ACCESSION NATURAL

Category: Property, Ownership and Its Modifications

 
Art.  457.  To  the  owners  of  lands  adjoining  the  banks  of  rivers belong the accretion which they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the waters. (336)
 

FORMS OF ACCESSION NATURAL

1.    Alluvium
2.    Avulsion
3.    Change of course of rivers
4.    Formation of islands
 

ALLUVIUM

     The  soil  deposited  or  added  to  the  lands  adjoining  the  banks  of rivers,  and  gradually  received  as  an  effect  of  the  current  of  the waters
 

ACCRETION

     Process by which the soil is deposited  
     A broader term than alluvium
 

REQUISITES OF ALLUVIUM

1.    The deposit should be gradual and imperceptible
2.    Cause is the current of river
a.    Cannot be done artificially or man-made causes
3.    That the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the bank of river
4.    The owner of the adjacent lot will own the increase
 

REASONS WHY ALLUVIUM IS GRANTED THE RIPARIAN OWNER

1.    To compensate him for the loss he may suffer  
2.    To   compensate   him   because   the   property   is   subject   to encumbrances and legal easements
3.    The  interests  of  agriculture  require  that  the  soil  be  given  to  the person who is in the best position to cultivate the same
4.    Since after all, it cannot be said with certainty from whom the soil came  
 

ACCRETION  ON  THE  BANK  OF  A  LAKE  AND  ON  THE  BANK  OF  AN ISLAND FORMED IN A NON-NAVIGABLE RIVER

     Belong to the owners of the estate to which they have been added
 

ACCRETION ON A SEA BANK

     Still belongs to the public domain
 

EFFECT  OF  PUBLIC  SERVICE  CONSTRUCTIONS  OR  EASEMENTS  ON RIVER BANKS

     Public service construction—the owner of the land is no longer the riparian owner and the government which will own the accretion
     Easement  for  the  benefit  of  navigation,  floatage,  fishing  or salvage—right  still  subsists  because  in  easements,  the  owner  of the  serviant  estate  doesn't  lose  his  ownership  over  the  portion
occupied
 
NOTE:  
1.    Loss of alluvium not affected by registration under the Land Registration Act
2.    Registered land is not protected from the process of accretion
 

THE   ALLUVIAL   DEPOSIT   ISNT   AUTOMATICALLY   REGISTERED UNDER THE TORRENS SYSTEM

     The   alluvial   deposit   may   still   be   lost   through   acquisitive prescription
     Remember the source of ownership is law
 
Art. 458. The owners of estates adjoining ponds or lagoons do not acquire the land left dry by the natural decrease of the waters, or lose that inundated by them in extraordinary floods. (367)
 

POND

     A body of stagnant water without an outlet, larger than a puddle and smaller than a lake, or a like body of water with a small outlet
 

LAGOON

     A small lake, ordinarily of fresh water, and not very deep, fed by floods, the hollow bed of which is bounded by the elevations of the land

LAKE

     A body of water formed by the depressions of the earth, ordinarily fresh   water,   coming   from   rivers,   brooks,   or   springs,   and connected with the sea by them
 
Art.  459.  Whenever  the  current  of  a  river,  creek  or  torrent segregates from an estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers  it  to another estate, the owner of the land to  which  the segregated portion belonged  retains the ownership  of it, provided that he removes the same within two years. (368a)
 

AVULSION

     The  process  whereby  the  current  of  a  river,  creek,  or  torrent segregates from an estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers it to another estate
     The   removal   of   a   considerable   quantity   of   earth   upon   or annexation   to   the   land   of   another,   suddenly,   and   by   the perceptible action of the water
 

REQUISITES OF AVULSION

1.    Sudden and violent 
2.    Land is identifiable and known
3.    Owner   of   the   land   where   the   land   was   detached   retains ownership—subject to remove land within 2 years
 
N.B:  it doesn't matter if it adds or lands on top.  It also doesn't matter if there were trees attached to the detached land.  
 

