Short answer. Yes. Article 428 of the Civil Code gives every owner a right of action against whoever holds or possesses their property, to recover it. This right belongs to you as owner regardless of how the other person came to be there — by trespass, informal occupation, or otherwise.
What the law says
The owner has also a right of action against the holder and possessor of the thing in order to recover it.
Civil Code, Article 428 — The Rights of an Owner. Read the full provision →
What Article 428 gives an owner
Article 428 of the Civil Code sets out the basic rights of ownership in two sentences. The first covers enjoyment and disposition — the right to use, develop, and transfer the property, subject to legal limitations. The second is the right that matters most when someone else is on your land: the owner has also a right of action against the holder and possessor of the thing in order to recover it. This recovery action — which the law calls the accion reivindicatoria — is available to any owner whose property is in the hands of someone else without a right to be there.
Holder and possessor: both are covered
The article reaches two categories of person. A possessor is someone in actual physical control of the property, treating it as their own. A holder is someone who acknowledges superior ownership but retains the property — like a tenant who has overstayed. Both can be sued. The recovery action is not limited to trespassers who broke in; it extends to anyone who continues to occupy the property without a valid right to do so, including people whose original right has already expired or been terminated.
Proving ownership is the core of your case
To succeed in a recovery action, you must prove that you are the owner. This is typically done through the registered title to the property. A Torrens title in your name is strong evidence of ownership and is generally conclusive against the world. If the property is unregistered, you would need to establish ownership through other means — tax declarations, deeds, continuous possession, and the like. The person occupying the property may raise a counterclaim to ownership, which turns the case into a contest over who really holds title.
The limitations the statute also recognises
Article 428 says the owner enjoys the property without limitations other than those established by law. That qualifier matters in some recovery situations. Statutory rights of way, agrarian reform coverage, and government easements are examples of limitations that can prevent an owner from simply ousting an occupant even with a clear title. If the person on your land claims a legal right — a long-standing tenancy under agricultural law, for instance — the recovery action may face defences that go beyond a simple ownership dispute. Whether those defences apply depends on the specific facts of who is on the land and why.
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.
- Phil. National Bank vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 105760, July 7, 1997 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Authority Of The Freeport Area Of Bataan vs. F.F. Cruz & Co., Inc, G.R. No. 240047, May 14, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Republic of the Philippines vs. Heirs of Ma. Teresita A. Bernabe and Cooperative Rural, G.R. No. 237663, October 6, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Hacienda Luisita, Inc. vs. Presidential Agrarian Reform Council, et al, G.R. No. 171101, April 24, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →