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Discussion-Guide LTDARBO PDF
Discussion-Guide LTDARBO PDF
Orceo
Discussion Guide
Land Title and Deeds
I. Introduction
A. Land Administration
B. Spanish Period
C. American Period
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1. Classification describes the legal nature not the natural state of the
land
D. Classification of Lands
3. Agricultural lands.
4. Forest Land
5. Mineral Lands
6. National Parks
1. Land Survey
2. Survey Maps
3. General Uses:
4. Local Governments
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6. Qualification of Applicant
2. Sales - Title II, Chapter IV, Sections 22 to 32 of Commonwealth Act No. 141;
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2. Republic Act No. 730 (1952) - Direct sale of residential lands subject to
conditions
D. Restrictions on Patents
1. General Considerations
G. Section 14, Paragraph (b) - Those who have acquired ownership of private
lands by prescription under the provision of existing laws;
I. Section 14, Paragraph (d) - Those who have acquired ownership of land in
any other manner provided for by law.
J. Title issued under CARP (Republic Act No. 6657, as amended by Republic
Act No. 9700)
1. Coverage
6. Repurchase
7. Collective Titles
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1. General Rules
1. General Rules
2. The Consent
3. The Booking
4. The Publicity
1. Deed Registration
2. Title Registration
3. Difference
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1. Original Registration
3. Exception to Indefeasibility
6. Insurance Principle
7. Booking Principle
8. Publicity
1. Meaning
4. Involuntary Registration
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I. Introduction
A. Land Administration
The term “land administration” refers to the processes of recording and disseminating
information about the ownership, value and use of land and its associated resources.
Such processes include the determination or “adjudication” of rights and other attributes
of the land, the survey and description of these, their detailed documentation and the
provision of relevant information in support of land markets. (UNICE, 1995)
Land administration can be likened to accounting and bookkeeping, except that instead
of money, it is land that is being inventoried, accounted and booked. Land is
inventoried, accounted and booked through land survey - by dividing it into parcels or
lots for easy identification. The corresponding ownership or interest over these parcels
is also accounted and in some instances, awarded and adjudicated to the owner. The
ownership in each of these parcels are thereafter registered in the Register of Deeds.
The lands so identified, adjudicated and registered become “titled lands” whose
ownership are considered as “indefeasible” or certain. Thus, land administration
systems are not primarily concerned with general data on land but are concerned more
with detailed information of each land parcel within its jurisdiction.
✓ Land Survey and Mapping - where land boundaries are identified and land parcels
are created;
✓ Land Adjudication - where interests on land are identified and ownership resolved;
✓ Land Registration - where land titles are created and interest on land registered in a
public registry; and
The central component of an effective land administration system is the cadastre where
records on land survey, adjudication and registration are integrated. It usually includes a
geometric description of land parcels linked to other records describing the nature of the
interests, ownership or control of those interests, and often the value of the parcel and
its improvements. It may be established for fiscal purposes (e.g. valuation and
taxation), for titling/legal purposes (transfers of land), for management of land and land
use (e.g. for planning and other administrative purposes), and for sustainable
development and environmental protection. The “tax map” and “tax roll” of the LGUs in
the Philippines is an example of a fiscal cadaster. The “tax map” is usually based from
the “cadastral survey” of the area conducted for titling purposes.
Land administration provides for an immediate means of identifying with certainty and
accuracy the ownership and interest in a land. This information can only be provided by
an efficient land administration based on a modern and efficient system that will:
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Below are the national agencies with major land administration functions. These
agencies are involved directly in activities on surveying and mapping, titling and
registration of lands:
✓ Land Registration Authority (LRA) assists court in tilting of private lands (original
and cadastral land registration proceeding), decides questions regarding registration
of instruments, approves simple subdivisions of registered lands and exercise
supervision over the Registers of Deeds (RDs). (Presidential Decree (P.D.) No.
1529, Property Registration Decree, 1978, see http://www.lra.gov.ph);
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✓ The Courts (Judiciary) hear and adjudicate private claims on lands of the public
domain. Court judgment is the basis of LRA in the issuance of Decrees that are
registered by the Registrar of Deeds. (Batas Pambansa Bilang 129, Judiciary Re-
organization Act, 1980 and P.D. No. 1529, Property Registration Decree, 1978)
✓ Local Government Units (LGUs) issue tax declarations, prepare tax maps, zoning
ordinances, conversions of lands and perform other land management functions.
(Republic Act No. 7160, The Local Government Code, 1990)
The first principle in our land laws is the Regalian Doctrine, which holds that all lands
belong to the State and only by a grant from the State can land pass into private
ownership. Thus under the Constitution, all lands of public dominion and all other
natural resources are owned by the State and all lands not otherwise clearly appearing
to be privately owned are presumed to belong to the State, which is the source of any
asserted rights to ownership of land. Under this concept, private title to lands must be
traced to some grant, express or implied, from the State. This finds expression in
Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution (National Economy and Patrimony) and
likewise incorporated under Book 2, Title 1, Chapter 3 of the New Civil Code.
The second principle is the principle of private ownership. It includes not only the right
to use and enjoyment, but also the right to exclude others, including the State, from the
land. This right is protected under the Constitution and under the law that gives land
owners absolute control and exclusive rights on the basis of legal, state-conferred
ownership, subject only to certain limitation on police power (land use and
environmental protection) and eminent domain.
Base from these principles, and tenure or the modes of holding or occupying land in the
Philippines can be generally divided into public and private lands.
Ownership by use - It includes lands that are intended for public use, such as
roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks,
shores, roadsteads and others of similar character, and lands that are intended for
some public purpose.
Ownership by classification - Forest and mineral lands and national parks are all
lands of the public domain and no private ownership is allowed in this type of lands.
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Ownership in its Private Capacity - Lands that are owned by the State in its
private capacity are called “patrimonial properties.”
Private land ownership is limited to A and D lands and is primarily governed by the
following laws:
✓ The Constitution
As private property, the owner can exclude anyone, use and occupy the land, and
transfer complete ownership or allow its use by some other persons with minimal
interference from the State. In the strict legal sense, this ownership is referred to as a
“title”. It means the lawful cause or ground of control and enjoyment of land.
land” and its opposite “untitled land”, does not lie on the bare ownership of the land (the
legal meaning) but on the fact of whether or not “such ownership on the land has been
registered” at the Register of Deeds. In short, when we use the word titled land, what
we really mean is registered land.
This ordinary meaning of the word “untitled land” has been used in the same ordinary
sense by some land agencies as well. For example, Untitled Private Agricultural Lands
(UPAL) are used by the DENR and DAR to mean lands that have been considered as
private lands already by operation of law but said private ownership is not registered
with the Register of Deeds. Although UPALs are unregistered land, the DAR pays the
owner/claimant compensation when such land is covered and distributed. The most
common evidence of ownership on this type of tenure is the tax declaration that is filed
by land owners in the Assessor's Office of Local Governments for purposes of real
property tax assessment and payment.
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"The institution of private property in land contradicts modern assertion that all
Barangay land was owned in common. Traditions and customs vested ownership in the
family. The family land can be transferred via inheritance, purchase or barter and could
be pledge as security for debts. Inheritance is not governed by rules of primogeniture
common in many European cultures; the children inherits in equal parts."
"According to Morga, lands such as fields, nipa palm groves and wooded properties are
barter items among natives. Land transfers also occurred via non-payment of debts."
"In addition to the family residential lots and stip fields, the land system includes an
undivided tract of land owned by the Barangay as a the community. This tract generally
covered the adjoining wood or forest, slopes, tinges, and fertile uplands, fishing areas
and in coastal sites, mangroves and swamp lands. It must be noted that this institution
of commonly owned tracks approximated the contemporary European institution of the
village common." 1
B. Spanish Period
1. Ownership of Lands by Discovery
All lands in the Philippines were acquired by the Spanish crown through discovery.
Modern legislations on land - Royal Decree of February 13, 1894 - Various laws on land
disposition was codified under the Royal Decree of February 13, 1894 providing for the
rules on sale, compromise and prescription on crown lands. Possessors of alienable
public lands under cultivation who have not obtained nor applied for adjustment
(composicion con el estado) on the date of such decree may still obtain a gratuitous title
to the land by means of a possessory information upon establishing the existence of
any of the following conditions: (1) continuous cultivation of the land during the
preceding 6 years; (2) possession of the land for 12 consecutive years and cultivation of
the same during the preceding 3 years; or (3) open and continuous possession for at
least 30 years in case the land has not been under cultivation. A system of land
registration was introduced known as “Ley Hipoticaria” or Mortgage Law, the last of
which was in 1894 (The Spanish Mortgage Law).
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These are the land titles issued under the Spanish Period.
Titulo Real - Title to land granted generally to Spanish subjects in order to encourage
them to settle and go out to the people of the new territory are called titulo real. (Law 1
and 3, Title 13, Book 4, Recopilacion de las Leyes de las Indias)
Concession Especial - This is a form of acquiring title to land accomplished through the
exercise of a special power by the Governor-General of the Philippines without any
authority of a special law. (Law II, Title 15, Book 2 of the Law of the Indies)
Titulo de Composicion con el estado - By these titles, unlawful entries and detainer of
lands by private individuals who extended their possessions beyond the original grants
were legalized under certain conditions. This was conceived as a means of compromise
between the Crown as the owner of the land and the private individual as the usurper.
These titles were then evidences of absolute ownership but may likewise be lost by
prescription. The titles were granted by the Spanish Government through the Direccion
General de Administracion Civil, pursuant to the provision of the Royal Decree of 25
June 1880; that granted by the Chief of the Province by delegation pursuant to the
provisions of Royal Decree of 31 August 1888; and that granted also under the Royal
Decree of 13 February 1894.
Titulo de Compra - This is acquired in accordance with the regulations for the sale of
public lands in the Philippines approved by the Royal Decree of January 26,1889.
Under the regulations, the application to purchase must be published in the Gazetta de
Manila setting forth the description of the land and giving 60 days in which anyone can
present his objection to the same. A similar notice in the dialect was required to be
posted in the municipal building of the town in which the property was situated, besides
making it public by the town crier. The sale was conducted at public auction and
awarded to the highest bidder and covered not only vacant lands but also public lands
occupied without title.
Under Article 393 of the Spanish Mortgage Law, the registered possessory information
proceedings do not ripen into ownership except under certain conditions such as: (a)
that an applicant has been in open possession of the land; (b) that an application to this
effect has been filed after the expiration of twenty (20) years from the date of such
registration; (c) that such conversion be announced by means of a proclamation in a
proper official bulletin; (d) that there is a court order for the conversion of the registration
of possession into a record of ownership; and (e) that the Register of Deeds make the
proper record thereof in the Registry
But such recorded possessory information proceedings did not ripen into ownership
except under certain conditions, the most important of which was the expiration of 20
years after the entry or record in the Registry of Deeds of the possessory information
proceedings. And under Article 394 of the Mortgage Law, the entry or record of
possession in the Registry of Deeds did not prejudice the owners of the property
although his title had not been recorded, unless prescription had confirmed and secured
the claim recorded.
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✓ This system was founded on titles issued during the Spanish regime that were
registered under the mortgage law.
✓ The latest version of this law was implemented in the Philippines in 1894 as part
of the three “provincias de ultramar" with a uniform mortgage law for them—the
Ley Hipotecaria de Ultramar, also known as Ley Maura, after Don Antonio Maura
y Montaner, then Ministro de Ultramar.
✓ The system co-existed with the Torrens System of Land Registration Act No. 926
(An Act to Provide with the Adjudication and Registration of Lands in the
Philippines, 1902).
C. American Period
1. Treaty of Paris of 1898 Between the U.S. and Spain
✓ All properties of the Spanish crown
were transferred to the United What can a holder of a land title
States registered under the Spanish
Mortgage do during the American era?
✓ It excludes private lands or lands
that were already given by the A holder of a Spanish Title registered
Spanish Crown in favor to private under the Spanish Mortgage Law may
persons continue to use the system in his land
dealings or he may have the land
✓ Two types of land ownership - registered anew under Act No. 496 under
Lands of the public domain (all the Torrens System. If he opted for Act
lands that belongs to the Spanish No. 496, he has to file a land registration
Crown) and private lands. case with the land registration court.
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✓ Confirmation of Titles - imperfect titles from the Spanish and title by prescriptions
(by operations of law)
CASES:
1) Johnson vs Mackintosh
3) Valenton vs Marciano 3 Phil. Reports 537, 2 Off. Gaz., 434, March 30, 1904;
6) Jones vs. Insular Government, G.R. No. L-2506 April 16, 1906, 6 Phil.122
7) Susi vs. Razon and Director of Lands, G.R. No. L-24066, December 9, 1925
8) Mapa vs. Insular Government, G.R. No. L-3793, February 19, 1908, 10 Phil.,1753
9) Cornelio Ramos vs. Director of Lands, (G.R. No. 13298 November 19, 1918)
10)Government of the Philippine Islands vs. Abella, G.R. No. L-25010 October 27,
1926, (49 Phil. 49)
11) Jocson vs Director of Forestry
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✓ Areas below 18% but are needed for forest purposes (see enumeration in
Section 16 of PD No. 1529
✓ Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber,
mineral lands, and national parks.
✓ Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further classified by law according
to the uses which they may be devoted.
✓ Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the
public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years,
renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand
hectares in area.
✓ Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or
acquire not more than twelve (12) hectares thereof by purchase, homestead, or
grant.
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3. Agricultural lands.
✓ Alienable and disposable lands refer to those lands of the public domain which
have been the subject of the present system of classification and declared as not
needed for forest purposes.
4. Forest Land
Definition of Forest Land - Forest lands include the public forest, the permanent
forest or forest reserves, and forest reservations.
(a) Public Forest - Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which has
not been the subject of the present system of classification for the determination
of which lands are needed for forest purposes and which are not.
(b) Permanent Forest or Forest Reserves - Permanent forest or forest reserves
refer to those lands of the public domain which have been the subject of the
present system of classification and determined to be needed for forest
purposes.
(c) Forest Reservations - Forest reservations refer to forest lands which have been
reserved by the President of the Philippines for any specific purpose or
purposes.
(d) Production Forest - forest stands tended primarily for the production of timber.
This includes natural and man-made forests.
5. Mineral Lands
(a) Definition of Minerals - Minerals, for legal purposes, refers to all naturally
occurring inorganic substance in solid, gas, liquid or any intermediate state
excluding energy materials such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, radioactive
materials and geothermal energy.
(b) Definition of Mineral Lands under the old Mining Act (CA No. 137) - those lands
in which minerals exist in sufficient quantity or quality to justify the necessary
expenditures to be incurred in extracting and utilizing such minerals
(c) Definition of Mineral Lands under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (RA No.
7932) - any area where mineral resources are found
(d) In relation to land titles - A certificate of title is considered void when it covers
property of public domain classified as mineral lands because possession of
mineral lands, no matter how long does not confer possessory rights.
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6. National Parks
✓ New Class - It was introduced only in the 1987 Constitution as a distinct and
separate class of lands. National parks as a classification is implemented under
Republic Act No. 7586 or the NIPAS law (An Act Providing for the Establishment
and Management of National Integrated Protected Areas System, Defining its
Scope and Coverage for other Purposes)
CASES:
Agencies Involved
15) DOJ Opinion No. 23, Series of 1995.
Agricultural Land
17) de Aldecoa vs Insular Government (G.R. No. 3894. March 12, 1909)
18) Krivenko vs. Register of Deeds of Manila (18 G.R. No. L-630. November 15,
1947)
Mineral Lands
19) Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. vs. Dumyung (GR No. L-31666, April 20, 1929)
20)Republic vs. Court of Appeals and dela Rosa (GR No. L-43938, April 15, 1988)
Ancestral Domain (RA No. 8371) "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.”
21)Cruz vs. DENR Secretary (G.R. No. 135385, December 6, 2000)
Survey Error
22)Republic vs. Peralta, et al., En Banc (G.R. No. 150327, June 18, 2003)
Lands declared by the courts as agricultural lands prior to the introduction of land
classification;
23) Sta. Monica Industrial and Development Corporation vs. Court of Appeals (189
SCRA 792)
24) Director of Forestry vs. Villareal (G.R. No. L-32266 February 27, 1989)
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1. Land Survey
Land surveying is the process of measuring and delineating the natural and artificial
features of the earth. The surveyor’s observations, measurements and computations
are usually reduced into maps that are drawn from the survey data gathered. Maps are
visual representations or descriptions of the land; measured and delineated with a
certain degree of precision and show the relationships between physical elements of
that space through symbols (Cadastral Survey and Records of Rights, Binns 1951) FAO
Land Tenure Studies)
2. Survey Maps
A well-drawn map is an accurate scale model of the surface of the land which when
presented in two dimensions at a sufficiently large scale, can be used to indicate any
point on the land with accuracy (Binns, 1951). The large/small terminology arose from
the practice of writing scales as numerical fractions: 1/10,000 is larger than
1/10,000,000. However, it is important to recognize that even the most accurate maps
sacrifice a certain amount of accuracy in scale to deliver greater visual usefulness to its
user. Digitally and cartographically-enhanced large-scale topographic maps (1:10,000
scale) provide more detailed information on administrative boundaries, drainage
systems, existing infrastructure, major establishments, road networks, topography,
vegetation, and other economic indicators, showing the present development in the
area at barangay level. Similarly, medium and small scale maps (1:50,000 and
1:250,000 scale) are support tools for applications at municipal and provincial levels.
Administrative maps indicate political boundaries of provinces and regions of the
country. (NAMRIA)
3. General Uses:
The measurements and delineations of land, when recorded in the form of maps either
on paper or within a computer, can be the basis of an accurate inventory of land
resources. In the Philippines, an accurate inventory of land and its legal classification is
important since only certain types or kinds of public lands can be subject to disposition,
private ownership, registration and titling. An example of this type of map used for
inventory of natural resources are the Land Classification Maps (LC Maps) of the DENR
that show the delineation between alienable and disposable (A and D) lands and those
that are not subject to disposition. LC Maps are generated from forest delineation
surveys that mark the boundaries of agricultural lands and the non-disposable forest/
mineral lands and national parks. These maps are kept by NAMRIA that has the
mandate to conduct delineation surveys under Executive Order (E.O.) No. 192.
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✓ Inventory and full and accurate knowledge of natural resources of the land;
✓ Best means of obtaining, recording and analyzing such knowledge resulting to better
land classification and land use planning;
✓ The cadastral maps and corresponding index maps can be conveniently used as a
BASE MAP for the recording of any information which requires maps of these
scales. Cadastral maps greatly assist every branch of the public service connected
with land, (e.g. taxation, irrigation, drainage, flood control, etc.) making them more
efficient;
✓ Besides the economic, fiscal, agrarian, scientific and administrative uses, there is a
growing demand for maps and plans of all kinds for recreational purposes, for air
travel, for the use of tourists in connection with historical, archeological or artistic
studies, for commercial and industrial purposes and for educational purposes; and
An accurate and large-scale map is the only sound basis for a record of rights,
privileges, duties and responsibilities to land. No system of registration of rights can be
effective and no system of land taxation can be just and efficient without a description
which enables the land affected to be identified with certainty on the ground, and no
such identification can be regarded as certain without a suitable map to which the
description can be referred. Examples of this type of maps are the cadastral maps,
cadastral index maps, tax maps, subdivision maps, etc. Cadastral maps and other
property survey maps are kept by the DENR while subdivision maps of registered
properties subdivided by the Authority are kept by LRA. Tax maps are kept by the Local
Assessor’s Office.
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✓ Issuance of Rules and Regulations that will govern the conduct of surveys in the
Philippines (Land Management Bureau (LMB));
✓ Inspection, verification and approval of all original surveys on untitled A and D lands
(DENR Regional Officer) such as Isolated Land Surveys and Cadastral Surveys;
✓ Inspection, verification and approval of simple survey plans (the resulting lots is not
more than 9 and without road lots); and
✓ Inspection, verification and approval complex Survey Plans (the resulting subdivision
is more than 9 lots or less than 9 lots if the subdivision will create road lot/s).
4. Local Governments
Cities and Municipalities also have survey and mapping functions in support of its land
use regulation and land taxation mandates. These functions are as follows:
✓ Ensure the conformity of subdivision surveys with the comprehensive land use plan
of the LGU;
✓ Receive and compile copies of all approved survey plans furnished by Geodetic
Engineers on surveys conducted within their jurisdiction; and
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✓ Maintain a system of tax mapping, showing graphically all data concerning the real
property (land and improvements).
✓ Geodetic Engineers are under the supervision of the DENR or LRA while doing land
survey works.
✓ The GE has to comply with the survey standards and the rules and regulations set
forth by the DENR under the current Manual of Surveys.
✓ The GE must obtain such survey and tenure information on records available with
the DENR or LRA as is necessary to locate or relocate the boundaries of any land to
be surveyed and to connect his or her survey to the survey system in the Manual.
✓ A GE can conduct land survey activities pursuant to Section 2 (a) of Republic Act
No. 8560 (Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998) or for works not requiring
strict legal accuracy under arrangements with a client, in such a manner as agreed
upon by them or if the survey is not intended for land registration, disposition or
tenure definition.
2 The profession was first created under Republic Act No. 4374 (An Act to Regulate the Practice of Geodetic
Engineering in the Philippines.) A Geodetic Engineer - is any person who is technically and legally qualified
to practice geodetic engineering under these laws, which term supersede “surveyor”. The practice of land
surveying was first created under the provisions of Act No. 2711 (Revised Administrative Code of 1917) with
the Bureau of Lands providing apprenticeship and accreditation of land surveyors. A board of examiners was
created under Act No. 3626 to qualify surveyors for private and cadastral surveys and mineral land
surveyors. Geodetic engineering was not recognized as a profession until the enactment of Republic Act No.
4374, the “Geodetic Engineering Law,” on June 19, 1965. Under the Act, any person who was technically
and legally qualified to practice geodetic engineering shall be called “Geodetic Engineer” superseding the
term “Surveyor.”
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✓ However, the GE must comply with the standards and the rules and regulations set
forth by the DENR, if the survey is of a class that requires approval under existing
land laws.
Geodetic Engineers, when conducting surveys that requires the approval of the DENR
or LRA, shall give due notice in advance to the adjoining owners of the property to be
surveyed of the date and hour of the survey for the protection of their rights. They are to
report all objections made by adjoining property owners or claimants during the survey
and demarcating/describing the boundaries claimed by them.
The survey plans/data sets that the survey project generates, including the maps and
plans, are also submitted to the DENR and to the LRA (simple subdivision) for approval,
before it can have full legal effects. However, GEs may prepare sketch plans that show
the indicative location, position and area of land for purposes other than land
registration without need of DENR/LRA approval.
Generally, boundaries of land are fixed and do not move, although the interpretation of
the location of the boundary can be difficult and professional judgment may vary in its
interpretation, especially if the lots in question came from two different survey systems.
The situation with regard to “natural boundaries” formed by seas, lakes, river, etc., is
more complex as such boundaries are not fixed and are periodically moved. These
boundaries cannot be marked on the ground and are not fixed in one place but changes
position over time through slow and imperceptible accretion or erosion of the described
feature.
In built-up areas like old towns, the primary indicator of boundaries will most likely be
walls and fences. However, these can be subject to survey confirmation to ensure that
the fences were properly located before it were built and are not subject to
encroachment by the owners of the adjoining lands. In a new subdivision, the primary
indicators of land boundaries will be the survey marks place by the surveyor on the lots
or parcels. These survey marks are made of concrete monuments that conform to the
Manual of Land Surveys.
usually for land registration or public land disposition. When issued to a government
GE, the same is referred to as Survey Order. Survey Authority or Survey Order for
isolated survey less than 12 hectares are issued by the DENR Community Environment
and Natural Resources Office (CENRO). Survey authority is valid for a period of six (6)
months following its issuance. (Section 19 of Revised Regulation on Land Surveys,
DAO 2007-29).
✓ The land is outside of any existing civil, military or any other reservations; and
✓ There is no pending land registration case or pending litigation in court involving the
land or an existing public land application other than that of the Survey Authority
applicant.
✓ The survey applicant must be a public land applicant (homestead, sales, free patent)
or must show that he has acquired a registerable private right recognize by the law
(i.e. acquisitive possession, prescription and accretion)
The LMB assigns the Cadastral Project Number that is unique for every
municipality or city. The cadastral project is then divided into cases with one
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Every parcel of lot in a cadastral survey project is assigned a unique lot number
which will be done consecutively from Lot No. 1 without duplication. An
assigned lot number in one (1) barangay (barrio) cannot be assigned to a
certain lot in another barangay (barrio) of the covered municipality.
Cadastral Surveys also include the delineation of the boundaries of the various
political units (barangay, municipality, and province) as well as the boundaries
between the forested areas and A and D lands.
Isolated surveys may contain a single lot as in the case of private survey (PSU),
free patent survey, homestead, agricultural sale or multiple lot/parcels such as
in the case of Public Land Surveys. As mentioned earlier, the approved isolated
land surveys are integrated, either as accepted or modified or rejected, once a
cadastral project is subsequently conducted in the area.
Under the present land survey manual, all surveys that are not cadastral are
categorised as isolated surveys including subsequent subdivision and
consolidation surveys of a previously surveyed land, though these may be
within a cadastral area.
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Technical description uses directions and distances along with physical features of the
land to define and describe the boundaries of a parcel of land.
The boundaries are described in a narrative style, working around the parcel in
sequence, using bearing and distance from a known control point (location monuments)
to a point of beginning (point 1), going to the next point or corner (point 2 and
succeeding) and finally returning to the point of beginning to create a polygon. It may
include references to other adjoining parcels (lots). The description is based on the
markings on the ground with permanent concrete monuments.
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Large scale government surveys such as cadastral surveys generate the following
survey records:
✓ Cadastral Maps indicating individual parcels and their actual geographic position;
Below are some of the commonly used large scale maps that establish land ownership
and support land titling and registration.
3Reminder: The lot/s on survey plans and land titles are stated in a simple plane that adjusted the curvature
of the earth in order to present the parcel in a two dimensional map. The adjustments sometimes create
seeming overlap when projected against the map of a different contiguous parcel plan from a different survey
system. It is advisable for land buyer to engage the services of a Geodetic Engineer in order to be sure
where the true boundaries of the land lies. Incurring this survey expense makes good sense to any land
buyers or mortgagee.
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otherwise uncertain, or is in conflict with the occupations, courts may settle the
position of the disputed boundary. The actual location of any boundary, when
disputed, should be subject to the evidence of an on-ground assessment of the
land in relation to survey records, and is best undertaken by a GE.
In determining the boundary of the land, the court may consider the following
physical features and survey marks and descriptions:
✓ Actual occupation.
A GE is not the final arbiter of boundaries which are under dispute between
owners. This is within the jurisdiction of the regular courts. The GE’s role in
these matters is one of fact-finder and expert witness, providing the evidence of
what the boundaries are or how it was derived, upon which the court will make
the judgment.
CASES:
23) Golloy v. Court of Appeals, (G.R. No. 47491, May 4, 1989)
24) Cambridge Realty and Resources Corporation vs. Eridanus Development, Inc.
and Chiton Realty Corp., (G.R. No. 152445, July 4, 2008)
25) Felipe de Guzman vs. Manuel de Santos, (G.R. No. 6609. December 2, 1911)
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(3) Private lands and lands for confirmation of title not subject to classification,
land registration court makes determination
f) Under Republic Act No. 3872 (1964) - Cultural minorities can have titles to Non A
and D Lands
g) Under Section 4, Presidential Decree No. 1073 (1977) - Confirmation of Titles
Limited in A and D Lands only)
h) Under Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997 - Ancestral Domain as private
property of IP.
6. Qualification of Applicant
(a) Citizenship
Only citizens of the Philippines can be a grantee of public land; Non-Citizen
cannot be a grantee of public land; In Free Patent, it is required that the
applicant is a natural born citizen of the Philippines. Corporations not allowed
since 1973 to acquire public lands, however, a corporation can lease public
lands up to 1,000 hectares (1987 Constitution)
(b) Age
In general, there is no age limitation in public land grants; except in homestead,
the applicant must be 18 years or head of Family if minor
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2. Republic Act No. 730 (1952) - Direct sale of residential lands subject to
conditions
a) Any citizen of legal age, not the owner of a home lot in the municipality or city; in
good faith established his residence on a parcel; not needed for the public
service; private or direct sale (appraisal but no bidding); not more than one
thousand square meters; occupants has constructed his house on the land and
actually resided therein. 10% payment upon approval balance may be paid in full,
or in ten equal annual installments; restriction on transfer 15 years;
b) Restriction was removed under PD No. 2004 (1985)
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D. Restrictions on Patents
Patents issued by the government are subject to the following restrictions:
✓ Sales patents on the other hand are covered by Sections 121 and 122.
✓ A qualified restrictions on all patents sold be national cultural minorities are covered
by Section 120.
✓ Republic Act No. 730 that provides for the direct sale of residential lands has
restrictions on transfer and encumbrance of 15 years, however, the same was
removed by Presidential Decree No. 2004 in 1985 declaring that paragraph 2 of the
said law is too onerous and prevents utilization of the land.
✓ Republic Act No. 10023 altogether removed the restrictions that are attached to Free
Patents under Section 5.
✓ The state likewise reserves a right of way not exceeding sixty (60) meters for public
highways, railroads, irrigation, ditches, aqueducts, telegraph and telephone lines
and similar works as the government or any public or quasi-public service or
enterprise including mining or forest concessionaires, may reasonably require for
carrying on its business, with damages to improvements only.
✓ Republic Act No. 1273 amended Section 90 of the PLA and provided that a strip
forty (40) meters wide starting from the bank on each side of any river or stream that
may be found on the land patented shall be demarcated and preserved as
permanent timberland to be planted exclusively to trees of known economic value,
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and that the grantee shall not make any clearing thereon or utilize the same for
ordinary farming purposes even after patent shall have been issued to him or a
contract of lease shall have been executed in his favor.
CASES:
29)Balboa vs. Farrales, G.R. No. L-27059, February 14, 1928;
30) Republic vs. Diamonon, G.R. No. L-7813, October 31, 1955;
32) Diaz and Reyes vs. Macalinao, et al, 102 Phil. 999
33) Dauan vs. Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 19 SCRA 223
34) Pascua vs. Talens, G.R. No. L-348 April 30, 1948
37) Vargas and Vargas vs. Court of Appeals, GR No. L-35666, June 29, 1979
38) Santana and Panganiban vs. Mariñas, GR No. L-35537, December 27, 1979
39) Bajenting, et al. vs. Bañes, et al., GR No. 166190, September 20, 2006
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view: time when the land is still inalienable is excluded in computing period of
adverse possession.
e) Tax Declarations - Not conclusive evidence of ownership but are good indicia of
possession in the concept of the owner. It is at least a proof that the holder has a
claim of title over the property. It announces the tax payer’s adverse claim against
the State and other interested parties.
