Short answer. No. A road constructed by the State is property of public dominion, which is held for everybody and owned by nobody in particular. It cannot be bought, mortgaged or acquired by occupying it, however long the occupation has run and whoever signed the paper you are holding.
What the law says
The following things are property of public dominion: (1) Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of similar character
Civil Code, Article 420 — Property of Public Dominion. Read the full provision →
Roads are named in the provision itself
Article 420 lists as property of public dominion those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of similar character. Roads come first on the list, and the closing phrase makes the enumeration open rather than exhaustive. What ties the items together is that each is meant to be used by the public at large. A road is not an asset the government holds the way a person holds a lot; it is a thing dedicated to everyone's passage, and that dedication is what puts it beyond private appropriation.
What being public dominion actually prevents
Property in this class is outside commerce. It cannot be validly sold, donated, mortgaged or seized for anyone's debts, and — the point that catches most claimants — it cannot be acquired by long possession. Fencing part of a road, building on it, paying real property tax on it, or holding a tax declaration covering it produces no ownership, because none of those acts can operate on a thing the law has taken off the market. A certificate of title that turns out to cover part of a public road is not made good by the years it has been in someone's name.
The second class: public property that is not for public use
The article also covers those which belong to the State, without being for public use, and are intended for some public service or for the development of the national wealth. A government building nobody may wander into is still public dominion, because it serves a public purpose even though the public does not use it directly. Occupants sometimes reason that if a lot is closed off and unused by ordinary people, it must be ordinary State property that can be bought. It is not. The category turns on the purpose the property is devoted to, not on public access to it.
The one route out, and how to check for it
Public dominion property is not permanently frozen; it changes character when it stops being intended for public use or public service, and only then can it be dealt with as ordinary property. What matters is that the change comes from the government, in an identifiable act, and not from the road simply falling into disuse. So before paying for anything that looks like a former road or waterway, ask for the document that withdrew it, find out which government body held it, and check the title history against the registry's own records rather than the seller's file.
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.
- Manila International Airport Authority vs. City of Pasay, et al, G.R. No. 163072, April 2, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Manila International Airport Authority vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 155650, July 20, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Light Rail Transit Authority vs. City of Pasay, represented by the City Treasurer and the City Assessor, G.R. No. 211299, June 28, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Navy Officer's Village Association, Inc. (NOVAI) vs. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 177168, August 3, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →