Arellano University School of Law

AY. 2019 to 2020

Land Titles and Deeds
Atty. Francis R. Doble

Part 1 Land Registration

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.

A good land administration system should have the following components to be

effective:

✓ 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

✓ Cadastre - is normally a parcel based and up-to-date land information system

containing a record of interests in land (i.e. rights, restrictions and
responsibilities).

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
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 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:

✓ Guarantee ownership and security of tenure;

✓ Support the land market by facilitating recording of interest and transfers of

ownership;

✓ Support land and property taxation;

✓ Reduce land disputes;

✓ Facilitate land reform;

✓ Improve urban planning and infrastructure development;

✓ Support environmental management; and

✓ Produce statistical data.

B. Government Agencies Involved in Land Administration

The primary land administration functions of land surveying and mapping, land
titling and land registration are performed by different government agencies. The
duties and responsibilities of the officials and employees of these agencies are
prescribed by laws, rules and regulations, including the specific procedure that
has to be followed in the conduct of the land administration activities.

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:

✓ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the main

agency involved in land classification, land surveys and titling of public land.
It issues land patents in the form of homestead, sales and free patents as
well as land leases and other permits on public agricultural lands.
(Commonwealth Act No. 141, Public Land Act, 1936, see http://
www.denr.gov.ph);

✓ 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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 ✓ Registrars’ of Deeds registers patents, Certificate of Land Ownership
Awards, Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles/Claims (CADT/C) issued by
DENR, the Department of Agrarian Reform, National Commission on
Indigenous People respectively and the judicial decrees issued by LRA. It is
also responsible for the registration of subsequent voluntary and involuntary
transactions on registered lands. (P.D. No. 1529, Property Registration
Decree, 1978);

✓ Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is responsible for the agrarian

reform program of the government. It issues agrarian reform land grants in
the form of Emancipation Patents and Certificate of Land Ownership Awards
that are registered by the Registrar of Deeds. (Republic Act No. 6657/9700,
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), 1988, see http://
www.dar.gov.ph);

✓ National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) resolves issues on

ancestral lands. It undertakes delineation of ancestral domain land (self-
delineation) and issues CADT/Cs that are registered by the Registrar of
Deeds. (Republic Act No. 8371, The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, 1997)

✓ 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)

C. Public and Private Lands

There are two basic principle that underpin land ownership in the Philippines.
The first is State ownership under the concept of the Regalian Doctrine. The
second is the right to private ownership.

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.

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 Based on these principles, and tenure or the modes of holding or occupying land
in the Philippines can be generally divided into public and private lands.

1. Public Domain Lands

Public Domain Lands are lands that are owned by the State. These are referred
to as lands of the Public Domain.

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.

Ownership in its Private Capacity - Lands that are owned by the State in
its private capacity are called “patrimonial properties.”

2. Private Domain Lands

Are those lands that are owned by private persons. Private lands are originally
acquired from the State by qualified private persons (original disposition). Once
acquired, it becomes private property and it can be transferred by the owner to
any person who is allowed by the law to acquire lands.

Private land ownership is limited to A and D lands and is primarily governed by

the following laws:

✓ The Constitution

✓ New Civil Code of the Philippines

✓ Public Land Laws

✓ Property Registration Decree

✓ Agrarian Reform Laws

✓ Ancestral Domain Law

C. Land Titles and Land Registration

Every land administration system should include some form of land registration
component for the recording of rights and interest on land. In some countries, this
information is guaranteed by the State, an example of which is the Torrens
system of land registration that originated from Australia. The information
regarding ownership is usually contained in a cadastre or a parcel based
inventory of land with ownership/interest attributes for each parcel. Land
registration provides for a safe and certain foundation for the acquisition,
enjoyment and disposal of such rights in land.

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 1. Title as Naked Right of Ownership
As discussed earlier, we say that the source of all title to lands is the State.
Lands that are held by private persons are originally acquired from the State
through land grants, direct (patents) or indirect (by operations of law). Once the
land has been granted, it becomes private and the land becomes segregated
from the lands of the public domain. Thereafter, said land becomes the absolute
property of the private owner to the exclusion of everyone, including the State.

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.

2. Titled Land as Registered Land

We tend to use the word “titled land” differently from the legal sense of these
words. We use “titled land” in the colloquial to mean that a land has been
registered in the Register of Deeds and covered by the Torrens System. Thus, the
significance of the word “titled 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.

3. Untitled Land as Unregistered Land

We use the word “untitled land”, on the other hand, to mean private lands that is
not registered in the Register of Deeds and not covered by the Torrens System.
When we use the word untitled land, we refer to bare ownership of land or
ownership that has not been adjudicated either judicially or administratively and
registered as Torrens title under P.D. No. 1529. The land has already been
acquired by operation of law and is now private land although its final
adjudication for purposes of Torrens registration is still suspended.

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.

II. Land Ownership in the Philippines

A. Pre-Spanish Concept of Land Ownership
"Land tenure (in pre-hispanic Philippines) was defined. In the Barangay system,
house lots were owned by occupant families. Back of the houses were the family

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 fields, in parcel or strips, much like the strip fields in many villages in Western
Europe. The most valuable is the tubigan or watered land, which indicates that
the basic crop was rice"

"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.

2. Land Titles Issued during the Spanish Period

Private property ownership on land was introduced through land grants from the
Spanish crown to settlers and to indigenous population by way of royal grants,
sale and possessory titles.

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).

These are the land titles issued under the Spanish Period.

1 OD Corpuz (1997), Economic History of the Philippines, UP Press

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 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.

Informacion Possesoria - Ley Hipotecaria - The informacion posesoria

proceedings under the provisions of the Mortgage Law made effective in the
Philippines on December 1, 1889 were available to those who had claim to lands
to have their possession recorded in the Registry of Deeds.

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

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 owners of the property although his title had not been recorded, unless
prescription had confirmed and secured the claim recorded.

3. Spanish Mortgage Law

✓ Introduced by the Spanish, also known as the Ley Hipotecaria or “law on
mortgage”

✓ This is a land registration system, meaning it is not limited to registration

of mortgages but also includes transfers and other dealings on lands.

✓ This is the predecessor of the torrens system of land registration.

✓ 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).

✓ It was discontinued in 1977 (PD No. 892, Discontinuance of the Spanish

Mortgage System of Land Registration and of the Use of Spanish Titles as
Evidence in Land Registration Proceedings)

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 What can a holder of a land title
United 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.
2. Philippine Bill of 1902 (First
Constitution)
✓ Provides for the rules on disposition of lands of the public domain.

✓ Introduction of two modes of acquiring titles to land.

✓ Public land grants - homestead, sales, free patents;

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 ✓ Confirmation of Titles - imperfect titles from the Spanish and title by
prescriptions (by operations of law)

✓ Resulted to the enactment of 2 laws

a. Act No. 496 (Land Registration Law)

Provided for the registration of private lands in “fee simple” (Section 19) or
those lands that are already disposed by the crown as private lands,
completed title.

b. Act No. 926 (Public Land Act)

Provided for the rules on disposition of public lands (undisposed
crown lands) through sales, homestead, and free patent; provides for the
rules on confirmation of imperfect spanish grants and possessory titles (by
prescription)

CASES:

1) Johnson vs Mackintosh

2) Chaves vs. The United States (175 U.S., 552)

3) Valenton vs Marciano 3 Phil. Reports 537, 2 Off. Gaz., 434, March 30,
1904;

4) Cansino vs Valdez, G.R. No. L-2468, July 16, 1906

5) Cariño vs Insular Government, 212 U. S., 449

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

12) Oh Cho vs Director of Lands, 75 Phil. 890

13)Uy Un vs. Perez, 71 Phil. 508 "En Español”

14)Mindanao vs. Director of Lands, L-19535, July 10, 1967

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III. Land Classification
A. Definition
Land classification pertains to “classification of lands of the public domain as a
natural resources” . Under Philippines laws, all natural resources are owned by
the State. However, lands classified as agricultural may be declared alienable
and disposable and may be disposed as private lands to qualified citizens
through homestead, sales and other grants.

B. Laws Relating to Land Classification

1987 Constitution Article XII, Sections 2 and 3 providers for the classes of lands
of the public domain - Agricultural, Forest, Mineral and National Park. These
lands are governed by the following laws:

1. Agricultural Lands - Commonwealth Act No. 141 (Public Land

Act)
2. Forest Lands - Presidential Decree No. 795 (Revised Forestry
Code)
3. Mineral Lands - Republic Act No. 7931 (Mining Act of 1995)
4. National Parks - Republic Act No. 7598 (National Integrated
Protected Area System Act)

C. Rules on Land Classification

1. Classification describes the legal nature not the natural state
of the land
2. Executive Department determines land classification (CA No.
141 and PD No. 705)
3. Congress has the power to reclassify of land (Section 4 of
Republic Act No. 6657)
4. Congress will determine the final forest line
5. Disposition of public lands limited to agricultural lands;
✓ Only to Filipino citizens; corporations cannot receive a public land grant
except by way of lease (not more than 1,000 hectares)

✓ Limit is 12 hectares by way of homestead, sales and grants

✓ Previously 16 hectares (Phil. Bill of 1902); 24 hectares in 1935

Constitution; 12 hectares under the 1987 Constitution

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D. Classification of Lands
1. Criteria in Land Classification
✓ Chapter II of PD No. 705
✓ DENR study, devise, determine
and prescribe the criteria,
guidelines and methods for the
proper and accurate classification
and survey of all lands of the
public domain.
✓ Through an Inter-Bureau action -
DENR Sectoral Bureaus on Lands
(LMB), Forestry (FMB), Mines (MGB)
and Protected area (PAWB)
✓ The Land Classification Teams of
the forest bureau was transferred
to NAMRIA under EO No. 192 in 1987.
Executive Order No. 192 (June 10,
1987) created the National Mapping
and Resource Information Authority
(NAMRIA), integrating into it the
functions and powers of the Natural
Resources and Management Center
(NRMC), the National Cartography
Authority (NCA), the Bureau of Coast
and Geodetic Survey (BCGS), and
the Land Classification Teams of the
then Bureau of Forest Development
(transformed into a Forest
Management Bureau performing staff
functions).

