EN BANC

[G.R. No. 5013. March 11, 1909.]

JEREMIAH J. HARTY, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila , plaintiff-

appellee, vs . THE MUNICIPALITY OF VICTORIA, Province of Tarlac ,
defendant-appellant.

F. Buencamino, for appellant.

Hartigan & Rohde, for appellee.

SYLLABUS

1. CHURCH PROPERTY; PUBLIC "PLAZA" CAN NOT BE CLAIMED BY THE

CHURCH. — Where the record does not duly show that the Catholic Church or the parish
of the town of Victoria is the owner of the large tract of land surrounding the church
and the parish house of said town, now forming a public plaza, and where the evidence
adduced at the trial shows that, prior to the conversion of the barrio, then known as
Canarum, into the town of Victoria, and before the construction of said church and
parish house, such large tract of land was destined as a public plaza wherein public
functions and religious ceremonies were held, without hindrance or obstacle of any
kind, there is no ground nor is there any legal reason for a declaration that said plaza
belongs to the church, which plaza, on account of its being a parcel of land of public
sue, is not susceptible of prescription under articles 344 and 1936 of the Civil Code.
2. ID.; ID.; EVIDENCE OF PUBLIC OWNERSHIP. — The fact that some fruit
trees and plants were set out in said plaza does not constitute an act of private
ownership, but rather evidences the public use thereof, or perhaps the intention to
improve and embellish the same for the benefit of the townspeople.

DECISION

TORRES , J : p

On January 17, 1908, the representative of Mgr. Jeremiah J. Harty, archbishop of

the Roman Catholic Church, as the legal administrator of the properties and rights of
the Catholic Church within the archbishopric of Manila, led a written complaint in the
Court of First Instance of Tarlac against the municipality of Victoria, alleging that the
parish of the said town had been and was then the owner of a parcel of land within the
said municipality, known as the plaza of the church of Victoria; that it had acquired said
parcel of land more than sixty years previously, and had continued to possess the same
ever since up to 1901, in which year the defendant municipality unlawfully and forcibly
seized the said property, claiming to be entitled thereto and retaining it to the present
day. For the purposes of the complaint, a description of the metes and bounds of the
land in question was set forth in the writing, and plaintiff prayed that, in view of what
was therein set forth, judgment be entered holding that the said land was the property
of the parish of Victoria, of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, and that the
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 defendant be ordered to vacate the same and to pay the costs of the action.
The defendant municipality answered the complaint through its attorney and
offered a general denial of all the facts stated therein, especially of those numbered 4,
5, 6, and 7; in special defense it alleged that the plaza described in No. 4 of the
complaint was founded when the sitio denominated Canarum, a barrio of the town of
Tarlac, was converted into a civil town in 1855; that the parish of Tarlac was
established many years after the civil town, and that therefore, it neither had then, nor
has now any title to the plaza claimed, and that the complaint injured the defendant, and
for this reason it prayed that judgment be entered absolving the defendant of the
complaint with costs and damages against the plaintiff.
Evidence was adduced by both parties, and the documents exhibited, to one of
which the plaintiff objected, were made of record; the trial court rendered judgment on
the 15th of June, 1908, holding that the parish of Victoria of the Roman Catholic
Apostolic Church, had a better right to the possession of the land described in the
complaint, and sentenced the defendant to vacate the same and to pay the costs. To
said judgment the representative of the defendants excepted and moved for a new trial
on the ground that it was contrary to the weight of the evidence, and he noti ed the
court that, if his motion were overruled, he would appeal to the Supreme Court. The
motion for a new trial was overruled; the defendant excepted, and presented the
corresponding bill of exceptions which, after receipt of a copy had been acknowledged
by the adverse party, was approved. On the 1st of September last, the appellant was
ordered to furnish bond in the sum of P1,000 to insure the ful llment of the judgment in
the event that it should be totally or partially a rmed. To said order the defendant
excepted, but furnished the bond as directed by the court.
In the view of the nature of the action brought by the plaintiff against the
municipality of Victoria, Province of Tarlac, the question that has arisen between the
contending parties consists only in determining who is the owner and proprietor of the
parcel of land that surrounds the parish church of the said town, and which is called the
public plaza of the same.
Article 339 of the Civil Code reads:
"Property of public ownership is:
"1. That destined to the public use, such as roads, canals, rivers,
torrents, ports, and bridges constructed by the State, and banks, shores,
roadsteads, and that of a similar character."
Article 344 of said code also reads:
"Property for public use in provinces and in towns comprises the provincial
and town roads, the squares, streets, fountains, and public waters, the
promenades, and public works of general service supported by the said towns or
provinces."
From the evidence presented by both parties it appears that the town of Victoria,
which was formerly only a barrio of the town of Tarlac and known as Canarum, was
converted into a town in 1855, and named Victoria; to this end they must have laid out
the streets and the plaza of the town, in the center of which were situated the church
and parish house from the commencement, and at the expiration of about twelve years
the parish of said town was constituted and the priest who was to perform the office of
curate was appointed; that from the very beginning, the large tract of land that
surrounds the church and the parish house was known as a public plaza, destined to the
use of all the residents of the recently founded town; public performances and religious
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 processions were held thereon without hindrance either on the part of the local
authorities or of the curate of said town.
It must be assumed that the principal residents of the old barrio, being interested
in the conversion of the barrio into a civil town, arranged in such a way that the barrio,
as the center of the future town which was subsequently called Victoria, should have
streets and a public plaza with its church and parish house, and also a tribunal or
building destined for the use of the municipality and the local o cial at the time called
the gobernadorcillo and later on capitan municipal, as has occurred in the foundation of
all the towns in these Islands, under the old administrative laws.
It may be true that the father of the witness Casimiro Tañedo, who owned the
space of land where the church and parish house were erected, had voluntarily donated
it to the Catholic Church, the only known at the time, but proper proof is lacking that the
donation a rmed by the said Tanedo comprehended the whole of the large tract which
at the present time constitutes the plaza of the town.
It was a custom observed by all the towns established administratively in these
Islands under the old Laws of the Indies, that on their creation, a certain amount of land
was always reserved for plazas, commons, and special and communal property, and as
it is unquestionable that the said large space of land was left vacant in the center of the
town of Victoria when it was constituted as a civil town, more than twelve years prior to
the appointment of a permanent curate therein, there are good grounds to suppose
that the late Vicente Tanedo donated the land now occupied by the church and parish
house in said municipality for religious purposes, or to the church, but not to the parish
curate, because at the time there was no curate at the new town of Victoria.
Even though all the remaining space of land which now forms the great plaza of
the town of Victoria had been owned by the said Tanedo, it must be presumed that he
waived his right thereto for the bene t of the townspeople, since from the creation or
establishment of the town, down to the present day, all the residents, including the
curate of said town, have enjoyed the free use of said plaza; it has not been
satisfactorily shown that the municipality or the principales of the town of Victoria had
donated the whole of said land to the curate of Victoria or to the Catholic Church, as
alleged, nor could it have been so donated, it being a public plaza destined to public use
and was not private ownership, or patrimony of the town of Victoria, or of the Province
of Tarlac.
It should be noted that, among other things, plazas destined to the public use are
not subject to prescription. (Art. 1936, Civil Code.)
That both the curates and the gobernadorcillos of the said town procured fruit
trees and plants to be set out in the plaza, does not constitute an act of private
ownership, but evidences the public use thereof, or perhaps the intention to improve the
and embellish the said plaza for the benefit of the townspeople.
Certain it is that the plaintiff has not proven that the Catholic Church or the parish
of Victoria was the owner or proprietor of the said extensive piece of land which now
forms the public plaza of said town, nor that it was in possession thereof under the
form and conditions required by law, inasmuch as it has been fully proven that said
plaza has been used without let or hindrance by the public and the residents of the town
of Victoria ever since its creation. For the above reasons it is our opinion that the
judgment appealed from should be reversed, and that it should be held, as we do
hereby hold, that the whole of the land not occupied by the church of the town of
Victoria and its parish house, is a public plaza of the said town, of public use, and that in
consequence thereof, the defendant is absolved of the complaint without any special
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 ruling as to the costs of both instances.
Arellano, C.J., Mapa, Johnson, Carson and Willard, JJ., concur.

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