
Originally Posted by
ab_initio
Di naman libre ang easement of right of way. It may be established upon payment of compensation if the owner of the neighboring estate is not generous enough to give it for free. For the guidance of the readers, this right is governed by Articles 649-657 of the New Civil Code. In part, Art. 649 states:
Art. 649. The owner, or any person who by virtue of a real right may cultivate or use any immovable, which is surrounded by other immovables pertaining to other persons and without adequate outlet to a public highway, is entitled to demand a right of way through the neighboring estates, after payment of the proper indemnity.
Should this easement be established in such a manner that its use may be continuous for all the needs of the dominant estate, establishing a permanent passage, the indemnity shall consist of the value of the land occupied and the amount of the damage caused to the servient estate.
In case the right of way is limited to the necessary passage for the cultivation of the estate surrounded by others and for the gathering of its crops through the servient estate without a permanent way, the indemnity shall consist in the payment of the damage caused by such encumbrance.
This easement is not compulsory if the isolation of the immovable is due to the proprietor's own acts. (564a)
***The one needing the right of way is called the DOMINANT ESTATE, while the one obliged to give up a portion of his estate after payment of the proper indemnity is called the SERVIENT ESTATE.
This exercise or encroachment of prerogatives on the proprietary rights of private individuals is akin to the State's OR ITS AUTHORIZED AGENCY'S exercise of EMINENT DOMAIN.
To understand this better you read the accompanying articles.
I have handled a case like this where my client is the servient estate. We won the case because I was able to prove that the elements of Art. 650 are present. I took it pro bono against a nouveau riche litigant. You know how they sometimes behave. They forgot where they came from.