Case Digest: Valisno vs. Adriano G.R. No. L-37409 I May 23, 1988

FACTS:

THe plaintiff is the absolute owner and actual possessor of a 557,949-square-meter parcel of land. The plaintiff-appellant Valisno bought the land from the defendant-appellees' sister, Honorata Adriano Francisco. The land which is planted with watermelon, peanuts, corn, tobacco, and other vegetables adjoins that of the appellee Felipe Adriano on the bank of the Pampanga River. At the time of the sale of the land to Valisno, the land was irrigated by water from the Pampanga River through a canal about seventy (70) meters long, traversing the appellee's land.

On December 16, 1959, the appellee levelled a portion of the irrigation canal so that the appellant was deprived of the irrigation water and prevented from cultivating his 57-hectare land.

ISSUE:

Whether or not plaintiff-appellant Valisno is entitled to an easement of aqueduct.

DECISION:

Plaintiff-appellant is entitled to an easement of aqueduct and must be granted continued and unimpeded use of the irrigation ditch traversing his land in order to obtain water from the Pampanga River to irrigate appellant's land. The deed of sale in favor of Valisno included the "conveyance and transfer of the water rights and improvements" appurtenant to Honorata Adriano's property. Water rights, such as the right to use a drainage ditch for irrigation purposes, which are appurtenant to a parcel of land, pass with the conveyance of the land, although not specifically mentioned in the conveyance. As an easement of waters in favor of the appellant has been established, he is entitled to enjoy it free from obstruction, disturbance or wrongful interference such as the appellee's act of levelling the irrigation canal to deprive him of the use of water from the Pampanga River.