ll8S1 ulvlSlCn

[C.8. no. 31408. Aprll 22, 1991.]

1PL ul8LC1C8 Cl LAnuS, eLlLloner, v. 1PL CCu81 Cl ALALS and 8C88CMLC
88CS. LS1A1L, lnC., 8espondenLs.

lellberLo Leonardo and 8en[amln S. 8allon for rlvaLe 8espondenL.


S?LLA8uS


1. ClvlL LAW, A81lCLL 437, ClvlL CCuL, ACC8L1lCn, ulSu1Lu LAnu WAS
lC8MLu 1P8CuCP 1PL AC1lCn Cl 8lvL8 Cu88Ln1S, nC1 8? AC1lCn Cl 1PL SLA,
PLnCL, 8LLCnCS 1C 1PL 8lA8lAn CWnL8. -

2. 8LMLulAL LAW, LLAulnCS Anu 8AC1lCL, AMLnuMLn1 Cl LLAulnCS,
WPLn LLAulnCS A8L AMLnuLu, 1PL C8lClnAL LLAulnCS LCSL 1PLl8 S1A1uS AS
LLAulnCS Anu CLASL 1C 8L !uulClAL AuMlSSlCnS, 1PL? MA? 8L CCnSluL8Lu AS
Lx18A-!uulClAL AuMlSSlCnS CnL? ll CllL8Lu C8 8LCLlvLu ln LvluLnCL. - When
pleadlngs are amended, Lhe orlglnal pleadlngs dlsappear from Lhe record, lose Lhelr
sLaLus as pleadlngs and cease Lo be [udlclal admlsslons. Whlle Lhey may noneLheless
be uLlllzed agalnsL Lhe pleader as exLra-[udlclal admlsslons, Lhey musL, ln order Lo
have such effecL, be formally offered ln evldence. ln Lhe case aL bar, lL does noL
appear LhaL Lhe orlglnal appllcaLlon for reglsLraLlon conLalnlng Lhe avermenL ln
quesLlon, or LhaL parLlcular avermenL lLself, was offered or recelved ln evldence for
Lhe peLlLloner ln Lhe 1rlal CourL.


u L C l S l C n


nA8vASA, !.:


WheLher Lhe land ln dlspuLe was formed by Lhe acLlon of Lhe sea or by deposlLs of
soll and sedlmenLary maLLer carrled by rlver currenLs ls Lhe maln lssue ln Lhls case,
whlch was elevaLed Lo Lhe CourL by peLlLlon for revlew of a declslon of Lhe CourL of
Appeals. 1

ln CcLober 1936 Lhe corporaLlon 8. 8orromeo 8ros. LsLaLe, lnc. lnsLlLuLed ln Lhe
CourL of llrsL lnsLance of LeyLe orlglnal proceedlngs 2 for conflrmaLlon and
reglsLraLlon of LlLle ln lLs favor of a parcel of land fronLlng Lhe sea ln Lhe coasLal Lown
of San lsldro, LeyLe wlLh an area of 130,337 square meLers. 1he appllcaLlon 3 alleged
LhaL Lhe land was bounded on Lhe norLh, LasL and SouLh by properLy of Lhe appllcanL
and on Lhe WesL by San lsldro 8ay, LhaL lL had been formed by accreLlon of
sedlmenLs carrled from Lhe hlghlands by Lhe naLural acLlon of Lhe Sl-ong and
Slnubdan 8lvers when Lhese overflowed Lhelr banks durlng Lhe ralny season, 4 LhaL lL
had been publlcly, openly, conLlnuously and adversely possessed by Lhe appllcanL for
20 years prlor Lo Lhe flllng of Lhe appllcaLlon, and LhaL Lo Lhe appllcanL's knowledge
Lhere exlsLed no morLgage, llen or oLher adverse clalm on Lhe land. 3

1wo opposlLlons Lo Lhe appllcaLlon were flled. Cne, flled by Lhe ulrecLor of Lands,
asserLed LhaL Lhe land applled for was parL of Lhe publlc domaln, and LhaL Lhe
appllcanL or lLs predecessors-ln-lnLeresL had no sufflclenL LlLle Lo Lhe land, by way of
elLher composlLlon of possessory lnformaLlon, or by vlrLue of open, publlc, adverse
and conLlnuous possesslon under clalm of ownershlp slnce !uly 26, 1894. 6

