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Land Titles Jurisprudence · Podcast Episode 6 · 23:24
Can the Government Sell Public Land? Public Dominion vs. Patrimonial Property
When does State property become patrimonial, and who must say so?
Our former embassy lot in Roppongi, Tokyo, sat unused for years, and the government wanted to sell it. Atty. Jeric Dave Gallardo and Sweet Zel Grace Porras walk through three Supreme Court decisions on public dominion and patrimonial property, the Roppongi lot, the airport and a lot in Binmaley, plus a twist: a transmission line on government land.
Four cases, four answers
Same question. Different facts. Different results.
The rule
Property of public dominion cannot be sold, levied upon or auctioned; it becomes patrimonial only when it is no longer intended for public use or public service.
Under Art. 422 of the Civil Code, as Laurel vs. Garcia applied it, the change must be definite and must come from a law or formal declaration; non-use alone is not enough. And under Laurel, even patrimonial real property of the government may be sold only with a law from Congress.
Recap
- Property of the State is either of public dominion, for public use, public service or the development of the national wealth, or patrimonial.
- Property of public dominion is outside the commerce of man; it becomes patrimonial only when it is “no longer intended for public use or for public service,” and non-use is not enough.
- In Roppongi, even patrimonial property would need a law from Congress before it could be sold; in Bataan, the law itself declared the land open to lease or sale, so the Court treated it as private property.
Bar tip
Asked whether long-unused government land may now be sold, remember Laurel vs. Garcia: the property stays public “until there is a formal declaration on the part of the government to withdraw it from being such”. Then check: is there a law or proclamation withdrawing it, and is there a law authorizing its sale?
The law
Civil Code of the Philippines (R.A. No. 386)
“Property is either of public dominion or of private ownership.”Art. 419
“The following things are property of public dominion: (1) Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of similar character; (2) Those which belong to the State, without being for public use, and are intended for some public service or for the development of the national wealth.”Art. 420
“All other property of the State, which is not of the character stated in the preceding article, is patrimonial property.”Art. 421
“Property of public dominion, when no longer intended for public use or for public service, shall form part of the patrimonial property of the State.”Art. 422
Chapters
- 0:00Cold open: can the government sell the land in Roppongi?
- 1:33Public dominion vs. patrimonial property: Civil Code, Arts. 419–422
- 3:48Case 1: Laurel vs. Garcia (the Roppongi property, 1990)
- 8:46Case 2: MIAA vs. Court of Appeals (the airport auction, 2006)
- 12:34Case 3: Rural Bank of Anda vs. Roman Catholic Archbishop (a lot in Binmaley, 2007)
- 16:29The twist: PNOC-AFC vs. NGCP (the transmission line, 2019)
- 20:29Why did the answers differ? Who must say so
- 21:45Recap and bar tip
Cases cited
Each card opens the full text of the decision, or our case digest where we have written one.
Next episode
Manila Bay was reclaimed: who owns the new land?
All 6 episodes of Land Titles Jurisprudence →
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