RIVER

     A  natural  stream  of  water,  of  greater  volume  than  a  creek  or rivulet  flowing,  in  a  more  or  less  permanent  bed  or  channel, between  defined  banks  or  walls  with  a  current  which  may  either be continuous in one direction or affected by the ebb and flow of the tide
 

CREEK

     A small stream less than a river
 

TORRENT

     Violent, rushing or turbulent stream  

Art.  460.  Trees  uprooted  and  carried  away  by  the  current  of  the waters  belong  to  the  owner  of  the  land  upon  which  they  may  be cast,  if  the  owners  do  not  claim  them  within  six  months.  If  such owners  claim  them,  they  shall  pay  the  expenses  incurred  in gathering them or putting them in a safe place. (369a)
 
NOTE:    The  six-month  period  given  in  Article  460  should  be  considered only a condition precedent.  The recovery period must be made within the period for prescription.
 
Art.  461.  River  beds  which  are  abandoned  through  the  natural change in the course of the waters ipso facto belong to the owners whose  lands  are  occupied  by  the  new  course  in  proportion  to  the area lost. However, the owners of the lands adjoining the old bed shall  have  the  right  to  acquire  the  same  by  paying  the  value thereof,  which  value  shall  not  exceed  the  value  of  the  area occupied by the new bed. (370a)
 

REQUISITES FOR ARTICLE 461 TO APPLY

1.    The change must be sudden in order that the old river bed may be identified
2.    The changing of the course must be more or less permanent and not temporary overflooding of another’s land
3.    The  change  of  the  river  bed  must  be  a  natural  one  caused  by natural forces
4.    There must be a definite abandonment by the government
5.    The  river  must  continue  to  exist,  that  is,  it  must  not  completely dry up or disappear
 

CHANGE IN THE COURSE OF RIVERS

1.    Owner of new bed will own the old river bed
2.    Adjacent owners has the right to acquire the old land 

3.    If  new  owners  refuse  to  sell,  their  refusal  would  be  contrary  to law—the  adjacent  owners  have  a  preemptive  right  over  the  old bed
a.    In case of the government, it has the right to return the river to its former course—following the Water Code
 
Art. 462. Whenever a river, changing its course by natural causes, opens a new bed through a private estate, this bed shall become of public dominion. (372a)
 

RULE IS NEW RIVER BED IS ON PRIVATE ESTATE

     Even  if  the  new  bed  is  on  private  property  the  bed  becomes property of public dominion, just as the old bed had been of public dominion before the abandonment 
 
Art.  463.  Whenever  the  current  of  a  river  divides  itself  into branches,  leaving  a  piece  of  land  or  part  thereof  isolated,  the owner  of  the  land  retains  his  ownership.  He  also  retains  it  if  a portion of land is separated from the estate by the current. (374)
 

FORMATION OF ISLAND BY THE BRANCHING OFF OF A RIVER

1.    May be isolated from the rest
2.    Or may be separated from the rest
 

THREE PARTS OF A RIVER

1.    Water
2.    River bed
3.    River bank
 
Art.  464.  Islands  which  may  be  formed  on  the  seas  within  the jurisdiction  of  the  Philippines,  on  lakes,  and  on  navigable  or floatable rivers belong to the State. (371a)
 
Art. 465. Islands which through successive accumulation of alluvial deposits  are  formed  in  non-navigable  and  non-floatable  rivers, belong  to  the  owners  of  the  margins  or  banks  nearest  to  each  of them, or to the owners of both margins if the island is in the middle of  the  river,  in  which  case  it  shall  be  divided  longitudinally  in halves.  If  a  single  island  thus  formed  be  more  distant  from  one margin than from the other, the owner of the nearer margin shall
be the sole owner thereof. (373a)
 

OWNERSHIP OF ISLANDS

1.    If formed on the sea
a.    Within   the   territorial   waters   or   maritime   zone   or jurisdiction of the Philippines—STATE
b.    Outside  the  jurisdiction—the  first  country  to  occupy effectively
2.    If formed on lakes, navigable or floatable rivers—STATE 
3.    If formed on non-navigable or non-floatable rivers
a.    If nearer in margin to one bank, owner of nearer margin is sole owner
b.    If equidistant, the island shall be divided longitudinally in halves 
 

NAVIGABLE OR FLOATABLE RIVER

     If useful for floatage and commerce, whether the tides affect the water or not
 

RULE  TO  FOLLOW  IF  A  NEW  ISLAND  IS  FORMED  BETWEEN  THE OLDER ISLAND AND THE BANK

     The owner of the older island is the riparian owner and if the new island is nearer in margin the older island, the owner of the older island should be considered also the owner of the new island