Land protest

I am in Cebu today, October 24, 2008.
I took the morning flight from Manila, and in a couple of minutes will be hopping on a return flight.
I attended a hearing, a land dispute among relatives.
The land is located in Daanbantayan Cebu.
But our hearing is in the Provincial Environment and anatural Resources Office.
My clients' predescessors own the land, having bought is in 1920.
However, in 1980, some of my clients' relatives who were allowed to live on the land, claimed a portion of it.
They applied for a free patent.
A free patent is grant given by the government allowing beneficiaries to own a piece of public land.
My clients protested, alleging that the land is not properly subject of free patent because it is private land.
The adversaries then rely on a deed of sale purportedly exected by my clients' predescessors, and claimed it was conveyed to them.
My cleints now say which is which?
Are the relatives claiming the land to be public, in which case, they claim it via free patent proceedings?
Or are the relatives claiming the land is prviate, thereby claiming it via a deed of conveyance?
It cannot be both.
The land is either public or private.
Nothing in between.