✓ Topography 18% in slope unless covered by existing titles or approved

public land application or actually occupied openly, continuously,
adversely and publicly for a period of not less than thirty years (30)

✓ Areas below 18% but are needed for forest purposes (see enumeration in
Section 16 of PD No. 1529

✓ Marking of forest boundaries

2. Lands of the Public Domain

Used to describe so much of the lands in the Philippines that has not been
subjected to private rights. Public lands are also used in a limited sense to
describe such lands as are subject to sale or other modes of acquisition or
concession under the public land laws.

1987 CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE XII, SECTION 3.

✓ 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.

✓ Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands.

✓ 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.

✓ Suitability for agricultural use is the criteria;

✓ Before, the court can make a determination of what are considered as

agricultural lands;

✓ Agricultural Lands are further sub classified as residential, commercial,

industrial, etc. under Section 9 of the Public Land Act.

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)

✓ Definition - a forest reservation essentially of natural wilderness

character which has been withdrawn from settlement, occupancy or any
form of exploitation except in conformity with approved management plan
and set aside as such exclusively to conserve the area or preserve the
scenery, the natural and historic objects, wild animals and plants therein
and to provide enjoyment of these features in such areas. It is a relatively
large area not materially altered by human activity where extractive
resource uses are not allowed and maintained to protect outstanding
natural and scenic areas of national or international significance for
scientific, educational and recreational use. (Section 4 par. (a) of RA No.
7586)

CASES:

Agencies Involved

15) DOJ Opinion No. 23, Series of 1995.

16) DENR vs Yap (G.R. No. 167707, October 08, 2008)

Agricultural Land

2) de Aldecoa vs Insular Government (G.R. No. 3894. March 12, 1909)

1) Krivenko vs. Register of Deeds of Manila (18 G.R. No. L-630. November 15,
1947)

Mineral Lands

2) Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. vs. Dumyung (GR No. L-31666, April 20,
1929)

3) 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.”

4) Cruz vs. DENR Secretary (G.R. No. 135385, December 6, 2000)

Survey Error

5) 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;

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 6) Sta. Monica Industrial and Development Corporation vs. Court of Appeals
(189 SCRA 792)

7) Director of Forestry vs. Villareal (G.R. No. L-32266 February 27, 1989)

Lands already registered by the Court as Private Lands

8) Republic vs. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 155450, August 6, 2008) d)

Bureaucratic Constraints in Classification of Lands

9) Republic of the Philippines vs. Court of Appeals, En Banc (G.R. No. 127245,
January 30, 2001)

IV. Identifying Lands - Survey and Mapping

A. Basic Concepts in Land Surveys and Mapping
The first activity in land administration is surveying and mapping. The activity is
intended to create land parcels. Land parcels are the basic unit of real property
and the starting point in the determination of the identity of the land by
describing its location, boundaries, area, physical description, and in certain
kind of surveys, the tenure claims existing at the time of the survey.

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)

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 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.

✓ Inventory of land parcels with its boundaries;

✓ 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;

✓ Necessary for planned development of natural resources, town planning

schemes, orderly development of industries and systems of communication;

✓ Enable land transactions to be effected safely, quickly and cheaply;

✓ 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

4. Use for Property Identification

To a private land owner, the fact that the land is properly mapped and
that rights are clearly registered is of the greatest benefit since it
provides security of tenure, minimizes disputes and litigation, and
provides better access to credit.

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

Page 15 of 71
 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.

B. Government Agencies with Land Survey and Mapping

Functions
DENR is the primary agency that exercises direct control and supervision over
survey of lands in the Philippines (Section 4, CA No. 141). Such control is done
through the issuance of Survey Standards - Issues manuals and technical
bulletins, that surveyor’s has to follow in measuring and describing the
boundaries of the land. The DENR also has direct supervision of the conduct of
all surveys through inspection, verification and approval of surveys that are
required to be submitted under the provisions of CA No. 141 and PD No. 1529.
The LRA has concurrent jurisdiction to approve simple subdivision of registered
lands (Section 6 Par. 1 (f) of PD No. 1529). However, there are other government
agencies that has survey functions too. Below are these agencies and their
functions.

1. Department of Environment and Natural Resources

The primary agency in-charge with the survey of lands in the Philippines. Its
mandate includes:

✓ Issuance of Rules and Regulations that will govern the conduct of surveys in
the Philippines (Land Management Bureau (LMB));

✓ Conduct of actual surveys on lands of the public domain;

✓ Conduct of administrative boundary surveys (i.e. political boundaries);

✓ 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 all subdivision and

consolidation on untitled A and D lands; and

✓ 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).

2. National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA)

NAMRIA, an agency attached to the DENR, is the principal mapping agency
of the government and is responsible for the production of thematic maps at
various scales in support of the government’s development planning,
environmental management, and multi-hazard mapping, among other programs.
It is mandated to establish and maintain the Philippine Reference System of
1992. NAMRIA also conducts forest delineation survey to segregate A and D
lands from forest and mineral lands and national parks.

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 3. Land Registration Authority (LRA)
LRA has limited survey approval functions on "simple subdivision" of
titled or registered lands. LRA and DENR can both approve simple survey
subdivision on titled or registered lands. A survey subdivision is considered
simple subdivision when the survey will result to the creation of not
more than nine (9) lots without road lot is complex.

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:

✓ Approval of all complex subdivisions by the Sangguniang Bayan/Lungsod

under the Local Government Code;

✓ 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

✓ Maintain a system of tax mapping, showing graphically all data concerning

the real property (land and improvements).

C. System of Land Survey and Mapping in the Philippines

Land surveys in the Philippines is primarily conducted for the purpose of
land disposition and registration in support of tenure or legal hold on
land. The survey of the land is necessary before it can be disposed by the state,
or titled or registered. Without a survey, the government cannot determine with
certainty the identity of the land, its location, orientation, position, boundaries
and area. Without this certainty, there is no “object certain” that will
define the physical extent of ownership or holdings which is necessary
for land as property, to be secured, protected, enjoyed or transferred to
exist.

1. Persons Authorized to Conduct Land Surveys

Land surveys are conducted by surveyors who are licensed Geodetic Engineers
(GE)2. These GEs are organized into a professional organization called the
"Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines, Inc." (Republic Act No. 8560 as amended
by Republic Act No. 9200, The Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998). The

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.”
Page 17 of 71
 practice of geodetic engineering is a professional and organized act of
gathering physical data on the surface of the earth with the use of
precision instruments. It is also the scientific and methodical processing of
these date and presenting them on graphs, plans, maps, charts or documents
(Article II, Section 2 (a), RA No. 8560).

✓ 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.

✓ 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.

2. Defining Legal Boundaries

Lot boundaries delineate the extent of land ownership of land owners.
Boundaries define the extent of the parcel, lot or property unit in accordance with
specific standards, rules and regulations issued by the DENR. Boundaries also
help identify the land as it will show the contiguous parcels bordering the land.
Boundary lines (also commonly called property lines) define the extent of legal
limits of ownership of land parcels. Marked boundaries are prima facie
evidence of the legal extent of the ownership of property. Marking may be
through natural boundaries, survey monuments or enclosed occupation such as
fences and walls.

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 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.

3. Survey Authority and Survey Order

If a land is still unsurveyed, a private land claimant or a public land applicant
on said land is required to secure a Survey Order or Survey Authority from
the DENR before a land survey can be conducted on the land that he claims. A
Survey Authority is an instruction issued by the authorized DENR Official
to a private GE authorizing him/her to conduct survey over a parcel of
land of the public domain for a specific purpose, 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).

A Survey Authority is granted under the following conditions:

✓ The parcel of land is within the A and D area;

✓ The survey is an original survey, meaning there is no existing approved

survey on the land or any ongoing cadastral or public land
subdivision project;

✓ There is no existing claims or conflicts on the land;

✓ 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

Page 19 of 71
 right recognize by the law (i.e. acquisitive possession, prescription and
accretion)

4. Cadastral and Isolated Surveys

Surveying and identifying land by boundaries is necessary before A and D land
could be disposed and registered by the government. For purposes of land
disposition and property registration, surveys can be generally divided into
two (2) types – Cadastral and Isolated.

(a) Cadastral Surveys

Cadastral surveys are conducted to determine the “metes and
bounds” of all parcels within an entire municipality or city for
land registration and other purposes (Section 5, DAO 07-29).
Cadastral survey involves the survey of a whole municipality (or an
extensive portion of the same or those covering an area of more than
1,500 hectares under Public Land Subdivision Survey) for identifying
and delineating the individual parcels of all land owners and claimants
which will be the basis of the issuance of titles or patents later. It is
intended primarily for the purpose of quieting titles to all lands
within a particular area by way of compulsory adjudication
proceedings filed by the government after the completion of the
cadastral survey project. The owners of lots surveyed must lay a
claim to their land holdings and must prove their ownership
during the subsequent court proceedings. Failure on their part to
do so may give the court no choice but to declare these lands as
public lands and be disposed under the Public Land Act. All the
other types of surveys are considered isolated.

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 barangay considered/assigned as one unique case. However, the
DENR has resorted to contracting the cadastral projects by Module,
wherein one (1) Module consists of one (1) barangay. A municipality with
twelve (12) barangays may have twelve (12) cadastral survey module
contractors. All said modules will bear the same Cadastral Survey Project
Number. The first municipality that underwent cadastral surveying is
Pilar, Bataan in 1909 with Cadastral Project Number 1 or “Cad-1” issued
to it.

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.