CASES:
40) Republic vs. de Guzman, 326 SCRA 574 (old view) Alienable and Disposable vs.
Time of Application for Registration
41) Malabanan vs. Court of Appeals
42) San Miguel Corporation vs. Court of Appeals, 185 SCRA 722 (1990).
43)Director of Lands vs. IAC and Acme Plywood and Veneer Co. Inc. G.R. No.
73002, December 29, 1986)
4Section14(2) is patrimonial property as defined in Article 421 in relation to Articles 420 and 422 of the Civil
Code.
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46) Republic of the Philippines vs. East Silverland Realty Development Corporation;
G.R. No. 186961, February 20, 2012;
47) Tan, et al. vs. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 193443, April 16, 2012.
CASES:
48) Maximo Cortes vs. City Of Manila, G.R. No. L-4012, March 25, 1908
49)Republic vs. C.A. and Tancinco, et al., G.R. No. L-61647 October 12, 1984;
50) Republic vs. Santos III and Santos, Jr., November 12, 2012, 2012G.R. No.
160453
51) Ignacio Grande vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. L-17652, June 30, 1962
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b) Three (3) hectares may be awarded to each child of the landowner, subject to the
following qualifications: (1) that he is at least fifteen (15) years of age; and (2) that
he is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm.
c) Landowners whose lands have been covered by Presidential Decree No. 27 shall
be allowed to keep the area originally retained by them thereunder;
d) Original homestead grantees or direct compulsory heirs who still own the original
homestead at the time of the approval of this Act shall retain the same areas as
long as they continue to cultivate said homestead.
6. Repurchase
Children or the spouse of the transferor within a period of two (2) years (Sold to the
Government and Land Bank)
7. Collective Titles
Option provided that the total area that may be awarded shall not exceed the total
award limit of all beneficiary. Title to the property shall be issued in the name of the co-
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owners or the cooperative or collective organization as the case may be. If the
certificates of land ownership award are given to cooperatives then the names of the
beneficiaries must also be listed in the same certificate of land ownership award.
Cases:
52) DOJ OPINION NO. 100, s. 2012, November 13, 2012
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The government agency that handles the adjudication process is the DENR under
Commonwealth Act No. 141 (Public Land Act) as amended, Republic Act No. 10023
(Residential Free Patent Law) and Republic Act No. 730 (Direct Sale of Residential
Lands). Generally, the DENR has exclusive jurisdiction over the disposition of lands of
the public domain in the absence of specific legislation to the contrary.
Public land applications are processed at the DENR Community Environment and
Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and patents are generally signed and issued by the
DENR Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO). The approved
and signed patents are transmitted to the Register of Deeds of the province or city by
the DENR for registration (Section 103 of PD No. 1529). Application for a public land
grant is administrative in nature although the DENR is exercising in the process quasi-
judicial powers when adjudicating applications and has authority to to determine
conflicting claims of applicants and occupants of public land (Section 102, PLA) subject
to judicial review in case of fraud, imposition or mistake, other than error of judgment in
estimating the value or effect of evidence.
The authority to sign patents is generally vested to the President of the Philippines as
Chief Executive. Throughout the years, however, the signing of patent was
decentralised by Congress to the different levels within the bureaucracy of the DENR.
Under E.O. No. 192 (1987) reorganizing and the integration of the different Bureaus
under the in the Regional/Field Office Set-up, the Secretary of the newly organized
DENR was given a general mandate to implement public land laws, with powers to
delegate includes the power to sign patents and to delegate the same to such officers
as he may deem fit. At present, up to 5 hectares (PENRO), more than 5 but not
exceeding 10 (RED), in excess of 10 (Secretary). Under Republic Act No. 10023, the
authority to sign patent was specifically delegated by Congress to the PENRO (Section
6, RA No. 10023).
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✓ DENR has records of all approved land surveys. If the land has no
approved survey, the applicant must request for a survey authority from
the DENR in order to have the land surveyed by a private geodetic
engineer.
✓ If the land is unsurveyed, the applicant may file the Public Land
Application first and thereafter request for a survey authority/order to
delineate his/her claim.
✓ Public Land Applications are submitted under oath; DENR officers may
administer oath to applicants when filing an application
✓ Check land holdings of the applicant in the land allocation record book
✓ In Direct Sale under Republic Act No. 730, upon approval of the
application, the land shall be appraised by an Appraisal Committee at the
CENRO.
• There is no bidding under RA No. 730
• The appraisal has to be approved by the DENR Secretary before an
Order of Payment shall be issued.
• Upon full payment (10 equal yearly instalment is allowed), the DENR
shall inspect the land to check compliance and shall prepare a re-
investigation report;
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CASES:
(55) Geukeko vs. Araneta (G.R. No. L-10182, December 24, 1957; 102 Phil 706)
(56) Ortua vs. Encarnacion, G.R. No. 39919, January 30, 1934;
(57) Custodio Mari vs. Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources (G.R. No.
L-5622, December 29, 1952);
(58) Mauleon vs. Court of Appeals, (G.R. No. L-27762, August 7, 1975)
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a) Notices
✓ Publication Official Gazette;
✓ Mailing; and
✓ Posting.
b) Filing of Opposition
✓ Any person claiming an interest may appear and file an opposition on or
before the date of initial hearing or anytime as may be allowed by the
court. The opposition shall state all the objections to the application and
shall set forth the interest claimed by the party; the remedy desired;
signed and sworn;
c) Initial/Jurisdictional hearing
✓ Applicant presents evidence of compliance to the order of the court for
notices on the setting of initial hearing; court will ask if there are
oppositions
d) Order of Default
✓ If no person appears and answers, upon motion of the applicant the court
may order a default to be recorded and require the applicant to present
evidence. But when an appearance has been entered and an answer
filed, a default order shall be entered against persons who did not appear
and answer.
e) Hearing/Referee/Commisioner -
✓ The court may hear the case (applicant presents evidence; oppositors
presents evidence) or refer the case or any part to a referee; hearing at
any place within the province; submit his report thereon to the court within
fifteen days after the termination of such hearing. Court may adopt the
report or set it aside for further proceedings;
f) Judgement -
✓ Within ninety (90) days from the date the case is submitted for decision.
The Court, after considering the evidence and the reports of the
Commissioner of Land Registration and the Director of Lands, finds that
the applicant or the oppositor has sufficient title proper for registration,
judgment shall be rendered confirming the title of the applicant, or the
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oppositor, to the land. Becomes final upon the expiration of thirty (30)
days to be counted from the data of receipt of notice of the judgment. An
appeal may be taken from the judgment of the court as in ordinary civil
cases.
g) Issuance of Decree
✓ After judgment has become final and executory, the court issue an order
to LRA for the issuance of the decree of registration and the
corresponding certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged entitled to
registration.
✓ First Notice - Notice to persons claiming any interest in the lands as well as
to the general public of the survey, giving as fully and accurately as possible
the description of the lands By Publication once in the Official Gazette
• Posting in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the municipal
building of the municipality in which the lands or any portion thereof is
situated.
• Notice to the mayor of such municipality as well as to the barangay
captain and likewise to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the
Sangguniang Bayan concerned.
✓ Second Notice - Notice of the date on which the survey of any portion of
such lands by posting in the bulletin board of the municipal building of the
municipality or barrio in which the lands are situated by the GE or DENR.
✓ Duty of the Geodetic Engineer - To enter upon the lands for the purpose of
the survey; and to mark the boundaries of the lands by monuments set up in
proper places thereon.
✓ Duty of the claimant/s - communicate with the Geodetic Engineer upon his
request for all information possessed by such person concerning the
boundary lines of any lands to which he claims title or in which he claims any
interest.
✓ Penalty: Any person who shall wilfully obstruct the making of any survey
undertaken by the Bureau of Lands or by a licensed Geodetic Engineer duly
authorized to conduct the survey under this Section, or shall maliciously
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✓ Contents:
• A description of the lands and shall be accompanied by a plan; and
• May contain such other data as may serve to furnish full notice to the
occupants of the lands and to all persons who may claim any right or
interest therein.
• Where the land consists of two or more parcels held or occupied by
different persons, the plan shall indicate the boundaries of the parcels
• The parcels shall be known as "lots" and shall on the plan filed in the
case be given separate numbers by the Director of Lands, which numbers
shall be known as "cadastral lot numbers”.
• The lots situated within each municipality shall be numbered
consecutively beginning with number one and only one series of numbers
shall be used. However in cities or townsites, a designation of the
landholdings by blocks and lot numbers may be employed instead of the
designation by cadastral lot numbers.
• The cadastral number of a lot shall not be changed after final decision
has been entered decreasing the registration thereof, except by order of
court. Future subdivisions of any lot shall be designated by a letter or
letters of the alphabet added to the cadastral number of the lot to which
the respective subdivisions pertain. The letter with which a subdivision is
designated shall be known as its "cadastral letter": Provided, however,
that the subdivisions of cities or townsites may be designated by blocks
and lot numbers.
c) Answer
✓ Any claimant in cadastral proceedings, whether named in the notice or not,
shall appear before the court and shall file an answer on or before the date
of initial hearing or within such further time as may be allowed by the court
and shall state:
• Marital status;
• Name of the spouse and the date of marriage,
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• Nationality
• Residence and postal address, and
• The age
• The cadastral number of the lot or lots claimed
• The name of the barrio and municipality in which the lots are situated;
• The names and addresses of the owners of the adjoining lots so far as
known to the claimant;
• If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no
express grant of the land by the government, the answer shall state the
length of time he has held such possession and the manner in which it
has been acquired;
• If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the land, the answer
shall fully set forth the interest claimed by him and the time and manner of
his acquisition;
• If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value; and
• The encumbrances, if any, affecting the lots and the names of adverse
claimants, as far as known.
d) Hearing
✓ The trial of the case in a place within the province in which the lands are
situated; Claimant presents evidence
e) Judgement
✓ Same as ordinary registration
f) Issuance of Decree
✓ After judgment has become final and executory, the court issue an order
to LRA for the issuance of the decree of registration and the
corresponding certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged entitled to
registration.