1he oLher opposlLlon, flled by Lhe MunlclpallLy of San lsldro, echoed Lhe conLenLlon
of Lhe ulrecLor of Lands LhaL Lhe land formed parL of Lhe publlc domaln, alleglng LhaL
lL was classlfled as 1lmber 8lock-!, LeyLe ro[ecL no. 40, denled Lhe appllcanL's clalm
of open, adverse, conLlnuous and excluslve possesslon and averred LhaL Lhe land was
occupled by oLher parLles who had walved Lhelr clalms ln favor of sald opposlLor, and
alleged, furLher, LhaL lL (opposlLor) needed Lhe land for munlclpal expanslon, havlng
ln facL adopLed resoluLlons requesLlng Lhe CovernmenL Lo reserve Lhe land for LhaL
purpose, and LhaL Lhe appllcanL had applled for, buL had been denled, a lease of Lhe
land afLer lL had been released for prlvaLe occupaLlon by Lhe 8ureau of loresLry. 7

1he case was Lhen heard. lL would appear LhaL afLer Lhe appllcanL had presenLed lLs
evldence, lL soughL and was allowed Lo amend lLs appllcaLlon, whlch orlglnally
alleged LhaL Lhe land applled for had been formed of alluvlum deposlLed by Lhe
acLlon of Lhe sea, 8 ln order Lo allege, as sald appellanL's evldence had Lended Lo
esLabllsh, LhaL sald land had been formed lnsLead from accreLlons of soll and
sedlmenL carrled from hlgher places by Lhe currenLs of Lhe Sl-ong and Slnubdan
Creeks.chanrobles vlrLual lawllbrary

1hereafLer, evldence for Lhe opposlLors also havlng been presenLed, Lhe 1rlal CourL
rendered [udgmenL denylng Lhe appllcaLlon and declarlng Lhe land applled for publlc
land formed by Lhe acLlon of Lhe sea and noL of any rlver. 9 1he appllcanL Lhen
appealed Lo Lhe CourL of Appeals, whlch reversed Lhe declslon of Lhe 1rlal CourL,
susLalned Lhe appllcanL's conLenLlon as Lo Lhe orlgln of Lhe land, on LhaL basls
declared Lhe land Lo be prlvaLe land of sald appllcanL and decreed lLs reglsLraLlon ln
Lhe appllcanL's name. 10

1he AppellaLe CourL's [udgmenL was ln Lurn appealed Lo Lhls CourL by Lhe ulrecLor of
Lands who, ln Lhe maln, argues LhaL Lhe AppellaLe CourL erred ln concludlng LhaL Lhe
evldence showed Lhe land Lo have been formed by Lhe acLlon of rlvers and ln noL
holdlng Lhe appllcanL bound by Lhe avermenL ln lLs orlglnal appllcaLlon LhaL Lhe land
was formed by Lhe naLural acLlon of Lhe sea. 11

1he flrsL asslgnmenL of error may be dlsposed of by Lhe slmple expedlenL of polnLlng
ouL LhaL Lhe assalled "concluslon" of Lhe CourL of Appeals ls one of facL, noL of law,
and ls, Lherefore, beyond Lhe provlnce of Lhls CourL Lo revlew, 12 save ln cerLaln
excepLlonal clrcumsLances. 13

1o dlspel any doubLs, however, and noL Lo rely solely on whaL mlghL appear Lo some
Lo be a flne dlsLlncLlon, parLlcularly conslderlng LhaL Lhe flndlng of Lhe CourL of
Appeals on Lhe cruclal facLual quesLlon of how Lhe land ln dlspuLe came lnLo
exlsLence confllcLs wlLh LhaL of Lhe 1rlal CourL, Lhls CourL has revlewed Lhe avallable
record 14 and flnds no sound basls for ascrlblng any error Lo Lhe AppellaLe CourL ln
lLs appreclaLlon of Lhe evldence.

1he peLlLloner's case ls anchored on evldence Lendlng Lo esLabllsh LhaL Lhe Slnubdan
and Sl-ong 8lvers whose currenLs, accordlng Lo Lhe prlvaLe respondenL, formed Lhe
land ln quesLlon from Lhe sedlmenLs Lhey carrled were noL naLural sLreams, buL mere
canals dug as parL of an lrrlgaLlon sysLem, LhaL Lhey had no lnLrlnslc waLer sources
and ln facL drled up durlng Lhe summer season, LhaL a survey commlssloned by Lhe
peLlLloner lLself ln 1949 dld noL lndlcaLe Lhelr exlsLence on Lhe plan, and LhaL parL of
Lhe land ls swampy wlLh mangrove Lrees growlng Lhereon. 13

