G.R. No. 68166
February 12, 1997
Facts
Respondent owned a property immediately adjoining the land sought to be registered. His registered property is bounded on the East by the Talisay River, on the west by the Bulacan River, and on the north by the Manila Bay. The land sought to be registered was formed at the Northern tip of the land facing Manila Bay.
The trial court denied the application on the ground that the land sought to be registered was part of the foreshore of Manila Bay. Being a property of public domain, it cannot be the subject matter of registration.
On the contrary, the Intermediate Appellate Court reversed the decision of the trial court. It ordered that the land sought to be registered is an accretion formed by the two rivers at the eastern and western part of the land owned by respondents.
Hence, this petition.
Issue
Whether or not the land sought to be registered is an accretion or a foreshore land.
Held
The land sought to be registered is a foreshore land, hence, cannot be subject to registration.
Consequently, the respondent’s contention that the land is an accretion brought by the action of the rivers is misplaced. Respondent’s own tract of land reveals its northeastern boundary to be Manila Bay. With that, petitioners’ land, used to adjoin, border or front the Manila Bay and not any of the two rivers. Therefore, the disputed property is an accretion on a sea bank, Manila Bay being an inlet or an arm of the sea.
Since Manila Bay is not a river and jurisprudence has already settled that Manila Bay is a sea, the disputed property is considered to be part of the lands of the public domain. Hence, it cannot be registered.