On September 14, 1925, the Philippine Government instituted a cadastral proceeding of a tract of land situated in the municipality  of Barotac Nuevo, Province of Iloilo,  in accordance with section 1856" of the Administrative Code. A large part of the tract appears to be mangrove swamps, the administration  of which is claimed by the  Bureau  of Forestry.   The Bureau of Lands also claimed the lots with the exception  of lot No.  1081.  The same lots are  also claimed by private individuals.

Upon trial the Court of First Instance declared the lots to be public lands  with the exception of certain portions which had been under cultivation, and the herein claimants appealed to this  court.  The names of the claimants and the numbers of the lots, as well as the numbers of the cases appealed, are as follows:

Lot No	Private claimant	G. R. No.
725	Marta Espinosa and Quirino S. Cabrera	32133
1081	Tereso Sazon	32155
841	Donato Deocampo	32156
743	Graciano Jaroda	}32179
2668	Vicente Catequista, Feliciano Cartagena
850 and 851	Balbino DequiUa y Belandres	32198
783	Gregoria Panaguiton	32238
855	Bernardo Siaotong	32239
1086 and 1094	Catalina Sarrosa	32272
1097	Leonardo Araneta	32273
1265	Alfonso Doronila	32274
1266 and 1267	do	32275
1193	Carolina Blancaflor and heirs of Quirino Agudo	32301
1210	Leonardo Araneta	32302
1253	Agustin Perez	32303
1198	Jesus Buensuceso, Bias Gonzalez, and Higino Belmonte	32304
1199.	Jesus Biona	32305
1232	Nicolas Barrido	32333
1197	Valentin Buensuceso	32353
1233	Nicolas Buensuceso and Feliciano Cartagena	32354

After a careful examination of the various cases included in the brief of the Attorney-General we can see no  error in the findings of the court below.  The claimants pretend that they, by themselves, and their predecessors in interest have had possession of the respective parcels  of land for long periods, but, if so, the  occupancy of the land can only have been precarious.  As stated above, the tract in question consists  principally of mangrove swamps and the administration thereof has been in the hands of the Bureau of Forestry.   Only four of the lots, namely, Noe. 725, 841, 850 and 851  have been  declared  for  taxation and that was only in the years 1916  and 1917.   The remaining lots do not seem to have been declared by anyone for the purpose of taxation, and  in the past the Bureau of Forestry has generally issued  licenses to cut  wood and to construct fishponds on the  tract in  question.   Some of the licensees and permittees are claimants herein and it seems evident that the present  opposition of  the  appellants is comparatively a recent undertaking.  It will be noted that there is no proof whatever that the lands in question had ever been acquired by the appellants or their supposed predecessors in interest either by composition title from the Spanish Government or by  possessory information title or by any other legal means to acquire public lands and no such title papers have been offered in evidence in the trial.

It is also apparent that the appellants have  not been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of the lands in controversy, as required by law. Under section  45 (b)  of  Act No. 2874, the possession of public land,  without title derived  from the Government, must have commenced before July 26, 1894, and have been continuous thereafter at least until July 1, 1919, when said Act No. 2874 became  effective.  The  appellants having failed to comply  with  the provisions of the law, the lots claimed  cannot be registered  in their favor  under the aforesaid section  45 (6)  of  Act No. 2874.   The statute of limitations in regard to public land does not run against the Government.

The decision of the court below in  regard to  all of  the cases above enumerated  is  hereby affirmed without costs. So  ordered.

Avanceña,  C. J., Johnson,  Street, Malcolm,  Villamor, Johns, and Romualdez, JJ.,  concur.