Short answer. The partnership itself can own land. Article 1774 provides that any immovable property may be acquired in the partnership name — and that title so acquired can be conveyed only in the partnership name. So it need not be held in a partner's name, and once it is partnership property, only the partnership can transfer it.
What the law says
Any immovable property or an interest therein may be acquired in the partnership name. Title so acquired can be conveyed only in the partnership name.
Civil Code, Article 1774 — Property in the Partnership Name. Read the full provision →
The partnership can hold title in its own name
A partnership in Philippine law has a juridical personality separate from the partners who compose it, and Article 1774 puts that principle to work for real estate. Any immovable property or an interest therein may be acquired in the partnership name. So land, a building, or a lesser interest can be bought and registered under the firm's name itself, not under the names of the individual partners. The partnership is the owner on the title. This is what lets a firm hold its premises or land as an asset of the business rather than as the scattered personal holdings of whoever happened to sign.
Only the partnership can convey it
The second sentence is the practical safeguard: title so acquired can be conveyed only in the partnership name. Property registered to the partnership can be sold, mortgaged or otherwise transferred only by the partnership, acting through a partner with authority to do so. A single partner cannot sell the firm's land as though it were his own, because he is not the registered owner — the partnership is. This protects the firm and the other partners: it means a co-partner cannot quietly dispose of a partnership asset, and a buyer dealing with one partner must be satisfied that partner is authorised to bind the firm to the sale.
Partnership property is not the partners' to divide at will
Holding title in the partnership name also fixes what the property is: an asset of the firm, distinct from the private estate of each partner. A partner does not own a specific, identifiable piece of the partnership's land that he can point to; what he has is his interest in the partnership, which is a share in the firm and its net assets. The land itself belongs to the partnership until it is disposed of or the firm is wound up. That separation is exactly why the registration formality matters — it keeps the business's real property from being treated as though it were personally owned in fractions.
Getting the title right
When a partnership buys land, buy and register it in the partnership's name from the start, and make sure the partner signing has express authority to acquire for the firm. Keep the deed, the partnership's papers and the authority in one place, because a later sale, mortgage or dispute will turn on them. If land is instead placed in a single partner's name for convenience, expect trouble later over whether it truly belongs to the firm or to the partner — the cleaner course is to let the title say plainly what the article allows: that the partnership owns it.