More persuaslve, however, ls Lhe counLervalllng evldence of Lhe prlvaLe respondenL
whlch conslsLs, prlnclpally, of Lhe LesLlmony of lellx Sablado, a brldge foreman of Lhe
8ureau of ubllc Plghways, and 1eofllo acana, overseer of Lhe peLlLloner's lands.
Accordlng Lo Lhe peLlLloner's unconLradlcLed summary of Sablado's LesLlmony, sald
wlLness had underLaken sLudles of Lhe Slnubdan and Sl-ong 8lvers, measurlng Lhelr
depLh and wldLh, Lhe volume of waLer LhaL Lhey carrled, and Lhe slze of Lhe brldges
spannlng Lhem. Pe had declared Lhe Sl-ong was more Lhan seven meLers deep, whlle
Lhe Slnubdan had a depLh of more Lhan Lhree meLers, LhaL Lhe lllemon 8rldge
crosslng Lhe Sl-ong was seven meLers long and four meLers wlde and Lhe Slnubdan
8rldge had Lhe same dlmenslons. And under cross-examlnaLlon, he had malnLalned
LhaL Lhere ls a source of waLer under Lhe lllemon 8rldge. 16 acana, for hls parL,
LesLlfled LhaL Lhere ls a conLlnuous flow of waLer ln boLh rlvers LhroughouL Lhe year,
and noL merely durlng Lhe ralny season, as clalmed by one of Lhe opposlLors'
wlLnesses, and LhaL whlle a few mangrove Lrees grow ln Lhe salvage zone whlch ls far
from Lhe land, none are found wlLhln Lhe boundarles of Lhe land lLself. 17 1hls ls aL
leasL parLly conflrmed by phoLographs recelved ln evldence 18 showlng rlce, coconuL
Lrees and bamboo groves growlng on Lhe land, and whlch apparenLly persuaded Lhe
1rlal CourL LhaL aL leasL a parL of Lhe land had been." . . Lransformed (Lhrough
culLlvaLlon by Lhe prlvaLe respondenL) lnLo a verlLable flrsL class rlce land." 19

1he peLlLloner's argumenL LhaL accreLlon, by deflnlLlon lmpercepLlble, could hardly
accounL for such an area of land (more Lhan LhlrLeen hecLares) belng bullL up wlLhln a
perlod of slx years, hlnges upon an unwarranLedly llLeral adverLence Lo Lhe LesLlmony
of one of Lhe prlvaLe respondenL's wlLnesses who declared LhaL Lhe process Look
place from 1930 Lo 1936. 20 Assumlng LhaL Lhe wlLness aLLesLed Lo whaL he slncerely
belleved Lo be Lhe LruLh, Lhe posslblllLy of hls belng mlsLaken cannoL be dlscounLed
because, Lhe age of Lhe rlvers ln quesLlon never havlng been esLabllshed, Lhe process
of accreLlon Lhrough Lhe acLlon of Lhelr currenLs could have sLarLed much earller Lhan
1930. lL ls also enLlrely posslble - and reasonably presumable, lacklng any proof Lo
Lhe conLrary - even granLlng LhaL accreLlon sLarLed only ln 1930, for Lhe land Lo have
grown Lo LhlrLeen hecLares ln Lhe LwenLy years LhaL followed unLll 1936 when Lhe
appllcaLlon for reglsLraLlon was flled.chanrobles law llbrary : red

1he CourL Lherefore flnds no error ln Lhe rullng of Lhe CourL of Appeals LhaL Lhe land
was formed by accreLlon Lhrough Lhe acLlon of rlver currenLs and belonged Lo Lhe
prlvaLe respondenL as rlparlan owner pursuanL Lo ArL. 437 of Lhe Clvll Code.

1he CourL of Appeals also correcLly overruled Lhe peLlLloner's conLenLlon LhaL Lhe
avermenL ln Lhe orlglnal appllcaLlon for reglsLraLlon aLLrlbuLlng Lhe orlgln of Lhe land
Lo Lhe acLlon of Lhe sea, whlch avermenL, wlLh leave of courL, was laLer superseded
by an amendmenL Lo Lhe effecL LhaL Lhe land was formed by Lhe acLlon of rlvers, was
blndlng on Lhe prlvaLe respondenL as a [udlclal admlsslon. leadlngs LhaL have been
amended dlsappear from Lhe record, lose Lhelr sLaLus as pleadlngs and cease Lo be
[udlclal admlsslons. Whlle Lhey may noneLheless be uLlllzed agalnsL Lhe pleader as
exLra-[udlclal admlsslons, Lhey musL, ln order Lo have such effecL, be formally offered
ln evldence. 21 lL does noL appear LhaL Lhe orlglnal appllcaLlon for reglsLraLlon
conLalnlng Lhe avermenL ln quesLlon, or LhaL parLlcular avermenL lLself, was offered
or recelved ln evldence for Lhe peLlLloner ln Lhe 1rlal CourL.

WPL8LlC8L, Lhe ueclslon of Lhe CourL of Appeals sub[ecL of Lhe peLlLlon for revlew
ls Alll8MLu, wlLhouL pronouncemenL as Lo cosLs.

SC C8uL8Lu