563 Phil. 1030
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
A parcel of land (Lot No. 12753-C=Lot 13115 of the subdivision plan, Csd-04-020537-D, being a portion of Lot 12753, Cad-168, Tanauan Cadastre, L.R.C. Rec. No. ____) [sic], situated in the Barrio of Boot, Municipality of Tanauan, Province of Batangas. Bounded on the NE., along line 1-2 by Lot 12753-B of this subdivision plan; on the SE., along line 2-3 by Lot 12753-E, both of the subdivision plan; on the SW., along line 3-4-5 by Lot 12269; along line 5-6 by Lot 12268; along line 6-7 by Lot 12266, all of Cad-168; Tanauan Cadastre; and on the NW., along line 7-1 by Lot 12753-A, of the subdivision plan x x x containing an area of TWENTY THREE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED SIXTY TWO (23,962) SQUARE METERS, more or less.[2] (Emphasis in the original)The Republic of the Philippines (the Republic, herein petitioner), represented by the Director of Lands, through the Solicitor General, opposed the application on the ground that Lot No. 12753-C (the questioned lot) is a portion of the public domain belonging to the Republic and that neither respondent nor her predecessors-in-interest had been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession or occupation thereof since June 12, 1945 or prior thereto.[3]
WHEREFORE, and upon confirmation of the Order of General Default, the Court hereby adjudicates and decrees Lot No. 127[5]3-C, Cad-168 of the subdivision plan Csd-04-020537-D with a total area of Twenty three thousand nine hundred sixty two (23,962) square meters, situated at Barangay Maria Paz (formerly Boot), Tanauan, Batangas, on the name of Ma. Isabel Laurel Barandiaran with postal address at 2nd Floor, Rufina Tower, Ayala Avenue, Makati City.The Republic appealed,[11] contending that respondent had not proven that the questioned lot is within the alienable and disposable land of the public domain.[12] By Decision[13] dated July 21, 2006, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision, observing as follows:
Once this decision shall have become final, let the corresponding decree of registration be issued.[10]
x x x [O]ther than the bare assertion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that applicant-appellee Barandiaran possesses no registrable right over the subject property, it failed to adduce concrete and convincing evidence to support its stand. Neither were there private oppositors who came to register their opposition in the instant application for registration, which inclined us more to grant the instant application.[14]The petition is meritorious.
Hence, the present Petition[15] faulting the appellate court:
. . . IN RULING THAT [THE QUESTIONED LOT] IS WITHIN THE ALIENABLE AND DISPOSABLE LAND OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND, HENCE, AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC APPROPRIATION.[16]
In the present case, the only evidence to prove the character of the subject lands as required by law is the notation appearing in the Advance Plan stating in effect that the said properties are alienable and disposable. However, this is hardly the kind of proof required by law. To prove that the land subject of an application for registration is alienable, an applicant must establish the existence of a positive act of the government such as a presidential proclamation or an executive order, an administrative action, investigation reports of Bureau of Lands investigators, and a legislative act or statute. The applicant may also secure a certification from the Government that the lands applied for are alienable and disposable. In the case at bar, while the Advance Plan bearing the notation was certified by the Lands Management Services of the DENR, the certification refers only to the technical correctness of the survey plotted in the said plan and has nothing to do whatsoever with the nature and character of the property surveyed.[21] (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)Respondent cites[22] the rulings of the Court of Appeals in Guido Sinsuat v. Director of Lands, et al. and Raymundo v. Bureau of Forestry and Diaz which she quoted in her petition, albeit inaccurately. The rulings in said cases are correctly quoted below:
x x x xRespondent argues thus:
“[W]here it appears that the evidence of ownership and possession are so significant and convincing, the government is not necessarily relieved of its duty from presenting proofs to show that the parcel of land sought to be registered is part of the public domain to enable [the courts] to evaluate the evidence of both sides.”[23]
x x x [W]hen the records shows that a certain property, the registration of title to which is applied for has been possessed and cultivated by the applicant and his predecessors-in-interest for a long number of years without the government taking any action to dislodge the occupants from their holdings, and when the land has passed from one hand to another by inheritance or by purchase, the government is duty bound to prove that the land which it avers to be of public domain is really of such nature.” [24]
In the case at bar, it was proven through documentary and testimonial evidences that the applicant and her predecessors-in-interest has been in open, peaceful, continuous and adverse possession of the subject land, in the concept of an owner as early as 1945, as shown by the Declaration of Real Property No. 030-00252 in the name of Isadora Gonzales.[25] (Citations omitted)Respondent has not, however, established by well-nigh incontrovertible evidence that she and her predecessors-in-interest have been in open, peaceful, continuous and adverse possession of the questioned lot in the concept of an owner since 1945. While she claims having confirmed with the Assessor’s Office in Tanauan that the lot was “registered” in Gonzales’ name in 1930, for what purpose was the registration made she did not elaborate, as she did not even present any document to substantiate the same.