(1) In one’s own name – the fact of possession and the right to such possession is found in the same person.
(2) In the name of another – the one in actual possession is without any right of his own, but is merely an instrument of another in the exercise of the latter’s possession.
Kinds of possession in the name of another (1) Necessary – arises by operation of law
e.g. representatives who exercise possession in behalf of a conceived child, juridical persons, persons not sui juris and the conjugal partnership
(2) Voluntary – effected through the mutual consent of the parties
(a) e.g. agents or administrators appointed by the owner or possessor.
(b) Third person may also voluntary exercise possession in the name of another, but it does not become effective unless ratified by the person in whose name it is exercised.
D.2. POSSESSION IN THE CONCEPT OF AN OWNER, AND POSSESSION IN THE CONCEPT OF A HOLDER WITH THE OWNERSHIP BELONGING TO ANOTHER [NCC 525]
(1) Possession in Concept of Holder
(a) One who possesses as a mere holder, not in the concept of owner, acknowledges in another a superior right which he believes to be ownership, whether his belief be right or wrong.
(b) e.g. tenant, usufructuary, borrower in commodatum.
(2) Possession in Concept of Owner
(a) May be exercised by the owner himself or one who claims to be so.
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(b) When a person claims to be the owner of a thing, whether he believes so or not, acting as an owner, and performing acts of ownership, and he is or may be considered as the owner by those who witness his exercise of proprietary rights, then he is in the possession of an owner. This is the kind of possession that ripens into ownership under Article 540, when such possession is public, peaceful and uninterrupted. [see Art. 1118].
Effects of Possession in Concept of an Owner (1) Converted into ownership by the lapse of
time necessary for prescription.
(2) Possessor can bring all actions necessary to protect his possession, availing himself of any action which an owner can bring, except accion reivindicatoria which is substituted by accion publiciana.
(3) He can ask for the inscription of possession in the registry of property.
(4) Upon recovering possession from one who has unlawfully deprived him of it, he can demand fruits and damages.
(5) He can do on the thing possessed everything that the law authorizes an owner to do; he can exercise the right of pre-emption and is entitled to the indemnity in case of appropriation.
D.3. POSSESSION IN GOOD FAITH AND POSSESSION IN BAD FAITH [NCC 526]
(1) Possessor in good faith – one who is unaware that there exists a flaw in the title or mode og acquisition which invalidates his acquisition.
(a) Good faith – consists in the possessor’s belief that the person from whom he received a thing was the owner of the same and could convey his title.
(b) It implies freedom from knowledge and circumstances which ought to put a person on inquiry.
(c) The belief of a possessor that he is the owner of the thing must be based upon the title or mode of acquisition, such as a sale, a donation, inheritance or other means of transmitting ownership; for without this, there can be no real, well-grounded belief of one’s ownership.
(d) Error in the application of the law, in the legal solutions that arise from such application, in the appreciation of legal consequence of certain acts, and in the interpretation of doubtful provisions or doctrines, may properly serve as basis for good faith.
(e) A misconception of the law, no matter how honest cannot have the effect of making one a possessor in good faith when he does not hold a title valid in form or a deed sufficient in terms to transfer property.
(2) Possessor in bad faith – one who knows his title is defective.
(a) Only personal knowledge of the flaw in the title or mode of acquisition can make him a possessor in bad faith for bad faith is not transmissible from one person to another.
(b) Mistake upon a doubtful or difficult question of law as a basis of good faith.
(c) Mistake or ignorance of the law, by itself, cannot become the basis of good faith. What makes the error or ignorance a basis of good faith is the presence of an apparent “doubt” or
“difficulty” in the law. In other words, the law is complex, ambiguous, or vague such that it is open to two or more interpretations.
(d) When the ignorance of the law is gross and inexcusable, as when a person of average intelligence would know the law, such ignorance cannot
be the basis of good faith. Otherwise, the intendment of Article 3 which states that, “Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith,” will be defeated.
What Things May be Possessed [NCC 530]
Only things and rights which are susceptible of being appropriated may be the object of possession.
What May Not Be Possessed by Private Persons (1) Res Communes
(2) Property of Public Dominion
(3) Right under discontinuous and/or non-apparent easement
E. ACQUISITION OF POSSESSION E.1. WAYS OF ACQUIRING POSSESSION [NCC 531]
(1) By material occupation
(a) “Material occupation” – used in its ordinary meaning and not in its technical meaning under NCC 712, which defines occupation as a mode of acquiring ownership.
(b) Possession acquired by material occupation is only possession as a fact, not the legal right of possession.
