- Statute
- Philippine Civil Code
- Article
- Art. 434
- Topic
- Ownership in General
- Status
- In force
- Book
- BOOK II PROPERTY, OWNERSHIP, AND ITS MODIFICATIONS
- Title
- TITLE II OWNERSHIP
- Chapter
- CHAPTER 1 Ownership in General
- Year
- 1949
- Cited by
- Multiple Supreme Court decisions
The provision
In an action to recover, the property must be identified, and the plaintiff must rely on the strength of his title and not on the weakness of the defendant's claim. (n)
Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms
A plaintiff suing to recover property carries two burdens: he must identify the property he claims, and he must succeed on the strength of his own title rather than on any weakness in the defendant's claim. The rule follows from Article 433, under which actual possession under a claim of ownership raises a disputable presumption of ownership — the possessor need not prove his right, so the claimant must prove his. Article 428 is the source of the owner's right of action against the holder and possessor to recover the thing.
An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.
Cases applying this article
- Spouses Elegio Cañezo v. Spouses Apolinario G.R. No. 170189
- Crispulo Sideco v. Francisco Pascua G.R. No. 4937
- The United States v. Elsida Rapiñan G.R. No. 503
- Antonia Prepose v. Benedict Querrer G.R. No. 232594
- Patricio G. Gemina v. Heirs of Gerardo V. Espejo, Jr. G.R. No. 232682
- Gaudencia Mercado Cumpio v. Tomas Molina G.R. No. 226090
- Joel Monteroso v. Antonio Morado G.R. No. 247534
- Paz Gesultura Jackson v. Elesio Cabatingan G.R. No. 231095
Other Supreme Court decisions also apply this article.