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150 BOOK II PROPERTY, OWNERSHIP, AND ITS MODIFICATIONS Title I CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS Art. 414. All things which are or may be the object of appropriation are considered either: (1) Immovable or real property; or (2) Movable or personal property. Source: Art. 333, Old Civil Code. COMMENT: Concept of Property . — It is an object or a right which is appropriated or susceptible of appropriation by man, with capacity to satisfy human wants and needs. _____________ Other definitions of property: In its broad sense, anything which is of pecuniary value to its possessor . Thus, the right to office , though not a vested property right, in a technical sense, is property. An office may be considered as property in controversies relating to the question as to which of two persons is entitled thereto ( Escano vs. Gil, [C.A.) 13903-R, Feb. 11, 1958 ). The right of a person to his labor is deemed to be property within the meaning of constitutional guarantees. As it involves his means of livelihood, a person cannot be deprived, therefore, of his labor or work without due process of law ( Mizona vs. Great Pacific Life Assurance Corp. CV-05512, July 21, 1986 ). 151 Property, under the due process clause of the Constitution, includes the right to hold, occupy and exercise an office ( Cornejo vs. Gabriel, 41 Phil. 200 ) Concept Of Things . — Things refer to existing objects which can be of some use to man. Concept Of Appropriation . — This is the act of taking a thing for one's own use. It is equivalent to occupation, that is, the physical seizing of corporeal things which have no owner with the intention to acquire their ownership. Distinctions Between Things And Property . — (1) The term thing is broader in scope than property. All kinds of property are things but not all things are property; (2) Things refer to all objects that exist including those which could not be appropriated by man like the distant stars in the heavens. Property refers to objects already possessed by man or are in their possession; (3) Things involves only corporeal objects. Property may refer to intangible matters like rights and credits. Under Art. 414, it is obvious that things become immovable or movable property if they are or may be the object of appropriation. If things are beyond human control or appropriation like the heavenly stars, they do not qualify as property. Classification of Things. — Things are classified . as follows: (1) Res Communes — are things which belong to everybody. Examples: Sunlight; moonlight; moving air. (2) Res Alicujus — are things which are owned by a person or group of persons. Examples: A person's house and lot; pieces of jewelry; cars. (3) Res Nullius — are things which do not have any owner. Examples: Whales and sharks in the oceans; wild birds in the sky or forests. Classifications of Property . — Property may be classified as follows: 152 (a) As To Mobility (1) Movable or personal property — is one which can be transferred from place.to place without being destroyed. Examples: car; chair. (2) Immovable or real property — is one, which cannot be transferred from place to place without destruction to itself. Examples: Concrete building; land and trees. (b) As To Ownership (1) Property of public dominion — refers to property pertaining to the State and intended for public use, public service and for development of the national wealth (Art. 420). (2) Property of private ownership — refers to all property belonging to private persons, either individually or collectively (Art. 425). Note: Property of the State and its subdivisions not intended for public use, public service, or for development of national wealth is called patrimonial property. So patrimonial property is private property of the State or its political subdivisions. (c) As To Alienability (1) Alienable property or property within the commerce of man — refers to property which could be the object of juridical transactions. Example: Private land. (2) Inalienable Property or property outside the commerce of man — refers to property which could not be the object of juridical transactions. Example: Public plaza. (d) As To Individuality (1) Specific Property — is one which is fixed, definite and individually identified. Example: House located at No. 9, Rizal St., X City. (2) Generic Property is one which is indicated by its homogeneity or its class. Example: A horse without specifying which one. 153 (e) As To Susceptibility To Touch (1) Tangible property — is one which could be physically touched and has physical existence whether real or personal property. Examples: House; car; jewelry. (2) Intangible property — is one which could not be physically touched. Examples: Credit; goodwill; rights. (f) As To Susceptibility To Substitution (1) Fungible property — that property which belongs to a common genus permitting its substitution. Examples: Grains of sugar or salt; oil; vinegar. (2) Non-fungible property — that property which is specified and not subject to substitution. Examples: a specific house in a specific address; a particular car with specific engine number and plate number. (g) (g) As To Accession (1) Principal property — that property to which an-other property is incorporated as an ornament or for the use or perfection of the first (Art. 467; See also Art. 468). (2) Accessory property — that property which has been united as an ornament to or for the use of perfection of another property. Illustration: In a diamond ring, the principal is the ring, while the diamond is the accessory. Other Classification Of Property 1. Mixed property — Property which is personal in its essential nature, but is invested by the law with certain characteristics and features of real property. Heir-looms, fixtures, and title-deeds to an estate are of this nature [Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p. 1217]. 2. Qualified property — Property in chattels which is not in its nature permanent, but may at some times subsist and not at other times; such for example, as the property a man may have in wild animals which he has caught and keeps, and which are his only so long as he retains possession of them. Any ownership not absolute ( ibid ). 3. Mislaid property — Property which the owner has voluntarily parted with, with the intention of retrieving it later, but which cannot now be found. It does not