Once a cadastral survey project is conducted on a municipality or

city, all previous isolated surveys of parcels conducted within the
area should be integrated and reflected in the cadastral records
either as accepted, amended or rejected. If a previous survey is
accepted, the surveyor will designate a new lot number in the
cadastral survey. The previous isolated survey and the lot number

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 of the land, however, are still indicated in the cadastral survey
map for reference purposes.

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.

Cadastral maps generated by the surveys are also used as preliminary

reference in real property tax mapping and land use mapping by local
governments.

(a) Isolated Surveys

Land claimants may request for an isolated survey of his land prior to the
government initiated cadastral survey for purposes of ordinary land
registration or patent application. The government also initiates surveys
of public land for land disposition purpose such as free patent,
homestead and sales. These surveys are conducted on A and D lands of
the public domain in areas where there is no approved or existing
cadastral survey or cadastral project.

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.

5. Narrative Technical Descriptions

The description of boundaries to the land (commonly called technical description)
are contained in various survey data sets that are generated during surveys. It
includes the surveyors field notes, lot data computations, paper maps, etc.
However, description of the land is reduced using a narrative style
commonly called “Technical Description” when the identity of the land
is described in legal documents including the Patents issued by the
DENR and Certificate of Title issued by the Register of Deeds.

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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 Sample of a Narrative Technical Description:

LOT 18, BLK. 15, Pcs-13-003519

A parcel of land (Lot 18, Blk. 15 of the cons. subd. plan,

Pcs-13-003519, being a portion of the consolidation of Lots 17 Blk.
2, 15 Blk. 3, 15 Blk. 4, 15 Blk. 5, 12 Blk. 5, 15 Blk. 7, 1 & 17 Blk. 9
& 16 Blk. 12, all of Pcs-13-001412, Lots 5 & 5-A, both of Pcs-3866
&Lot 783-A, Psd-49419, LRC Rec. No.), situated in the Barrio of
Bagbag, City of Quezon, Province of Metro Manila, Island of Luzon.

Bounded on the S., along line 1-2 by Lot 14; along line 2-3 by
Lot 15; along line 3-4 by Lot 16; along line 4-5 by Lot 17, all of Blk.
15 of the cons. subd. plan; on the NW., along line 5-6 by Lot 541,
Piedad Estate; on the N., along line 6-7 by Lot 12 of Blk. 15 and on
the E., along line 7-1 by Road Lot 6, both of the cons. subd. plan.

Beginning at a point marked "1" on plan, being S. 85 deg. 37'

E., 1,305.16 m. from LM No. 20, Piedad Estate.

thence Due West, 13.00 m. to point 2;

thence Due West, 10.00 m. to point 3;
thence Due West, 10.00 m. to point 4;
thence S. 65 deg. 10' E., 6.5 m. to point 5;
thence N. 40 deg. 35’E., 16.78 m. to point 6;
thence Due East, 16.16 m. to point 7;
thence Due South, 10.00 m. to the point of;

beginning, containing an area of THREE HUNDRED THIRTY

FOUR (334) SQUARE METERS, more or less. All points referred to
are indicated on the plan and are marked on the ground by P.S. cyl.
conc. Mons 15x60 cms; bearings True; Date of the original survey,
July 1 – Dec. 14, 1907 and that of the cons. subd. survey on May
20-30, 1988.

6. Survey Maps and Records 3

Survey records may be found generally at the Survey Records sections of
government land agencies. In the DENR, survey records are with the Technical
Records Section, Survey Division of the DENR Regional Office. The LMB only
retains some survey records, mostly duplicates, after it decentralised its records
to the DENR Regional Offices. In LRA, survey records are with the Subdivision
and Consolidation Division.

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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 Large scale government surveys such as cadastral surveys generate the
following survey records:

✓ Cadastral Maps indicating individual parcels and their actual geographic

position;

✓ Lot Data Computation Books;

✓ Lot Description Books;

✓ Monument Description Books;

✓ Technical Description (TD) of all lots within the Cadastre;

✓ Geographic Positions of Reference Points;

✓ Land Use Maps and Land Use Registers;

✓ Political Boundary Maps;

✓ Tax Maps used for Realty Tax Valuation/Collection;

✓ List of all claimants/occupants or owners of lands; and

✓ Cadastral Cost Registers.

Below are some of the commonly used large scale maps that establish land
ownership and support land titling and registration.

(a) Land Classification (LC) Maps

These maps are generated by the land classification unit of the DENR/
NAMRIA/FMB after delineation survey is conducted, to ascertain the
extent of A and D lands of the public domain.

(b) Cadastral Maps

These maps are generated by cadastral surveys executed by the DENR
for purposes of land titling. It covers all parcels of an entire or large
portion of municipality. There is also a list of cadastral claimants per lot
that is submitted by the surveyor to DENR as part of the survey data set.
All land parcels are given a unique parcel identifier (by lot number).
Cadastral maps are not updated once it is approved. Subsequent
changes to the parcels are not reflected in the approved cadastral map.

(c) Subdivision Maps

These are parcel maps derived from subdivisions of isolated survey
plans and isolated cadastral lots. All derivative parcels of the
subdivision are assigned a unique lot number that follows the sequence
of the original or "mother lot", i.e. Lot 1 to Lot 1-A, Lot 1-B, and so forth.

(d) Tax Maps

These maps are generated by the Assessor's Office of the LGU for
purposes of identifying land parcels for land taxation (real
property tax). A unique parcel identifier (Property Index Number) is
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 assigned to each parcel within the municipality. Updating of the map is
done by the tax mapping section of the Assessor's Office, based from
subdivision/consolidation survey plans of GEs submitted to the LGU. The
initial component of LGU tax maps are mostly derived from DENR
cadastral maps.

(e) Cadastral Digital Database (DCDB)

Are computerize maps or spatial representation showing land parcels in
the locality. The Digital Cadastre DataBase (DCDB) is the spatial
representation of the land parcels and land use/administrative/
political boundaries in a locality. The DCDB generates an
computerized map base that is used in storing related information on
land and at the same time, can generate hard copy of different map
products for the public. The parcels are generated by computer programs
that convert numerical survey data sets or by digitizing existing paper
maps. DCDB usually consists of layers of different spatial representation
of land boundaries that can include administrative boundaries such as
LGU boundaries, proclaimed areas and reservations, land use, roads,
natural features, etc. that can be overlaid and used for land management
purposes, taxation or land tilting and registration

7. Court Determination of Land Boundaries

Actual occupation and described measurement of the ownership in
documents or titles may be conflicting. If the description of the boundary
is ambiguous or 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.

Where any two or more boundary features or descriptions present

conflicting evidence in the determination of the true boundary position,
the courts usually favor long, acquiescent and undisturbed
occupation dating to the time of the survey as the most
convincing evidence of a boundary between properties. As a rule
though, when a property is described by “metes and bounds”, the
described bounds (abuttals) take priority over the stated measurements.
What really defines a piece of land is not the area, calculated
with more or less certainty mentioned in the description, but the
boundaries as enclosing the land and indicating its limits.
However, special circumstances may lead courts to give more weight to
other evidence presented.

In determining the boundary of the land, the court may consider the
following physical features and survey marks and descriptions:

✓ Monumented lines (boundaries marked by survey or other defining

marks, natural or artificial);

✓ Adjoining boundaries, i.e. contiguous lots, natural or artificial features

such as a street or road;

Page 24 of 71
 ✓ Statement of length, bearing or directions (“Metes” or measurements
in the described direction); and

✓ 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)

IV. Modes of Acquiring Title to Public Lands

A. Ownership of land must be traced to a government land
grant
Regalian doctrine all lands belong to the State. Private lands must be able to
trace it’s root to a grant coming from the State.

1. Direct Grants (Homestead, Sales, Free Patent)

Land is given/awarded by the State to a public land applicant through a land
patent; land is considered as public land; applicant is qualified; applicant must
comply with the condition before the grant is awarded by the State and caused
its registration.

2. Indirect Grants (Prescription, Accretion and Accession)

Public land becomes ipso facto (by operation of law) private lands; the state did
not directly award the land (no award of land patent), person acquires the land
upon fulfilment of certain conditions; merely confirms the title during the
proceedings where it is determined, during a court hearing that applicant has
qualification and has complied with all the conditions necessary for confirmation
of title.

3. Land Grants Excludes Minerals

Constitutional limitation. All natural resources are owned by the State (Article
XII, 1987 Constitution). All public land patents issued to applicants does not
convey title to all kinds of mineral resources as the same remain to be property of
the State. (Section 110, PLA).

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B. General Conditions Necessary for the Issuance of a Land
Patent (Direct Grant)
The general conditions for Provided under Section 8 of Commonwealth Act No.
141 or the Public Land Act.

1. Alienable and Disposable Lands

a) Definition - 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.

b) Under Act No. 926 (1903) - Spanish grants are deemed private lands and
not subject to classification; Section 19 of Act No. 496, titles in fee simple;

c) Confirmation of Imperfect Titles applied under Spain, agricultural but court

determines suitability; (Section 48 of Act No. 926)

d) Public land disposition on lands suitable for agriculture as certified by the

forestry department;

e) Under Act No. 2874 (1919) - Present system of land classification of public
land was introduced;

(1) Blocks of lands pre-classified even prior to disposition

(2) Classification of land as a legal object;

(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.

2. Surveyed and Delineated

No survey no title - land survey is the means to determine the relative location
and area of land for purposes of property identification.

3. Not for Public or Quasi-Public Use or Appropriated by the

Government.
Alienable and Disposable Lands vs. Lands for Public Use

4. Not private lands

a) The land must not be private property, nor on which a private right
authorized and recognized by this act or any valid law may be claimed
(Sec. 8, CA No. 141). If land is private already, the owner must file an

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 application for registration of land ownership; See Judicial confirmation of
imperfect title

b) Option of land owner is to obtain “free patent” if qualified. The owner is

deemed to have waived his ownership over the land in favour of the State
and thus can file a public land application for free patent. There is an area
limit if the land is public land (12 hectares under the 1987 Constitution)
since it is a public land grant.

c) Patrimonial Property of the Government; Disposition is under Act No. 3038

through Sale

5. Restrictions and limitations on Transfers of Land Patents

a) Commonwealth Act No. 141 (Sections 118, 119, 120, 121 and 123)

b) Presidential Decree No. 2004 (Section 2)

c) Republic Act No. 10023 (Section 5)

6. Area limitation under the Constitution and the law

✓ Under the Philippine Bill of 1902 - 16 hectares

✓ Under 1936 Constitution - 24 hectares

✓ Under 1973 Constitution - 24 hectares

✓ Under 1987 Constitution - 12 hectares

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)

In registration of lands, corporations are allowed to register lands that

has already been acquired by its predecessor through indirect grant;
rationale - the land is already private when acquired and is not part of
the public domain anymore. Registration does not confirm ownership. See
Judicial Confirmation of Title

(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

Page 27 of 71
C. Public Land Grants in Agricultural Lands
1. Homestead - Title II, Chapter III, Sections 12 to 21 of
Commonwealth Act No. 141
a) Patent issued to frontier lands and newly released A and D lands where no
possessory rights exists

b) Upon approval of homestead application, homesteader is allowed to enter

and cultivate A & D lands

c) Grant of homestead patent is conditioned upon entry, occupation,

improvement, cultivation (1/5 of the land), residency (1 year) and final
proof within 5 years

d) Homesteader cannot use share tenancy in complying with the conditions

(1973) under Presidential Decree No. 152

e) Original homestead grantees or direct compulsory heirs who still own the
original homestead at the time of the approval of CARL keeps to retain the
same areas as long as they continue to cultivate the homestead under
Section 6 of RA No. 6657 as amended.

2. Sales - Title II, Chapter IV, Sections 22 to 32 of Commonwealth

Act No. 141;
a) Upon approval of application, land is appraised and notice is made by
publication for bidding on the land;

b) Conditioned upon appraisal, bidding, entry, cultivation and payment.

c) Payment by 10 equal yearly installment is allowed

3. Lease - Title II, Chapter V, Sections 33 to 43 of Commonwealth

Act No. 141;
a) Corporations can lease up to 1,000 hectares

b) Private individuals (citizens) up to 500 hectares;

c) Appraisal, bidding, entry, payment

4. Free Patent - Title II, Chapter VI, Sections 44 to 46 of

Commonwealth Act No. 141.
a) Conditioned upon occupation/possession and payment of real property
taxes for a certain period

b) Last amendment on the requirements for free patent under Republic Act No.
6940; continuously occupied and cultivation and payment real property tax
for 30 years prior to 1990)

c) Filing of application up to 2020 only (Republic Act No. 9176, Extending Free
Patents)

Page 28 of 71
 D. Public Land Grants In Residential, Commercial, Industrial
Lands
1. Sales - under Title III, Chapter VIII, Sections 60 to 68 of
Commonwealth Act No 141;
a) Same as agricultural sale;

b) Appraisal; bidding; entry; introduction of improvements; and payment

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)

3. Batas Pambansa Bilang 223 (1982-1987) - limited residential

free patent
a) Conditions - any citizen, not a registered owner of a residential land in 5th
class municipalities, has been actually residing on, and continuously
possessing and occupying, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of
ownership, paid all the real estate taxes thereon since June 12, 1945, and
not to exceed 3,000 sqm;

b) Not applicable in cities, and in in first class, second class third class, and
fourth class municipalities, and in townsite reservations;

c) Law expires in 1987 without being extended

4. Republic Act No. 10023 (2010) - Residential Free Patent Law

a) Conditions - any citizen; actual occupant, resided under a bona fide claim
of ownership for 10 years; land not needed for public service and/or public
use; all lands zoned as residential; townsites included; delisted military
reservation or abandoned military camp included; actual survey; two
supporting affidavits of disinterested person(residents)

b) Applies to all cities and municipalities

D. Restrictions on Patents
Patents issued by the government are subject to the following restrictions:

Page 29 of 71
 1. On Transfers and Conveyances
✓ Free patents and homestead patents issued by the government are subject to
restrictions regarding transfer and mortgage under Sections 118, 119, 120,
121 and 122 of the present Public Land Act.

✓ 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 policy of the government recently is to encourage he development of

formal land market by making the titles to the land tradable.

2. Easements and Servitudes

✓ The land patented shall likewise be subject to public servitudes that exist
upon lands owned by private persons, including those with reference to the
littoral of the sea and the banks of navigable rivers (Section 111, PLA).

✓ 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, 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;

31)Mejia vs. Mapa, G.R. No. L-7042, May 28, 1954

32) Diaz and Reyes vs. Macalinao, et al, 102 Phil. 999

33) Dauan vs. Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 19 SCRA 223

Page 30 of 71
 34) Pascua vs. Talens, G.R. No. L-348 April 30, 1948

35) Simeon v. Peña, GR No. L-29049, December 29, 1970;

36) Benzonan vs CA, 97998, January 27, 1992

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

E. Title Obtained by Operations of Law (Section 14, PD No.

1529)
1. General Considerations
a) Title was obtained not by registration but “by operations of law” under
the assumption that the occupant of the land is qualified and has complied
with the conditions set forth. The law creates a legal fiction whereby the
land, upon completion of the requisite period ipso jury and without the need
of judicial or other sanction, ceases to be public land and become private
property.

b) The title is vested to the ipso facto but it has to be confirmed by the State
and registered.

c) The land must be alienable and disposable lands of the public domain.
Section 4 of PD No. 1073 (1977) amending Section 48 (b) and (c) and
Judicial confirmation of imperfect title based on unperfected Spanish grants
are no longer allowed. Adopted in PD No. 1529, Section 14 (a) in 1978.

2. Concept of Adverse Possession & Prescription

To constitute the foundation of prescriptive rights, possession must be under
the claim of title and adverse to all other claimants (open, continuous,
exclusive, notorious possession). Must be adverse and not merely tolerated.
Prescription - prescription does not run against the government except when
it is provided by law; does not run on registered land. It is sufficient that the
land is A and D at the time of application, the period of possession prior to
declaration of A and D is included. Old view: time when the land is still
inalienable is excluded in computing period of adverse possession.

F. Section 14, Paragraph (a) Open, continuous, exclusive and

notorious possession and occupation of alienable and
disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide
claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier;
a) In 1976 all holders of Spanish titles or grants should apply for registration
of their lands under Act No. 496 within six (6) months afterwards Spanish
titles cannot be used as evidence of land ownership in any registration
proceedings under the Torrens system P.D. No. 892;

Page 31 of 71
 b) In 1977 lands that are not declared alienable and disposable are no longer
included however long the possession of the applicant was; judicial
confirmation of incomplete titles to public land based on unperfected
Spanish under the laws and royal decrees in force prior to the transfer or
sovereignty from Spain to the United States are disallowed (Presidential
Decree No. 1073);

c) Period of possession before declaration of A and D is not important for

disposition as long as the land is A and D at the time of application (Heirs
of Malabanan v. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 179987, April
29, 2009).

d) Evidence to Prove 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.

G. Section 14, Paragraph (b) - Those who have acquired

ownership of private lands by prescription under the
provision of existing laws;
a) Prescription of thirty (30) years begins from the moment the State expressly
declares that the public dominion property is no longer intended for public
service or the development of the national wealth or that the property has
been converted into patrimonial4;

CASES:

40)Maximo Cortes vs. City Of Manila, G.R. No. L-4012, March 25, 1908

41) Republic vs. de Guzman, 326 SCRA 574 (old view) Alienable and
Disposable vs. Time of Application for Registration

42) Malabanan vs. Court of Appeals

43) San Miguel Corporation vs. Court of Appeals, 185 SCRA 722 (1990).

44)Director of Lands vs. IAC and Acme Plywood and Veneer Co. Inc. G.R. No.
73002, December 29, 1986)

45)Susana Menguinto, et al. vs. Republic of the Philippines, GR No. 134308,

December 14, 2000).

46) Republic vs. de Guzman, 326 SCRA 574

47) Republic of the Philippines vs. East Silverland Realty Development

Corporation; G.R. No. 186961, February 20, 2012;

48) Tan, et al. vs. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 193443, April 16, 2012.

4Section14(2) is patrimonial property as defined in Article 421 in relation to Articles 420 and 422 of the Civil
Code.
Page 32 of 71
H. Section 14, Paragraph (c) - Right of accession or accretion;
1. Article 457 of Civil Code to the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers
belong the accretion which they gradually receive from the effects of the
current of the waters; Law Of The Waters - the accretion resulting from the
gradual deposit by or sedimentation from the waters belongs to the owners of
the land bordering on streams, torrents, lakes, or rivers;

2. By law, accretion - the gradual and imperceptible deposit made through the
effects of the current of the water belongs to the owner of the land adjacent to
the banks of rivers where it forms. The drying up of the river is not accretion.
Hence, the dried-up river bed belongs to the State as property of public
dominion, not to the riparian owner; they are not open to registration under
the Land Registration Act. The adjudication of the lands in as private property
is null and void.

3. Ownership over the accretion received by the land adjoining a river is

governed by the Civil Code; but land has to be registered otherwise it can be
lost by reason of prescription and/or occupation of others;

CASES:

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

D. Section 14, Paragraph (d) - Those who have acquired

ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.
E. Title issued under CARP (Republic Act No. 6657, as amended
by Republic Act No. 9700)
1. Coverage
All alienable and disposable lands of the public domain devoted to or suitable for
agriculture. All other lands owned by the Government devoted to or suitable for
agriculture; and All private lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture regardless
of the agricultural products raised or that can be raised thereon.

2. Exemptions and Exclusions. (Section 10, RA No. 6657)

Lands actually, directly and exclusively used for parks, wildlife, forest reserves,
reforestation, fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds and
mangroves; private lands used for prawn farms and fishponds; lands used and
necessary for national defense, school sites and campuses, public or private
schools for educational purposes, seeds and seedlings research and pilot
production center, church sites and convents appurtenant, mosque sites and
Islamic centers, communal burial grounds and cemeteries, penal colonies and
penal farms actually worked by the inmates, government and private research
and quarantine centers and all lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over,
except those already developed.

Page 33 of 71
 3. Retention Limits Land Area
a) Retention by the landowner shall not exceed five (5) hectares.

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.

4. Ceiling of Award to Beneficiaries

Not exceeding three (3) hectares, which may cover a contiguous tract of land or
several parcels of land cumulated up to the prescribed award limits. A landless
beneficiary is one who owns less than three (3) hectares of agricultural land.

5. Transferability of Awarded Lands

CLOAs cannot be sold, transferred or conveyed for ten (10) years except by:

a) Hereditary succession;

b) To the government

c) To the Land Bank

d) Other qualified beneficiaries through the DAR.

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-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

Page 34 of 71
K. Title issued under IPRA Law
1. Identification and delineation of Ancestral Domain
2. Issuance of Ancestral Domain Certificate of Title
3. Ancestral Domain and the Regalian Doctrine
Cases:

53) Cruz vs. DENR Secretary, GR No. 135385, December 6, 2000

VI. Procedure and Processes

A. Public Land Applications
1. General Rules
The right to lands disposed by the State through patents are administratively
determined during the public land application process. The process is not
adversarial since the applicant does not claim private ownership on the land.
The applicant in public land applications is asking the State for a land grant
base on Article XII of the Constitution that allows citizens to received alienable
and disposable lands, subject to certain conditions, from the State by way of
homestead, sale or grants. It is conditioned generally on the utilization of the
land for productive purposes.

During the process of adjudication, the applicant establishes his/her personal

qualification and proves his/her fulfilment of the conditions necessary for the
issuance of the particular grant or patent that he/she applied for.

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
Page 35 of 71
 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).

2. Processes and procedure are governed by administrative orders,

circulars and manuals; below is a summary of the process:
(a) Survey of the Land
✓ Survey is a requirement before public lands can be disposed to
private persons under the different public land laws.

✓ Survey is necessary in order to identify the land and delineates its

boundaries

✓ 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.

✓ The DENR sometimes conduct simultaneous survey and

adjudication of land (systematic adjudication process).

(b) Filing of Application (CENRO)

✓ Non-lawyers can file and process public land applications (PLA)
since the procedure is non-technical, informal and not adversarial.
DENR personnel assist PLA applicants in the accomplishment of
forms and gathering of documents, evidence and certifications in
support of the application

✓ Public Land Applications are submitted under oath; DENR officers

may administer oath to applicants when filing an application

✓ A representative with Special Power of Attorney may file in behalf

of the applicant

✓ Application must be complete including all documentary

requirements to enable the land examiner and/or inspector to
evaluate the application.

(c) Examination of the Applicant for Personal Qualification to

own public land
✓ Check the nationality of the applicant

Page 36 of 71
 ✓ Check land holdings of the applicant in the land allocation record
book

(d) Examination and Inspection of the Land

✓ Ocular Inspection by the Land Inspector to check status (A & D),
actual use of the land and to validate if there are claims or
conflicts on the ground

✓ Notice of the application shall be posted by the DENR

✓ Prepare Inspection Report by the Public Land Inspector

✓ Inspection report must be approved by the Land Management

Officer

(e) Approval of application

✓ In Free Patents, upon approval of application, a patent is prepared at
the CENRO for signing of the PENRO

✓ In Homestead, upon approval of the application, an entry permit is

issued allowing the homesteader to enter, occupy and cultivate the
land upon payment of the entry fee.

• Final Proof upon completion of the 1/5 cultivation requirement has

to be filed by the homesteader

• Re-investigation and preparation of Re-investigation report,

(Cultivation, residency, etc) upon filing of the filial proof

✓ In Ordinary Sales, upon approval of the application, the land shall

be appraised and the sale shall be published for bidding.

• The land shall be awarded to the highest bidder.

• The applicant, however, can match the highest bid to secure the
award.

• 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;

✓ 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;

Page 37 of 71
 (f) Approval and Signing of the Patent
Approval and signing of Patents under E.O. No. 192 (1987), the
Secretary of the DENR was given a general mandate to
implement public land laws including the power to delegate the
signing of patents. At present, the signing authority is as
follows: up to 5 hectares (PENRO), more than 5 but not
exceeding 10 (RED), in excess of 10 (Secretary). But under
Republic Act No. 10023, the PENRO is specifically designated
by the law as the final approving officer of Residential Free
Patents.
(g) Transmission to the Register of Deeds of the Patent by the
Approving Officer (See Section 103, PD No. 1529)

It is the duty of the approving officer to transmit the Patent to

the Register of Deeds for registration. Applicants, however, shall
pay the necessary registration fees before the registered
patents are released to them.

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)

B. Confirmation of Imperfect Title

1. General Rules
Judicial proceedings for the registration of lands throughout the Philippines shall
be in rem and shall be based on the generally accepted principles underlying the
Torrens system.

Powers of the Land Registration Authority

a) Section 6 of PD 1529
b) Register of Deeds, see Section 10 of PD 1529

Ordinary vs. Cadastral Proceedings

Ordinary is isolated and voluntary - pertains to isolated parcel of land

initiated voluntarily by the land owner/occupant

Cadastral is mass and compulsory - pertains to a proceedings covering all

the parcels in the municipality/city; initiated by the government

Page 38 of 71
 2. Ordinary Registration Procedure (See Section 14 to 30 PD No.
1529)
a) Filing of the application (Regional Trial Court, BP No. 129)
b) Issuance of an Order setting the date and hour of the
Initial hearing which shall not be earlier than forty-five
days nor later than ninety days from the date of the order.
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
Page 39 of 71
 applicant, or the 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.

✓ Partial Judgement - All conflicting claims of ownership and interest

in the land subject of the application determined by the court but
the court may render partial judgement where only a portion of the
land is contested.

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.

h) Transmission of the Decree to the Register of Deeds

3. Cadastral Registration Proceedings (Sections 35-38 of PD No.
1529)
a) Cadastral Survey of the Land
✓ Order of the Director of Lands to cause a cadastral survey of the lands
and the plans and technical description be prepared.

✓ 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.

Page 40 of 71
 ✓ 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 interfere with the placing of any monument or
remove such monument, or shall destroy or remove any notice of
survey posted on the land pursuant to law, shall be punished by a
fine of not more than one thousand pesos or by imprisonment for not
more than one year, or both.

b) Filing of Petition by DENR

✓ After the survey the DENR thorough the Solicitor General shall
institute original registration proceedings by filing a petition in
Regional Trial Court of the place where the land is situated against the
holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of such lands stating
that such titles to the land be settled and adjudicated.

✓ 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

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 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,

• 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

✓ Orders for default and confessions entered, in the same manner as

in ordinary land registration proceedings and shall be governed by
the same rules.

✓ All conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the court and

decrees awarded in favor of the persons entitled to the lands or to
parts thereof and such decrees shall be the basis for issuance of
original certificates of title in favor of said persons

e) Judgement
✓ Same as ordinary registration

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 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.

PART 2 Land Registration

Land Registration in General
A. Importance of Land Registration
✓ Provide order and stability in society by creating security in property
ownership not only for landowners but also for investors, bankers,
government, etc.

✓ 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.

B. Function of Land Registration

✓ Every land administration system should include some form of land
registration, which is a process for recording, and in some countries
guaranteeing, infor.mation about the ownership of land.

✓ Land registration is a process of official recording of rights in land through

deeds or as title on properties. It means that there is an official record (land
register) of rights on land or of deeds concerning changes in the legal situation
of defined units of land. It gives an answer to the questions who and how. In
some country’s, this information regarding ownership of identifiable parcel
units are contained in a cadastre

✓ The function of land registration is to provide a safe and certain foundation

for the acquisition, enjoyment and disposal of such rights in land.

C. General Legal Principles in Land Registration

1. The Identity of the Object and the Subject
✓ The concerned subject (owners and rights holders) and object (real property
defined as a parcel) is unambiguously and clearly identified.

✓ What is owned by who or who owns what?

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.

✓ Exception - Involuntary actions

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 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.

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.

✓ RD obligated to report certain transaction to the anti-money laundering

council:

✓ 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.”

D. Title and Deed Registration System

1. Deed Registration
✓ In Deed Registration, the deed executed by the parties, being a document
which describes an isolated transaction on a piece of land, is registered. This
deed is evidence that a particular transaction took place between the parties,
but it is in principle not in itself a proof of the legal rights of the transacting
parties to deal with the land. Thus before any dealing can be safely effected,
the ostensible owner must trace his ownership back to a good root of title.

✓ In Deed Registration, the initial enrolment or original registration of a parcel of

land to the system is not necessary. The determination of the rights of the
holder of the ostensible title is not material to the registrar as what he is
recording are not titles that his office guarantees but only the transactions or
dealings of the parties.

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 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 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.

E. Torrens System of Land Registration

1. Purpose of the Torrens System in General
✓ Provide security of ownership, that is, it should protect an owner against
being deprived of ownership except by his or her own act or by specific
operation of a legal process such as expropriation or debt collection.

✓ 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.

2. Principles Behind the Torrens System

Under the torrens system was devise to make transfer of title effective, efficient
and simple. In order to do this, title to land are initially acquired only by enrolling
the land into the system (original registration) and thereafter all subsequent

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 transfers and dealings on the land have to be registered to have an effect
against third persons should be registered.

The Mirror Principle

The register is supposed to reflect the correct legal situation on the parcel;
the register should reflect as accurately as possible the true state of title to
land so that persons who propose to deal with land can discover all the
facts relative to the tile

The Curtain Principle

No further historical investigation on the title "beyond what is stated register
is necessary; a purchaser should not need to go behind the register to
investigate the “root” of the title

The Insurance or Guarantee Principle

The State guarantees that what is registered is true for third parties in good
faith and that a bona fide rightful claimant who is contradicted by the
register is reimbursed from an insurance fund of the state.

F. Kinds Title Registration

1. Original Registration
✓ It deals with the initial compilation of land titles in the registers through the
determination of tenurial right holder to the land.

✓ 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.

✓ Adjudication, as it is called in other countries, of private ownership on lands

is the first function that the system of land registration has to fulfil. The
conferment of first time ownership of the land by the State to a private
individual or entity creates titles that are registered with the land registry.
These original titles made up the initial compilation of land rights in a land
registration system.

2. Subsequent Transactions and Transfers of Right

After the original registration of titles conferred by the State, registered owners
may transact their rights on the lands with other persons through deeds and
other pubic instruments. Such deed or public instrument affecting registered land
is made of public record through registration of such deed or sale with the land
registry.

a) Simple transfer of rights

✓ A person takes the interest of the registered owner of a parcel of land as
the same well-defined parcel.

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 C. Transfers of rights with changes in the Property Unit
✓ The transaction caused the formation of new parcels of land. In this kind
of transfer, the parcel as a property as a unit and the interest thereat
changes as a result of the transfer. This changes are caused by
subdivision or consolidation of land parcels and involves an elaborate
procedure of delineation of the new property unit/s. The new owner and
his interest will have to be connected to the newly formed parcels. This
means that the existing registers have to be updated due to subsequent
changes in the boundaries of the parcels.

II. Land Registration in the Philippines

In the Philippines, there are presently only two (2) systems of registration of real
property or rights therein, namely, the Torrens system, and the system of
recording of unregistered real estate. The Spanish Mortgage Law system of
registration has been discontinued with the enactment of P.D. 892, dated
February 16, 1976 and P.D. 1529 dated June 11, 1978. Section 1 of P.D. 892
provides “that the system of registration under the Spanish Mortgage Law is
discontinued and all lands recorded under said system which are not yet
covered by Torrens Titles shall be considered unregistered lands under Section
113 of PD No. 1529.

A. Operation of the Torrens System in the Philippines

✓ Introduced under Act 496 and Presidential Decree No. 1529

1. The Mirror Principles

The register is supposed to reflect the correct legal situation on the parcel.

b) Certainty as to the Identity of the Land

Land identification is done through survey; survey is a requirement before a
land can be registered.

✓ Survey of the land before approval of public land application (Section 8

of CA No. 141)

✓ Survey of the land before registration (Section 15 for original voluntary

registration and Section 35 and 36 for Cadastral)

✓ Approval of the subdivision survey of the land before issuance of new

derivative titles (Section 50, PD No. 1529)

✓ Exception: Mistakes in the resurvey or subdivision of registered land

resulting in the expansion of the area in the certificate of title is not a
recoverable loss from the Assurance fund (Section 101 of PD No. 1529)

b) Certainty as to the Ownership of the Land

The identity of the owner of the registered land is ensured during the
original registration proceedings, cadastral registration proceedings or
through the processing of public land application under the Public Land Act;
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 the personal circumstances of applicants are secured during the
proceedings;

The proceedings in original registration by operations of law is in rem and

adversarial, thus, the whole world is given an opportunity to contest
ownership of the applicant. In public lands where the state (as owner)
directly confers the land to the grantee who has to be qualified by the lands
department.

✓ Statement of personal circumstances in public land applications;

✓ Statement of personal circumstances in ordinary and cadastral

registration proceedings;

✓ Statement of personal circumstances in the certificate of title. (Section

45 of PD No. 1529)

✓ Posting of Notice of the Applications

✓ Publications

2. The Curtain Principle - The Creation of an Indefeasible Titles

No further historical investigation on the title beyond what is stated in the
certificate of title issued by the title registry is necessary; a purchaser should not
need to go behind the certificate of title to investigate the “root” of the title;
indefeasible titles on land are created by registration under the system.

✓ Every registered owner receiving a certificate of title in pursuance of a decree

of registration and every subsequent purchaser of registered land taking a
certificate of title for value and in good faith holds the same free form all
encumbrance except those noted in the certificate. (Section 44, PD No. 1529);

✓ A certificate of title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be

altered, modified or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with
law (Section 48, PD No. 1529)

✓ 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

✓ Unpaid real estate taxes levied and assessed within 2 years

✓ Public high ways/canals or private way if the title does not state that the
boundaries of such highway have been determined

✓ Disposition pursuant to agrarian reform law

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 ✓ Registered land are subject to burdens and incident as any arise by
operation of law.

✓ Rights incident to marital relation

✓ Landlord and tenant relationship

✓ Liability to attachment or levy on execution

✓ Liability to any lien of any description established by law on the land

and the buildings

✓ Change the laws of descent

✓ Rights of partition between co-owners

✓ Right to take the same by eminent domain

✓ Liability to be recovered by an assignee in insolvency or trustee in

bankruptcy under the laws relative to preferences

✓ 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

✓ In Decree - the case cannot be reopened except if such decree was

obtained by actual fraud, action should be filed within 1 year after the
issuance of decree. (Section 32, PD No. 1529)

✓ In Patents - the date of the issuance of patents corresponds to the

date of the issue of the decree in ordinary registration cases, because
the decree finally awards the land applied for registration to the party
entitle to it and the patent issued by the Director of Lands equally and
finally grants, awards and conveys the land applied for to the
applicant. The purpose and effect of both the decree and the patent is
the same

4. Action for Reconveyance

✓ A legal and equitable remedy granted to the rightful land owner of land which
has been wrongfully or erroneously registered in the name of another for
purpose of compelling the latter to transfer or reconvey the land to him.

✓ 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
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 obligation created by law. (Villagonzago vs IAC, GR No. 71110 November 22,
1988)

• 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)

(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)

(b) Deed executed by an impostor (Tenorio-Obsequio v. CA, 230

SCRA 550)

(c) Duty of the buyer to ascertain the identity of the seller especially
when he is not a registered owner (Treasurer of the Philippines
v. CA, 153 SCRA 359)

(d) Failure to exercise caution is equivalent to bad faith (Egao v. CA,

283 SCRA 484)

(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

(h) 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
Page 50 of 71
 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.

(i) 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

(j) Dacasin v. Court of Appeals, Capua, et al. GR No. L-32723,

Oct 28, 1977

(k) Roxas v. Court of Appeals and Magueson Management, GR

No. 138660, February 5, 2004). Related to Heirs of Manuel A.
Roxas v. Court of Appeals, 337 Phil. 41 (1997).

(l) Caram v. Laureta, GR No. L-28740, Feb. 24, 1981

(f) Crisostomo v. Court of Appeals, Norma San Jose and Diana

Torres, GR No. 91383, May 31, 1991

b. Lack of Marital Consent

(a) Embrado v. C and Cimafranca, 233 SCRA 335

c. Defects, Errors, on identity of Land

(a) Section 50 par (4) - The Commission may not order or cause any
change, modification, or amendment in the contents of any
certificate of title, or of any decree or plan, including the technical
description therein, covering any real property registered under the
Torrens system, nor order the cancellation of the said certificate of
title and the issuance of a new one which would result in the
enlargement of the area covered by the certificate of title.

(b) Agne v. Director of Lands, 181 SCRA 793)

(c) Golloy v. CA, 173 SCRA 26

(d) Caragay-Layno v. CA and Devera 133 SCRA 718

(e) The inclusion is null and void, land registration cannot be made a
shield (Vda. De Recinto v. Inciong, 77 SCRA 196)

(f) Republic v. De Los Angeles, [ G.R. No. L-30240, March 25,

1988 ]

d. Double Title
(a) Rule: Prior title prevails

(b) Heirs of Gonzaga v. CA, 261 SCRA 327

(c) Realty Sales Enterprise, Inc. V. IAC, Morris Carpo and QC

Development, G.R. No. 67451, September 28, 1987

Page 51 of 71
 (d) Azarcon v. Vallarta, G.R. No. L-43679, October 28, 1980

(e) DBP v. Mangawang, 11 SCRA 405

e. 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.

f. 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.

g. 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)

5. Prescription of Action for Reconveyance

✓ Registration of certificate of title from a fraudulent conveyance is
constructive notice - Annulment of deed of sale prescribes in four years on
eh ground that the defendant had obtained a certificate of title by means of
fraudulent deed of sale is virtually an action for annulment of the deed by
reason of fraud which action should 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)

✓ Registration of certificate of title from a fraudulent conveyance is an

implied trust - Civil Code Article 1114 (10 years to bring action; upon a
written contract, obligation created by law and judgements)

(a) Title acquired by fraud creates constructive trust - the legal principle is
that if the registration of the land is fraudulent, the person in whose name
the land is registered holds it as a mere trustee; and the real owner is
thus entitled to file an action for reconveyance within a period of ten (10)
years (Pajarillo vs. IAC); there is an obligation to reconvey (Caro vs. CA,
180 SCRA 401)

(b) Ten years from the cause of action accrued which is not necessarily the
date of execution of the contact, Naga Telephone Co., Inc. v. cA, 230 SCRA
351)

(c) Action base on Fraud - 10 years from the issuance of title or date of
registration of deed. (Caro v. CA, GR No. 76148, Dec. 201989; Leyson v.
Page 52 of 71
 Bontuyan, GR No. 156357, Feb. 18, 2005; Casipit v. CA, GR No. 96829,
Dec. 9, 1991)

(d) Action base on implied trust - 10 years after issuance of title or date of
registration (Villagonzalo v. IAC, GR No. 71110, Nov. 22, 1988; Amerol
v. Bagumbaran)

(e) Action base on void contract - Imprescriptible (Solid State Multi-

Products Corp. v. CA GR No. 8338, May 6, 1991)

(f) Action based on fictitious deed - imprescriptible (Lacsamana vs. CA,

GR No. 121658, March 27, 1988)

(g) Action to quiet title - imprescriptible when in possession (Sapto v.

