BSGE

G.E. LAWS
RA 8371 “The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997
Refer to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands,
inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources therein, held under
a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by
themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually
Ancestral Domains since time immemorial, continuously to the present.
It shall include ancestral lands, forest, pasture, residential, agricultural
and other lands individually owned whether alienable and disposable
or otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds, worship areas, bodies
of water, mineral and other natural resources.
Refer to land occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals, families
and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs since time immemorial,
Ancestral Lands by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest, under claims
of individual or traditional group ownership, continuously to the
present.
Refers to a title formally recognizing the rights of possession and
Certificate of Ancestral
ownership of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral domains identified and
Domain Title
delineated in accordance with the law.
Refers to claims on land, resources and rights thereon, belonging to
Communal Claims
the whole community within a defined territory.
Refer to a body of written and/or unwritten rules, usages, customs and
Customary Laws
practices traditionally and continually recognized, accepted and
observed by respective ICCs/Ips.
The consensus of all members of the ICCs/IPs to be determined in
Free and Prior accordance with their respective customary laws and practices, free
Informed Consent from any external manipulation, interference and coercion, and
obtained after fully disclosing the intent and scope of the activity, in a
language and process understandable to the community.
Refer to a group of people or homogenous societies identified by self
–ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as
organized community on communally bounded and defined territory,
and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial,
occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common
Indigenous Cultural
bonds of language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural
Communities /
traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural
Indigenous Peoples
inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, or the
establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of
their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who
may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may
have resettled outside their ancestral domains.
Refer to organizational and cultural leadership systems, institutions,
Indigenous Political relationships, patterns and processes for decision-making and
Structures participation, identified by ICCs/IPs such as, but not limited to,
Council of Elders, Council of Timuays, Bodong Holders, or any other
tribunal or body of similar nature.

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 Refer to claims on land and rights thereon which have been devolved
to individuals, families and clans including, but not limited to,
Individual Claims
residential lots, rice terraces or paddies and tree lots
Refers to the office created under IPRA, which shall be the primary
National Commission government agency responsible for the formulation and
on Indigenous Peoples implementation of policies, plans and programs to recognize, protect
and promote the rights of ICCs/Ips.
Refers to pre-conquest rights to lands and domains which, as far back
as memory reaches, have been held under a claim of private
Native Title ownership by ICCs/IPs, have never been public lands and are thus
indisputably presumed to have been held that way since before the
Spanish Conquest
Refers to a private, non-profit organization that has been organized
Non - Government primarily for the delivery of various services to the ICCs/IPs and has
Organization an established track record for effectiveness and acceptability in the
community where it serves.
People’s Organization Refers to a private, non-profit voluntary organization of members of
an ICC/IP which is accepted as representative of such ICCs/Ips.
Refer to the rights of ICCs/IPs to sustainably use, manage, protect and
conserve a) land, air, water, and minerals; b) plants, animals and other
Sustainable Traditional organisms; c) collecting, fishing and hunting grounds; d) sacred sites;
Resource Rights and e) other areas of economic, ceremonial and aesthetic value in
accordance with their indigenous knowledge, beliefs, systems and
practices.
Refers to a period of time when as far back as memory can go,certain
ICCs/IPs are known to have occupied, possessed in the concept of
Time Immemorial owner, and utilized a defined territory devolved to them, by operation
of customary law or inherited from their ancestors, in accordance with
their customs and traditions.
PD 705 “Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines”
The mass of lands of the public domain which has not been the
Public Forest subject of the present system of classification for the determination of
which lands are needed for forest purposes and which are not.
Refer to those lands of the public domain which have been the subject
Permanent Forest or
of the present system of classification and declared as not needed for
Forest Reserves
forest purposes.
Refer to those lands of the public domain which have been the subject
Alienable and
of the present system of classification and declared as not needed for
disposable lands
forest purposes.
Include the public forest, the permanent forest or forest reserves, and
Forest lands
forest reservations.
Refers to that portion of the public domain which has been set aside,
Grazing lands in view of the suitability of its topography and vegetation, for the
raising of livestock.
Refer to those lands of the public domain which have been classified
Mineral lands by Secretary of Natural Resources in accordance with prescribed and
approved criteria, guidelines and procedures.
Refer to forest lands which have been reserved by the President of the
Forest reservations
Philippines.

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 G.E. Laws (Public Land)
GLRO Circ. 114 IRR for Act 496 and Act 2259
Phil. Bill 0f 1902; Draft laws for Philippines submitted to American
Cooper Act
legislation
Act 218 Creating Insular Bureau of Public lands
Act 222 Bureau of Public lands placed under Department of Interior
Act 496 Land Registration Act
Act 926 First Public land law
Act 1120 The Friar Lands Act
Act 2152 Irrigation Act (1912)
Act 2259 Cadastral Act
An act providing certain special proceedings for the settlement and
Act 2259
adjudication of land titles
Act 2711 Revised Administrative Code
Act 2719 Coal Land Act
Act 2874 Second Public land Law
Act 2932 Oil and gas Act
Act 3240
Act 3327 Authorizing private land surveyors to make cadastral surveys
Act 3626 Creating board of examiners for surveyors (Dec. 5, 1929)
Act 4003 Fisheries Act
Providing for the subdivision and sale of all the portions of the friar
CA 32
lands estates remaining undisposed
Anti – dummy law punishes act of evansion of the law on the
CA 108
nationalization of certain right, freedom of privilege
An act to amend and compile the laws relative to lands of the public
CA 141
domain
CA 141 The Public Land Act
CA 157 Mineral Land Act
An act punishing the transfer of private agricultural land to
CA 310
disqualified persons in violation of the Constitution of the Philippines
CA 456
Phil. Bill of 1902: Draft laws for the Philippines submitted to
Cooper Act
American legislation.
Granting natural born citizens of the Philippines who has lost his
Philippine citizenship to become a transferee of private lands, for use
BP 185 (approved
by him as his residence up to a maximum area of 1,000 square meters
March 16, 1982)
in urban lands or 1 hectare in case of rural lands approved March 16,
1982
An act authorizing the Ministry of Human Settlements to establish
and promulgate different levels of standards and technical
BP 220
requirements for economic and socialized housing projects in urban
and rural areas
An act to hasten titling of residential lands of the public domain by
authorizing the grant of free patent under certain conditions and
BP 223
providing for expeditious cadastral and other judicial proceeding with
respect thereto and other purposes
Proc. 2146 Lists Environmentally Critical Projects
LRA Circ. No. 27 Rules and Regulations in the verification of subdivision plans

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 Devolving the Powers of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory
E.O NO. 71 Board to Approved Subdivision Plans to Cities and Municipalities
(approved March 23, 1993)
Providing for the Preparation and Implementation of the
EO 72
Comprehensive Land Use Plans of LGUs
EO 113 Establishing the classification of roads
Establishing an institutional mechanism to curtail the activities of
EO 129, s, 1993 professional squatting syndicates and professional squatters and
intensifying the drive against them
Modifying EO 129 Reorganizing and Strengthening Department of
EO 129-A
Agrarian Reform and for other purposes
Declaring full land ownership to qualified beneficiaries covered by
PD 27; Determining the value of remaining unvalued rice and corn
EO 228
lands subject of PD 27; and Providing for the manner of payment by
the farmer beneficiary and mode of compensation to the landowner.
Providing the mechanism for the implementation of the
EO 229
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
Prescribing the interim procedures in the processing and approval of
EO 278, s. 1987 applications for the development or utilization of forestlands and/or
forest resources
Vesting in the Land Bank of the Philippines the primary
EO 405 responsibility to determine the Land Valuation and Compensation for
all lands under RA 6657
Accelerating the acquisition and distribution of agricultural lands,
EO 407 pasture lands, fishponds, agro-forestry lands and other lands of the
public domain suitable for agriculture
creates 13 regional Register of Deeds; 1 for each province and city
Sec. 3 of E.O 649
(Feb. 9, 1981)
HLURB RES. 511 S. Implementing Rules and Regulations to govern Section 18 of RA
'92 7279 (see also HLURB RESOLUTION NO. 575 Series of 1995)
HLURB Res. 578 & Revised Minimum Design Standards for PD 957 & BP 220 (Oct. 9,
579, S. 1995 1995)
PD 2 Proclaim entire country as land refer area
PD 27 A decree of the Emancipation of Tenants of the Bondage of the Soil
PD 42 and 104 Law governing the development of the fishery industry in the country
Allowing citizens of the Philippines or corporations or associations at
least sixty percentum of the capital of which is owned by such
PD 151 citizens to enter into service contracts with foreign persons or
corporations for the exploration, development, exploitation or
utilization of lands of the public domain; amending CA 141
Prohibitng the employment or use of share tenants in complying with
PD 152 requirements of law regarding entry, occupation, improvement and
cultivation of public lands; amending CA 141
PD 202 Created Jr. G.E.s because of lack of surveyors
PD 203
Providing for the mechanics of registration of ownership and/or title
PD 268
to land under PD 27
Requiring that all public forests be developed, managed, and utilized
PD 331 on a sustained yield basis with the benefit of technical forestry know-
how of registered foresters

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 Allowed CEs to take Jr. GE board exams w/o laws and survey less
PD 335
than 5 lots
PD 389 FORESTRY REFORM CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
All unappropriated agricultural lands of the public domain occupied
and cultivated by members of the national cultural communities for at
least 10 years has been declared “ ancestral lands”, for distribution
PD 410
exclusively among the members of said communities and to be
developed for the establishment of agro – industrial projects (March
11, 1974)
PD 463 Mineral Resources Development Decree of 1974
PD 463 Mineral Land Act
PD 704 Revised Fisheries Code
PD 705 Revised Forestry Code
PD 757 Creation of the National Housing Authority
PD 772 Penalizing squatting and other similar acts
PD 845 Standard and design of the Sanitation Code of the Philippines
Providing for the classification and valuation of timber and forest
PD 853
lands for purposes of real property taxation
Allowing pasture lessees to use their pasture lands for agricultural
PD 861
purposes under certain conditions
A decree which discontinues the Spanish Mortgage System of
PD 892
Registration of Titles
PD 953
PD 957 The Subdivision and Condominium Buyers Protective Decree
PD 1067 Philippine Water Code
PD 1084
Conveying the land reclaimed in the foreshore and offshore of the
PD 1085
Manila Bay as property of the Public Estates Authority
PD 1096 National Building Code
Requiring all government agencies, government-owned and
PD 1151 controlled corporations and the private sector to prepare, file and
include in every action, project or undertaking a detailed EIA report
PD 1152 Philippine Environment Code
PD 1185 Fire Code of the Philippines
Defining "Open Space" in residential subdivisions and amending Sec.
PD 1216 31 of PD 957 requiring subdivision owners to provide roads, alleys,
sidewalks and reserve open space for parks or recreational use
PD 1308 Law regulating the practice of environmental planning profession
PD 1517 A decree proclaiming Urban Land Reform in the Philippines
PD 1529 Property Registration Decree
PD 1586 Establishing the EIS System
PD 1899 Implementation of small scale planning
An act authorizing the Director of lands to subdivide the lands within
Military Reservations belonging to the RP which are no longer
Public Act 274
needed for military purposes, and ti dispose of the same by sale
subject to certain conditions, and for other purposes
Environmental Policy
1998 Fisheries Code of the Philippines
RA 26 An act which allows the Reconstitution of Torrens Certificates of

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 Title Lost or Destroyed
An act amending certain sections of Act 4054, otherwiae known as
RA 34
Philippine Tenancy Act
An act to authorize the mortgage of private real estate property in
RA 133
favor of any individual, corporation, or association
An act authorizing cities, municipalities and provinces to purchase
and/or expropriate homesites and landed estates and subdivide them
RA 267
for resale at cost, and to use their own funds or contract loans for the
purpose
RA. 274 Description of idle military reservations (June 15, 1948)
An Act authorizing the sale of marshy lands or lands under water
RA 293
bordering on shores and banks of invigable lakes or rivers
Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts of the Philippines each has been granted
RA 397 & RA 5401
up to 10,000 hectares of land of the public domain
Allows splitting or consolidation of titles. Intervention of the courts
may now be dispensed with and the necessary petition may be
RA No. 440 brought directly to the RD, provided no street or passageway or any
alternation in the original perimeter of the land as subdivided is
involved
An act which prohibits registration of certain documents affecting real
RA 456
property which is delinquent in the payment of real estate taxes
Allows private sale w/o public bidding where the purchaser is a: a) a
Filipino of legal age ; b) is not an owner of a home lot in the
RA 730
municipality or city in which he resides; c) in good faith has
established on a parcel of public w/c is not needed for public service
An act to permit the sale without public auction of public lands for
RA 730
residential purposes
RA 917 Philippine Highway Act
An act to authorize the President to convey public land and other
RA 926 public property in payment of landed estates acquired by the
government
An act making it unlawful for any person, corporation or association
RA 947 to forcibly enter or occupy public agricultural lands and penalizing
violations thereof
An act authorizing the DBP and the PNB to grant loans to
RA 1085
homesteaders under certain conditions
RA 1151, as amended Creation of the Office of Land Registration Commission.
An act to govern the relations between landholders and tenants of
RA 1199
agricultural lands
An act creating the Court of Agrarian Relations, Prescribing its
RA 1267
Jurisdiction and Establishing its Rules of Procedure
An act amending CA 141 (June 14, 1955) imposes a reservation of
40 meters wide along the bank on each side of any river or stream for
RA 1273
the purpose of reserving the same permanent timberland of the
Government
The Chattel Mortgage Law. An act providing for the mortgaging of
RA 1508
personal property and for the registration of mortgages so executed
Allows safe w/out public bidding to bona fide occupants within the
RA 1597 Tondo for foreshore areas provided they do not own residential lots in
the cities of Manila, Quezon and Pasay or their suburbs

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 An act providing for the subdivision of the Tondo foreshore land into
RA 1597 lots and the sale of said lots to their lessees or to bona fide occupants
of said land
RA 1899 Reclamation of foreshore lands by chartered cities and municipalities
An act to authorize reconveyance of lands donated to the national
RA 2348
government under CA 141
An act authorizing the Secretary of Agricultural and Natural
RA 3038 Resources to sell or lease land of the private domain of the
government of the Philippine Islands
RA 3385
RA 3601 Act creating NIA (June 22, 1963)
An act to ordain the Agricultural Land Reform Code and to institute
RA 3844
land reform in the Philippines
RA 4054 The Rice Share Tenancy Act
An act to prescribe certain provisions concerning tenancy contracts on
RA 4113
land planted to sugarcane, as amended
RA 4374 First Geodetic Enginnering Law
RA 4726 The Condominium Act
An act to define condominium, establish requirements for its creation
RA 4726
and govern its incidents
RA 6389 An act amending RA 3844, as amended
RA 6541 National Building Code
RA 6552 Realty installment buyer protection act (Maceda Law)
RA 6657 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law of 1988
(Jan 31, 1990) extent the period of filing application for confirmation
R.A 6940
of title until Dec 31, 2000
RA 7076 People's Small-Scale Mining Act
Amended and renumbered the sections of PD 705 (Revised Forestry
RA 7161
Code of the Phils.)
RA 7160 Local Government Code
RA 7279 The Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992
RA 7279 Also known as the Lina Law
An act providing for the establishment and management of national
RA 7586 integrated protected areas system, defining its scope and coverage,
and for other purposes
RA 7942 Philippine mining Act of 1995
RA 8371 The Indigenous People Rights Act of 1997
Extending the period of implementation of RA 6657, aproved Feb.
RA 8532
23, 1998
RA 8560 The Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998
An act to facilitate the acquisition of right-of-way, site or location for
RA 8974
national government infrastructure projects and for other purposes
Extending the period until Dec. 31, 2020 for the filing of applications
RA 9176
for free patent and confirmation of imperfect and incomplete titles
RA 9200 Amending RA 8560
National Government Center (NGC) Housing and Land Utilization
RA 9207
Act of 1993
An act declaring certain portions of the national government center
RA 9207
site open

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 Administrative Orders (Series of 1988)
Guidelines for the implementation of Sec. 15, EO 229, on joint DAR
AO 2 DENR Certification of Public Lands

Policy guidelines governing the issuance/renewal of permits or

AO 3 contracts/agreements to cut, remove and dispose timber in DAR
settlement projects
AO 12 Amends the procedures under DAR AO 2 Series of 1987
Amends the policy guidelines and procedures in the generation and
AO 13
issuance of emancipation patents under PD 27
Authorizes the heirs of deceased beneficiaries to acquire and register
AO 14
in the name of the heirs land acquired under CARP
Rules and procedures governing conversion of private agricultural
AO 15
lands to non-agricultural uses
Administrative Orders (Series of 1989)
AO 1 Rules and procedures governing land transactions
Rules and procedures governing compulsory acquisition of private
AO 2
government-owned agricultural lands under RA 6657
Rules and procedures governing voluntary offers to sell landsunder
AO 3
CARP
Rules and procedures governing agricultural leasehold and the
AO 4
determination of lease rental for tenanted lands
Rules and procedures governing the organization of Provincial
AO 5 Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM) and the
Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC)
Rules and procedures governing titling and distribution of lots in
AO 9
DAR Settlement Project
AO 10 Rules and procedures governing the registration of beneficiaries
Rules and regulations governing the accreditation of NGO’s
AO 11
participating in DAR programs
Revised rules and regulations governing on the compulsory
AO 12
acquisitions of agricultural lands under RA 6657
Amendments to AO 3 Series of 1989 governing the voluntary offer to
AO 14 – A
sell transactions and providing a deadline for the filing thereof
Rules and regulations amending valuation of lands voluntarily offered
AO 17 pursuant to EO 229 and RA 6657 and those compulsory acquired
pursuant to RA 6657
Revised rules and procedures governing conversion of private
AO 18
agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses
Revised rules and procedures governing voluntary offer to sell
AO 19
transactions and providing a deadline for the filing thereof
Administrative Orders (Series of 1990)
Revised rules and regulations governing conversion of private
AO 1
agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses
Rules and procedures governing the processing and approval of
AO 2
applications for land use conversion
Act 496 Judicial proceedings, voluntary
Act 2259 Judicial proceedings, compulsory

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CA 141 – judicial or administrative proceedings

Judicial – registration is heard at RTC, and plans of land claimed is forwarded to Director of
Lands

Administrative
1. by homestead settlement (Ch 4, Sec 12-21)
2. by sale (Ch 5, Sec 22-32)
3. by lease (Ch 6, Sec 33-43)
4. by free patent, or confirmation of imperfect titles (Ch 7, Sec 44-46)

PD 1529
General Procedure in Ordinary Land Registration
1. Survey of land by the Bureau of Lands or a duly licensed private surveyor;
2. Filing of application for registration by applicant
3. Setting of the date for the initial hearing of the application by the court
4. Transmittal of the application and the date of initial hearing together with all the
documents or other evidences attached thereto by the Clerk of Court to the Land
Registration Commission
5. Publication of a notice of the filing of the application and date and place of hearing once
in the Official Gazette and once in the newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines
6. Service of notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those known to have interest in
the property by the sheriff
7. Filing of answer or opposition to the application by any person whether named in the
notice or not
8. Hearing of the case by the Court
9. Promulgation of judgment by the Court
10. Issuance of the decree by the court declaring the decision is final and instructing the land
Registration Commission to issue decree of confirmation and registration
11. Entry of the decree of registration in the Land Registration Commission
12. Sending of copy of the decree of registration to the corresponding Register of Deeds
13. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration book and the issuance of the
owner’s duplicate original certificate of title of the applicant by the Register of Deeds,
upon payment of the prescribed fees

Initial hearing of the case is not less than 45 days or more than 90 days from date of
order.

Decision
1. A decision contains a statement of facts proved in the hearing.
2. It does not become final until after expiration of 30 days from the date of notice. (e.g.
new trial or appeal)
3. The review of a decision or relief from judgment must be filed within a period of 60 days
from the time the petitioner learns of the judgment and not beyond 6 months from the
entry thereof.

Decree
1. A decree is in the form of an order from the court stating that the property is registered in
the name of applicant and contains a technical description of the property and all
encumbrances affecting the same

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 2. Registration does not become final until after the lapse of one year from the date of its
issuance and entry
3. Review on decree on grounds of fraud is made within one year from the entry thereof

Other remedies for aggrieved party in land registration cases:

1. Reconveyance – available if the property has not passed on to an innocent third person
i. Actual fraud in securing the title must be proved
ii. Action must be instituted w/in 4 years after the discovery of fraud

2. Recovery of damages thru the state assurance fund – when a person is wrongly deprived
of land without negligence on his part

Act 2259
Cadastral Registration Proceedings
1. Cadastral Survey – after the Director of Lands had given notice to all persons claiming
interest on the land and the general public of the date of survey, publication of notice in
the Official Gazette and the posting of notices in conspicuous places, the lots surveyed
are given and assigned cadastral lot numbers
2. Filing of petition – by the Director of Lands thru the Solicitor General in Court against
the holder, claimants, possessors and occupants of the land
3. Publication of Notice of Initial Hearing – in the Official Gazette and in newspapers of
general circulation
4. Filing of Answer – state his name, address, cadastral lot number, name of adjoining lots,
length of time of possession, document of ownership, assessed value of the property,
encumbrances
5. Hearing of the case – conflicting interests are determined after presentation of evidence
6. Decision by the Court
7. Filing and Registration of the decree – with the Register of Deeds for issuance of the
original certificate of title

RA 6657
Lands covered:
1. All alienable and disposable lands of the public domain devoted to or suitable for
agriculture
2. All lands of the public domain in excess of the specific limits as determined by Congress
3. All lands owned by the Government devoted to or suitable for agriculture
4. All private lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture regardless of the agricultural
products raised or that can be raised thereon.

Exempted or excluded from CARL (as amended by RA 7887)

1. Lands actually, directly and exclusively used for parks, wildlife, forest reserves,
reforestation, fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds and mangroves
2. Private lands, actually, directly and exclusively used for prawn farms and fishponds
except those already distributed
3. Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and found to be necessary for national
defense, school sites and campuses, including experimental farm stations

Landless residents shall be in the following order of priority:

1. Agricultural lessees and share tenants
2. Regular farm workers
3. Seasonal farm workers

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 4. Other farm workers
5. Actual tillers or occupants of public lands
6. Collectives or cooperatives of the above beneficiaries
7. others directly working on the land

Beneficiaries:
1. Tenant farmers
2. Agricultural wage earners or farm workers
3. Owner-cultivators of less than family-size farms

Definitions
1. Land reform – refers to the full range of measures that may or should be taken to improve
or remedy the defects in the relations between the tiller and the owner of farmland with
respect to their rights in land
2. Agrarian reform – the redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or fruits produced, to
farmers and regular farm workers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement
3. Agrarian structure – a complex set of relationships within the agricultural sector among
tenure structure, production structure, and the structure of supporting services
4. Land tenure structure – a concept, which refers to one or more types of land tenure
systems regulating the rights to ownership and control and usage of land and the duties
accompanying such rights
5. Production structure – a concept, which relates to the nature, as well as the actual process
of production or farm operation
6. Agricultural land – refers to land devoted to agricultural activity and not classified as
mineral, forest, residential, commercial or industrial land
7. Farmer – refers to a natural person whose primary livelihood is cultivation of land or the
production of agricultural crops
8. Farm worker – is a natural person who renders services as an employee or laborer in an
agricultural enterprise or farm regardless of whether his compensation is paid on a daily,
weekly, monthly or “pakyaw” basis
9. Irrigated lands – refers to land which, at the time of promulgation of the Decree, is
provided with water to increase agricultural production by double cropping through the
use of gravity flow system, power pump system
10. Upland – refers to elevated land that is not irrigated
11. Normal crop year – means a period of 12 months in which no natural calamities such as
typhoon, flood, pest and disease infestations have subsequently reduced crop production
12. Tenant farmers – those who actually till the land whether under share tenancy or lease
tenancy
13. Tenanted areas – areas worked on by the tenant-farmers either under the share cropping
or leasehold system
14. Landed estates – private agricultural lands acquired by DAR through Land Bank for
redistribution to the tenant tillers
15. Old settlements – settlement projects developed by DAR from the public domain and are
still under its administration and management
16. Proposed settlements – areas of the public domain for settlement purposes

Laws on Property and Ownership

Definitions

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1. Property – is anything that is or may be the object of appropriation
2. Property of Private Ownership – consists of all properties belonging to private persons,
either individually or collectively
3. Ownership – the independent right of exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing for the
purpose of deriving there from all advantages required by the reasonable needs of the
owner and the proportion of the general welfare but subject to the restrictions imposed by
law and the rights of others
4. Accession – the right pertaining to the owner of a thing over everything that is produced
thereby, or which is incorporated or attached thereto, either naturally or artificially
5. Co-ownership – whenever the ownership of an undivided thing or right belongs to
different persons
6. Possession – the holding of a thing or the enjoyment of a right, either by material
occupation or by the fact of subjecting the thing or right to the action of our will
7. Usufruct – a real right by virtue of which a person is given the right to enjoy the property
or another with the obligation of preserving its form and substance
8. Easement or servitude – an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of
another immovable belonging to a different owner
9. Patrimonial Property of the State – those which belongs to the state as a private
individual, without being devoted to common use
10. Friar lands – lands acquired by the government during the Taft administration from
religious corporations. They are private lands of the government
11. Donation – an act of liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously a thing or right in
favor of another who accepts it
12. Succession – a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and
obligations, to the extent of the value of inheritance of a person is transmitted upon his
death to another either by will or by operation of law
13. Writ of possession – a writ of execution commanding the sheriff to enter the land and
give possession thereof to the person entitled under the judgment
14. Original Certificate of Title or Transfer Certificate of Title – is a document issued by the
government thru the Register of Deeds certifying that the person named therein is the
registered owner of the property described therein and that he holds the same subject only
to the restrictions, conditions and encumbrances stated therein
15. Land Title – the right or document by virtue of which a person asserts control over a
property
16. Registration – the act or process of entering in a public register one’s right, title or
interest to real property

Different Kinds of Accession on Immovable

1. Natural fruits – the spontaneous products of the soil, and the young and other products of
animals
2. Industrial fruits – those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation and labor
3. Civil fruits – rents of buildings, the price of leases of lands and other property and the
amount of perpetual or life annuities, or other similar income
4. Natural accession
a. alluvion – the accretion in which lands adjoining the banks of rivers, lakes, creeks, or
torrents gradually receive from the effects of the current of the water
b. avulsion – the accretion which takes place whenever the current of a river, lake, creek
or torrent segregates from an estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers it
to another estate
c. change of river beds
d. formation of islands

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 Modes of Acquiring Ownership
1. Occupation
2. Intellectual creation
3. Prescription
4. Law
5. Donation
6. Testate or Intestate Succession

Limits of Ownership of Property

1. Police Power – the power of the government or agencies to regulate private real estate
ownership to protect the health, safety, morals and well being and general welfare of its
citizens
2. Eminent Domain – the power of the government to take private property for public use
upon payment of just compensation
3. Power of taxation – the government collects taxes on property for the general support of
the state and for the maintenance of public service, if not collected the government sells
the property
4. Escheat – reversion of the property to the government when the owner dies without
leaving a will or heirs

Contracts
Defective Contracts
1. Rescissible contracts – all essential requisites of a contract are present but may be
rescinded due to the damage to one of the parties or to a third person
2. Voidable contracts –
3. Unenforceable contracts –
4. Void or inexistent contracts – absolutely null and void and have no effect at all

 Rescissible and voidable contracts are valid and enforceable unless rescinded or annulled.
Unenforceable contracts are valid but are unenforceable unless they are ratified

Rescissible Contracts
1. Those of which are entered into by guardians whenever the ward whom they represent
suffer lesion by more than one-fourth of the value of the things which are the object
thereof
2. Those agreed upon in representation of absentees, if the latter suffer the lesion stated in
the preceding number
3. Those undertaken in fraud of creditors when the latter cannot in any manner collect the
claims due them
4. Those which refer to things under litigation if they have been entered into by the
defendant without the knowledge and approval of the litigants or of competent judicial
authority
5. All other contracts especially declared by law to be subject to rescission

Voidable Contracts
1. Those where one of the parties is incapable of giving consent to a contract
2. Those where the consent is vitiated by mistake, violence, intimidation, undue influence or
fraud

Dranreb 13
 Unenforceable Contracts
1. Those entered into the name of another person by one who has been given no authority or
legal representation, or who has acted beyond his powers
2. Those that do not comply with the Statute of Frauds
3. Those where both parties are incapable of giving consent to a contract

Rescission – remedy granted by law to the contracting parties and sometimes even to third
persons in order to secure reparation of damages caused them by a valid contract, by means
of the restoration of things to their condition in which they were prior to the celebration of
said contract

Annulment – remedy given by law, for reason of public interest, for the declaration of the
inefficacy of public interest, for the declaration of the inefficacy of a contract based on a
defect or vice in the consent of one of the contracting parties in order to restore them to their
original position in which they were before the contract was executed

Ratification – extinguishes the action to annul a voidable contract

Reformation – remedy by means of amending or rectifying a written instrument so as to

express or conform to the real agreement or intention of the parties

Who cannot give consent to a contract?

1. Unemancipated minors – persons aged 18 years and above; minors who are already
married or are recognized as such as recorded in the Civil Register
2. Insane or demented persons and deaf-mutes who do not know how to write
3. Persons suffering the accessory penalty of civil interdiction
4. Hospitalized lepers
5. Those who have unsound mind even though they have lucid intervals
6. Those who, by reason of age, disease, weak mind and other similar causes, cannot
without outside aid, take care of themselves and manage their property, thereby an easy
prey for deceit and exploitation

Grounds that render consent defective

1. Incapacity
2. Error or mistake
3. When violence of force was used to extort consent
4. Duress due to intimidation or threat is employed to compel a party to give consent
5. Undue influence
6. Fraud or deceit

Property Ownership & Its Modifications

Property – is anything which is or may be the object of appropriation.

Classification:
According to its nature:
a) immovable or real; b) movable or personal.

According to its ownership:

Dranreb 14
 a) of public dominion; b) of private ownership

Properties of Public Dominion

a) those intended for public use
b) those belonging to the State without being for public use and are intended for some public
service or for the development of the national wealth
c) properties for public used in provinces, cities and municipalities

Properties of Private Ownership: All properties belonging to private persons, either individually
or collectively

Ownership – is the independent right of exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing for the
purpose of deriving there from all advantages required by the reasonable needs of the owner and
the promotion of the general welfare but subject to the restrictions imposed by law and the rights
of others.

Elements or Attributes of Ownership

1) the right to enjoy
- the right to use
- the right to enjoy the fruits
- the right to consume the thing by its use
2) the right to dispose or the right to alienate, encumber transform or even the right to destroy
3) the right to vindicate or the right to action available to the owner to recover the property
against the holder or possessor

Accession - is the right pertaining to the owner of a thing over everything which is produced
thereby, or which is produced thereby, or which is incorporated or attached there to, either
naturally or artificially.

Kinds of accession on immovable:

1. natural fruits – or the spontaneous products of the soil;
2. industrial fruits – or those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation and
labor;
3. civil fruits – rents buildings or the price of lease lands;
4. natural accessions:
a) alluvium – or the accretion in which lands adjoining the banks of rivers,
lakes, creeks or torrents gradually receive from the effects of the current of the water;
b) avulsion – or the accretion which takes place whenever the current of a river,
lake, creek or torrent segregates from an estate on it’s bank a known portion of land
and transfers it to another estate;
c) change of rivers beds;
d) Formation of islands.

Alluvion and Avulsion distinguished:

1. In alluvion, the accretion is gradual, whereas in avulsion, it is sudden and abrupt;
2. In alluvion, the accretion can be identified, whereas in avulsion, it can be identified;
3. In alluvion, there is merely an attachment, whereas in avulsion, first there is detachment
then followed by an attachment
4. In alluvion, the accretion belongs to the owner of the land to which the attachment is made,
whereas in avulsion, the ownership is retained by the owner of the land from which it is detached
for a certain period (2 years for land, 6 months for trees, etc.)

Dranreb 15
Alluvium refers to the deposit itself; accretion denotes the act; and accession refers to the right

Modes of Acquiring Ownership:

1) Occupation; 2) Law; 3) Donation; 4) Tradition; 5) Intellectual Creation; 6) Prescription; 7)
Succession

Co-ownership – whenever the ownership of an undivided thing or right belongs to different

persons.

Possession – the holding of a thing or the enjoyment of a right, either by material occupation or
by the fact subjecting thing or right to the action of our will.

Usufruct – a real right by virtue of which a person is given the right to enjoy the property of
another with the obligation of preserving its form and substance.

Easement or Servitude – is an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of

another immovable belonging to a different owner.

Patrimonial Property of the State – those belonging to the government as a private individual,
without being devoted in common use.

Friar Lands – lands acquired by the goverment during the Taft Administration from religious
corporations or orders.

Conjugal Property – property obtained by husband and wife during marriage.

Capital Property – the exclusive property of the husband

Paraphernal Property – the exclusive property of the wife.

Donation – an act of liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously a thing or right in favor of
another who accepts it.

Succession – is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and obligations, to
the extent of the value of inheritance of a person, is transmitted upon his death to another either
by will or by operation of law.

Writ of Possession - a writ of execution issued by a court commanding its sheriff to enter the
land and give possession thereof to the person entitled under the judgment.

The Public Land Act

( CA 141, as amended Dec. 1, 1936)

Public Lands – refers to such lands of the public domain which are subject to alienation and
disposal by the State in Accordance with the Public Land Act.

Officers Charged with the Administration of Public Lands:

1) Secretary of the Department of Environment and natural Resources – chief executive
officer charged to carry out the provisions of Public Land Act (Sec. 3 CA 141)

Dranreb 16
 2) Director of Lands – charged with the direct executive control over surveys, classification
or disposition and management of public lands (Sec. 4 Id)

Classification of Lands of Public Domain:

Article XII, Sec. 3 of the 1987 Constitution( ascending Sec. 6 CA 141) classifies lands of the
public domain into:
a) agricultural;
b) forest or timber;
c) mineral;
d) national parks.

( Note: only agricultural lands of the public domain may be subject to alienation.)
( Note: under Sec. 6 Id, the classification are 1) alienable or disposable lands; 2) Timber lands;
and 3) mineral lands.)

For purposes of administration and disposition, lands of the public domain classified as “
disposable or alienable” are sub-classified according to the uses or purposes to which such lands
destined, as follows (Sec. 9 Id):

1. Agricultural (farmlands);
2. Residential, commercial, industrial, or for similar productivity purposes;
3. Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes; and f
4. Reservations for town sites and for public and quasi-public uses.

(Note: The President, upon recommendation of the Secretary of the DENR, is authorized to make
the above classification as well as the transfer lands from class to another from time to time as
circumstances may warrant (Sec. 9 Id)

Under Art. XII Sec. 2 of the 1987 Constitution, all lands of the public domain belong to the state
and cannot be alienated, with the exception of agricultural lands.

Requisites to Disposition:
1. formal declaration/by the Pres. Upon the recommendation by the Sec of the DENR(Sec.7
Id.);and
2. Survey (Sec. 8 Id.)

Modes of Alienating Public Agricultural Lands (Sec.11 Id.):

1.) For homestead settlements;
2.) By sale;
3.) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete title
a.) by judicial legalization; or b.) by administrative legalization (free patent).

Note: Lease is not included for the reason that title does not pass. Another form called ”free title
grant” under CA 691 (Oct. 15, 1945) as amended by R.A 63 ( Oct 17, 1946) providing free
distribution of public agricultural lands under certain conditions.

Sec.3 Art XII of 1987 Constitution provides that no private corporation or association may hold
alienable lands of the public domain except by lease.

R.A 6940 (Jan 31, 1990) extent the period of filing application for confirmation of title until Dec
31, 2000.

Dranreb 17
PD 152 (Mar. 13,1973)/Prohibits the employment of share tenants for purposes of complying
with the cultivation requirement. It requires that the applicant or his transferee must enter and
work upon, improve and cultivate the land by HIMSELF within the periods prescribes for the
various mode of the concession under CA 141.

Homestead Settlement - the home, the house and the adjoining lands where the in head of the
family dwells.

Qualifications:
a.) Filipino ver the age of 18 or head of a family;
b.)Not an owner of more than 24 has. of lands in the Phil. nor has had the benefit of any
gratuitous grant or allotment of more than 24 hectares of lands since the occupation of the
Phil. By the U.N States.(sec. 12 Id.).

Maximum Area Obtainable: 12 hectares (sec 3 Art XII,1987 Constitution)

Procedure:
1.) filing application with BL; applicant takes possession of the land of upon payment of
entry fee; applicant begins to work on the land within 6 months from and after the date of
approval of the application (Sec 13 Id.):
2.) 1/5 of the land must be improved and cultivated within the period of not less than 1 nor
more than 5 years from and after the date of approval of the application: continues
residence for at least 1 year in the same municipality where the homestead is located or in
the adjacent municipality ( Sec 14 Id.):
3.) Presentation of final proof;
4.) Notice to the Homestead and the public (Sec 17 Id.);
5.) Issuance of Homestead patent;
6.) Filing and registration of homestead patent

Payment of real state taxes by the homestead applicant(who is not yet the owner) beginning Jan 1
of the year ff. that in which the application is filed (Sec 115 Id.) as amended by RA 436)

Vested Rights
is some right or interest in the property that has been fixed and established and is no longer open
to doubt or controversy. In homestead, an applicant acquires vested rights on time land applied
for when his fully complied with all the requirements of the law and not from the actual issuance
of the title.

Transfer of Rights
at any time after the approval of the application and before the issuance of patent, the applicant
may be allowed to transfer his rights under certain conditions a) the applicant has complied w/ all
of the pat the requirements of the law so far; b)
That he cannot continue with the homestead thru no fault of his own c) transfer is made to a bona
fide purchaser who is himself legally qualified to apply for homestead d) purposed transfer is not
made for speculative purposes e) subject to approval of DL (Sec 20 Id)

Registration in Disposition of Homestead and Free Patent (Sec. 118 Id. As amended by
CA141456)
1. From the date of approval of the application and for a term of 5 years from and after the date
of issuance of the patent for grant, land acquired under free patent or homestead cannot be

Dranreb 18
subject to the encumbrance or alienation nor shall they become liable to the satisfaction of many
debt contracted prior the expiration of said period ,except in the favor of the Government or any
of its branches, units or institutions.
2. After 5 years from the issuance of the patent and within 25 years after the issuance of title, no
alienation, transfer or conveyance of any homestead may be made w/out the approval of the
DENR, which approval cannot be denied except on constitutional and legal grounds.

Rights of Repurchase (Sec. 119 Id.)

within the period of 5 years from the date of the executions of the deed of sale or conveyance by
the applicant, his widow, or legal heirs.

Sale:
Sec.22 CA 141 has been amended by Sec 3 Art.XII 1987 Constitution to the effect that the
private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public land domain
except by lease. Hence only Filipino citizens of lawful age or head of a family are required to
purchase public agricultural lands. The same prohibitions of the Constitution has also reduced the
area available to only 12 hectares(from 24).

Procedure:
1. Filling of application – with DL (Sec. 89-91 Id)
2. Appraisal (Sec 24 Id)
3. Publication of Noticed of sale – once a week for three consecutive weeks in the Official
Gazette and in two newspapers (in Manila and 1 in the municipality or province where the
land is located) and posting of notices in the bulletin board of the BL in Manila and in 3
conspicuous places for 30 days (sec. 24 & 25 Id, as amended by the RA 6516 approved July
22, 1972);
4. Submission Of Bids – sealed and addressed to DL enclosing therewith cash or certified
check, treasury warrant, or post- office money order for an amount equivalent to 10% of the
bid (Sec. 25 Id)
5. Opening of Bids and Award – award given to the highest bidder. (sec 26 Id, as amended by
RA 6516);
6. Payment of Price – balance may be paid in full or in not more than 10 equal annual
installments. (Sec. 27 Id).

Prerequisite to issuance of Sales Patent:

a) purchaser must have occupied and has broken and cultivated at least 1/5 of the last within
5 years after the date of the award (Sec. 28 Id); and b) must not have voluntary
abandoned the land for more than 1 year at any one time (Sec. 30 Id).

Legal Limitations and Restrictions:

1. no sales patent shall be issued unless the land purchased has been surveyed and an
accurate plat made thereof by the BL., (Sec. 108 Id)
2. Patents or certificates of title issued shall not include nor convey title to mineral deposits.
(Sec. 110 Id.)
3. subject to the same public servitude as are imposed on lands owned by private persons
including those with reference to the littoral (or coastal region) of the sea and the banks
of navigable rivers. (Sec 11 Id.)
4. Subject to the right-of –way not exceeding 60 meters in width for the public highways,
railroads, irrigation ditches, aqueducts, etc. (Sec 112 Id., as amended by Pd 635)

Dranreb 19
 5. transfer or assignment cannot be made in favor of individual when the area of such land
added to that of the transferee or assignee shall exceed 12 hectares ( Sec. 22 as amended
by CA 615 and Sec 3 Art XII of the 1987 Constitution)
6. no sale or encumbrance within 10 years from granting of title (Sec 29 Id)

Lease:

Who are qualified and area obtainable? (Sec 33 CA 141 as amended by Sec. 3 Art. XII of the
1987 Constitution):
a) filipino citizen of lawful age = 500 hectares;
b) any corporation or association of which at least 60% of the capital stock or of any interest
therein in said capital stock belongs wholly to Filipinos, and which is organized and constituted
under the laws of the Philippines = 1,000 hectares

Procedure in lease is practically the same as that followed for sale except the proposed annual
rental shall not be less than 3% of the appraised value of the land and that the bidder shall deposit
at least first 3 months of the lease. (Sec. 34-37 Id)

Period Of Lease
25 years renewable for not more than 25 years (Sec. 38 Id; sec. 3 Art. XII of the 1987
Constitution)

Cultivation Requirements
1/3 of the land within 5 years from and after date of approval of the lease. (Sec. 39 Id)

Restriction:
1. no assignment, encumbrance, or subleasing without approval of the DENR ( Sec. 40 Id)
2. lessee not to remove or dispose of any valuable timber, stone, oil, coal, salts or other
minerals including medicinal mineral waters without permission(Sec. 41 Id)
3. taxes, servitude, easements, mines, water rights etc. (Secs. 103-114 Id)

Lessee’s Option to purchase if the government during the period of lease, decides to sell the
property subject to limitations and restriction governing the sale of public agricultural lands (Sec.
43 ID)

Confirmation of Imperfect or Incomplete Title:

A. Judicial Legalizations:
Basis:
1. those who by themselves or through their predecessors in the interest have been in open
continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of agricultural lands of the
public domain, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, since June 12, 1945, or
earlier, immediately preceding the filing of the application XXX (Amended by PD 1073);
2. members of the national cultural minorities who by themselves or through their
predecessors in interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation of lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture, whether disposable or not,
under bona fide claim of ownership for at least 30 years XXX ( Amended by PD 1073)

Dranreb 20
 Procedure (Sec. 51 Id)
1. filling of application – Regional Trial Court (RTC) of the province or city where the land
is located; notice together with trhe plan of the land is forwarded to the Solicitor general;
2. Publication of Noticed of initial hearing in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper of
general circulation;
3. Posting of notices in conspicuous places;
4. Hearing;
5. Decision.

The Filing of an answer in cadastral registration proceeding has the same effect of an application
for confirmation of an imperfect or incomplete title (Sec. 52 Id)

Administrative Legalization or Free Patent:

Who are qualified?

A) a natural- born citizen of the Philippines who is not the owner of more than 12 hectares, and
who for at least 30 years prior to the effectively of this amendatory Act, has continuously
occupied and cultivated, either by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest a tract or
tracts of agricultural public lands subject to disposition, who shall have paid the real estate tax
thereon (Sec. 44 Id as amended by RA 782 and by RA 6940 approved March 28, 1990); and
b) a member of the national cultural minorities who has continuously occupied and cultivated,
either by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest a tract or tracts of land, whether
disposable or not since July 4, 1955 provided he is not the owner of any real property secured
or disposable under the Public Land Act (Sec. 44 Id., as amended by RA 3872 approved June
18, 1964).

Procedure:
1. Filling of application – with the BL accompanied with a map, technical
description, affidavits of two disinterested persons;
2. posting of notices – conspicuous places for 2 consecutive weeks;
3. Action upon application – by DL and issuance of FP (Sec. 46 td. ;RA 782)
Restriction: (see Sec. 118 & 12: CA 141, PD 763)

Land For Residential , Commercial, Industrial Purposes:

Sub-classification (See 58 & 59 td.)

1. Reclaimed lands – refer to submerged lands which by deliberate act of dredging and
billing has emerged to the surface.
2. Foreshore-lands- land adjacent to the sea which is alternately covered and uncovered
by the ordinary flow of tides.
3. Marshy lands- lands bordering on shores and banks of navigable rivers and lakes.
4. Lands not included in the foregoing classes.

Modes of Disposition (Sec. 60 la. as amended by RA 4107 June 1964) by sale of list not to
exceed 144 hectares. [Note: 1,2,3 above by list only while for sale or lease]

Procedure for sale or lease (Sec. 62,63, & 67 M)

1. Survey;
2. Subdivision into lots w/ the necessary streets and alleys on the layout;
3. Authority from the President for disposition

Dranreb 21
 4. Publication by DL in the Official Gazette/posting of notices;
5. Oral bidding and award to higher bidder.

[Note: RA 730 allows private sale w/o public bidding where the purchaser is a: a) a Filipino of
legal age ; b) is not an owner of a home lot in the municipality or city in which he resides; c) in
good faith has established on a parcel of public w/c is not needed for public service Note further
RA 1597 w/c allows safe w/out public bidding to bona fide occupants within the Tondo for
foreshore areas provided they do not own residential lots in the cities of Manila, Quezon and
Pasay or their suburbs]

Temporary Permits (Revocable or Provisional) maybe issued under Sec. 68 CA 141.

Condition in contract of lease (Sec. 64 ld.)

1. 3% minimum rental of the appraisal or reappraised value of land plus 1% of the appraisal
or reappraised value of the improvements;
2. 25 years term renewable or extendible for not more 25 years;
3. Subject to reappraisal every 10 years
4. To commence construction of permanent improvements w/thin 6 months from date of
award of lease and shall finish the same within 18 months from date of construction
5. All improvements shall become the property of the government upon termination of lease
6. Subject to easement of coast and other easements reserved by existing laws.

Condition in Sale (Sec. 65 Id)

1. purchase to construct permanent improvements within 6 months from date of receipt of
order of award and completing it within 18 months from same date;
2. purchase price to be paid in cash or in not more than 10 equal annual installments;
3. other conditions not inconsistent with the Public Land Act.

Lands For Educational, Charitable, and Other Similar Purposes;

Who are qualified

a) any province municipality, or other branch or subdivision of the government in the form of
donation, sale, lease, exchange or any other form (Sec. 69 Id);
b) any private institution for the purpose of founding a cemetery, church, college, school,
university, or other institutions for educational, charitable, or philantrophical purposes or
scientific research in the form of sale or lease not to exceed 96 hectares. [ Note: the Boy
Scouts and Girls Scouts of the Philippines each has been granted up to 10,000 hectares of land
of the public domain under RA 397 & RA 5401

Reservations For Town Site and For Public and Semi- Public Uses;

Procedure to Establish New Town (Secs. 71 to 79 Id);

1. Secretary of DENR shall direct DL to survey the exterior boundaries of the proposed
site;
2. DL submits survey to Secretary of DENR who submits the same to the President for
necessary proclamation;
3. A plat is prepared making necessary reservations for avenues, streets, alleyways, parks
and squares and other areas for public use; subdivision of lots into commercials, industrial,
and residential areas;

Dranreb 22
 4. Expropriation of private lands, if necessary;
5. Recording of plat with DL and in the office of the RD;
6. Lots are sold after due notice at a public auction sale to the highest bidder at a price not
less than 2/3 of the appraised value.

Reservation for Public and Semi- Public Purposes (Sec. 83 & 88 Id. ) includes highways, rights of
way for railroads, hydrantic power sites, irrigation systems, communal pastures, public parks,
public quarries, public fishponds, etc.

Sec. 90 CA 141, as amended by RA 1273

imposes a reservation of 40 meters wide along the bank on each side of any river or stream for
the purpose of reserving the same permanent timberland of the Government. This applies only to
lands of the public domain subsequently acquired under the Public Land Act.
PD 410 March 11, 1974
all unappropriated agricultural lands of the public domain occupied and cultivated by members of
the national cultural communities for at least 10 years has been declared “ ancestral lands”, for
distribution exclusively among the members of said communities and to be developed for the
establishment of agro – industrial projects. Ancestral lands embrace such lands of the public
domain that have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious occupation and cultivation
`by members of the national cultural communities directly by themselves or through their
ancestor under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership for a period of 30 years before
March 11, 1974. The BL is called upon to identify, survey and subdivide such ancestral lands
into family – sized farm lots not exceeding 5 hectares each.

RA. 274 June 15, 1948

description of idle military reservations.

PD 757
creation of the National Housing Authority

General Provisions:

Sec. 107 CA 141, as amended by BP Blg. 878 July 9, 1985 – “XXX No patent or certificate shall
be issued by the District Land Officer unless the survey of the land covered by said patent or
certificate, whether made by the Bureau of Lands or by private surveyor, has been approved by
the Director of Lands, xxx”)

Sec. 108 CA 141 – “No patent shall issue nor shall any concession nor contract be finally
approved unless the land has been surveyed and an accurate plat made thereof by the Bureau of
Lands”.

Sec. 112 CA 141, as amended by PD 635 & PD 1361, April 26, 1978 – “said lands shall further
be subject to a right-of-way not exceeding sixty (60) meters in width for public highways,
railroads, irrigation ditches, aqueducts, telegraph and telephone lines, airport runways, xxx”

Sec. 118 & Sec. 119 CA 141 – restriction on sale/encumbrance and right repurchase.

Constitutional Provisions on Natural Resources

(Art. XII 1987 Constitutional):

Dranreb 23
Natural Resources – refer to material objects of economic value and utility to man produced by
nature.

Sec. 2 All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils,
all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forest or timber, wildlife, flora, fauna, and other natural
resources are owned by the State. With the exception of agricultural lands, all other natural
resources shall not be alienated. The exploration, development, and utilization of natural
resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State. The State may directly
undertake such activities, or it may enter into co- production, joint venture or production- sharing
agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporation or associations at least 60 % of whose capital is
owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding 25 years, renewable
for not more than 25 years, and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. Xxx
Xxx
The President may enter into agreements with foreign-owned corporations involving
either technical of financial assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and utilization of
minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils xxx
Xxx
Sec. 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 to 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 25
years, renewable for not more than 25 years , and not exceed 1,000 hectares in area. Citizens of
the Philippines may lease not more than 500 hectares, or acquired not more than 12 hectares
thereby by purchase, homestead or grant.
Xxx
Sec. 7 Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private land shall be transferred or
conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of
the public domain.
Sec. 8 Notwithstanding the provisions of Sec. 7 of this Article, a natural-born citizen of
the Philippine who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be tranferce of private lands, subject to
limitations provided by law [BP Blg. 185, urban land up 1,000 square meters or rural land up to 1
hectare for residential purposes]

Act 2259 “ The Cadastral Act”, Feb. 11, 1913

To update the law governing cadastral registration proceedings , PD 1529 “ The Property
Registration Decree ( Sec. 35 – 38) was issued on June 11, 1978.

Purpose: to serve the public interest, by requiring that the titles of any lands be settled and
adjudicated ( Sec. 1, Act 2259; Sec. 35 (a) PD 1529

A cadastral petition is in the nature of a proceeding in rem promoted by the DL and is somewhat
akin to a judicial inquiry investigation leading to a judicial decree.

General Procedure:
1. Cadastral Survey – President orders DL to cause a cadastral survey including
plans and technical descriptions. Before commencing survey, DL gives notice to persons
claiming interest in the lands and the general public of the survey. Notice is published in the
Official Gazette and posted in conspicuous places. Copy of notice is also sent to the mayor,

Dranreb 24
 barangay captain, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, & Sangguniang Bayan. During the survey,
boundaries of the lands are marked by monuments by GE’s or other employees of BL ( Sec. 35
PD 1529);
2. Filing of Petition – DL (represented by Solicitor General) files petition in court
(RTC) as against the holders, claimants, possessors and occupants. Parcels or lots resulting in
the survey are given their respective cadastral lot numbers (Sec. 36 PD 1529);
3. Publication of Notice of Initial Hearing – Administrator of LRA upon receipt of
the order of the court setting the date and time for initial hearing causes the notice to be
published once in the Official Gazette and once in a newspaper of general circulation. Copies
are also mailed to every person named therein whose addresses are know and other copies
posted in conspicuous places.
4. Filing of Answer – by any person claiming any interest in any part of the land
object of the petition. The filling of an answer or claim is equivalent to an application for
registration (Sec. 9 Act 2259; Sec 37 PD 1529);
5. Hearing of the Case – Conflicting claims are determined and lots claimed are
awarded to persons who prove to be the rightful owners ( Sec. 38 PD 1529). If nobody could
prove title, the same is declared as land of the public domain and this judgment is res judicata;
6. Judgment/ decision – notice given to all claimants.
7. Issuance of Decree and Certificate of Title – as soon as decision has final, the
court orders the Administrator of LRA to enter the corresponding decree of registration to the
person entitled to the land and such decree will be made basis for the issuance of the original
certificate of title.

REGISTRATION OF LAND TITLES AND DEEDS

Land title – refers to that upon which ownership is based. It is the evidence of the right of the
owner or the extent of his interest, and by which means he can maintain control and as a rule
assert right to exclusive possession and enjoyment of the property

Deed – refers to a written instrument executed in accordance with law, wherein a person grants or
conveys to another certain land, tenements or hereditaments

Registration – refers to the act where the State provides a public record of the title itself upon
which a prospective buyer or someone else may rely. It may also refer to the act or process of
entering in a public register one’s right, title or interest in real properties

Systems of Registration
1) Torrens System – principally governed by Act 496, The Land Registration Act (Jan. 1, 1903);
and to bring more lands under the operation of the Torrens system, subsequent law were enacted
such as Act 2259, The Land Cadastral Act (Feb. 11, 1913) and CA 141, The Public Land Act
(Dec. 1, 1936)

The Torrens title is conclusive against the whole world, including the government, and
to a holder thereof in good faith, it is guaranteed to be undefeasible, unassailable and
imprescriptible.

Purpose: to quiet title to land; to put a stop forever to any question of the legality
of the registration, in the certificate, or which may arise subsequent thereto.

2) System of recording for unregistered lands – governed by Section 194 of the Revised
Administrative Code, as amended by Act 3344. Registration under this system does not afford

Dranreb 25
the registrant an absolute protection inasmuch as by express provision of Act 3344, any right
recorded thereunder shall yield to any third person with better right

PD 1529, THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE, June 11, 1978 – simplified,

streamlined and consolidated the above land registration proceedings, including chattel
mortgages.

Sec. 32 PD 1529 – review of decree of registration to be taken within 1 year from date of entry of
the final decree of registration provided no innocent purchase for value has acquired an interest 7
inc becomes feasible after the expiration of the 1 year period.

Writ of Possession - implies the delivery of possession of the land to the successful indignant
therein. It is issued by the court and commands the sheriff to enter the land give possession
thereof to the persons entitled under the judgment.

Who may apply for ordinary registration proceedings?

Under Sec. 14 of P.D. 1529, the following may file an application in the proper RTC fasting as a
court of land registration) or LRA ( for lands in the City of Manila ) for registration of title to
land, whether personally or through duly authorized representative:

a. those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open,

continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable
lands of the lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12,
1945, or earlier;
b. those who have acquired ownership since June 12, 1945 or earlier;
c. those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of
accession or accretion under the existing laws;
d. those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.

An application for the registration of land under the Torrens system is an action in rem to the
judgment which may be rendered therein is binding against the whole world.

Sec. 20 of Act. 496 and Sec. 17 of PD 1529 requires the applicant to furnish the DL with a copy
of the application including annexes otherwise, the Clerk of Court may not accept the application.

Sec. 19 PD 1529 – allows amendments to the application including joinder, substitution or

discontinuance of parties.

Sec. 18 PD 1529 – permits consolidation in a single application of 2 or more parcels of land

belonging to the same applicant provided they are within the same province or city, or the
splitting of the application by striking out one or more parcels.

Sec. 20 PD 1529 – if the application describes the land as bordering on a public or private way or
road, the applicant should indicate whether he claims any portion thereof, and whether he desires
to have the line of the way or road determined.

What to accompany application;

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 a. tracing- cloth plan duly approved by the DL (Sec. 25 , Act 496; Sec. 20 PD 1529)
together with 2 blueprint or photographic copies thereof ( Sec. 17, PD 1529);
b. 3 copies of the corresponding technical descriptions;
c. 3 copies of the surveyor’s certificate;
d. all original muniments of title in the possession of the applicant which proves his rights
(Sec. 17 PD 1529);
e. certificate in quadruplicate of the city or provincial treasurer of the assessed value of my
land or by affidavit of 3 disinterest persons.

Muniments - refer to instruments or written evidence which the applicant holds or possesses to
enable him to substantiate and prove title to his estate.

Remedies Available to Aggrieved Parry in Registration Proceedings:

1. new trial – or a motion for reconsideration to be availed of within 30 days after notice of
the judgment.
2. Appeal – under Sec. 14 of Act 496 within 30dats from receipt of notice of decision.
3. Review of Decree of Registration – within 1 year after the date of entry of the decree
only ground of actual fraud provided that no innocent purchaser for value has acquired an
interest therein.
4. Relief from judgment – on grounds of fraud, accidents, mistakes, excusable negligence
provided the decree of registration is not yet issued within 6 months from date of
decision.
5. Reconveyance – as long as the property has not passed to an innocent purchaser for
value. [Note: list pendens may be caused to be annotated on the title after institution of
the action].
6. Recovery of damages.

Certification of Title – the transcript of the decree of registration made by the Register Of Deeds

Torrens Title – is the certificate of ownership issued under the Torrens system of registration by
the government, thru the Register of Deeds, narrating and declaring the owner in fee simple of the
real property described therein free from all liens and encumbrances except such as maybe
expressly noted thereon or otherwise reserved by law.

Sec. 39 & 41 PD 1529 – the original of the certificate of title shall be signed by the Administrator
and shall be sent, together with the owner’s duplicate certificate, to the Register of Deeds, of the
city or province where the property is situated for entry in his registration book.

Sec. 42 Act 496 – the certificate first registered in pursuance of the decree of registration in
regard to any parcel of land shall be entitled in the registration book as “Original Certificate of
Title”. Subsequent certificates relating to the same land shall be in like form, but shall be entitled
“ Transfer Certificate of Title”.

Sec. 44 PD 1529 – protects not only the person receiving a certificate of title in pursuance of a
decree of registration, but every subsequent purchases of registered land who takes a certificate of
title for value and in good faith.

RA No. 440, amending Sec. 44 of Act No. 496, and Sec. 49 PD 1529 – allows splitting or
consolidation of titles. Intervention of the courts may now be dispensed with and the necessary
petition may be brought directly to the RD, provided no street or passageway or any alternation in
the original perimeter of the land as subdivided is involved.

Dranreb 27
Sec. 108 PD 1529 – jurisdiction of courts in judicial partition among co-owners after notice to all
parties in interest.

[Note: under PD 957 issued July 12, 1976, a subdivision plan of a registered land wherein a
street. Passageway, or open space is delineated (complex Plan), need be submitted to the NHA for
approval, then submitted to DL for final approval]

Sec. 47 PD 1529 – no title to registered land in derogation to that of the registered owner shall be
acquired by prescription or adverse possession.

Sec. 51 PD 1529 – the act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land
insofar as third persons are concerned, and in all cases under PD 1529, the registration shall be
made in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land lies.

Lis Pendens /Litin Pendencia – is the latin term for pending suit or litigation. It indicates the
control which a court has, during the pendency of an action, over the property involved therein.

Affidavit of Advance Claim - a claim affecting the title or be adverse to the title of the registered
owner. Filing may also be preparatory to notice of lis pendens. Effective only for a period of 30
days (Sec. 70 PD 1529).

Transmission by Descent and Devise:

Sec. 93 Act 496; Sec. 89 PD 1529 – lands any estate or interest therein registered under
Act 496 shall, upon the death of the owner, go to the executor or administrator of the deceased in
the like manner as personal estate, whether the owner dies estate or interest, and shall be subject
to the same rules of administration as if the same were personality, except as otherwise provided
in the law, and except that the rule of division shall be provided by will.

- Judicial and Fixers – judicial Settlement of Estate

Land Registration Authority (LRA)

- former Land Registration Commission (LRC) was recognized and restructured to Land
Registration Authority under the executive supervision of the Secretary of Justice (E.O No. 292
instituting. The Administrative Code of 1987).

-Administrator & 2 Deputy Administrators appointed by the President upon

recommendation in the Secretary of Justice.

Register of Deeds:
- Sec. 3 of E.O 649 (Feb. 9, 1981) creates 13 regional Register of Deeds; 1 for each
province and city.

Dranreb 28
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995
(R.A 7942, March 1995)

Mineral Lands – are lands containing deposits of valuable, useful or precious minerals in such
quantities as to Justify expenditures in the effort to extract them, and which are more valuable for
the minerals they contain than for agricultural or other uses (Black’s Law Dictionary). It is any
area where mineral resources are found (RA 7942).

Minerals – refer to all naturally occurring inorganic substances in solid, gas, liquid, or any
intermediate state excluding energy materials such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, radioactive
materials, and geothermal energy.

“Qualified Person” – means any citizen of the Philippines with capacity to contract, or a
corporation, partnership, association, or cooperative organized or authorized for the purpose of
engaging in mining, with technical and financial capability to undertake mineral resource
development and duly registered in accordance with law, at least 60% of the capital of which is
owned by citizens of the Philippines; Provided, That a legally organized foreign owned
corporation shall be deemed a qualified person for purposes of granting an exploration permit,
financial or technical assistance agreement or mineral processing permit.

The Regalian Doctrine - means that minerals belong to the State wherever they may be found,
whether in public lands or in private lands.

Sec. 12 Survey, Charting and Delineation of Mining Areas –

A sketch plan or map of the contract or mining area prepared by a deputized geodetic engineer
suitable for publication purposes shall be required during the filing of a mineral agreement or
financial or technical assistance agreement application. Thereafter, the contract or mining area
shall be surveyed and monumented by a deputized geodetic engineer or bureau geodetic engineer
and the survey plan shall be approved by the Director before the approval of the mining
feasibility.

Sec. 22 Maximum Areas for Exploration Permit;

a) Onshore, in any one province-
1) for individuals = 20 blocks; and
2) for partnerships, corporations, cooperative, or associations = 200 blocks
b) On shore, in the entire Philippines –
1) for individuals = 40 blocks; and
2) for partnerships, corporations, cooperative, or associations = 40 blocks
c) Offshore, beyond 500 meters from the mean low tide level –
1) for individual = 100 blocks; and
2) for partnerships, corporation, cooperative, or associations 1,000 blocks

Sec. 26 Modes of Mineral Agreement:

a) Mineral Production Sharing Agreement – the government grants to the contractor the
exclusive right to conduct mining operations within a contract area and shares in the goes
in the gross output. The contractor shall provide the financing, technology, management
and personnel necessary for the implementation of this agreement.
b) Co- Production Agreement – the government shall provide input to the mining operations
other than the mineral resource.

Dranreb 29
 c) Joint Venture Agreement – a joint venture company is organized by the government and
the contractor with both parties having equity shares. Aside from earnings in equity, the
government shall be entitled to a share in the goes output.

Sec. 28 Maximum Areas for Mineral Agreement:

a) Onshore, in anyone province –
1) for individuals = 10 blocks; and
2) for partnerships, corporations, cooperatives, or association = 100 blocks
b) Onshore, in the entire Philippines –
1)for individuals = 20 blocks ; and
for partnership, corporations, cooperative , or associations = 200 blocks
c) Offshore, in the entire Philippines-
1) for individuals = 50 blocks; and
2) for partnerships, corporations, cooperative, or associations = 500 blocks
3) for the exclusive economic zone, a larger area to be determined by the Secretary

Sec. 34 maximum Contract Area;

a) 1,000 meridional blocks onshore;
b) 4,000 meridional blocks offshore; or
c) combinations of (a) and (b) provided that it shall not exceed the maximum limits for
onshore and offshore areas.

Sec. 38 Term of Financial of Technical Assistance Agreement

25 years to start from the execution thereof, renewable for not more than twenty-five (25) years
under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law.
REVISED FORESTRY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES (Presidential Decree No. 705 as
Amended effective 19 May 1975)

Sec. 3 Definitions –
Public forest – is the mass of lands of the public domain which has not been the subject system of
classification for the determination of w/c lands are needed for forest purposes and w/c are not.

Permanent forest or forest reserves – Refer to those lands of the public domain w/c have been the
subject of the present system of classification and declared as no needed for forest purposes.

Forest land – include the public forest the permanent forest or forest reserves, and forest
reservations.

National Parks – Refer to a forest land reservation essentially of relative or wilderness character
w/c has been withdrawn from settlement or occupancy and set aside as such exclusively to
preserve the scenery, the natural and historic objects and the wild animals or plants wherein to
provide enjoyment of this features in such a manner as will live them an impaired for the future
generation.

Forest products – Include timber, pulpwood, firewood, bark, treetop, resin, gum, wood oil , honey
, beeswax , nipa , rattan , or other forest growth such as grass shrub and flowering plants, the
associated water fish, game, scenic, historical , and geological resources in forest lands.

Sec. 4 Creation of Merger of all forestry agencies into the Bureau of Forest Development w/c
shall be the under the control and supervision of the Department Of Environment and Natural
Resources. The Secretary of the DENR upon the recommendation of the Director, promulgates

Dranreb 30
the rules and regulation necessary to implement effectively the provision of the Revised Forest
Code.

Sec. 15 Topography –
No land of the public domain 18% in slope or over shall be classified alienable and disposable,
nor any forest land 50% slope or over grazing land.

Sec. 17 Establishment of boundaries of forest lands, all boundaries between permanent forest
alienable or disposable lands shall be clearly marked and maintained on the ground, with
infrastructure roads and concrete monument as interval of not more than 500 meters in
accordance w/ establish procedures and standard or any other visible sign to insure protection of
the forest.
In all cases of boundaries, conflicts, reference shall be made to the Phil. Coast and Geodetic
survey top maps.(As amended by PD 155).

Forest Grants or Privileges (Sec 20):

Lease – is a privilege granted by the state to a person to occupy and possess, in consideration of a
specified rentals in any forest land of the public domain in order to undertake any authorized
activity therein.

License – Is a privilege granted by the state in a person to utilize forest resources within any
forest lands without ant right of occupation and possession over the same to the exclusion of
others or established and operate wood processing plant or conduct any activity involving the
utilization of any forest resources.

License Agreement is a privilege granted by the state to a person to utilize forest resources within
any forest land with the right of position and occupation there of to the exclusion of others, except
the government but with the corresponding obligation to develop protect and rehabilitate the
same in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in said agreement

Permit is a short term privilege or authority granted by a state to a person to utilize any limited
forest resources are undertake a limited activity within any forest lands without any right of
occupation and possession therein.

No person may utilize exploit occupy possess or conduct any activity within any forest land or
established and operate any wood-processing plant, unless he has been authorize to those under a
license agreement ,lease , license or permit.(PD No. 705 Sec. 3&20)

Size of Forest Concession and Duration of License - limited to that which a person may
effectively utilize and develop for a period of 50 years. The period of such privilege to harvest
timber in any particular forest land whether it be under license or licensed agreement is 25 years ,
renewal for another period exceeding 25 years.(PD No 705, Sec 27 & 28)

Note: 1987 Constitution (Art XII Sec 3) private corporation or association may not hold such
lands of the public domain public domain except by lease for a period not exceeding 25 years
renewable for not more than 25 years and not to exceed 1,000 hectares in area and that citizens of
the Philippines may lease not more than (500) hectares.

Transfer of Forest Rights = authority from the Secretary of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources is required (PD No. 705, Sec. 61 )

Dranreb 31
Service Contracts = for financial, technical, management fold other forms of assistance , in
consideration for a fea, with any foreign person or entity for the exploration, development ,
exploitation or utilization of forest resources covered by their license agreements, licenses or
permits (PD 705, Sec. 62)

Registration of Title to Private Forest Land:

Any owner or private land containing timber, firewood or any other forest products is repaired to
registered his title to such land with the Director of Forest Development .

In absence of such registration, the owner who desires to cut, gather or remove timber and other
products form such land shall be required to secure a license therefore from the bureau of Forest
Development. The cutting gathering and removing of timber and other forest; products from said
private land without license shall be considered unlawful cutting, gathering and removing forest
products from public forest and shall be subject to the charges prescribed. (PD 69, Sec. 266).

Pasture Agreements = lease or permit from the Director of Forest Development.

Pasture leases truly be applied and acquired through public auction or bidding with annual rental
less than % of the appraised or reappraised value of the land, plus 1% of the improvements. The
period of lease is limited to twenty-five (25) years), renewable for another twenty-five (25) years,
such renewal to be justified by important improvements introduced by the lessee. Upon the final
expiration of the lease or permit, all immovable and other permanent improvements made by the
lessee will automatically become the property of the government. (CA 452, Sec. 6,7,9 & 10).

Criminal Offenses under the Forestry Code:

Cutting, gathering and/or collecting timber and other forest products without any authority under
a license agreement, lease, license or permit is punishable as qualified theft under Article 309 and
310 of the Revised Penal Code, subject to deportation if the offender is an alien.

Unlawful occupation or destruction of forest lands, including the making of kaingin for private
use, without authority, is penalized by line and imprisonment, aside from liability for ten times
the rental fees and other charges, or eight times the legal charges due in case of kaingin violation.

For pasturing or grazing livestock in forest lands, grazing lands, or alienable and disposable
public lands, without authority, the penalty is imprisonment and fine equal to ten times the
regular rentals due, in additional to confiscation of the livestock and improvements introduced in
the area.

For illegal occupation of national parks and recreation areas and for vandalism therein, the
penalty is fine plus the value of the thing damaged.

Among other forest offenses penalized, mention may be made destruction of wildlife resources;
survey by authorized persons; misclassification and survey by government official or employee;
permitting tax declaration on real property unless the area declared for taxation is alienable and
disposable lands, or titled, or occupied by national cultural minorities; coercion and influence
upon public officer or employee; unlawful possession of implements and devices used by forest
officers; failure to pay forest charges or to collect or remit same; same sale of wood products
without having complied with the grading rules established by the government.

Dranreb 32
For purposes of protecting the forest and apprehending the offenders, the Secretary of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources may deputize any member or unit of the
Philippine National Police, barangay or barrio official, or any qualified person (PD No.705, Secs.
68 to 80)

Republic Act No. 7161 approved October 10, 1991.

REAL ESTATE LAWS:

1. RA 4726 “ The Condominium Act” approved June 18, 1956

Condominium – is an interest in real property consisting of a separate interest in a unit in

residential, industrial or commercial building and n undivided interest in common, directly or
indirectly, in the land on which it is located and in other common areas of the building.

Sec. 4 – the enabling or master deed shall contain the description of the land on which the
buildings and improvements are located and the following plans shall be appended to the deed as
integral parts thereof; a) survey plan of the land; b) a diagrammatic floor plan of the buildings,
and shall be submitted to the HLURB for approval before it can be registered. ( as amended by
RA 7899, approved Feb.23, 1995)

2. PD 957, as amended “The Subdivision and Condominium Buyers’ Protective Decree” July
12, 1976.

Subdivision Project – shall mean a tract or parcel of land registered under Act No. 496 which is
partitioned primarily for residential purposes into individual lots with or without improvements
thereon, and offered to the public for sale, in cash or installment terms. It shall include all
residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas, as well as open spaces and other
community and public areas in the project.

Complex Subdivision Plan - shall mean a subdivision plan of a registered land wherein a street,
passageway, or open space is delineated on the plan.

Condominium Project – shall mean a part of the condominium project intended for any type of
independent use or ownership, including one or more rooms or spaces located in one or more
floors in a building/s and such accessories as may be appended thereto.

Open Space – shall mean an area reserved exclusively for parks, playgrounds, recreational uses,
schools, roads, places of worship, hospitals, health centers, barangay centers and other similar
facilities and amenities ( as also defined in PD 1216, approved Oct. 14, 1977)

Road Lots – shall include roads, sidewalks, alleys, and planting strips, and its gutters, drainage
and sewerage.

Sec. 5 – registration of project with NHA; approved subdivision plan submitted to DL for
approval.

Sec.31 – for subdivision projects 1 hectare or more, the owner or developer shall reserve 30% of
the gross area for open space. Parks, playgrounds and recreational areas shall be: a) 9% of the
gross area for high density or social housing (66 to 100 family lots per gross hectare); b) 7% of

Dranreb 33
the gross area for medium density economic housing (21 to 65 family lots per gross hectare)); and
c) 3.5% of the gross area for low density or open market housing (20 family lots and below per
gross hectare).

3) BP 220 – An act authorizing the Ministry of Human Settlements to establish and promulgate
different levels of standards and technical requirements for economic and socialized housing
projects in the urban and rural areas from those provide under PD Nos. 957, 1216 (“Defining
Open Space in Residential Subdivision”) and 1185 (“Fire Code of the Philippines”) approved
March 25, 1982.

4) RA 7279 – “Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992” approved March 22, 1992.

Resettlement Areas – refer to areas identified by the appropriate national agency or by the local
government unit with respect to areas within its jurisdiction, which shall be used for the
relocation of the underprivileged and homeless citizens.

Slum Improvement and Resettlement Program or SIR – refers to the program of the national
housing authority of upgrading and improving blighted squatter areas outside Metro Manila
pursuant to existing statutes and pertinent executive issuance’s.

Socialized Housing – refers to housing programs and projects covering houses and lots or
homelots only undertaken by the Government or the private sector for the underprivileged and
homeless citizens which shall include sites and services development, long-term financing,
liberalized terms on interest payments, and such other benefits in accordance with the provisions
of this Act.

Zonal Improvement Program or ZIP – refers to the program of the National Housing Authority of
upgrading and improving blighted areas within the cities and municipalities of Metro Manila
pursuant to existing statutes and pertinent executive issuance’s.

HLURB BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 511 (Series of 1992) Implementing Rules and
Regulations to govern Section 18 of RA 7279 (see also HLURB RESOLUTION NO. 575
Series of 1995)

Main Subdivision Project – shall refer to the proposed residential subdivision or residential
condominium project which shall be the basis for computing the 20% requirement for socialized
housing.

New Settlement – shall mean any new , large-scale development consisting of one or several
subdivision projects planned to provide housing, work places and related facilities within a more
or less self-contained environment.

Sec.2 Scope of Application –

a) proposed main residential subdivision / condominium projects with a density of 100 units per
hectare are deemed to have complied with the 20% requirement for socialized housing;
b) proposed main subdivision projects falling under the category of socialized housing are
exempted;
c) residential subdivision and residential condominium projects with 4 units or less are also
exempted.

Sec 4 Project Location

Dranreb 34
within the project or within the same city or municipality. In metropolitan areas, the socialized
housing projects may made within the provinces contiguous to the physical configuration of the
metropolitan area.

5) HLURB Bureau Prescusion Nos. 578 & 579, Series of 1995 (Oct. 9, 1995) – Revised
Minimum Design Standards for PD 957 & BP 220.

- (refer to separate notes/hand- out)

- subdivision models A,B, & C under 957 have been replaced with 2 models know as
“OPEN MARKET HOUSING”
- 4 models (A,B,C,& D) under BP 220 have been replaced with 2 models know as
“ECONOMIC HOUSING” and “SOCIALIZED HOUSING”

PD 957 BP 220 BP 220

Open Market Economic Socialized
Minimum Lot Areas

Single detached 100 sq. mts. 72 sq. mts 72 sq. mts.

Single attached 75’/unit 54”/unit 54”/unit
Duplex/Semi-detached
Rowhouse 50 sq. mts. 35 sq. mts. 32 sq. mts

Minimum Lot Frontage

Single-detached
Corner lot 12 m. 10 m. 10 m.
Regular lot 10 m. 8 m. 8 m.
Irregular lot 6 m. 4 m. 4 m.

Duplex/Single Detached/
Semi-detached 7.5 m. 6 m. 6 m.
Rowhouse 3.5 m. 3.5 m. 3.5 m.

NOTE: SEE NEWLY REVISED MINIMUM STANDARDS (2001)

6) E.O NO. 71 approved March 23, 1993 – Devolving the Powers of the Housing and Land Use
Regulatory Board to Approved Subdivision Plans to Cities and Municipalities.

Sec. 1 (a) & (b) – approval preliminary and final subdivision schemes and developments
plans of all subdivisions under PD 957 and BP 220

7) BP 185 approved March 16, 1982 – granting natural born citizens of the Philippines who has
lost his Philippine citizenship to become a transferee of private lands, for use by him as his
residence up to a maximum area of 1,000 square meters in urban lands or 1 hectare in case of
rural lands.

Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998 RA 8560 approved Feb. 26, 19998 and effective
March 22, 1998

Sec. 2 (a) – the practice of G.E 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

Dranreb 35
methodical process of these data and presenting them on graphs, plans, maps, charts or
documents.

Sec. 3 – Board of Geodetic Engineering composed of 1 Chairman and 2 members appointed by

the President.

Sec. 4 – Qualifications of the board; a) natural- born citizen of the Philippines; b) at least 40 years
of age; c) registered G.E and in active practice for at least 10 years; d) not a member of any
faculty of any school, academy, institute, college or university where a regular course in G.E is
taught, nor have pecuniary interest in or administrative supervision therein; e) not connected with
a review center for a period of 3 consecutive years prior to appointment; and f) not convicted of
any offense involving moral turpitude.

Sec. 5 – Term of Office – 3 years and may be reappointed for another term but in no case shall
serve continuously for more than 6 years.

Sec. 7 – Removal of any member of the board for: a) neglect of duty or incompetence; b)
violation or tolerance of the violation of this Act and the Code of Ethics; c) final judgment of a
crime involving moral turpitude.

Sec. 8 – Powers and Duties of the Board: a) promulgate and adopt rules and regulations; b)
supervise examination, registration, licensure and practices of G. E ; c) administer oaths; d) issue
certificate of registration; e) issue, suspend or revoke licenses; f) adopt an official seal; g) look
into conditions affecting practice of G.E; h) ensure that educational institutions offering G.E.
comply with policies, standards and requirements; i) prescribe/adopt Code of Ethics and
Professional Standards; j) hear and try administrative cases, Issue subpoena and subpoena chuses
tecum; k)prescribe guidelines for Continuing Professional Educational (CPE); l)prepare, adopt,
issue, or amend syllable of the subjects for examination; m)approve, issue, limit or revoke
temporary license; n) discharge such other duties and functions.

Sec. 9 – administrative control and supervision of the Board by the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC) created under PD 223, as amended by PD 657.