CASES:
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✓ The systems of land registration are frequently directed at protecting the interests of
individual landowners but they are also instruments of national land policy and
mechanisms to support economic development.
✓ The function of land registration is to provide a safe and certain foundation for the
acquisition, enjoyment and disposal of such rights in land.
2. The Consent
✓ The real entitled person who is booked as such in the register must give his consent
for a change of the inscription in the land register.
3. The Booking
✓ The change in real rights on an immovable property, especially by transfer, is not
legally effected until the change or the expected right is booked or registered in the
land register.
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4. The Publicity
✓ The legal registers are open for public inspection, the published facts can be upheld
as being correct by third parties in good faith and can be protected by law.
✓ Republic Act No. 10365 "An Act Strenthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law,
Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 9160 Othersie known as the "Anti-
Money Laundering Act of 20011", as amended:
• “SEC. 7. Creation of Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). – The Anti-
Money Laundering Council is hereby created and shall be composed of the
Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as Chairman, the Commissioner
of the Insurance Commission and the Chairman of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, as members. The AMLC shall act unanimously in the
discharge of its functions as defined hereunder:
“(12) to require the Land Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds
to submit to the AMLC, reports on all real estate transactions involving an
amount in excess of Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) within
fifteen (15) days from the date of registration of the transaction, in a form to
be prescribed by the AMLC. The AMLC may also require the Land
Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds to submit copies of
relevant documents of all real estate transactions.”
2. Title Registration
✓ In Title Registration, it is not the deed describing the transfer of rights but the legal
consequence of the transaction or the right itself that is registered. The registrar
modifies, cancels and issues new titles in accordance with the deed executed by the
parties to a transaction. To be able to effectively register and issue titles, the
registrar only accepts titles that has been determined and declared by the State as
“indefeasible titles” or those titles has been adjudicated in a proceeding that binds
everyone. This indefeasible titles are then registered and a certificate of title issued
to the owner with a guarantee from the State that the person holding the same is the
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true and lawful owner of the property described and that any person can transact
with the registered owner with confidence that the land is not subject to any
unregistered claim coming from third persons.
✓ Title Registration system shifts the balance significantly towards facility of transfer. It
provides a public register of interests in land and enables a purchaser who complies
with the system to acquire ownership free of a prior interest which is not recorded in
the register.
3. Difference
✓ Deed registration is concerned with the registration of the legal fact and while title
registration is concerned with the legal consequence of that fact. In other words, in
deed registration, the registrar only records the fact that there was a transaction on a
piece of land between the parties by recording the “deed” evidencing said
transaction while in title registration, the registrar records the effect of the deed
executed by the parties and correspondingly makes modification on the title to the
land subject of the transaction. Thus, if the deed that was executed by the parties
effectively transferred the land to the buyer, the title registry will cancel the title of the
registered owner and issue a new title to the buyer as the new owner of the land
since this cancellation of the title and issuance of a new one is the legal
consequence of the such sale.
✓ Provide facility of transfer, that is, it should enable anyone, particularly a purchaser,
to acquire ownership easily, quickly, cheaply and safely. Unfortunately, the measure
designed to achieve one of these purposes is likely to militate against achieving the
other.
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✓ In the Philippines, this is done through the registration of patents and registration of
decrees after original disposition of the State of lands from the public domain.
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✓ Publications
✓ No title to registered land in derogation of the title of the registered owner shall be
acquire by prescription. (Section 47, PD No. 1529)
3. Exception to Indefeasibility
Every registered owners and subsequent purchasers of registered lands are
subject to the following encumbrances on the title even if these does not appear
on the certificate of title.
✓ Liens, claims or rights under the law which are not required to appear of record
in the Registry of Deeds
✓ Public high ways/canals or private way if the title does not state that the
boundaries of such highway have been determined
✓ Registered land are subject to burdens and incident as any arise by operation
of law.
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✓ Liability to any lien of any description established by law on the land and the
buildings
✓ Change or affect in any way other rights or liabilities created by law and
applicable to unregistered land, except as otherwise provided under PD No.
1529.
✓ Deferred indefeasibility
✓ A person who has been wrongfully or fraudulently deprived of his real property or
interest therein may file an action for reconveyance of said property against the
person who perpetuated the fraud. Instances: mistake, fraud, forgery, breach of
trust, misrepresentation, illegality, lack of marital consent, erroneous inclusion of the
land, registration in bad faith, double titles, double sales, exclusion of co-heirs,
expanded areas, equity, re issuable contracts, voida le contracts, up enforceable
contracts, void and in existent contracts.
✓ Effect - it operates as an implied trust under Article 1456 of the Civil Code. Thus, an
action to enforce an implied trust is an action based upon an obligation created by
law. (Villagonzago vs IAC, GR No. 71110 November 22, 1988)
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• February 22, 1961, Juan C. Villagonzalo purchased Lot No. 7429 of the
Ormoc Cadastre containing an area of 97,213 sq. meters covered by Transfer
Certificate of Title No. 24611 of the Register of Deeds of Ormoc City, from the
Heirs of Roman Matuguina for Pl,500.00. It was made to appear however that
the sale was in the name of his daughter, Cecilia Villagonzalo, who was single,
since he borrowed from her the sum of P500.00 to complete the full payment
of the price of the lot. Consequently, TCT No. 4259 was issued in the name of
Cecilia A. Villagonzalo as the registered owner on July 18, 1962. A complaint
for was filed on April 2, 1975 thirteen (13) years after the issuance of Transfer
Certificate of Title No. 4259 on the subject land in the name of the defendant
Cecilia Villagonzalo by Juan C. Villagonzalo and Felicisima A. Villagonzalo
who claims inheritance.
✓ Instances:
a. Forgery
(1) Cannot be presumed (Aznar Brother Realty Co. v. CA, 327 SCRA 359)
• Lot No. 4399 containing an area of 34,325 square meters located in Lapu-
Lapu City, was acquired by AZNAR from the heirs of Crisanta Maloloy-on by
virtue of an Extrajudicial Partition of Real Estate with Deed of Absolute Sale
dated 3 March 1964. This deed was registered with the Register of Deeds of
Lapu-Lapu City on 6 March 1964 as shown on the face thereof. Luis Aying et
al, were allegedly allowed to occupy portions of Lot No. 4399 by mere
tolerance. Later, AZNAR entered into a joint venture with Sta. Lucia Realty
Development Corporation for the development of the subject lot into a multi-
million peso housing subdivision and beach resort. AZNAR filed a unlawful
detainer. Aying are in possession of the land and claimes that the Extrajudicial
Partition of Real Estate with Deed of Absolute Sale is void ab initio for being
simulated and fraudulent, and they came to know of the fraud only when
AZNAR entered into the land in the last quarter of 1991 and destroyed its
vegetation. They then filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Lapu-Lapu
City a complaint seeking to declare the subject document null and void.
• It is worthy to note that the Extrajudicial Partition with Deed of Absolute Sale
is a notarized document. As such, it has in its favor the presumption of
regularity, and it carries the evidentiary weight conferred upon it with respect
to its due execution. It is admissible in evidence without further proof of
authenticity and is entitled to full faith and credit upon its face. He who denies
its due execution has the burden of proving that contrary to the recital in the
Acknowledgment he never appeared before the notary public and
acknowledged the deed to be his voluntary act. It must also be stressed that
whoever alleges forgery has the burden of proving the same. Forgery cannot
be presumed but should be proved by clear and convincing evidence. Private
respondents failed to discharge this burden of proof; hence, the presumption
in favor of the questioned deed stands.
• Note: deed was registered under Act 3344; title was reconstituted in 1988;
conveyance of the land is different from the conveyance of the title (?)
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(2) The rule is that the registration procured by the presentation of a forged
duplicate certificate of titles forged deed of sale or other instruments is null
and void (Sec. 53 of PD 1529)
(a) Fule v. De Lagare (7 SCRA 351)
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• Court said :
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registered owner need not look behind the certificate of title, one
who buys from another who is not the registered owner is expected
to examine not only the certificate of title but all factual
circumstances necessary for him to determine if there are any flaws
in the title of the transferor, or in his capacity to transfer the land.
Failing to exercise caution of any kind whatsoever is tantamount to
bad faith. Furthermore, a private individual may not bring an action
for reversion or any action which would have the effect of cancelling
a free patent and the corresponding certificate of title issued on the
basis thereof, with the result that the land covered thereby will again
form part of the public domain, as only the Solicitor General or the
officer acting in his stead may do so.
• Egao as registered owners are entitled to remain in physical
possession of the disputed property. Dignos and Bontillao are
ordered to deliver the owner's duplicate copy of the OCT (No.
P-3559) to petitioners, without prejudice to an action for reversion of
the land, which may be instituted by the Solicitor General for the
State.
(e) Not applicable when the land is already titled in the name of the forger or
such name indicated by the forger - fraudulent deed maybe a root of a
valid title. The right of an innocent purchaser for value will have to be
respected.
(f) But this does not apply when the real owner had in her possession her
own certificate of title to the land all the time.
(g) It is applicable only when the forger acquires the owner's duplicate,
acquires a new certificate of title in his name and then sell it to an
innocent purchaser for value
b. Forgery
(a) Although it is a recognized principle that a person dealing with registered
land need not go beyond its certificate of Title, it is expected from the
purchaser of a valued property to inquire first into the status or nature of
possession of the occupant, whether or not the occupants possess the
land en concepto de dueño, in concept of an owner.
(b) The rule of caveat emptor requires the purchasers to be aware of the
supposed title of the vendor and one who buys without checking the
vendor’s title takes all the risks and losses consequent to such failure.
Possession by people other than the vendor without making inquiry,
cannot be regarded as bona fide purchaser in good faith
(c) Dacasin v. Court of Appeals, Capua, et al. GR No. L-32723, Oct 28,
1977
• Florentina Quijanon to Emilia Abad (1929) to Jose Maramba (1958)
land is unregistered land
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faith and could not have acquired a better right than its predecessor-in-
interest. This Court has already rejected Meycauayan’s claim that it
was a purchaser in good faith when it ruled in G.R. No. 118436 that
there had been no intervening rights of an innocent purchaser for value
involving the lots in dispute.R
(e) Caram v. Laureta, GR No. L-28740, Feb. 24, 1981
supposed title of the vendor and one who buys without checking the
vendor's title takes all the risks and losses consequent to such
failure.The principle that a person dealing with the owner of the
registered land is not bound to go behind the certificate and inquire into
transactions the existence of which is not there intimated should not
apply in this case.
