Cruz and Europa v. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources

earliest times, requiring settlers on the public lands to obtain title deeds therefor from the State, has been continued by the American Government in Act No. 926."[18] C. The Public Land Acts and the Torrens System Act No. 926, the first Public Land Act, was passed in pursuance of the provisions of the the Philippine Bill of 1902. The law governed the disposition of lands of the public domain. It prescribed rules and regulations for the homesteading, selling, and leasing of portions of the public domain of the Philippine Islands, and prescribed the terms and conditions to enable persons to perfect their titles to public lands in the Islands. It also provided for the "issuance of patents to certain native settlers upon public lands," for the establishment of town sites and sale of lots therein, for the completion of imperfect titles, and for the cancellation or confirmation of Spanish concessions and grants in the Islands." In short, the Public Land Act operated on the assumption that title to public lands in the Philippine Islands remained in the government;[19] and that the government's title to public land sprung from the Treaty of Paris and other subsequent treaties between Spain and the United States.[20] The term "public land" referred to all lands of the public domain whose title still remained in the government and are thrown open to private appropriation and settlement,[21] and excluded the patrimonial property of the government and the friar lands.[22] Act No. 926 was superseded in 1919 by Act 2874, the second Public Land Act. This new law was passed under the Jones Law. It was more comprehensive in scope but limited the exploitation of agricultural lands to Filipinos and Americans and citizens of other countries which gave Filipinos the same privileges.[23] After the passage of the 1935 Constitution, Act 2874 was amended in 1936 by Commonwealth Act No. 141. Commonwealth Act No. 141 remains the present Public Land Law and it is essentially the same as Act 2874. The main difference between the two relates to the transitory provisions on the rights of American citizens and corporations during the Commonwealth period at par with Filipino citizens and corporations.[24] Grants of public land were brought under the operation of the Torrens system under Act 496, or the Land Registration Law of 1903. Enacted by the Philippine Commission, Act 496 placed all public and private lands in the Philippines under the Torrens system. The law is said to be almost a verbatim copy of the Massachussetts Land Registration Act of 1898,[25] which, in turn, followed the principles and procedure of the Torrens system of registration formulated by Sir Robert Torrens who patterned it after the Merchant Shipping Acts in South Australia. The Torrens system requires that the government issue an official certificate of title attesting to the fact that the person named is the owner of the property described therein, subject to such liens and encumbrances as thereon noted or the law warrants or reserves.[26] The certificate of title is indefeasible and imprescriptible and all claims to the parcel of land are quieted upon issuance of said certificate. This system highly facilitates land conveyance and negotiation.[27] D. The Philippine Constitutions The Regalian doctrine was enshrined in the 1935 Constitution. One of the fixed and dominating objectives of the 1935 Constitutional Convention was the nationalization and conservation of the natural resources of the country.[28] There was an overwhelming sentiment in the Convention in favor of the principle of state ownership of natural resources and the adoption of the Regalian doctrine.[29] State ownership of natural resources was seen as a necessary starting point to secure recognition of the state's power to control their disposition, exploitation, development, or utilization.[30] The delegates to the Constitutional Convention very well knew that the concept of State ownership of land and natural resources was introduced by the Spaniards, however, they were not certain whether it was continued and applied by the Americans. To remove all doubts, the Convention approved the provision in the Constitution affirming the Regalian doctrine.[31] Thus, the 1935 Constitution, in Section 1 of Article XIII on "Conservation and Utilization of Natural