Prepared

 by:  John  Mark  F.  Sunga,  2012-­‐0351  

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS (P.D.

1529)

Office of the Register of Deeds.

1. There shall be at least one (1) Register of Deeds for each province
and one for each city.
2. Every Registry with a yearly average collection of more than sixty
thousand pesos during the last three years shall have one Deputy
Register of Deeds, and every Registry with a yearly average
collection of more than three hundred thousand pesos during the
last three years, shall have one Deputy Register of Deeds and one
second Deputy Register of Deeds.
3. Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial
jurisdiction of each Registry upon the recommendation of the
Commissioner of Land Registration, with the end in view of making
every registry easily accessible to the people of the neighboring
municipalities.
4. The province or city shall furnish a suitable space or building for the
office of the Register of Deeds until such time as the same could
be furnished out of national funds.

Appointment of Registers of Deeds and their Deputies and other

subordinate personnel; salaries.

1. Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the President of the

Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Justice.
2. Deputy Registers of Deeds and all other subordinate personnel of
the Registries of Deeds shall be appointed by the Secretary of
Justice upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Land
Registration.

The salaries of Registers of Deeds and their Deputies shall be at the

following rates:

(1) First Class Registries The salaries of Registers of Deeds in first class
Registries shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less
than that of the Deputy Commissioner.

(2) Second Class Registries The salaries of Registers of Deeds in second

class Registries shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum
less than those of Registers of Deeds in first class Registries.

(3) Third Class Registries The salaries of Registers of Deeds in third class
 Prepared  by:  John  Mark  F.  Sunga,  2012-­‐0351  

Registries shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less
than those of Registers of Deeds in second class Registries.

(4) The salaries of Deputy Registers of Deeds and Second Deputy

Registers of Deeds shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per
annum less than those of their corresponding Registers of Deeds and
Deputy Registers of Deeds, respectively.

The Secretary of Justice, upon recommendation of the Commissioner of

Land Registration, shall cause the reclassification of Registries based
either on work load or the class of province/city, whichever will result in a
higher classification, for purposes of salary adjustments in accordance
with the rates hereinabove provided.

*take note however that the current salary of the Register of Deeds
under the Salary Standardization Act (Salary Grade 25, 26, 27) which
is now under the Third Tranche (E.O. 40) shall be Php 48,071, 51,642,
55,487 respectively.

Qualifications of Registers of Deeds

1. No person shall be appointed Register of Deeds unless he has been

admitted to the practice of law in the Philippines

2. Shall have been actually engaged in such practice for at least three
years or has been employed for a like period in any branch of government
the functions of which include the registration of property.

General functions of Registers of Deeds

1. The office of the Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of

records of instruments affecting registered or unregistered lands and
chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein such office is situated.

2. It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to immediately register an

instrument presented for registration dealing with real or personal property
which complies with all the requisites for registration.

3. He shall see to it that said instrument bears the proper documentary

and science stamps and that the same are properly canceled. If the
instrument is not registerable, he shall forthwith deny registration thereof
and inform the presentor of such denial in writing, stating the ground or
 Prepared  by:  John  Mark  F.  Sunga,  2012-­‐0351  

reason therefor, and advising him of his right to appeal by consulta in

accordance with Section 117 of PD 1529.

Discharge of duties of Register of Deeds in case of vacancy, etc.

1. Until a regular Register of Deeds shall have been appointed for a

province or city, or in case of vacancy in the office, or upon the occasion of
the absence, illness, suspension, or inability of the Register of Deeds to
discharge his duties, said duties shall be performed by the following
officials, in the order in which they are mentioned below, unless the
Secretary of Justice designates another official to act temporarily in his
place:

(a) For the province or city where there is a Deputy Register of Deeds, by
said Deputy Register of Deeds, or by the second Deputy Register of
Deeds, should there be one;

(b) For the province or city where there is no Deputy or second Deputy
Register of Deeds, by the Provincial or City Fiscal, or any Assistant Fiscal
designated by the Provincial or City Fiscal;

2. In case of absence, disability or suspension of the Register of Deeds

without pay, or in case of vacancy in the position, the Secretary of Justice
may, in his discretion, authorize the payment of an additional
compensation to the official acting as Register of Deeds, such additional
compensation together with his actual salary not to exceed the salary
authorized for the position thus filled by him.

3. In case of a newly-created province or city and pending establishment

of a Registry of Deeds and the appointment of a regular Register of Deeds
for the new province or city, the Register of Deeds of the mother province
or city shall be the ex-officio Register of Deeds for said new province or
city.

Owner's Index and Reports

There shall be prepared in every Registry an index system which shall

contain the names of all registered owners alphabetically arranged. For
this purpose, an index card which shall be prepared in the name of each
registered owner which shall contain a list of all lands registered in his
name.

The Register of Deeds shall submit to the Land Registration Commission

within ten days after the month to which they pertain his monthly reports
on collections and accomplishments. He shall also submit to the
 Prepared  by:  John  Mark  F.  Sunga,  2012-­‐0351  

Commission at the end of December of each year, an annual inventory of

all titles and instruments in his Registry.

JURISDICTION OF LABOR ARBITERS

a. Original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide the following cases
involving all workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural:
1. Unfair labor practice cases;
2. Termination disputes;
3. If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases
that workers may file involving wages, rates of pay, hours of
work and other terms and conditions of employment;
4. Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of
damages arising from the employer-employee relations;
5. Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of this Code,
including questions involving the legality of strikes and
lockouts; and
6. Except claims for Employees Compensation, Social Security,
Medicare and maternity benefits, all other claims arising from
employer-employee relations, including those of persons in
domestic or household service, involving an amount
exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) regardless of
whether accompanied with a claim for reinstatement (Article
217, Labor Code, as amended).

b. Original and exclusive jurisdiction over money claims arising out of

employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract,
involving Filipino workers for overseas deployment, including claims
for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages (Section
10, Republic Act No. 8042, as amended by Republic Act No.
10022).

c. Wage distortion disputes in unorganized establishments not voluntarily

settled by the parties pursuant to Republic Act No. 6727.

d. Enforcement of compromise agreements when there is non-compliance

by any of the parties or if there is prima facie evidence that the
settlement was obtained through fraud, misrepresentation or
coercion (Article 227, Labor Code, as amended).

Other cases as may be provided by law.

 Prepared  by:  John  Mark  F.  Sunga,  2012-­‐0351  

HOW TO BECOME A LABOR ARBITER

1. The need for a Labor Arbiter nominee arises when a vacancy
occurs in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) due to
the death, retirement, or resignation of a Labor Arbiter (or when a
Labor Arbiter announces the intention to retire or resign).

2. It then becomes the President’s constitutional responsibility to

appoint a successor to the vacating Arbiter, upon recommendation
of the Secretary of Labor and Employment and shall be subject to
the Civil Service Law, rules and regulations.

3. To be qualified to apply for the Labor Arbiter position, one has to be

a member of the Philippine Bar, with at least ten (10) years law
practice in the Philippines and with not less than five (5) years
experience or exposure in the field of labor-management relations
(RA 9347).

4. The NLRC’s Selection Board, composed of six members, designed

an application procedure for vacant Labor Arbiter positions. The
first step that the Board does is to screen the credentials of
applicants to determine who are eligible to take the written exam.
When they pass the written exam, applicants will be notified for the
schedule of their panel interview.

5. After the interviews have taken place, the Board determines who
may be able to fill the position satisfactorily and would come out
with a list of their recommendees.. The Board likewise endorses the
conduct by professional psychiatrists of a neuro-psychiatric exam to
the candidates.

6. The list of qualified persons culled from the applicants lists will then
be forwarded to Secretary of the Department of Labor and
Employment for her endorsement to the Office of the President
(OP) which has its own Search Committee. It is the OP Search
Committee who would finally submit the list of nominees to
President of the Republic of the Philippines.

7. The presidential appointees will then have to finalize several other

requirements like the personal data sheet, service record (if
government employee), certification that the recommendee
possesses all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications,
bar rating and clearances from the a) Civil Service Commission, b)
Office of the Ombudsman, c) Sandiganbayan, d) National Bureau of
Investigation, and, e) Office clearance as to administrative cases
and financial accountabilities.
 Prepared  by:  John  Mark  F.  Sunga,  2012-­‐0351  

SALARIES, BENEFITS AND OTHER EMOLUMENTS

The Chairman and members of the Commission shall have the same rank,
receive an annual salary equivalent to, and be entitled to the same
allowances, retirement and benefits as, those of the Presiding Justice and
Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals, respectively. Labor Arbiters
shall have the same rank, receive an annual salary equivalent to and be
entitled to the same allowances, retirement and other benefits and
privileges as those of the judges of the regional trial courts. In no case,
however, shall the provision of this Article result in the diminution of the
existing salaries, allowances and benefits of the aforementioned officials."
(SEC.4, R.A. 9347)

N.B. under the Salary Standardization Act (Salary Grade 25, 26, 27)
which is now under the Third Tranche (E.O. 40) shall be Php 48,071,
51,642, 55,487 respectively.