• Irespe and Aportadera, acting as agents of Ceram, purchased the
property of Mata in bad faith. Applying the principle of agency, Ceram,
as principal, should also be deemed to have acted in bad faith.
(f) Crisostomo v. Court of Appeals, Norma San Jose and Diana Torres,
GR No. 91383, May 31, 1991
• Finally, when Torres herself visited the property she carefully evaded
seeing Crisostomo personally, the actual occupant thereof, who could
have easily enlightened her as to the true owner (Rollo, p. 116). Such
unnatural behavior points more convincingly to the fact that she was
aware that San Jose was not its real owner.
• A person dealing with registered land has a right to rely upon the fact
of the Torrens Certificate of Title and to dispense with the need of
inquiring further, except when the party concerned has actual
knowledge of facts and circumstances that would impel a reasonably
cautious man to make further inquiries (Gonzales v. Intermediate
Appellate Court, 157 SCRA 587 [1988]).
• It is a well-settled rule that a purchaser or mortgagee cannot close his
eyes to facts which should put a reasonable man upon his guard, and
then claim that he acted in good faith under the belief that there was no
defect in the title of the vendor or mortgagor. His mere refusal to
believe that such defect exists, or his willful closing of his eyes to the
possibility of the existence of a defect in the vendor's or mortgagor's
title, will not make him an innocent purchaser or mortgagee for value, if
it afterwards develops that the title was in fact defective, and it appears
that he had such notice of the defects as would have led to its
discovery had he acted with the measure of precaution which may be
required of a prudent man in a like situation.
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• However, by virtue of a court order in Misc. Sp. Proc. No. 2330 of the
then Court of First Instance of Zamboanga del Norte, the word “single”
appearing in TCT No. T-99 was canceled and replaced on 19 October
1970 by the phrase “married to Oreste Torregiani.” The Torregianis
then made their conjugal abode on the lot and in 1958 constructed a
residential/commercial building thereon.
• On May 1971, Lucia Embrado Torregiani sold Lot No. 564, described
as her “own paraphernal property,” to her adopted daughter, herein
private respondent Eda Jimenez, for the sum of P1,000.00. Transfer
Certificate of Title No. T-99 was canceled to give way to TCT No.
T-17103 in the name of Eda Jimenez, married to Santiago Jimenez.
• In 1972, Eda Jimenez portion of Lot 564 to Marcos Salimbagatfor and
to Pacifico Cimafranca for P30,000. Both sales were duly annotated on
TCT No. T-17103. On 25 September 1972, the Torregianis instituted an
action for declaration of nullity of contract, annulment of sales,
reconveyance and damages against the spouses Santiago and Eda
Jimenez, Marcos Salimbagat and Pacifico Cimafranca alleging that the
sale of Lot 564 by Lucia Embrado to Eda Jimenez was void not only for
lack of consideration but also because Oreste Torregiani did not
consent to the sale, which consent was necessary because Lot 564
was conjugal property.
• The deed of sale is null and void since its object, Lot 564, is conjugal
property which was sold by Lucia Embrado without her husband’s
conformity. The present vendees, Marcos Salimbagat and Pacifico
Cimafranca, who bought the property from Eda Jimenez have failed to
persuade us that they acquired the property in good faith.
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• Devera's instituted a suit against Caragay for the recovery of the land
that is included in his title but is under the possession of Caragay.
According to Caragau, the disputed portion had been fraudulently or
mistakenly included in OCT No. 63, so that an implied or constructive
trust existed in her favor. She filed a counterclaim-claim for
reconveyance of property. Devera claims that Caragay's assertion of
an implied trust has prescribed since the registration has been for
more than 10 years.
• Prescription cannot be invoked against Caragay-Layno for the reason
that as lawful possessor and owner of the Disputed Portion, her cause
of action for reconveyance which, in effect, seeks to quiet title to the
property, falls within settled jurisprudence that an action to quiet title to
property in one's possession is imprescriptible.
• Her undisturbed possession over a period of fifty two (52) years gave
her a continuing right to seek the aid of a Court of equity to determine
the nature of the adverse claim of a third party and the effect on her
own title.
• De Vera is guilty of laches since he and his successors did not do
anything to contest the possession of Caragay for 20 years.
(e) The inclusion is null and void, land registration cannot be made a shield
(Vda. De Recinto v. Inciong, 77 SCRA 196)
• In 1946 Ruperto Inciong acquired a land by purchase from Matias
Amurao. The land was was registered under Transfer Certificate of
Title No. Rt-379 (T-211) of the Register of Deeds of Batangas. The land
was formerly identified as Lot No. 8151 of the Cadastral Survey in the
area during the cadastral proceedings from 1936 to 1940.
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• No because at the time he purchased the land he was aware that the
disputed portion was not included in the area conveyed to him by
Matias Amurao. A purchaser in good faith is one who buys the property
of another without notice that some other person has a right to, or
interest in, such property and pays a full and fair price for the same, at
the time of such purchase, or before he has notice of the claim or
interest of some other person in the property.
(f) Republic v. De Los Angeles, [ G.R. No. L-30240, March 25, 1988 ]
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e. Double Title
(a) Prior title prevails
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• Two (2) adjacent parcels of land located in Almanza, Las Pinas, Metro
Manila, having an aggregate area of 373,868 sq. m., situated in the
vicinity of the Ayala Alabang Project and BF Homes Paranaque are
covered by three (3) distinct sets of Torrens titles to wit:
• OCT No. 1609, issued on May 21, 1958 from which TCT No. 20408,
issued on May 29, 1975 in the name of Realty Sales Enterprise, Inc.,
was derived.
• OCT No. 8629 issued on October 13, 1970 from which TCT No.
303961 issued on October 13, 1970 in the name of Morris G. Carpo,
was derived.
• OCT No. 8391 from which TCTs Nos. 333982 and 333985, issued on
July 27, 1971 in the name of Quezon City Development and Financing
Corporation was derived.
• Carpo filed a complaint
• OCT No. 1609 in the name of Dominador Mayuga, from whom Realty
derived its title, was issued in 1958, or twelve years before the
issuance of the title in the name of the Baltazars in 1970.
• In this jurisdiction, it is settled that "(t)he general rule is that in the case
of two certificates of title, purporting to include the same land, the
earlier in date prevails. . . . In successive registrations, where more
than one certificate is issued in respect of a particular estate or interest
in land, the person claiming under the prior certificate is entitled to the
estate or interest; and that person is deemed to hold under the prior
certificate who is the holder of, or whose claim is derived directly or
indirectly from the person who was the holder of the earliest certificate
issued in respect thereof. . . . " (Legarda and Prieto v. Saleeby, 31 Phil
590 [1915] at 595-596; Garcia v. CA, Nos. L-48971 and 49011,
January 22, 1980, 95 SCRA 380.)
• TCT No. 20408, derived from OCT 1609, is therefore superior to TCT
No. 303961, derived from OCT 8629.
(d) Azarcon v. Vallarta, G.R. No. L-43679, October 28, 1980
same land, and on November 29, 1920, Original Certificate of Title No.
100 was issued to him. On December 20, 1922, the cadastral court
issued a decree of registration and on July 5, 1924, Original Certificate
of Title No. 2668 was issued to Amposta covering the same property.
• On November 24, 1941, Amposta sold the land to Santos Camacho
surrending to him Original Certificate of Title No. 100, and because of
this transfer said title was cancelled and Transfer Certificate of Title No.
5506 was issued in the name of Camacho.
• On November 18, 1946, Santos Camacho sold the land to Bonifacio
Camacho as a result of which Transfer Certificate of Title No. 218 was
issued to the latter.
• On April 28, 1948, Bonifacio Camacho mortgaged the land to the
Rehabilitation Finance Corporation (now Development Bank of the
Philippines), and having failed to pay the loan as agreed upon the land
was sold at public auction to said bank as the highest bidder. The
period of redemption having elapsed without Camacho being able to
redeem the property, a final deed of sale was executed in favor of the
bank, and Transfer Certificate of Title No. 6961 was issued in its name
on June 29, 1957.
• Meanwhile, or on June 11, 1947, Gavino Amposta again sold the same
property to Lazaro and Arsenio Mangawang for the sum of P2,500.00,
the vendees executing a mortgage on the land to secure the payment
of the balance. On March 17, 1948, the vendees paid the balance of
the purchase price, and an absolute deed of sale was executed in their
favor. In connection with this transaction, Amposta surrendered to the
vendees the title that was issued to him in the cadastral case, which
was later substituted by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 1098 issued in
the name of the vendees.
• As a consequence of their purchase of the land, the Mangawang
brothers took possession thereof, and upon learning of this transfer,
the Development Bank of the Philippines, which as already stated
became the owner of the property, commenced the present action
against them in the Court of First Instance of Bataan to recover its
possession and damages. In this case, the parties submitted a
stipulation of facts, and on the strength thereof, the court a quo
rendered decision awarding the land to the Mangawang brothers.
Seasonably, this bank appealed to this Court.
• Appellees contend that their right over the property in litigation should
be respected because the certificate of title they are holding is derived
from that issued pursuant to a decision rendered by a cadastral court.
• On this score, it is important to consider the facts that led to the sale of
the land to the parties herein. Note that Amposta first sold the land to
Santos Camacho on the same date. And seven years thereafter, or on
March 17, 1018, Amposta again sold the land to the Mangawang
brothers, who also registered it in their name on the same date. Since
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• On the other hand, the case under consideration can also be viewed
under a different angle. It can also be treated as one of double sale,
where a person sells the same land to two different persons who are
unaware of the flaw that lies in its title, and where the law adjudicates
the property to the purchaser who first registers the transaction in his
name in the registry of property. And applying this principle, we cannot
but conclude that the title should likewise be adjudicated to appellant
whose predecessor-in-interest acquired and registered the property
much ahead in point of time than the appellees. Verily, the title
acquired by the latter is invalid and ineffective, contrary to the finding of
the court a quo.
f. Double Sale
✓ General Rule: Article 1544. Should an immovable property, the ownership
belong to the person acquiring it who in good faith first recorded the
transaction in the Registry of Property. Should there be no inscription, the
ownership shall pertain to the person who in good faith was first in
possession and in the absence thereof, to the person who presents the
oldest title, provided there is good faith.
g. Exclusion of co-heirs
✓ Vda. De Jacinto v. Vda de Jacinto, 5 SCRA 371
• A co-heir who, through fraud, obtained a certificate of title in his name to
the prejudice of his co-heirs, is deemed to hold the land in trust for the
latter. The action does not prescribe.
h. Faulty Registration
✓ A certificate of title is not conclusive where it is a product of a faulty
registration. (Widows and Orphans Associations, Inc. v. Court of
Appeals, GR No. 919797)
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be filed within a period of four (4) years from the time the deed of sale was
registered at the RoD. From said date, it is considered as a constructive notice of
the existence of the deed of sale (Armentia v. Patricia, 18 SCRA 1253; Gatioan v.
Tapucar, 140 SCRA 311)
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6. Insurance Principle
Section 93 to 102 of PD No. 1529 The Assurance Fund is an indemnity fund
created for the purpose of compensating a person who sustains loss or damage,
or is deprived of land or any interest therein in consequence of the bringing of the
land under the operation of the Torrens system or arising after original registration
of the land, through fraud or in consequence of any error, omission, mistake or
misdescription in any certificate of title or in any entry or memorandum in the
registration book. The Fund is sourced from the amount collected by the register of
deeds upon the entry of a certificate of title in the name of registered owner, as
well as upon the original registration on the certificate of title of a building or other
improvement on the land covered by said certificate equivalent to one-fourth of
one per cent of the assessed value of the real estate on the basis of the last
assessment for taxation purposes. All the money received by the register of deeds
shall be paid to the National Treasurer who shall keep the same in an Assurance
Fund which may be invested in the manner and form authorized by law.
7. Booking Principle
✓ The act of registration from the time of such registering, filing or entering before the
register of deeds is the constructive notice and operative act to affect land that
affects third persons (Sections 51-52, PD No. 1529).
✓ Registration of the transaction in the primary entry book (Section 53, PD No. 1529).
8. Publicity
✓ Notice Requirement in Original and Cadastral proceedings - publication, mailing and
posting.
✓ Certified copies of all instruments filed and registered may also be obtained from the
Register of Deeds upon payment of the prescribed fees. (Section 56, PD No. 1529)
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a. Voluntary
Are contracts or agreements willfully executed by the land owner or his duly
authorized representative such as sales, leases, mortgages, donations,
exchanges, trusts or variations thereof affecting real estate.
b. Involuntary
Refers to those executed against the will or without the consent of the landowner
contrary to his interest or will affect him adversely such as attachments, levy on
execution, adverse claim, lis pendens and other liens
✓ Object Certain - subject of the contract; within the commerce of man and
lawful; and
✓ In the presence of two witnesses who shall likewise sign and acknowledge
to be their free act and deed of the parties;
✓ The documents presented shall contain the full name, nationality, residence
and postal address of the grantee or other person acquiring or claiming
interest; and
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✓ Certification from the BIR that the documentary stamp tax has been paid;
✓ Certification from the LGU Treasurer that the property is not delinquent in
the payment of real estate taxes in case of alienation, transfer or
encumbrance of real property (Sec. 209, RA 7160, LGC1991);
✓ Certification for the LGU Treasurer that the land transfer tax due on the
transaction has been paid in case of sale, donation, barter or any other
mode of transferring ownership or title of real property (Sec. 135, LGC
1991);
✓ An Order fro the DAR Regional Director approving the sale in case the
property sold is covered by an Emancipation Patent;
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a) The authority to register or deny registration being lodge with the register of
deeds, he is required to review the action taken by the deeds examiner.
b) He may either adopt, alter, modify or reverse such action depending upon
his own appraisal of registrability of the instrument filed for registration.
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a) If the register of deeds finds that the document presented complies with all
the requisites for registration, it is his duty to immediately register the same.
b) If the instrument is not registrable, he shall forthwith deny registration thereof
and inform the presentor of such denial in writing, stating the ground or
reason therefor, and advising him of his right to appeal by consulta in
accordance with Section 117 of P.D. 1529
c) Where the documents conveys the simple title, such as in sales, donations,
barter and other conveyances, the register of deeds shall make out in the
registration book a new certificate of title to the grantee and shall prepared
and deliver to him as owner an owner’s certificate, noting the original and
owner’s duplicate certificate the date of transfer, the volume and page of the
registration book in which the new certificate is registered and a reference
by number to the last preceding certificate. The original and owner’s
duplicate of the grantor’s certificate shall be stamped “cancelled”.
d) In case the instrument does not divest the ownership or title from the owner
or from the transferee of the registered owner, now new certificate of title
shall be issued. The instrument creating such interests less than ownership
shall be registered by a brief memorandum thereof made by the register of
deeds upon the certificate of title and signed by him. The cancellation or
extinguishment of such interests shall be registered by a brief memorandum
thereof made the the register of deeds upon the certificate of the title and
signed by him. The cancellation or extinguishment of such interests shall be
registered in the same manner. In case the conveyance affects only a
portion of the land described in the certificate of title, no new certificate shall
also be issued until a plan of the land showing all the portions or lots into
which it has been subdivided and the corresponding technical descriptions
shall have been verified and approve. The instrument shall only be
registered by annotation on the grantor’s title and its owner’s duplicate.
Pending approval of the plan, no further registration or annotation of any
subsequent deed or other voluntary instrument involving the unsegregated
portion conveyed shall be affected, except where such unsegregated portion
was purchase from the government or any of its instrumentalities.
e) Should there be subsisting encumbrance or annotation on the grantor’s title,
they shall be carried over and stated in the new certificate of title except so
far as they may be simultaneously released or discharged.
4. Involuntary Registration
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(1) The Notice of Attachment or levy on execution should contain a reference to the
number of the Certificate of Title, the volume and page of the registration book where
the certificate is registered and the name of the registered owner; not applicable in
case of unregistered lanD.
(2) If the attachment is not claimed on all the land, a description sufficiently accurate for
the identification of the land or interest must be made
d) Registration Procedure
(3) A memorandum of the attachment shall be made on the Original of the Certificate of
Title;
(4) Indexing - the Register of deeds shall index attachments in the name of the applicant,
the adverse party, and the person by whom the property is held or in whose name it
stands in the records.
e) Effects of Registration
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(1) Notice of the attachment is a notice that the property is taken in the custody of the law
as security for the satisfaction of any judgement;
(2) Title still be subject to subsequent transaction but subject to the attachment lien
“SEC. 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. – In case of loss
or theft of an owner’s duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be
sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the
province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a
duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person
applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any
instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed
by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered.
Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court
may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate
certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in
place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in all respect be entitled to like
faith and credit as the original duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as
such for all purposes of this decree.”
2. The Petition for the Issuance of New Owners Duplicate Certificate of Title in lieu
of the lost owner’s copy is initiated by the Petitioner if the owner’s copy is lost
but the original copy of the same is available on file in the Registry of Deeds.
3. Procedure
a) As soon as the loss of the copy of the title is discovered, the registered
owner or other person in interest shall notify the Register of Deeds of the
province or city where the land lies by filing an Affidavit of Loss in said office.
The notice shall be annotated on the copy of the original in file in the Registry
of Deeds. Once it is annotated, a certified copy of the title containing the
annotation shall be secured from the concerned office of the Registry of
Deeds and this copy forms part of the Petition for the Issuance of New
Owners Duplicate Certificate of title that will be eventually filed in court. The
process in Court is as follows:
b) The Petition for the Issuance of New Owners Duplicate Certificate of title is
filed in Court.
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c) If the Court finds the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the
Judge issues an Order Setting the Date of Initial Hearing and directs the
Petitioner to cause the Posting of the Notice at their expense by the Sheriff
or Process Server of the court in the bulletin boards of the RTC, Office of the
Register of at Deeds, the city/municipal hall and Barangay Hall which has
jurisdiction over the property subject of the petition and in conspicuous
places near the vicinity of the subject lot for at least two (2) weeks before the
hearing. After the posting has been accomplished, a Certificate of Posting is
issued by the Sheriff/Process Server. (Note: sometimes, there are situations
when the judge would schedule a classificatory hearing before issuing the
order for the setting of the date of initial hearing that the issuance of the
order takes a longer period of time (i.e.5 months) or even dismissed without
prejudice for various reasons mostly attributed to the fault of the petitioner).
d) During the Initial Hearing, the Counsel for the Petitioner should provide proof
of compliance with jurisdictional requirement such as: Petition, Order of the
Court Setting the Date of Initial Hearing, Notice of Hearing, Certificate of
Posting, and proof that the Register of Deeds is provided with a copy of the
Petition before the filing of the Petition in Court.
e) After the Jurisdictional requirement is established and no opposition to the
Petition is filed, the Counsel for the Petitioner may request that the
presentation of evidence be allowed Ex-Parte before the Clerk of Court who
is designated as Commissioner of the Court. For brevity and convenience of
the parties, the Commissioner advises the Counsel of the Petitioner before
the ex-parte hearing to submit a Judicial Affidavit of the Petitioner in lieu of a
direct testimony.
f) During the Ex-Parte Hearing, the Commissioner asks questions directed to
the Petitioner concerning his testimony in the Judicial Affidavit, and the Court
Stenographer takes note of the proceedings.
g) Finding the transcript in order upon review, the Commissioner approves it
and submits to the Court his own report on the matter taken up during the ex-
parte proceedings.
h) A Hearing of the Commissioner’s Report is scheduled and the Counsel for
Petitioner is notified and enjoined to submit his comments or objection, if any.
i) After the hearing, the Court approves the Commissioner’s Report.
j) The Court admits the exhibits formally offered and the instant Petition is
submitted for Decision.
k) A Decision is issued and if there is no Motion for Reconsideration or Notice
of Appeal the Decision becomes final and executory.
l) A Certificate of Finality is issued by the Clerk of Court. (Note: The Certificate
of Finality is issued only upon request of the Petitioner).
