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. (Civil Code)


What is an alluvium?

 Alluvium (or alluvio) is the soil deposited or added to (accretion) the lands joining the banks of rivers, and gradually received as an effect of the current of the waters. (Ferrer vs Bautista, G.R. No. L-46963, March 14, 1994)


 Distinguish accretion from alluvium.

  1. Accretion is the process whereby the soil is deposited, while alluvium is the soil deposited on the estate fronting the river bank Heirs of Emiliano Navarro vs IAC, G.R. No. 68166, February 12, 1997);
  2. Accretion is a broader term because alluvium, strictly speaking, applies only to the soil deposited on the river banks. It is possible that a soil deposit be made also on the banks of lakes. In this case, although it is an accretion, it is not called alluvium, although the rule as to ownership is the same. 

What are the requisites of accretion?

 Accretion as a mode of acquiring property under said Article 457, requires the concurrence of the following requisites:

  1. that the accumulation of soil or sediment be gradual and imperceptible;
  2. that it be the result of the action of the waters of the river; 
  3. that the land where the accretion takes place is adjacent to the bank of the river. (Heirs of Emiliano Navarro vs IAC, ibid.)

Why alluvium is granted to the riparian owner?

  1. To compensate him for the loss he may suffer due to erosion or the destructive force of the water and danger from floods;
  2. To compensate him because the property is subject to encumbrances and legal easements;
  3. The interest 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, it may just as well be logically given to him who can best utilize the property.

Andres is a riparian owner of a parcel of registered land. His land, however, has gradually diminished in area due to the current of the river, while the registered land of Mario on the opposite bank has gradually increased in area by 200 square meters. 

 (a) Who has the better right over the 200-square meter area that has been added to Mario’s registered land, Mario or Andres? 

 (b) May a third person acquire said 200-square meter land by prescription? (Bar 2003) 

a. Mario has a better right over the 200 square meters increase in area by reason of accretion, applying Article 457 of the New Civil Code, which provides that “to the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belong the accretion which they gradually received from the effects of the current of the waters”. Andres cannot claim that the increase in Mario’s land is his own, because such is an accretion and not result of the sudden detachment of a known portion of his land and its attachment to Mario’s land, a process called “avulsion”. He can no longer claim ownership of the portion of his registered land which was gradually and naturally eroded due to the current of the river, because he had lost it by operation of law. That portion of the land has reasonable rent, if the owner of the land does not choose to become part of the public domain.

b. Yes, a third party may acquire by prescription  the 200 square meters, increase in area, because it is not included in the Torrens Title of the riparian owner. Hence, this does not involve the imprescriptibility conferred by Section 47, P.D. No. 1529. The fact that the riparian land is registered does not automatically make the accretion thereto a registered land. (Grande v. CA, 115 521 (1962); Jagualing v. CA, 194 SCRA 607 (1991). 


Reference:
Edgardo L. Paras, Civil Code of the Philippines Annotated, Book II, Property