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DIGEST:
Bishop of Calbayog v. Director of Lands, G.R. No. L-23481 (June 29, 1972) Case Digest
Public Dominion
Facts:
The Bishop of Calbayog, as a sole corporation, filed a petition for registration alleging open,
continuous, exclusive and notorious possession, since the Spanish regime, of three parcels of
land.
The Municipality of Catarman opposed the petition contending that Nalazon St., traversing Lot I
and Lot 2, is a public thoroughfare and Lot 2, a public plaza, should therefore be excluded from
the application for registration filed by the Church.
Issue:
Whether or not the Lot 2 and the Nalazon St. can be subject to registration.
Held:
Neither the Church nor the municipality was able to present positive proof of ownership or
exclusive possession for an appreciable period of time.
The only undisputed fact was the free and continuous use of Lot 2 by the residents of Catarman,
coupled with the fact that the town had no public plaza other than the disputed parcel of land.
Thus, there was a strong presumption that the land was segregated as a public plaza upon the
founding of the municipality of Catarman.
Nalazon St., traversing Lots 1 and 2, was originally merely a trail used by the parishioners in
going to and from the church. But since 1910, when it was opened and improved as a public
thoroughfare by the municipality, it had been continuously used as such by the townspeople of
Catarman without objection from the Church authorities. The street does not stop on Lot I but
extends north toward the sea, passing along the lot occupied by the Central Elementary School
and the Northern Samar General Hospital. Thus it is clear that Nalazon St. inside Lot 1 is used by
the residents not only in going to the church but to the public school and the general hospital
north of Lot 1.
Therefore, Lot 2 and the Nalazon St., being public dominions cannot be subject to registration.