FACTS:

Spouses Gabriel were the previous owners of a house which encroached on the easement of right of way of Sebastian and Lotilla. By virtue of this, a case was filed against the spouses. Thereafter, the house was sold to Villanueva. The trial court and appellate court held in favor of Sebastian and Lotilla and ordered the demolition of the house. This was questioned
by Villanueva on claims that he acquired the property under a clean title and that he wasn’t a party to the previous case.

HELD:

A legal easement is one mandated by law, constituted for public use and for private interest and becomes a continuous property right.

The following are the essential requisites for a compulsory right of way—

1. The property is surrounded by estate of others and there is no adequate outlet to a public highway
2. It must be established at the point least prejudicial to the servient estate and insofar as consistent with this rule, where the distance from the dominant estate to a public highway may be the shortest
3. There must be payment of the proper indemnity
4. The isolation should not be due to the proprietor’s own acts