G.R. No. 166890 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. APOLONIO BAUTISTA, JR..D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly, the required period of possession must be "since June 12, 1945 or earlier," as stated in Republic v. Doldol , [11] a more stringent requirement the non-compliance with which was fatal to his cause. [12] Lastly, the Government points out that tax declarations or tax receipts did not suffice to prove ownership of land in fee simple; that although it was the State's policy to encourage and promote distribution of alienable public lands as an ideal of social justice, stringent safeguards must be adopted and applied to prevent the lands from going to the wrong hands; and that Apolonio, Jr.'s reliance on hearsay evidence showed his unfitness to own the land. [13] In response, Apolonio Jr. insists that he had duly established his lawful occupation of the land as owner in fee simple; that the Government did not timely object to his testimony, and did not also controvert his evidence; that the property had been properly identified; and that the lower courts had observed the legal safeguards and guidelines in granting his application for judicial confirmation of his ownership in fee simple. [14] Ruling of the Court We reverse. The Government has correctly insisted that the requisite period of possession of the property should conform to that provided for in Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act , as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1073, which has limited the right to apply for judicial confirmation to citizens of the Philippines "who by themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, since June 12, 1945, or earlier, immediately preceding the filing of the application for confirmation of title except when prevented by war or force majeure. x x x" The provision is reprised by Section 14(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1529 ( Property Registration Decree ), adopting the length of possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier. We note that in its amendment of the Public Land Act that took effect on January 25, 1977, Presidential Decree No. 1073 changed the length of the requisite possession from "thirty (30) years immediately preceding the filing of the application" to possession "since June 12, 1945, or earlier." Republic v. Naguit [15] has explained this change thusly: When the Public Land Act was first promulgated in 1936, the period of possession deemed necessary to vest the right to register their title to agricultural lands of the public domain commenced from July 26, 1894. However, this period was amended by R.A. No. 1942, which provided that the bona fide claim of ownership must have been for at least thirty (30) years. Then in 1977, Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act was again amended, this time by P.D. No. 1073, which pegged the reckoning da