LESSEE IS NOT A BUILDER/POSSESSOR IN GOOD FAITH

As early as 1956, in Lopez v. Philippine & Eastern Trading Co., Inc.,²³ the Court clarified that a lessee is neither a builder nor a possessor in good faith – x x x This principle of possessor in good faith naturally cannot apply to a lessee because as such lessee he knows that he is not the owner of the leased property. Neither can he deny the ownership or title of his lessor. Knowing that his occupation of the premises continues only during the life of the lease contract and that he must vacate the property upon termination of the lease or upon the violation by him of any of its terms, he introduces improvements on said property at his own risk in the sense that he cannot recover their value from the lessor, much less retain the premises until such reimbursement.

G.R. No. 167017 June 22, 2009

SERAFIN CHENG, Petitioner,
vs.
SPOUSES VITTORIO and MA. HELEN DONINI, Respondents.