Jag Iesu Iigo G.

Murillo
Law 2 S.Y. 2014-2015

Q&A (Adapted from Paras 17
th
Ed., 2013)
TITLE I Classification of Property
Preliminary Provisions

1. What is property?

Property, as an object, are all things which are, or may be, the object of appropriation. (Art. 414)

Property, as a subject or course in law, is that branch of civil law which classifies and defines the different
kinds of appropriable objects, provides for their acquisition and loss, and in general, treats of the nature and
consequences of real rights.

Note: elements of a right (derecho):
(a) Subjects (persons)
(b) Objects (properties)

2. Distinguish thing from property.

Thing is broader than property since the former embraces both appropriable and non-appropriable objects
while the latter includes only appropriable objects.

3. What are the classifications of things according to nature of ownership?

(a) Res nullius (belonging to no one because they have not yet been appropriated or they have been
abandoned by the owner with the intention of no longer owning them.
(b) Res communes (belonging to everyone; their right of use and enjoyment are given to all of mankind)
(c) Res alicujus (belonging to someone; objects, tangible or intangible, which are owned privately, either in
a collective or individual capacity)

4. What are the different classifications of property?

(a) Mobility or non-mobility:
1) Personal or movable
2) Real or immovable

(b) Ownership:
1) Public dominion or ownership
2) Private dominion or ownership

(c) Alienability:
1) Within commerce of man
2) Outside commerce of man

(d) Materiality or immateriality:
1) Tangible or corporeal
2) Intangible or incorporeal (rights or credits, etc.)

(e) Dependence or Importance:
1) Principal
2) Accessory

(f) Existence:
1) Present property (res existentes)
2) Future property (res futurae)

(g) Capability of substitution:
1) Fungible (capable of substitution by other things of the same quantity and quality)
2) Non-fungible (incapable of such substitution; identical must be given)

(h) Nature of definiteness:
1) Generic (referring to group or class)
2) Specific (referring to a single, unique object)

(i) Whether in Custody of the Court or Free:
1) In Custodia Legis (when it has been seized by an officer under a writ of attachment or under a writ
of execution)
2) Free property (not in custodia legis)

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Jag Iesu Iigo G. Murillo
Law 2 S.Y. 2014-2015

5. What are the characteristics of property?

(a) Utility for the satisfaction of moral or economic wants
(b) Susceptibility capability of being appropriated
(c) Individuality or susceptibility it can exist by itself and not merely as a part of a whole

6. What are the classifications of property in the Civil Code?

All things which are or may be the object o f appropriation are considered either:
(1) Immovable or real property; or
(2) Movable or personal property. (Art. 414, NCC)

7. What is the importance of the classification of property into movables and immovables?

The importance is not from the fact of mobility or immobility but from the fact that different provisions of law
govern the APDL (acquisition, possession, disposition and loss) of immovables and movables.

8. What are examples of the different provisions of law governing the APDL of property (movable and
immovable)?

(a) Donation for an immovable must be in a public document while a movable needs only be in a private
document.
(b) Prescription in bad faith of an immovable is 30 years while acquisition in bad faith for movables is only
10 years.
(c) Generally, transactions involving real properties must be registered in the registry of property to affect
third persons but personal properties need not necessarily be so registered.

9. Can any person choose to designate and treat as real property a certain movable?

No, only the LAW may consider certain real property (like growing crops) as personal property (for purposes
of making a chattel mortgage)

10. What is reclassification?

It is the act of specifying how agricultural lands shall be utilized for non-agricultural uses such as residential
industrial, or commercial --- as embodied in the land use plan, subject to the requirements and procedures
for land conversion.

11. What is conversion?

It is the act of changing the current use of a piece of agricultural land into some other use as approved by
the Dept. of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

12. How is reclassification differentiated from conversion?

A mere reclassification of agricultural land does not automatically allow a landowner to change its use and,
thus, cause the ejectment of tenants --- he has to undergo the process of conversion before he is permitted
to use the agricultural land for other purposes.

Court proceedings are indispensable where classification/conversion of a landholding is duly-determined
before ejectment can be effected, which paves the way for disturbance compensation.

13. Is the human body real or personal?

It is neither real nor personal. The human body is a thing or a being. He may sell a part of his body, or the
uses of his body, but he can NEVER sell the WHOLE of his or her body.

14. What is the Organ Donation Act?

It is otherwise known as RA 7170 with complete title An Act Authorizing the Legacy or Donation of All or
Part of a Human Body After Death for Specified Purposes.

15. Who are the persons who may execute a legacy?

Any person, of sound mind, at least 18 years old.



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Jag Iesu Iigo G. Murillo
Law 2 S.Y. 2014-2015

16. Who may execute donation of a deceaseds remains?

Any of the following, absent any actual notice of contrary intentions by the decedent or actual notice of
opposition by a member of the immediate family of the decedent (including unborn infant or fetus):

1. Spouse;
2. Son or daughter of legal age;
3. Either parent;
4. Brother or sister of legal age; or
5. Guardian over the person of the decedent at the time of his death.

17. When effective and to whom shall legacy be binding upon?

The legacy becomes effective upon the death of the testator and shall be respected by and binding upon the
testators:

1. Executor;
2. Administrator;
3. Heirs;
4. Assign;
5. Successors-in-interest;
6. All members of the family.

18. Differentiate interest from title.

Interest is any right in the nature of property which is less than a title while title is practically
synonymous with estate which is the totality of interest which a person has from absolute ownership down
to naked possession.
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