intent to attach permanently is essential objects placed by humans with intention to permanent annexation lose
their identity as movables

Statues, reliefs, paintings, or other objects for use or ornamentation

Immovable when:
o Placed on the immovable by the owner of the latter, and
o In such a manner that it reveals the intention to attach them permanently to the tenements
Not necessarily by him personally, can be by his agent
If placed by a person not the owner like a lessee, the object will not attain the character of immovable unless such
person acts as an agent of the owner

Machinery, receptacles, instruments, or implements for an industry or works

Immovable only when:
o Placed by the owner of the tenement or his agent
o Industry or works must be carried on in a building or on a piece of land
o Machinery, etc must tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or works
Machinery which is movable in its nature only becomes immobilized when placed in plant by the owner of the
property or plant, but not when so placed by a tenant, a usufructuary, or any person having only a temporary right
(Davao Saw Mill v Castillo)
o Exception (becomes immovable):
 1. Such person acted as the agent of the owner, or
2. Lease agreement states that the machines will pass over to the lessor after the expiration of the lease
agreement (US Valdez case)
Must be essential and be principal elements of an industry or works to the business, not merely incidental to
business (Mindanao Bus Company v City Assessor)
o Cash registers, typewriters for hotels, restaurants, theaters are merely incidental, these businesses can
continue on without them
o Machineries of breweries used in the manufacture of liquor, though movable by nature, are immobilized
because they are essential to said industries
For purposes of taxation, it doesnt matter who placed the machines the owner or mere lessee, as long as it is
essential and principal elements of an industry. The term real property may include things which should generally
as personal property. It is a familiar phenomenon to see things classified as real property for purposes of taxation
which on general principle might be considered personal property. (Meralco v Central Board of Assessment
Appeals in this case, the storage tanks were placed by Meralco, who wasnt the owner of the land, but it was still
considered immovable)
Attachment or incorporation to immovable not essential, since they become immovable because of destination,
what is essential is their utility

Animal houses, pigeon houses, beehives, fish ponds or breeding places of similar nature
Considered immovable:
o In case their owner has placed them or preserves them
o With the intention to have them permanently attached to the land
o And forming a permanent part of it.
o The animals in these places are included.
Must permanently form part of the land and so intended by the owner

Fertilizers actually used on a piece of land

Immovable when
o Actually used on a piece of land
Fertilizers kept in a barn are not immovable

Mines, quarries and slag dumps

Immovable when
o While the matter thereof forms part of the bed
o Meaning, the matter thereof remains unsevered from the soil
Waters, either running or stagnant, are classified as immovables

Docks and structures, though floating

Immovable if
o Intended by their nature and object
o To remain at a fixed place on
o A river, lake or coasts

Contracts for public works and servitudes and other real rights over immovables
Where the res of a real right is real property, the right itself is real property. So ownership is real property if the
thing owned is immovable
o Loan is real property by analogy if secured by a real estate mortgage
Where it is personal property, the right itself is personal property
o Exception: case of contracts for public works which are considered real property