Aliens, as a general rule, are not allowed to own real property in the Philippines. By “aliens”, we don’t mean creatures from outer space, but persons who are citizens of other countries. By “general rule”, we mean that there are certain exceptions, and two of such exceptions are discussed below.
The prohibition on foreigners owning Philippine lands is embodied in no less than the Philippine Constitution. This, in fact, is one of the usual reason cited by those who want to revise or amend the Constitution. The Constitution provides:
“Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” (Article XII, Section 7)
It’s clear from this provision that private land may be transferred only to persons or entitles who/which has the capacity “to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” Those who are qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain are as follows:
- 1. Filipino citizens.
- 2. Corporations at least 60% of the capital of which is owned by Filipinos.
In other words, the Constitution explicitly prohibits non-Filipinos from acquiring or holding title to private lands. Among the exceptions are as follows: (1) transfer to an alien by way of legal succession; or (2) if the acquisition was made by a former natural-born citizen. The Constitution provides that:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.” (Art. XII, Sec. 8)
The Supreme Court reiterated this general rule in a recent case (Borromeo vs. Descallar, G.R. No. 159310, 24 February 2009). The Court also reiterated the consistent ruling that if land is invalidly transferred to an alien who subsequently becomes a Filipino citizen or transfers it to a Filipino, the flaw in the original transaction is considered cured and the title of the transferee is rendered valid.
There are other exceptions to the prohibition on aliens owning real property in the Philippines, like full ownership by foreigners of condominium units, but this shall be the subject of future discussions. [See also Ownership of land by former Filipinos]
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Joseph your comments are totally insulting to all people including Filipinos, Why do you think it is necessary to make such remarks? It only shows you up to be a foul mouthed, ignorant person. I have lived here 50% of the time since 2004, now permanently. I owned a taxi company in Cebu employing around 25 drivers plus mechanics and office staff. I sold in the end because of huge problems with some of the drivers. Now retired, I bring in 42000 peso a month to your economy, why can i not buy a modest amount of land and a house? is it too much to ask? Especially as you can buy any property of any size in the UK and get a mortgage to buy it if you can afford. I do not ask for that only a modest piece of land that woulf be my refuge.
We are planning to acquire the excees land not more than 2 meters beside our land we owned and its a residential areas. What we should do?
The logic of not allowing foreigners to own land is flawed.
Foreigners living in the Philippines ought to have the right to at least own the house that they are living in even if the Philippines wishes to restrict ownership to only that.
How is it fair that Filipino migrating overseas can own land in the countries that they migrate to, but that foreigners migrating to the Philippines are refused the same. IF the Philippines wants to restrict land ownership to only local people, then let’s pass a law in the Philippines that makes it illegal for Filipino to own land overseas as well. Fair is fair!
The reason the USA is an economic powerhouse is because it has allowed ANYONE to migrate there that is not a criminal and is willing to work hard and allows them equal opportunity to the local population and does not restrict that. Consequently, immigrants have built the USA and made it prosperous.
A person willing to leave home to create a life elsewhere normally works harder and contributes more to the economy than someone too scared to leave home to find their fortune. Thus immigrants create a lot more wealth than locals in ANY country in the world.
In the PHilippines you restrict that and discourage it. But make no mistake, this is only to the benefit of local businessmen who can then charge outrageous prices and provide horrible service with no fear of competition! Think PLDT, Globe, etc. These are the ones benefitting from the mentality of preventing foreigners coming here to compete. And nobody wants to come here and compete if they cannot even own their own house and are forced to pay ridiculous rents instead!
Not all migrants are hard working unfortunately in Europe they can sit on the backsides while the stae pays them money, in most cases more than enough to not bother to work
If a foreigner can purchase land in his Filipino wife’s name, can he also purchase land in his Filipino child’s name?
I have a friend who has lived in the phillipines for tbe pasy 7 years now and has a 4yr and 1 yr to lovely filipina lady. He built a 3 storey; block of 6 apartments with small shop spaces below with his own money in a province of the phillipines. He previously sold a small house that was in his eldest sons name (as obviously no foreigner can own land and he isnt married to this lady altho they are v haappy together) so this apartment block is also in his sons name. He now wants to move back to australia now permanently with his new family so found a buyer who is an expat (who is married to a filipino woman for 20 yrs and lived there for 30) got all documenfs signed with lawyers who were confident it would go thru as same judge allowed sale of first small house 2 years prior. But denied??!! Why…?? How can he find out what he can do or what has happened
I am planning to marry a Filipina Woman. .I had planned to invest in real estate. .renting condos and apartments.
Now after reading comments here I’m skeptical about my plan.
Even though trust is the foundation of a marriage. .divorce. ..surprises happen.
I’m a filipina and in a relationship with an American. We are NOT married and we have a child. Can he buy a lot and put their both names as the owner? If not, can he put it under our child’s name even if our child is only 1year old?
Question:
A family corporation is created and such corporation owns real property. A Filipino majority stockholder dies
and her legal heirs are her children most of whom are american citizens. if legal succession is followed then the corporation would become more than 60% foreign owned. Does that mean that the family corp. now foreign majority owned corporation would in effect own real property here in the Philippines? is that allowed or would it fall within the exceptions.
thanks for academic purposes 🙂
a foreigner who, after five years of residence shall take Philippine citizenship can ‘buy land in the Philippines?
Good discussion here Atty.! But it should be Article XIII not XII.