FACTS:

Judge  Taccad  owned  a  parcel  of  land—on  the  west,  bordering  on  the Cagayan River, on the east, the national road.  The western portion would occasionally  go  under  the  waters  and  reappear  during  the  dry  season.  Manalo purchased the land.  A relocation survey was conducted during the rainy season, so the survey didn't cover the submerged land.  The sketch would show that the river branches through the west and east, leaving a strip of land.  The land was then surveyed into two 2 lots.  One of these is being claimed by Manalo through accretion.
 

HELD:

According to the Law of Waters, the natural bed or channel of a creek or river is the ground covered by its waters during the highest floods.
 
This  being  the  case,  the  subject  land  couldn't  have  been sold  to  Manalo, being part of the public domain.