Rights of a possessor
The following are the rights of a every possessor. It must be noted that, in property law, a possessor is the one who holds a thing or enjoys a right. Therefore, the owner is not necessarily the possessor of the thing owned. For example, the owner of a car may lease it to another.
- Every possessor has a right to be respected in his possession and should he be disturbed therein he shall be protected in or restored to said possession by the means established by law and the Rules of Court. (Art. 539)
- Only the possession acquired and enjoyed in the concept of owner can serve as a title for acquiring dominion. (Art. 540)
- A possessor in the concept of owner has in his favor the legal presumption that he possesses with a just title and he cannot be obliged to show or prove it. (Art. 541)
- The possession of real property is presumed that of the movables therein as long as it is not shown or proved that they should be excluded. (Art. 542)
- Each one of the participants of a thing possessed in common shall be deemed to have exclusively possessed the part which may be allotted to him upon the division thereof for the entire period during which the co-possession lasted. (Art. 543)
All provisions cited above are in the New Civil Code of the Philippines.