(c) Constructive delivery is considered as an equivalent of material occupation in two situations where such occupation is essential to the acquisition of possession:
(i) Tradicion brevi manu – takes place when one who possess a thing by title other than ownership, continues to possess the same under a new title, that of ownership.
(ii) Tradicion constitutum possessorium – takes place when the owner alienates the thing, but continues to possess the same under a different title.
(2) By subjection to the action of one’s will (a) This mode refers more to the right of
possession than to possession as a fact. The “action of our will” must be juridical, in the sense that it must be according to law.
(b) It includes:
(i) Tradicion symbolica – by delivering some object or symbol placing the thing under the control of the transferee.
(ii) Tradicion longa manu – by the transferor pointing out to the transferee the things that are being transferred.
(3) By execution of proper acts under legal formalities
(a) This mode refers to juridical acts or the acquisition of possession by sufficient title evidenced by the performance of required formalities.
(b) Examples:
(i) Donations;
(ii) Succession;
(iii) Contracts (like a sale with right to repurchase);
(iv) Judicial possession;
(v) Execution of judgments;
(vi) Execution and registration of public instruments;
(vii) Inscription of possessory information titles.
(c) The execution of the required formalities is equivalent to delivery of the property.
E.2. BY WHOM MAY POSSESSION BE ACQUIRED [NCC 532]
(1) By the same person (2) By his legal representative (3) By his agent
(4) By any person without any power whatsoever but subject to ratification,
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without prejudice to proper case of negotiorum gestio [Arts. 2144, 2149, 2150]
(5) Qualifiedly, minors and incapacitated persons
(1) By the same person
Elements of personal acquisition
(a) Must have the capacity to acquire possession;
(b) Must have the intent to possess; and (c) The possibility to acquire possession
must be present.
(2) By his legal representative
Requisites of acquisition through another (a) That the representative or agent has
the intention to acquire the thing or exercise the right for another, and not for himself; and
(b) That the person for whom the thing has been acquired or the right exercised, has the intention of possessing such thing or exercising such right,
Note
(a) Bad faith is personal and intransmissible. Only the person who acted in bad faith must suffer its effects; his heir should not be saddled with the consequences.
(b) Good faith can only benefit the person who has it; and the good faith of the heir cannot erase the effects of bad faith of his predecessor.
(3) By any person without any power whatsoever but subject to ratification, without prejudice to proper case of negotiorum gestio [NCC 2144, 2149, 2150]
(a) Whoever voluntarily takes charge of the agency or management of the business or property of another, without any power from the latter, is obliged to continue until the termination of the affair and its incidents, or to require the person
concerned to substitute him, if the owner is in a position to do so.
(b) This juridical relation does not arise in either of these instances:
(i) When the property or business is not neglected or abandoned;
(ii) If in fact the manager has been tacitly authorized by the owner.
(4) Qualifiedly, minors and incapacitated persons [NCC 535]
(a) Incapacitated – all those who do not have the capacity to act (insane, lunatic, deaf-mutes who cannot read and write, spendthrifts and those under civil interdiction).
(b) Object of possession – things only, not rights.
(c) Method of acquisition – material occupation; acquisition by means for which the incapacitated person has the capacity, such as acquisition by succession, testate or intestate, or by donations propter nuptias, pure and simple donations.
F. WHAT DO NOT AFFECT POSSESSION [NCC 537]
F.1. ACTS MERELY TOLERATED
(1) Those which because of neighborliness or familiarity, the owner of property allows another person to do on the property;
(2) Those services or benefits which one’s property can give to another without material injury or prejudice to the owner, who permits them out of friendship or courtesy;
(3) Acts of little disturbances, which a person, in the interest of neighborliness or friendly relations permits others to do on his property, although continued for a long time, no right will be acquired by prescription.
Note: Permissive use merely tolerated by the possessor cannot affect possession and cannot be the basis of acquisitive prescription.
Possession to constitute the foundation of prescriptive right must be possession under claim of title; it must be adverse. [Cuaycong v.
Benedicto]
F.2. ACTS EXECUTED CLANDESTINELY AND WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE POSSESSOR [NCC 1108]
Possession has to be in the concept of an owner, public, peaceful and uninterrupted.
F.3. ACTS OF VIOLENCE AS LONG AS THE POSSESSOR OBJECTS THERETO (I.E. FILES A CASE)
[NCC 536]
(1) Possession cannot be acquired through force or intimidation.
Includes forcibly taking away the property from another and also when one occupied the property in the property in the absence of another, and repels the latter upon his return.
(2) Effect on Possession
Acts mentioned do not constitute true possession. They do not interrupt the period of prescription nor affect the rights to the fruits.