B. Reconstitution of lost or destroyed original of Torrens title
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Any plan approved by the DENR or the LRA to support the petition will be
most advantageous to the petition.
d) If the Court finds the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the
Judge would issue an Order Setting the Date of Initial Hearing and direct the
Petitioner to cause the Publication of the notice in two (2) successive
publications of the Official Gazette and the Posting of the Notice by the
Sheriff or Process Server of the court, in the bulletin boards of the RTC,
Office of the Register of at Deeds, the City/Municipal/ Barangay Hall which
has jurisdiction over the property subject of the petition, and in conspicuous
places near the vicinity of the subject lot for at least two (2) weeks before the
hearing. The publication in the Official Gazette and the Posting of the Notice
shall be at the expense of the petitioner and the copy of the Notice for
publication shall already be submitted to the Government Printing Office for
printing not more than ninety (90) days before the date of the Hearing.
e) After publication and posting, the following shall be submitted to the court: (1)
a Certificate of Publication issued by the Government Printing Office; (2) a
copy of each of the corresponding two (2) successive publications in the
Official Gazette, together with a copy of a Certificate of Posting issued by the
Sheriff/Process Server (Note: there are situations when the judge would
schedule a clarificatory hearing before issuing the order for the setting of the
date of initial hearing that the issuance of the order takes a longer period of
time or even dismissed without prejudice for various reasons mostly
attributed to the fault of the Counsel of the Petitioner).
f) If no opposition to the Petition is presented, the Counsel of the Petitioner files
a motion requesting the court to allow the presentation of the evidence Ex-
Parte before the Clerk of Court who will be designated as Commissioner of
the Court. (NOTE: For brevity and convenience of the parties, before the ex-
parte hearing is conducted, the Commissioner sometimes advises the
Counsel of the Petitioner to submit a Judicial Affidavit of the Petitioner in lieu
of a direct testimony. During the Ex-Parte Hearing the Commissioner would
ask questions directed to the Petitioner concerning his testimony in the
judicial affidavit and the Court Stenographer takes note of the proceedings.
Thereafter, the Court Stenographer submits the copy of the transcript for the
approval of the Commissioner. Finding the transcript in order upon review,
the Commissioner approves the transcript and thereafter submits to the
Court his own Report regarding the matter taken during the ex-parte
proceedings.)
g) A Hearing of the Commissioner’s Report is scheduled and the Counsel of the
Petitioner is notified and enjoined to submit his comments or objection, if any.
h) The Counsel of the Petitioner submits FORMAL OFFER OF EVIDENCE.
i) The Court admits the exhibits formally offered and the instant Petition is
submitted for Decision.
j) A Decision is rendered by the Court within ninety (90) days from the
admission of the exhibits and if there is no Motion for Reconsideration or
Notice of Appeal, the Decision becomes final and executory.
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(3) Real Estate Tax receipt representing at least two (2) years before filing
(4) Others (i.e. Special Power of Attorney if Filer is not the Owner).
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b) If the Court finds the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the
Judge issues an Order Setting the Date of Initial Hearing and directs the
Petitioner to cause the posting of the Notice of Initial Hearing by the Sheriff
or Process Server of the court at the expense of the Petitioner. Posting shall
be made in the bulletin boards of the RTC, Office of the Register of at Deeds,
the city/municipal hall and Barangay Hall which has jurisdiction over the
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property subject of the petition, and in conspicuous places near the vicinity of
the subject lot for at least two (2) weeks before the hearing. After posting, a
Certificate of Posting is issued by the Sheriff/Process Server.
c) During the Initial Hearing, the Counsel of the Petitioner must provide proof of
compliance with jurisdictional requirement such as: copies of the Petition
furnished to all concerned parties or agencies in Government such as LRA
and the Register of Deeds, the Order of the Court Setting the Date of Initial
Hearing, Notice of Hearing, and Certificate of Posting.
d) If there is no opposition to the Petition, the Counsel of the Petitioner may
request the Court to allow the presentation of evidence Ex-Parte before the
Clerk of Court who is designated as Commissioner of the Court. (Note:
Sometimes, the Commissioner would advise the Counsel of the Petitioner
before the ex-parte hearing to submit a Judicial Affidavit of the Petitioner in
lieu of a direct testimony. During the Ex-Parte Hearing, the Commissioner
would ask questions directed to the Petitioner concerning his testimony in the
Judicial affidavit and the Court Stenographer takes notes of the proceedings.
Thereafter, the Court Stenographer submits the copy of the transcript for the
approval of the Commissioner. If upon review the Commissioner finds the
transcript in order, the transcript is approved and thereafter submits to the
Court his own report regarding the matter taken during the ex-parte
proceedings).
e) A Hearing of the Commissioners Report is scheduled and the Counsel of the
Petitioner is notified and enjoined to submit his comments or objection, if any.
f) The Court admits the exhibits formally offered and the instant Petition is
submitted for Decision.
g) Decision is issued and if there is no Motion for Reconsideration or Notice of
Appeal, the Decision will become final and executory.
h) A Certificate of Finality is issued by the Clerk of Court. (Note: The Certificate
of Finality is issued only upon request of the Petitioner).
D. Consulta
1. Consulta or Reference of doubtful matter to the Administrator of Land
Registration.
2. “Section 117. P.D. No. 1529 - Procedure - When the Register of Deeds is in
doubt with regards to the proper step to be taken or memorandum to be made in
pursuance to any deed, mortgage, or other instrument presented to him for
registration, or where any party in interest does not agree with the Register of
Deeds with reference to any such instrument, the question shall be submitted to
the Administrator of Land Registration by the Register of Deeds, or by the party
in interest thru the Register of Deeds.
3. Where the instrument is denied registration, the Register of Deeds shall notify
the interested party in writing, setting forth the defects in writing setting forth the
defects of the instrument or legal ground relied upon, and advising him that if he
is not agreeable to such ruling, he may, without withdrawing the documents from
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the Registry, elevate the matter by consulta within five days from receipt of
notice of denial of registration to the Administrator of Land Registration upon
payment of a consulta fee in such amount as shall be prescribed by the
Administrator of Land Registration.
4. The Register of Deeds shall make a memorandum of the pending consulta on
the certificate of title which shall be cancelled motu proprio by the Register of
Deeds after final resolution or decision thereof, or before resolution, if withdrawn
by petitioner.
5. The Administrator of Land Registration, considering the consulta and the records
certified to him after notice to the parties and hearing, shall enter an order
prescribing the step to be taken or memorandum to be made. His resolution or
ruling in consultas shall be conclusive and binding upon all the Registers of
Deeds, provided, that the party in interest who disagrees with the final
resolution, ruling or order of the Administrator relative to the consultas may
appeal to the Court of Appeals within the period in Republic Act No.5434.”
6. Requisites - The following are the requisites so that a Consulta may be properly
availed of:
a) There must be a document pending registration in the office of the Register
of Deeds.
b) Before a consulta could be considered on its merits, there must be a
document pending registration in the Office of the Register of Deeds.
Pending consulta, the document should not be withdrawn, otherwise it
cannot serve as the basis for consulta. This is due to the fact that under
these circumstances, a consulta takes the nature of an appeal on the action
taken by the Register of Deeds who has to certify the records to the Land
Registration Authority for consideration.
c) That the Register of Deeds is in Doubt or the Party in interest does not agree
on the action taken by the Register of Deeds.
d) If the Register of Deeds is in doubt as to what steps to be taken, he takes the
matter under advisement by submitting the matter en consulta to the
Administrator of Land Registration. If he is not in doubt, he simply advises
the party in interest of the difficulty preventing the registration of the
document. If the interested party does not agree with the action taken by the
Register of Deeds, then he may apply to the Administrator for resolution of
the registrability of the document for registration.
7. Binding force of resolutions or rulings in consultas - The decisions or rulings of
the Administrator of Land Registration shall be conclusive and binding upon all
the Registers of Deeds, provided, that the party in interest who disagrees with
the final resolution, ruling or order of the Administrator relative to the consultas
may appeal to the Court of Appeals within the period prescribed in Republic Act
No.5434.
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8. Appeal - The Register of Deeds is expressly precluded from making any appeal
on the decision or resolution on consultas; only the interested party may appeal
the decision of the Administrator of Land Registration.
9. Procedure
j) Hearing Officer prepares a Notice of Hearing and sends a copy to both the
RD and the Registrant
k) After the Hearing the Hearing Officer prepares a draft of the Resolution.
l) The draft is reviewed by the Chief, Law Division and forwards it to the
Director on Legal Affairs for review.
m) The Director forwards the clean draft to the Administrator for signature.
n) The copy of the Resolution is served to both the RD and the Registrant.
E. Adverse Claim
2. Purpose: to give notice to third persons dealing with the said property that
someone is claiming an interest on the subject.
3. Judicial determination is still necessary (Garbin v. CA, 253 SCRA 187)
4. Examples
✓ Section 101 of the Public Land Act in relation to Section 35, Chapter XII, Title III
of the Administrative Code of 1987 (EO No. 292);
✓ Action is imprescriptible
Grounds:
✓ Director of Lands may investigate even if the patent is already registered and
indefeasible (Republic v. De Guzman, 326 SCRA 267)
A. Registration Under Act 3344 - In order to provide for the registration of instruments
affecting unregistered lands, the Administrative Code in Section 194 established a
system of registration under which all documents, affecting lands not registered
under the Spanish Mortgage Law nor under the Torrens system, be recorded in the
land records of the province or city where the land lies. This section of the
Administrative Code was subsequently amended by Act No. 2837 and later on
December 8, 1926, Act No. 3344 was passed revising to a considerable extent the
provisions of the Administrative Code. Rights acquired under this system are not
absolute. By express provision of the governing law they must yield to better rights
(See Legayde vs. Sullano, 49 O.G., pp. 603-609, February, 1953). These were
again subsequently amended by the provisions of Section 3 of Presidential Decree
1529 pertinent portion of which are herein quoted, to wit: The books of registration
for unregistered lands provided under Section 194 of the Revised Administrative
Code, as amended by Act 3344, shall continue to remain in force provided all
instruments dealing with unregistered lands shall henceforth be registered under
Section 113 of this Decree (Section 3, P.D. 1529)
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(1) hereditary succession; and (2) former natural born-citizens. However, property
rights of alien prior to the 1936 Constitution and the special privileges given to
American citizens granted by the 1936 Constitution are respected.
B. Two (2) laws were enacted to implement the rules regarding exceptions of former
natural born citizens to own land.
1. Batas Pambansa Bilang 185 on residential lands; and
2. Republic Act No. 8179 on commercial and industrial lands, amending certain
provisions of the Foreign Investment Act of 1991.
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