Read also: WHAT IS OWNERSHIP?

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not create, nor shall it be construed as creating, a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. For advice on specific legal concerns, you are encouraged to engage the services of a qualified lawyer. You may also directly consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices for proper guidance tailored to your situation.

The views and information presented herein are based on the laws, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing. They do not take into account subsequent legal developments and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal advice.

• Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation.

• Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by law, by donation, by testate and intestate succession, and in consequence of certain contracts, by tradition.

• Ownership may also be acquired by means of prescription

T here are three kinds of things, depending on the nature of their ownership:

1. res nullius (belonging to no one)

2. res communes (belonging to everyone)

3. res alicujus (belonging to someone)

Res Nullius

These things belong to no one, and the reason is that they have not yet been appropriated, like fish still swimming in the ocean, or because they have been abandoned (res derelictae) by the owner with the intention of no longer owning them.

Res Communes

While in particular no one owns common property, still in another sense, res communes are really owned by everybody in that their use and enjoyment are given to all of mankind.

Examples would be the air we breathe, the wind, sunlight, and starlight.

Res Alicujus

These are objects, tangible or intangible, which are owned privately, either in a collective or individual capacity.

Examples: shares of stock, parcel of land.

Under the Civil Code:

“Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation.

Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by law, by donation, by testate and intestate succession, and in consequence of certain contracts, by tradition.

They may also be acquired by means of prescription.

Thus, ownership may be acquired by:

I. Original modes, which isindependent of any pre-existing or preceding title or right of another. It includes:

1. Occupation
   

   Things appropriable by nature that are without an owner, such as animals that are the object of hunting and fishing, hidden treasure, and abandoned movables, are acquired by occupation.However, the ownership of a piece of land cannot be acquired by occupation.

2. Creation or work (intellectual creation)

II. Derivative modes, when somebody else was the owner before. It includes:

1. Succession or through inheritance;
2. Donation, as when a parcel of land is given gratuitously and accepted and in a public instrument;
3. Prescription, as when ownership of land is acquired by adverse possession for the period of time required under the law, provided the necessary legal conditions or requisites are present;
4. Law
5. e.g accession, fruits naturally falling on adjacent land
6. Tradition, as a consequence of certain contracts (like the contract of sale, barter, assignment, simple loan or mutuum).
7. A perfected sale does not transmit ownership. It is the delivery or tradition which conveys ownership.

Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.

All rights reserved.