Haystack: Government v. Colegio de San Jose (GR 30829, 28 August 1929)

Government v. Colegio de San Jose
[G.R. No. 30829. August 28, 1929.]
Second Division, Villa-Real (J): 5 concur

Facts: During the months of September to November every year, the waters of Laguna de Bay cover a long strip of land along the eastern border of the two parcels of land in question, the width of which strip varies from 50 to 70 meters and up to the eastern border of the pass claimed by the municipality of San Pedro Tunasan. The flooded strip includes the aforementioned pass itself, which is usually completely covered with water, so that the people can fish in said flooded strip. Raised in the CFI Laguna, the claimant Colegio de San Jose contends that the parcels of land are a part of the Hacienda de San Pedro Tunasan belonging it, which has been in possession thereof since time immemorial by means of its tenants or lessees and farmers. On the other hand, the Government contends that the said two parcels of land belong to the public domain, and its evidence tends to prove that they have always been known as the shores of Laguna de Bay. The CFI rendered, in cadastral case 30, GLRO Record 359 of San Pedro, Laguna, a decision in favor of Colegio de San Jose ordering the registration of the 2 parcels of land (lot 1 and 2) in accordance with law; without pronouncement as to costs. It further stated that its ruling should be understood in the manner that the lease of said lands executed by the Colegio de San Jose in favor of Carlos Young y Baldwin is valid and subsists under the terms and conditions set forth in the instruments and providing for the issuance of the proper decree once said decision becomes final. Appeal was made by the Government of the Philippine Islands before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment appealed from, without special pronouncement as to costs.

1. Laguna Lake is a lake not a lagoon
The Enciclopedia Juridica Española, volume XXI defines "lake" as “a body of water formed in depressions of the earth. Ordinarily fresh water, coming from rivers, brooks, or springs, and connected with the sea by them"; and "lagoon" as “a small lake, ordinarily of fresh water, and not very deep, fed by floods, the hollow bed of which is bounded by elevations of land." In the present case, Laguna de Bay is a body of water formed in depressions of the earth; it contains fresh water coming from rivers and brooks or springs, and is connected with Manila Bay by the Pasig River; and thus is a lake.

2. Lakes and ponds existing upon public lands belong to public dominion
Article 407 of the Civil Code provides that “lakes and ponds formed by nature on public lands, and their channels” are of public ownership. Article 44 of the Law of Waters of 3 August 1866, provides that “natural ponds and lakes existing upon public lands and fed by public waters, belong to the public domain." It is beyond discussion that Laguna de Bay belongs to the public domain, being a natural lake existing upon public lands, and fed by public waters from rivers, brooks and springs.

3. “Ordinary” and “extraordinary” depth distinguished
The word "ordinary" is defined in the Dictionary of the Spanish Academy as that "not exceeding the average; common, natural, occurring always or most of the time; not going beyond what often happens or takes place," while “extraordinary” is defined as the “uncommon, transcending the general rule, order, or measure; exceeding, surpassing, or going beyond that which is ordinary, commonly met with, current, settled, or admitted by the majority." According to said definitions, the highest depth of the waters of Laguna de Bay during the dry season is the ordinary one, and the highest depth they attain during the rainy season is the extraordinary one; inasmuch as the former is the one which is regular, common, natural, which occurs always or most of the time during the year, while the latter is uncommon, transcends the general rule, order or measure, and goes beyond that which is the ordinary depth.

4. Extent of the bed of Laguna lake
Article 74 of the Law of Waters defines the bed of a lake as “the natural bed or basin of lakes, ponds, or pools, is the ground covered by their waters when at their highest ordinary depth." Thus, in the present case, the natural bed or basin of the lakes is the ground covered by their waters when at their highest ordinary depth, the natural bed or basin of Laguna de Bay is the ground covered by its waters when at their highest depth during the dry season, i.e. up to the northeastern boundary of the two parcels of land in question.

5. Land in question do not belong to the public domain
Inasmuch as, according to article 407 of the Civil Code, lakes and their beds belong to the public domain, and inasmuch as, according to article 74 of the Law of Waters, the bed of a lake is the ground covered by its waters at their highest ordinary depth; whereas the waters of Laguna de Bay at their highest depth reach no farther than the northeastern boundary of the two parcels of land in question, said parcels are outside said bed and, consequently, do not belong to the public domain. Therefore, they must belong to Colegio de San Jose as part of Hacienda de San Pedro Tunasan, which was owned by it.

6. Article 367 of the Civil Code does not apply; Article 77 of the Law of Waters apply
Article 367 provides that “the owners of estates bordering on ponds or lagoons, do not acquire the land left dry by the natural decrease of the waters, nor lose those inundated by them in extraordinary floods." The provision refers to ponds and lagoons, and has therefore no application to the present case, which refers to a lake, a lagoon being legally distinct in character from a lake. Considering that the inundation of the land in question is made during the months of September to November, which is extraordinary, the legal provision applicable to the case is that contained in article 77 of the aforesaid Law of Waters. Said article provides that “lands accidentally inundated by the waters of lakes, or by creeks, rivers, and other streams, shall continue to be the property of their respective owners."

7. Accretion upon lands contiguous to lakes belong to the owners of such lands
Article 84 of the said Law of Waters provides that “accretions deposited gradually upon lands contiguous to creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes, by accessions or sediments from the waters thereof, belong to the owners of such lands." Even if, therefore, the two parcels of land in litigation were considered as accretions gradually deposited by accessions or sediments from the waters of Laguna de Bay, they would still belong to the claimant Colegio de San Jose as owner of the lands bordering on said Laguna de Bay.

8. Paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Law of Waters applies on shores of the sea, not of the lakes
Paragraph 3 of article 1 of the Law of Waters provides that shores are part of the national domain open to public use, and that by the shore is “understood that space covered and uncovered by the movement of the tide. Its interior or terrestrial limit is the line reached by the highest equinoctial tides. Where the tides are not appreciable, the shore begins on the land side at the line reached by the sea during ordinary storms or tempests." This provision refers to the waters of the sea, being included in Title I, which treats of the ownership and use of said waters of the sea. Lake waters, being terrestrial waters, their ownership and use are governed by Title II of said Law of Waters. In the same manner as the shore of the sea is that space covered and uncovered by the waters during tides, the exterior or terrestrial limit being the line reached by the highest equinoctial tides, so the shore of a lake is that space covered and uncovered by the waters during the tides, its interior or terrestrial limit being the line reached by its highest ordinary depth.

9. Summary of the Court’s decision in the present case
The Court held (1) that the natural bed or basin of Laguna de Bay is the ground covered by its waters at their highest ordinary depth during the dry season, that is, during the months of December, and January to August; (2) that the highest depth reached by said waters during the rainy season, or during the months of September to November, is extraordinary; (3) that the two parcels of land in litigation form an integral part of the Hacienda de San Pedro Tunasan belonging to the claimant Colegio de San Jose; (4) that said two parcels of land, being accidentally inundated by the waters of Laguna de Bay continue to be the property of the claimant Colegio de San Jose, pursuant to Article 77 of the Law of Waters of 3 August 1866; (5) that even supposing that the said two parcels of land have been formed by accession or deposits of sediment by the waters of said Laguna de Bay, they still belong to the said claimant Colegio de San Jose bordering on said Laguna de Bay, pursuant to Article 84 of the Law of Waters of 3 August 1866; and (6) that the provisions of the Law of Waters regulating the ownership and use of the waters of the sea are not applicable to the ownership and use of lakes, which are governed by special provisions.

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