Short answer. Article 519 excludes mining entirely from the Civil Code: mining claims, mineral rights, and other matters concerning minerals and mineral lands are governed by special laws, not by this Code's general property provisions. Owning land does not by itself give a person mining rights over what lies beneath it, since a separate legal framework controls exploration and extraction.
What the law says
Mining claims and rights and other matters concerning minerals and mineral lands are governed by special laws.
Civil Code, Article 519 — Mining Governed By Special Laws. Read the full provision →
Why the Civil Code steps aside on minerals
Book II of the Civil Code lays out the general rules on property, but Article 519 carves minerals out of that scheme entirely. Mining claims, mining rights, and other matters concerning minerals and mineral lands are left to special laws rather than to the ordinary rules on ownership, possession, and use that govern the rest of Book II.
This reflects a broader constitutional choice: mineral resources are treated as a matter of national policy and state control, not as an ordinary incident of private land ownership, so a separate body of legislation handles them from exploration through extraction.
What the special laws actually cover
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 7942) is the principal special law referred to by Article 519. It sets out how mineral resources are explored, developed, and utilized, including the permits, licenses, and mineral agreements a person or company must secure from the government before extracting anything of value.
These special rules, not the general property provisions of the Civil Code, determine who may prospect for minerals, how a mining claim is perfected, and what obligations a claimant owes to the State and to affected communities.
Owning the surface does not mean owning what's underneath
Under the Regalian doctrine carried over from the Constitution, all minerals found within Philippine territory belong to the State, whether the land above them is privately titled or not. A landowner's title covers the surface and improvements on it, not the mineral wealth beneath the soil.
This is why a private title alone cannot support a claim to mine or extract minerals; that authority has to come from the special mining laws that Article 519 points to, not from the Civil Code.
What this means if minerals turn up on your land
A landowner who discovers minerals cannot simply start extracting them on the strength of the land title. The proper route is through the permitting and agreement process administered under the special mining laws, typically coursed through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, rather than through a civil action grounded in ordinary property rules.
Getting this sequence right can also matter later for boundary disputes, royalty claims, or environmental compliance, since those questions are answered by the special mining framework and its implementing rules, not by Book II of the Civil Code.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 519 — Mining Governed By Special Laws
- Civil Code, Article 518 — Suppletory Law On Waters
- Civil Code, Article 520 — Ownership Of Registered Marks