21.

DOCTRINE OF OPEARTIVE FACT

 recognizes the existence of the law or executive act prior to the declaration of its unconstitutionality as an
operative fact that produced effects that cannot always be erased, ignored or disregarded.
 As a general rule, an unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no
protection; it creates no office; it is inoperative as if it has not been passed at all. The general rule is
supported by Article 7 of the Civil Code.
 The Doctrine of Operative Fact serves as an exception to the aforementioned general rule. The doctrine of
operative fact, as an exception to the general rule only applies as a matter of equity and fair play. It nullifies
the effects of an unconstitutional law by recognizing that the existence of a statute prior to a determination
of unconstitutionality is an operative fact and may have consequences that which cannot always be ignored.

22. MIRROR DOCTRINE

 every person dealing with registered land may safely rely on the correctness of the certificate of title issued
therefor and is in no way obliged to go beyond the certificate to determine the condition of the property.

23. ACTION FOR RECONVEYANCE

 It is an action seeking to transfer or reconvey the land from the registered owner to the rightful owner. It is
a legal and equitable remedy granted to the rightful owner of land which has been wrongfully or
erroneously registered in the name of another for the purposes of compelling the latter to transfer or
reconvey the land to him (Spouses Exequiel and Eusebia Lopez v. Spouses Eduardo and Marcelina Lopez,
G.R. No. 161925, November 25, 2009).
 Requisites must concur: (1) the action must be brought in the name of a person claiming ownership or
dominical right over the land registered in the name of the defendant; (2) the registration of the land in the
name of the defendant was procured through fraud[24] or other illegal means; (3) the property has not yet
passed to an innocent purchaser for value; and (4) the action is filed after the certificate of title had already
become final and incontrovertible but within four years from the discovery of the fraud, or not later than
10 years in the case of an implied trust.

24. PATERNITY vs FILIATION

 Paternity is the civil status of a father with regard to the child.
 Filiation is the civil status of a child with regard to his parents.

25. USUFRUCT
Usufruct is the right of a person called usufructuary, to enjoy the property of another called the owner, with the
obligation of returning it at the designated time and preserving its form and substance, unless the title constituting
it or the law provides otherwise