- Petitioner
- Jean Tan
- Respondent
- Republic
- Citation
- G.R. No. 193443
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Decided
- April 16, 2012
Summary
The Supreme Court denied petitioners' application for land registration through acquisitive prescription. Although the RTC initially granted the application, both the CA and SC found that petitioners failed to establish the requisite 30-year possession period under Section 14(2) of P.D. 1529. The Court emphasized that for prescription against public land to begin, the property must first be expressly declared patrimonial by the State. Since the DARCO conversion occurred only in 2000, the prescriptive period could only commence from that date, making the 2001 application premature. Additionally, the Court found that sporadic tax payments over 40 years (only 11 instances) and general testimonial evidence were insufficient to prove the required open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession in the concept of owner.