1989 BAR EXAMINATION Question No. 1: 1. What is USUFRUCT? How is usufruct extinguished?

Question No. 2: X mortgaged his land to the Philippines National Bank (PNB) to secure a promissory note. He defaulted in the payment of the loan so that the land was sold at public auction on January 30, 1960, for P 3,500 with the PNB as the highest bidder. On January 20, 1970, X offered to redeem the property in the amount if P 3,500. He enclosed a a postal money order for P 1,000 as partial payment and stated that the balance is to be paid in 12 monthly installments. The PNB then discovered that the sheriffs certificate of the sale prepared after the public auction of the land was not the registered so that it cause the same to be registered on January 30, 1970. The PNB refused the offer of X contending that the offer to redeem was beyond the one-year period provided under Act No. 3135 and that it was not accompanied by an actual and simultaneous tender of the entire repurchase price. In view of the refusal of the PNB, X filed an action to repurchase on February 20, 1970. Will the action prosper? Give your reasons.

Question No. 3: May the owner of a building constructed on an unregistered land belonging to another apply for the registration of such building under the Lnad Registration Act and P.D. 1529? What should he do to protect his rights in case the owner of the land applied for registration thereof? Gove your reasons.

1987 BAR EXAMINATION ANSWER KEY Answer No.1: Usufruct gives a right to enjoy the property of another with the obligation of preserving its form and substance, unless the title constituting it or the law otherwise provides. Usufruct is extinguished: 1) By the death of the usufructuary, unless a contrary intention clearly appears; 2) By the expiration of the period for which it was constituted, or by the fulfillment of any resolutory condition provided in the title creating the usufruct; 3) By merger of the usufruct and ownership in the same person; 4) By renunciation of the usufructuary; 5) By the total loss of the thing in usufruct; 6) By the termination of the right of the person constituting the usufruct; 7) By prescription. Recommendation of the Committee: An enumeration of four (4) should be given full credit. Answer No. 2: Yes, the action will prosper. The one (1) year period of redemption is counted from the registration of the sheriffs certificate of the sale hence the action has not yet prescribed. However, there nee nit be tender of the redemption price because the filing of the judicial action to enforce the right of redemption within the redemption period suffices. (2) Subsequent to the original registration of a parcel of land bordering a river, it area increased by accession. This additional area was not included in the technical description appearing on the Torrens Certificate of Title having been acquired subsequent to the registration proceedings. May such additional area be acquired be acquired by third persons thru prescription? Give your reasons.

Answer No. 2: The Land Registration Law provides that no title in derogation of the registered owner may be acquired by adverse possession or acquisitive prescription. Since the law refers to registered lands, the accession mentioned in this question may be acquired by a third person through adverse possession or acquisitive prescription.

Alternative answer: If the accession is manmade, then it cannot be considered as private property. It belongs to the public domain, and, therefore, cannot be acquired by adverse possession or acquisitive possession.

Answer No. 3: The Land Registration Act and PD 1529 apply to registration of land only. It may include the building as an accessory but the building cannot be registered independently o the land because registration contemplated un this Act refers only to ownership of land. The owner of the building should file an opposition or answer o the application for registration and ask the court that right to the building be annotated in the decree and later in the certificate of title. (2) A is the owner of a registered land. The Torrens Title is entrusted to B, his clerk secretary, who forges As signature on a deed of the sale of said land in his B, upon registration. Does B have a valid title over the land? If B sells the property to C, does the latter acquire a valid title over it?

Answer No. 3: A forged deed is an absolute nullity and conveys no title but it can be the root of a title. If title to the land has been transferred to a party based upon a forged deed, and later on after the issuance of such title the property is transferred to another who is an innocent purchaser for value, then the latter acquires a valid title.