Short answer. Not from the government. Article 461 gives an abandoned riverbed, by operation of law, to the owners whose land the river's new course now occupies, as compensation for their loss. But owners of land adjoining the old bed have the right to acquire it by paying its value, which cannot exceed the value of the area the new bed occupies.
What the law says
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.
Civil Code, Article 461 — Abandoned River Beds. Read the full provision →
What the law says
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, Article 461 — Abandoned River Beds. Read the full provision →
Who the abandoned bed belongs to
When a river naturally shifts its course, the old bed it leaves behind does not simply revert to the State to be sold. Article 461 provides that 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. In other words, the landowners whose property the river now runs through, and who thereby lost land, automatically receive the abandoned bed as a form of compensation, apportioned to the area each of them lost to the new course.
The adjoining owners' right to acquire
The old-bed owner along the bank is not left out. Article 461 gives them a preferential right to buy: the owners of the lands adjoining the old bed shall have the right to acquire the same by paying the value thereof. So an owner whose land borders the abandoned bed may take it over, but by purchase rather than for free. The right is theirs to exercise, and it lets the person best placed to use the old bed, the adjoining owner, acquire it ahead of others, on payment of its value to those to whom the law first gave it.
A cap on the price
The price is not open-ended. The same provision limits the value payable, stating that it shall not exceed the value of the area occupied by the new bed. The purchase price for the abandoned bed is therefore capped at the worth of the land the river's new course took. This ceiling keeps the acquisition fair: the adjoining owner cannot be charged more than the loss the new-course owners suffered, tying what is paid for the old bed to the value of the land lost to the new one.
Correcting a common assumption
A landowner in this situation often assumes the abandoned bed is government property to be bought back from the State. Article 461 shows otherwise: the bed passes automatically to private owners, and it is from them, not the government, that an adjoining owner acquires it, at a capped value. The practical steps are to identify whose land the new course now occupies, since they hold the bed, and to be ready to pay a value no greater than the land the river claimed. The transaction runs between private owners under the rule this article lays down.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Silvestre Corpuz vs. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 272308, February 24, 2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Republic of the Philippines vs. Arcadio Ivan A. Santos III, et al, G.R. No. 160453, November 12, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Rachel C. Celestial vs. Jesse Cachopero, G.R. No. 142595, October 15, 2003 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Spouses Crispin Galang and Caridad Galang vs. Spouses Conrado S. Reyes and Fe De Kastro Reyes (As substituted by their legal heir: Hermenigildo K. Reyes), G.R. No. 184746, August 8, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →