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Question
Lot 77, Plan 4141, containing 3,400 square meters, lies within a forest reserve in Province W and remains part of the public domain as forest land. In 2009, X sold the land to Y by a deed of sale, and in 2010 Y obtained an Original Certificate of Title (OCT) from the Register of Deeds. In 2021, the DENR issued a proclamation reclassifying the land as alienable and disposable (A&D) and approved a private treaty of sale to Z, but no patent was issued. In 2025 the State filed a petition to cancel Y's OCT and reconvey the land to the State. (a)Identify the doctrine applicable to ownership of this land and the controlling rule about lands of the public domain. (b)Distinguish why private ownership cannot be validly acquired in forest/public domain lands and the role of alienable and disposable classification. (c)Apply to these facts: Is Y's OCT valid? Can prescription or a sale from X confer ownership on land still in the public domain?