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.  (Civil Code)



BAR: A and B each owns a parcel of land on opposites sides of a river. The river changed its course and passed through C's land not adjoining either A's or B's land. As a result, of the change of the river, C lost 10 hectares of his land. 

 a) Assuming that the area of the abandoned river bed between the lands of A and B is also 10 hectares, who is entitled to the accession? Why?

 b) Suppose the area of the abandoned river bed is 15 hectares, will that make any difference in your answer? Why?

 Answer:

a) C is entitled to the abandoned bed to compensate him for the loss of the land now occupied by the new river bed. (Art. 461)

b) Even if the area of the abandoned bed is 15 hectares, C. is still entitled thereto. This is because after all, the law does not make any qualification. Besides, if the area of the old bed is less than the area lost by C, there is no additional compensation that is granted to him to make up for the difference.
What are the requisites for Article 461 (Change of River Bed) 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 definite abandonment by the government. If the government shortly after the change decides and actually takes steps to bring the river to its old bed, Art. 461 will not apply.
  5. The river must continue to exist, that is, it must not completely dry up or disappear. 

Suppose that a river dries up, who would own the dried up river bed?

The old bed belongs to public dominion since no private lands are injured and since as a rule a river bed belongs to public dominion.


What is the reason for inserting the phrase 'ipso facto'?

The words ipso facto were inserted in order to make it clear that the rule applies by the mere fact of the occurrence of a natural change in the course of the waters.


Reference:
Edgardo L. Paras, Civil Code of the Philippines Annotated, Book II, Property
Desiderio P. Jurado, Civil Law Reviewer