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This article was originally published on June 1, 2022 and has been updated to reflect recent legal developments.

The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of a lawyer or you may directly contact and consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices to address your specific legal concerns, if there is any.

Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.

AT A GLANCE:

Article 620 of the Civil Code of the Philippines provides that continuous and apparent easements are acquired either by virtue of a title or by prescription of ten years. On the other hand,  Article 622 of the Civil Code states that continuous nonapparent easements, as well as discontinuous ones, whether apparent or not, may be acquired only by virtue of a title.

Easements may be acquired through different modes recognized under the Civil Code of the Philippines. These modes determine how a right over another’s property is established, whether by operation of law, agreement of the parties, or through the passage of time.

How are Easements Established?

Article 619 indicates that easements are established either by law or by the will of the owners. The former are called legal and the latter voluntary easements.

Modes of Acquiring Easements

In case of continuous and apparent easements, they are acquired either by virtue of a title or by prescription of ten years. (Article 620)

In order to acquire by prescription, Article 621 provides that the time of possession shall be computed thus: in positive easements, from the day on which the owner of the dominant estate, or the person who may have made use of the easement, commenced to exercise it upon the servient estate; and in negative easements, from the day on which the owner of the dominant estate forbade, by an instrument acknowledged before a notary public, the owner of the servient estate, from executing an act which would be lawful without the easement.

Article 622 provides that in case of continuous nonapparent easements, and discontinuous ones, whether apparent or not, may be acquired only by virtue of a title. 

Take note that Article 623 provides that in the absence of a document or proof showing the origin of an easement which cannot be acquired by prescription may be cured by a deed of recognition by the owner of the servient estate or by a final judgment.

Existence of an Apparent Sign of Easement

Article 624 states that the existence of an apparent sign of easement between two estates, established or maintained by the owner of both, shall be considered, should either of them be alienated, as a title in order that the easement may continue actively and passively, unless, at the time the ownership of the two estates is divided, the contrary should be provided in the title of conveyance of either of them, or the sign aforesaid should be removed before the execution of the deed. This provision shall also apply in case of the division of a thing owned in common by two or more persons.

As simplified by the Supreme Court in Spouses Fernandez v. Spouses Delfin, G.R. No. 227917, 17 March 2021, when one person who owns two properties establishes an apparent sign of an easement between them, this gives rise to a title over an easement when either of the properties is transferred to another person. The exception is if the contrary is provided in the deed of transfer, or if before the deed is executed, the apparent sign is removed. 

Effect of Establishment of Easement

Upon the establishment of an easement, all the rights necessary for its use are considered granted. (Article 625)

Related Articles:

• EASEMENT OF PARTY WALL
• EASEMENT OF LIGHT AND VIEW
• EASEMENT OF RIGHT OF WAY
• Amendments in the Right-of-Way Act
• CAUSES FOR EXTINGUISHMENT OF THE EASEMENT OF RIGHT OF WAY

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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 09175772207/ 09778050020.

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