Recent case revisiting law on accretion

Equitable title is defined as a title derived through a valid contract or relation, and based on recognized equitable principles, or the right in the party, to whom it belongs, to have the legal title transferred to him; in order that a plaintiff may draw to himself an equitable title, he must show that the one from whom he derives his right had himself a right to transfer. (Delos Reyes vs. Municipality of Kalibo, Aklan, G.R. No. 214587, Feb. 26, 2018)

An accretion does not automatically become registered land just because the lot that receives such accretion is covered by a Torrens Title; ownership over the accretion received by the land adjoining a river is governed by the Civil Code; registration under the Land Registration and Cadastral Act does not vest or give title to the land, but merely confirms and, thereafter, protects the title already possessed by the owner, making it imprescriptible by occupation of third parties. (Delos Reyes vs. Municipality of Kalibo, Aklan, G.R. No. 214587, Feb. 26, 2018)

Art. 457 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, cited; accretion is the process whereby the soil is deposited along the banks of rivers; the deposit of soil, to be considered accretion, must be: (a) gradual and imperceptible; (b) made through the effects of the current of the water; and (c) taking place on land adjacent to the banks of rivers. (Delos Reyes vs. Municipality of Kalibo, Aklan, G.R. No. 214587, Feb. 26, 2018)