Fabiana, GR No. L-11285, May 16, 1958; Caragay-Layno v. CA GR No.
52064, Dec. 26, 1984; Leyson vs. Buntuyan)

(h) Laches - is one of estoppel because it prevents people who have slept on
their rights from prejudicing the rights of third parties who have placed
reliance on the inaction of the original patentee and his successors in
interest (Lucas vs. Gamponia, GR No. L-9335, Oct. 31, 1956)

(i) Res Judicata - Court cancels the title (Roxas v. Court of Appeals, GR
No. 138660, Feb. 5, 2004)

(j) State not bound by prescription (Republic v. Ruiz, GR No. L-23712,

April 29, 1968)

(k) Laches - There is no statutory limit for recovery of a registered land base
on laches. A a long list of cases were decided upholding the doctrine. A
word of caution, however, is necessary because the Supreme Court has
decided on a case by case basis and it has not categorically set a specific
time which could serve as a precedent.

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.

Page 53 of 71
 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).

✓ Presentation of owner’s duplicate necessary to transact voluntary registration

(Section 54, 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)

B. Registration of Deeds and Instruments

1. Meaning
Registration of Deeds and other Instruments or subsequent registration takes
place when a deed or instrument affecting land is made of public record after
the date of its original registration. Thus, the registration of a sale, mortgage,
lease, attachment, notice of levy or other encumbrances falls within the
purview of subsequent registration.

9. Kinds of Deed Registration

Deed registration is either voluntary of involuntary registration of instruments.

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.

a. 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

3. Registration of Voluntary Dealings and Transactions

a. Compliance with the essential requisites of a contract
✓ Consent - meeting of the minds;

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 ✓ Object Certain - subject of the contract; within the commerce of man
and lawful; and

✓ Cause - consideration; prestation, services, benefits, pure beneficence

or liberality.

b. Observance of the “Formal requirements” of a public

instrument
✓ When the law requires that some contracts be in some form in order
for it to be valid or enforceable, i.e. must be in writing (agreements in
marriage, lease of more than one year, agency to sell real property,
donations inter-vivos, etc.)

✓ The contract must be executed in the form of a public instrument;

✓ Signed by the person/s executing the same;

✓ In the presence of two witnesses who shall likewise sign and

acknowledge to be their free act and deed of the parties;

✓ Before a notary public or other public officer authorized by law to take

acknowledgement. Documents executed in a foreign country should be
acknowledged before a Philippine diplomatic or consular official. If
acknowledged before a foreign notary public, it should be
authenticated by the Philippine diplomatic or consular official before it
can be registered.

✓ All pages of the deed must be signed.

✓ The documents presented shall contain the full name, nationality,

residence and postal address of the grantee or other person acquiring
or claiming interest; and

✓ Must state marital status and name of wife/husband if married.

c. S u b m i s s i o n o f s u p p o r t i n g d o c u m e n t s f o r c e r t a i n
transactions before registration as provided by special laws
✓ Certified true copy of the Tax Declaration in transaction involving
transfer of ownership;

✓ Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) or Certificate of Exemption

from the BIR in case of sale, exchange or other disposition of real
property;

✓ 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
Page 55 of 71
 other mode of transferring ownership or title of real property (Sec. 135,
LGC 1991);

✓ Clearance from Department of Agrarian Reform and Affidavit of Total

Landholdings by the vendee in case of sale of agricultural lands;

✓ An Order fro the DAR Regional Director approving the sale in case the
property sold is covered by an Emancipation Patent;

✓ Duly approved subdivision plan and its corresponding Technical

Description where the property to be titled by virtue of the transaction
is a resulting lot of a subdivision;

✓ Special Power of Attorney - if the transaction is through an agent;

✓ Court Order - if made through a guardians or administrators; and

✓ For Corporations - Secretary’ Certificate or a copy of the Board

Resolution authorizing the transaction (sale, purchase, exchange)
designating the officer authorize to sign the deed.

d. Performance of the jurisdictional requisites for registration

✓ Entry of the document in the primary entry book;

✓ Payment of entry and registration fees; and

✓ Production of the owner’s duplicate of title

e. Registration Procedure in Voluntary Transaction in General

1. Entry of the document in the primary entry or day book, accompanied by
all supporting documents applicable to the transaction; All supporting
documents applicable to the transaction should also be submitted
together with the basic instruments.

2. Section 56 of PD 1529 require each register of deeds to keep a primary

entry book where all instruments relating to registered land shall be
entered in the order of their reception. Entry in the day book is the
preliminary step in registration. The annotation of memorandum or the
issuance of a new certificate of title is the final step to accomplish
registration. While the preliminary step and the final step may not be
accomplished in the same day, this however, is of no consequence
because if actual registration is accomplished its effect retroacts to the
date of entry in the day book. Thus, it has been held that when a sale is
registered in the name of the purchase registration takes effect on the
date when the deed was noted in the entry book and not when final
registration was accomplished.

3. To be noted in this book is the date, hour and minute of reception of all
instrument in the order they were received.

4. Payment of the entry and registration fee - Upon entry of the document,
the corresponding entry and registration fees should be paid. In default
of payment, the entry in the primary entry book will ipso fact become null
and void.
Page 56 of 71
 5. Surrender of the owner’s duplicate certificate and al co-owner’s duplicate
if any had been issued.

a) No voluntary instrument shall be registered by the registry of deeds,

unless the owner’s duplicate certificate is presented with such
instruments,

b) Exception in cases expressly provided for in PD 1529 or upon order of

the court, for cause shown.

c) If co-owner’s duplicate certificates has been issued, all outstanding

certificates so issued shall be surrendered whenever the register of
deeds shall register any subsequent voluntary transaction affecting
the whole land or part thereof or any interest therein

6. Examination of the document, certificate of title and supporting papers

by the “deeds examiner”.

a) Registrability of an instrument is initially determined by the deeds

examiner of the registry. If the document is found to comply with all
requirements the examiner recommends its registration to the register
of deeds. Otherwise, he recommends denial of registration.

b) The deeds examiner, on his own, is generally not allowed to register or

deny registration.

7. Review by the Register of Deeds of the action taken by the “deeds

examiner”.

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.

8. Registration of the document or denial of registration by the register of

deeds.

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
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 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
a. Attachment and Execution
A juridical institution which has for its purpose to secure the outcome of the
trial; the chief purpose is to secure a contingent lien on defendant’s property
until plaintiff can, by appropriate proceedings, obtain a judgment and have
a property applied to tis satisfaction or to make some provision for
unsecured debts in case where the means of satisfaction thereof are liable
to be removed beyond the jurisdiction or improperly disposed of or
concealed or otherwise placed beyond he reach of creditors.

1. Preliminary Attachment - issued at the institution or the during the

progress of an action commanding the sheriff or other proper officer to
attach property rights, credits or effects of defendant to satisfy the
demand of plaintiff; an auxiliary remedy and cannot have an
independent existence apart form the main claim

2. Garnishment - attachment for credits belonging to the judgement debtor

and owing to him from a stranger to the litigation; does not usually
involve actual seizure of the property;

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 3. Levy on execution - is the attachment issued to enforce the writ of
execution of a judgment which has become final and executory.

2. Registration of Attachments and Execution

a) Statutory Provisions - Section 69 of PD 1529 and Section 7, Rule 57 of the

Rules of Court

a) Documents to be Registered

(1) Writ of Attachment or Execution;

(2) Notice of Attachment or levy on the execution; and

(3) Description of the Property;

b) Forms and Contents

(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

c) Registration Procedure

(1) Entry in the Day Book or Primary Entry Book;

(2) Payment of entry and registration fee;

(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.

d) Effects of Registration

(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

C. Actions after Registration

All petitions or motions filed under this Section as well as under any other
provision of this Decree after original registration shall be filed and entitled in
the original case in which the decree or registration was entered.

A. Re-issuance of Lost Owner’s Duplicate

1. The Replacement of Lost Duplicate certificate is governed by Section 109,
PD No. 1529 which states:
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 “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.

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).

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 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).

A. Reconstitution of lost or destroyed original of Torrens title

1. Lost or Destroyed original certificates of title in the offices of the Register

of deeds may be reconstituted either judicially or administratively.

a) Judicial Reconstitution is availed of under two (2) situations: (1) when

both the Owner’s Duplicate Copy and the Original Copy on file in the
Register of Deeds are lost or Destroyed; (2) when the Owner’s
Duplicate Copy is available but the Original Copy on file in the Register
of Deeds is lost or destroyed. The procedure for the reconstitution of
title is governed by Republic Act No. 26 and Section 110. P.D. No.
1529, which states that,

b) “Section.110. Reconstitution of lost or destroyed original of Torrens

title. Original copies of the certificates of title lost or destroyed in the
offices of the Register of Deeds as well as liens and encumbrances
affecting the lands covered by such titles shall be reconstituted
judicially in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Republic Act
Page 61 of 71
 No. 26 insofar as not inconsistent with this Decree. The procedure
relative to administrative reconstitution of lost or destroyed certificate
prescribed in said Act is hereby abrogated.

c) Notice of all hearings of the petition for judicial reconstitution shall be

given to the Register of Deeds of the place where the land is situated
and to the Commissioner of Land Registration. No order or judgment
ordering the reconstitution of a certificate of title shall become final
until the lapse of thirty days from receipt by the Register of Deeds and
by the Commissioner of Land Registration of the notice of such order or
judgment without any appeal having been filed by any of such
officials.”

d) Its implementation is guided by instructions (1) Circular No. 17, dated

19 February 1947, as amended by Administrative Order No.195 dated
24 May 1979; (2) LRC Circular No.35 dated 13 June 1983.

2. The Court procedure for judicial reconstitution is as follows:

a) Before a Petition for Reconstitution of lost or destroyed original of

Torrens title could be filed in Court a certification shall be issued by the
Register of Deeds certifying that the Original Copy of the title is NOT
AVAILABLE on file in the office of the Registry of Deeds. Attachments
shall also include a copy of the Tax Declaration duly certified by the
Assessor’s Office and a copy of the most recent real estate tax
payment.

b) A copy of the petition shall be provided to the following: (1) Regional

Executive Director (DENR); (2) the Register of Deeds; (3) the Solicitor
General’s Office; (4) the Land Registration Authority; (5) Prosecutor’s
Office; and (5) all the adjoining owners; however, this is dispensed
with if the basis for the Petition for Reconstitution of the Lost Original
copy of Title on file in the Registry of Deeds is the copy of the Owner’s
Duplicate in the possession of the Petitioner.

c) If the basis of the Petition for Reconstitution is the plan and technical
description of the subject lot, the Petitioner shall provide the LRA with
the petition accompanied by a certified copy of the Technical
Description of the Lot and a corresponding plan prepared by a licensed
Geodetic Engineer. 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

Page 62 of 71
 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.

k) A Certificate of Finality is issued by the Clerk of Court. (Note: The

Certificate of Finality can be issued only upon the request of the
Counsel of the Petitioner).

3. The following describes the process of availing Administrative

Reconstitution:

a) An Application/Petition (for Reconstitution) which must be properly

accomplished with:

Page 63 of 71
 (1) Original of the Owner’s Duplicate copy or Co-owner’s Duplicate
Copy and three (3) clear/legible reproduction/Xerox copy filed in
the Registry of Deeds together with a reproduction (Xerox copy) of
the same. After comparing the Xerox copies to be faithful
reproductions of the Owner’s Duplicate or Co-Owner’s Duplicate
Copy of the original presented, the latter is immediately returned to
the filer; and the Register of Deeds retains only the Xerox copies.

(2) Tax Declaration

(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).

b) Application/Petition forms (for reconstitution) can be obtained FREE of

CHARGE from the Office of LRA or the Office of the Registry of Deeds of
the place. The duly accomplished Application/Petition duly can be filed
anytime – without any time limitation after R.A. No. 6732 dated 20
July 1989, at the office of the Register of Deeds enumerated above
where the land is situated.

c) The Application/Petition together with the accompanying documents is

transmitted to the LRA in Quezon City where it will undergo the
prescribed technical verification at the Reconstitution Division of that
office. This division is headed by the Reconstituting Officer and Chief,
Reconstitution Division.

d) Once the verification process is completed, the Reconstituting Officer

issues an Order of Reconstitution Directing the Register of Deeds to
Reconstitute the Title.

e) A notice is sent by furnishing the Filer/Applicant with a copy of the

Order of Reconstitution with an advise that a reconstituted title can be
withdrawn at the office of the Register of Deeds upon presentation of
the original copy of the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Title subject of
application/Petition for Reconstitution.

B. Amendment to the Certificate

1. Section 108. Amendment and alteration of certificates.

2. Rule: No erasure, alteration, or amendment shall be made upon the

registration book after the entry of a certificate of title or of a
memorandum thereon and the attestation of the same be Register of
Deeds, except by order of the court.

3. Who may file: A registered owner of other person having an interest in

registered property, or, in proper cases, the Register of Deeds with the
approval of the Commissioner of Land Registration

4. Grounds:

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 a) That the registered interests of any description, whether vested,
contingent, expectant or inchoate appearing on the certificate, have
terminated and ceased; or

b) That a new interest not appearing upon the certificate have arisen or
been created;

c) that an omission or error was made in entering a certificate or any

memorandum thereon, or, on any duplicate certificate;

d) That the same or any person on the certificate has been changed; or

e) That the registered owner has married, orif registered as married,

that the marriage has been terminated and no right or interests of
heirs or creditors will thereby be affected; or

f) that a corporation which owned registered land and has been

dissolved has not convened the same within three years after its
dissolution; or

g) upon any other reasonable ground;

5. The court may hear and determine the petition after notice to all parties in
interest, and may order the entry or cancellation of a new certificate, the
entry or cancellation of a memorandum upon a certificate, or grant any
other relief upon such terms and conditions, requiring security or bond if
necessary, as it may consider proper; Provided, however, That this section
shall not be construed to give the court authority to reopen the judgment
or decree of registration, and that nothing shall be done or ordered by the
court which shall impair the title or other interest of a purchaser holding a
certificate for value and in good faith, or his heirs and assigns, without
his or their written consent. Where the owner's duplicate certificate is not
presented, a similar petition may be filed as provided in the preceding
section.

6. All petitions or motions filed under this Section as well as under any other
provision of this Decree after original registration shall be filed and
entitled in the original case in which the decree or registration was
entered.

7. Procedure - The process in Court is as follows:

a) The Petition for Correction of the Certificate of title is filed in Court.

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 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.

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 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).

C. 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 the Registry, elevate the matter by
consulta within five days from receipt of notice of denial of registration to
Page 66 of 71
 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.

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.
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 9. Procedure

a) The following is the process involved in the resolution of Consultas:

b) Records Officer accepts annotation of transaction

c) Documents is examined by Examiner for completeness and

registrability and forwards the same with his findings to the Register
of Deeds

d) The Register of Deeds either approves, in doubt, or denies registration.

e) If the Register of Deeds is in doubt on the registrability of the document

an Endorsement letter addressed to the Administrator is prepared
together with the copy of the position paper on the reason of the doubt
together with a copy of the Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) and the
supporting documents.

f) If the Register of Deeds denies the registration, the Register of Deeds

issues a Notice of Denial indicating the grounds for denial and
advising the Registrant to write a letter containing his desire to appeal
the denial. The letter of the Registrant together with the copy of the
position paper of the Register of Deeds regarding his reason for denial,
the copy of the TCT and the supporting documents are transmitted to
the Office of the LRA Administrator.

g) Upon receipt, all the documents are forwarded to the Clerk of Court
Division of LRA and the same is examined for completeness. If the
documents is not complete a letter is prepared addressed to the
Register of Deeds for compliance. Action is taken upon compliance,
otherwise it is held pending.

h) The Clerk of Court forwards all the documents to the Law Division.

i) A Hearing Officer is assigned

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.

D. Adverse Claim

1. An adverse claim is a notice of a claim adverse to the registered owner,

the validity of which is yet to be stablished in court at some future date,
and is no better than a notice of lis pendens already pending in court
(Acap v. CA, 251 SCRA 30).
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 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

h) Seller refused to deliver the owner's duplicate

i) Claim of heirs who were excluded (Carantes v. CA, 76 SCRA 514)

5. Cancellation by petition in court after 30 days by way of a petition in

Court; after said petition, no second claim is allowed.

E. Reversion - restoration of public land fraudulently awarded or

disposed of to the mass of the public domain

✓ 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 for reversion is instituted by the Solicitor General.

✓ Action is imprescriptible

Grounds:

✓ Violation of the Constitution, disposition of inalienable land

✓ Falsehood in the application for a patent

Section 91 of the PLA

✓ Director of Lands may investigate even if the patent is already registered

and indefeasible (Republic v. De Guzman, 326 SCRA 267)

IV. DEALINGS WITH UNREGISTERED LANDS

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

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 henceforth be registered under Section 113 of this Decree (Section 3, P.D.
1529)

B. Recording of instruments relating to unregistered lands. No deed,

conveyance, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument affecting land not
registered under the Torrens system shall be valid, except as between the
parties thereto, unless such instrument shall have been recorded in
the manner herein prescribed in the office of the Register of Deeds for the
province or city where the land lies.

C. The Register of Deeds for each province or city shall keep a Primary Entry
Book and a Registration Book. The Primary Entry Book shall contain, among
other particulars, the entry number, the names of the parties, the nature of
the document, the date, hour and minute it was presented and received. The
recording of the deed and other instruments relating to unregistered lands
shall be effected by any of annotation on the space provided therefor in the
Registration Book, after the same shall have been entered in the Primary
Entry Book.

D. If, on the face of the instrument, it appears that it is sufficient in law, the
Register of Deeds shall forthwith record the instrument in the manner
provided herein. In case the Register of Deeds refuses its administration to
record, said official shall advise the party in interest in writing of the ground
or grounds for his refusal, and the latter may appeal the matter to the
Commissioner of Land Registration in accordance with the provisions of
Section 117 of this Decree. It shall be understood that any recording made
under this section shall be without prejudice to a third party with a better
right.

E. After recording on the Record Book, the Register of Deeds shall endorse
among other things, upon the original of the recorded instruments, the file
number and the date as well as the hour and minute when the document
was received for recording as shown in the Primary Entry Book, returning to
the registrant or person in interest the duplicate of the instrument, with
appropriate annotation, certifying that he has recorded the instrument after
reserving one copy thereof to be furnished the provincial or city assessor as
required by existing law.

F. Tax sale, attachment and levy, notice of lis pendens, adverse claim and other
instruments in the nature of involuntary dealings with respect to
unregistered lands, If made in the form sufficient in law, shall likewise be
admissible to record under this section.

G. For the services to be rendered by the Register of Deeds under this section,
he shall collect the same amount of fees prescribed for similar services for the
registration of deeds or instruments concerning registered lands.

V. Foreign Ownership

A. In general- only Filipino citizens may own land in the Philippines except if the
acquisition of the land was through hereditary succession. This is a
constitutional restriction that was placed under the 1935 Constitution.
However, property rights of American citizens existing prior to the 1935
Constitution are respected. The provisions was modified in the 1987
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 Constitution to exempt natural-born citizens who had lost his citizenship
subject to certain conditions. The 1973 Constitution did not explicitly allows
former natural born citizens to own land, nonetheless, Batas Pambansa
Bilang 185 allows concession to former Filipinos under the general power of
the Prime Minister under Section 15 of Article XIII. The present Constitution
only allows two exception to the prohibition against foreign ownership: (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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