Sec. 20 – plans and specifications prepared by, or under the direct supervision of a registered G.E.
shall be stamped with a seal during the validity of the license otherwise the same shall not be
accepted or endorsed. The G.E shall be fully responsible for all plans, specifications and other
documents issued under his seal or authorized signature. Plans and documents duty signed,
stamped and sealed are the properties of the G.E if the same has not been accepted and/or paid.

Sec. 21 – G.E to indicate his Professional License Number, the duration of validity and his
professional tax receipt number on the documents he signs, used or issues.

Sec. 22 – Grounds for Suspension and Revocation of License, Cancellation of Temporary/Special

Permit, upon due notice and hearing; a) use or perpetration of fraud or deceit in obtaining license;
b) incompetence, negligence, or for abetment of illegal practice; c) violation of this Act and the
Code of Ethics.

Sec. 24 – Practice not allowed for firms and corporations because the practice of G.E is a
professional service, admission to which shall be determine upon the basis of an individual’s
personal qualification. But a group of persons may form a firm, partnership or association and

Dranreb 36
obtain registration with SEC provided all of them are duly registered with SEC provided all of
them are duly registered and licensed.

Sec. 26 – foreign reciprocity

PD 223, June 22, 1973 – the decree creating the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC)

Sec. 1 – 3-man commission attached to the Office of the President.

Sec. 2 – 1 full-time Commissioner and 2 full-time Associate Commissioner all appointed by the
President for a term of 9 years without reappointment. Qualifications: a) at least 40 years of age;
b) familiar with the principles and methods of professional regulation and/or licensing; c) 5 years
of executive or managerial experience.

Sec. 5 – Powers of the Commission: d) to administer and conduct the licensure examination of
the various Boards

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6657

“The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988” June 10, 1988

-this law suspended PD No. 27 (“The Decree Emancipating the Tenants from the Bondage of the
Soil) which took effect on October 21, 1972

Scope/Coverage:
(Note: PD 27 covers only rice and com lands)
In general, the law covers all public and private agricultural lands as provided in Proclamation
No. 131 and Executive Order No. 229 regardless of tenurial arrangements and commodity
produced, including other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.
In particular, a) all alienable and disposable lands of the public domain devoted to or suitable for
agriculture; b) all lands of the public domain in excess of the specific limits as determined by
Congress in a subsequent Act; c) all other lands owned by the Government devoted to or suitable
for agriculture; and d) all private lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture regardless of the
agricultural products raised to that can be raised thereon.

Schedule of Determentation:
10 years from 1988. However, last February 1988, RA 852\32 was passed and approved by
Congress extending the period of implementation for another ten (10) years.

Retention Limits:
a) land owner – five (5) hectares
b) Each child of the landowner – three (3) hectares, provided: 1) that he/she is at least
fifteen (15) years of age; 2) that he/she is actually tilling the land or directly managing the
farm;
c) Landowners whose lands have been covered under PD 27 shall be allowed to keep
the area originally retained by them thereunder (Note: the retention limit in Pd 227 is 7
hectares);
d) Original homestead grantees or their 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

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 as they continue to cultivate said homestead (Note: the Constlussion is 24 hectares while
under the 1987 Constitution it is 12 hectares).

Order of Priority in the acquisition and distribution of lands covered by RA 6657:

Phase 1: a) rice and corn lands under PD 27; b) all file or abandoned lands; c) all private lands
voluntarily offered by the owners for agrarian reforms; d) all lands foreclosed by government
financial institution (GFPS); e) all lands acquired by the PCGG; f) all other lands owned by the
Government devoted to or suitable for agriculture.

Phase II: a) all alienable and disposable public agriculture lands; b) all arable public agricultural
lands under agro-forest, pasture and agricultural leases; c) all public agricultural lands which are
to be opened for new development and resettlement; d) all private agricultural lands in excess of
fifty (50) hectares.

Phase III: a) landholdings above 24 hectares up to 59 hectares, b) landholding from the retention
limit up to 24 hectares.

Qualified Beneficiaries under CARP:

Those who are landless residents of the same barangay, or in the absence thereof, landless
residents of the same municipality in the following order of priority:
1. agricultural lessees and share tenants;
2. regular farmworkers;
3. seasonal farmworkers;
4. other farmworkers;
5. actual tillers or occupants of public lands;
6. collectives or cooperative to the above beneficiaries; and
7. others directly working on the land.
A landless beneficiary is one who own less than 3 hectares of agricultural lands (per 2 Sec. 25 of
RA 6657)

Maximum Area of Land that maybe Distributed to Qualified Beneficiaries

“ No qualified beneficiary may own more than 3 hectares “ of agricultural lands Sec. 23 of RA
6657. [Note: under PD 27 the maximum area is 5 hectares if not irrigated or 3 hectares if
irrigated]

“Certificate of Land Ownership Award”

Is the certificate issued to qualified beneficiaries which evidences their ownership to the lands
acquired under CARP and which contain the restrictions and conditions provided under RA
6657.{Note: in PD 27 it is called Certificate of Land Transfer]

Land awarded pursuant to RA 6657 shall be paid for by the beneficiaries to the LBP in thirty (30)
annual amortization at 6 % interest per annum (Sec. 25 RA 6657). ( Note: under PD 27. It is 15
annual amortization at 6% interest per annum)

Restriction/Rights of Repurchase:
Lands acquired by beneficiaries under this Act may not be sold, transferred or conveyed except
through hereditary succession, or to the government, or to the LBP, or to other qualified
beneficiaries for a period of ten (10) years provided, however, that the children or the spouse of
the transferor shall have a right to repurchase the land from the government or LBP within a
period of two (2) years . (Sec. 27, RA 6657)

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Prohibited Act and Omissions under Sec. 73 of RA 6657;
1. ownership or possession, for the purpose of circumventing the
provisions of the law, of agricultural lands in excess to the total
retention limits or award ceilings;
2. forcible entry or illegal detainer by persons who are not qualified
farmer beneficiaries;
3. conversion by any landowner of his agricultural land into non-
agricultural use in order to avoid coverage under the Act and to
dispossess his tenant farmers;
4. willful prevention or obstruction by any person, association or
entity in the implementation of CARP;
5. sale, transfer, conveyance or change of nature of lands, either in
whole or in part after the effective of RA 6657.

Penal Provisions:
Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the provisions of RA 6657 shall be punished by
imprisonment of not less than one (1) month to more than three (3) years or a free of not less than
P1,000.00 and not more than P15,000.00 or both, at the discretion of the court.
If the offended is a corporation or association, the officer responsible thereof shall be criminally
liable.

OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS

(Book IV Civil Code of the Philippines)

Art 1156, an obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do.

SOURCES OF OBLIGATIONS (ART 1157)

Law, contracts, quasi-contracts, acts or commissions punished by law and quasi-delicts.

Quasi-contracts
Is the juridical relation resulting a lawful, voluntary, and unilateral act, and which has for its
purpose the payment of indemnity to the end that no one shall be unjustly enriched or benifited at
the expense of another.

Two 2 Principal Kinds of Quasi-contracts

a.) Negotiorum gestio- this take place when a person voluntary takes charge of anothers
abandoned business or property without the owners authority.

b.) Solutio indebity- this take place when something is received where there is no right to
demand it, and it was unduly delivered through mistake.

Quasi-delict
Is a fault or act or negligence which causes damage to another ,there being no pre-existing
contractual relations between the parties.

Negligence
Is the omission of the diligence which is required by the circumstances of person, place, and time.

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Art. 1170. Those who in the performance of their obligations are guilty or fraud, negligence or
delay and those who in any manner contravene the tenor thereof, are liable for damages.

Kinds of Damages
a.) Moral – for rental and physical anguish
b.) Exemplary – corrective or to set an example
c.) Nominal – to vindicate a right when no other kind of damage may be recovered
d.) Temperate – when the exact amount of damages cannot be determined
e.) Actual – actual losses as well as unrealized profits
f.) Liquidated – pre-determined before hand by agreement

Kinds of Culpa
a.) Culpa Contractual – contractual negligence of that which results in a breach contract
b.) Culpa Squilians – civil negligence or tort or quasi-delict
c.) Culpa Criminal – criminal negligence of that which results in the commission of a crime on a
delict

Art. 1174.Except in cases expressly specified by law, or when it is otherwise declare by the
stipulation or when the nature of the obligation requires the assumption of risk, no person shall be
responsible for those events which though foreseen, where inevitable.

Fortuitous event (case fortuito or act of God or force majeure or unavoidable accidents)- that
which could not be foreseen, or which the foreseen was inevitable.

Art.1207.The concurrence of two or more creditors of two or more debtors in one and same
obligations does not imply that each one of the former has a right to demand, or that each one of
the latter is bound to render, emire compliance with the prestation. There is solidarity liability
only when the obligations expressly so states, or when the law2 or the nature of the obligation
requires solidarity.

Remember the following:

a.) joint obligation – to each his own
b.) Solidary obligations – one for all, all for one.

Modes of Extinguishing Obligations

a.) Novation- the modification of an obligation by changing its object or principal conditions. Or
by substituting the person of the debtor, or by subrogating a third person in the rights of the
creditor.
b.) Compensation – is that which take place when two persons in their own right, are creditors
and debtors of each other.
c.) Confusion or merger – is that which take place when the characters of the creditor and debtor
are merged in the same person.
d.) Condonation or Remission or waiver – is that act of liberality whereby a creditor condones
the obligation of the detuor;
e.) Payment - consists of the delivery of the delivery of the thing or the rendition of the service
which is the object of the obligation;
f.) Loss of the thing due.

Art. 1226, In obligation with a penal clause, the penalty shall substitute the indemnify for
damages and the payment of the interest in case of non-compliance, if there is no stipulation to
the contrary.

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Penal Clause – is an accessory undertaking to assume greater liability in case of breach. It is
attached to obligations in order to insure their performance.

Dation in payment – is that mode of extinguishing an obligation whereby the debtor alienates in
favor of the creditor property for the satisfaction of monetary debt.

Cession or assignment – it is the process by which a debtor transfers all the properties not to
subject to execution in favor of his creditors so that the latter may sell them, and thus apply the
proceeds to their credits.

Subrogation – is the transfer to a third person of all the rights appertaining to the creditor,
including the right to proceed against guarantors, or processors of mortgages, subject to any legal
provision or any modification that may be agreed upon.

Art. 1305. A contract is a meeting of minds between two or more persons whereby one binds
himself, with respect to the other, to give something or to render service.

Art. 1326. Advertisement or bidders are simply invitation to make proposals and the advertiser is
nor bound to accept the highest or lowest bidder, unless the contrary appears.

Art. 1330. A contract where consent is given through mistake, violence, intimidation, undue
influence, or fraud is voidable.

Mistake or Error – It is false belief about something.

Undue Influence – When a person takes improper advantage of his power over the will of
another, depriving the latter of a reasonable freedom of choice.

Fraud – There is fraud when, through insidious words or machinations of one of the contracting
parties, the other is induced to enter into a contract which without them he would not have agreed
to.

Art. 1356. Contracts shall be obligatory in whatever form they may have been entered into,
provided all the essential requisites for their validity are present. However, when the law requires
that a contract be in some form in order that it may be valid, or that a contract be proved in a
certain way, that requirement is absolute and indispensable. In such cases, the rights of the
parties stated in the following article cannot be exercised.

Art. 1357. If the law requires a document or other special form, as in the acts and contracts
enumerated in the following article, parties may compel each other to observe that form once the
contract has been perfected. This right may be exercised with the action upon the contract.

Art 1358. The following must appear in a public document:

1.Acts and contracts which have for the object the creation, transmission, modification or
extinguishment of real rights over immovable property, sales of real property or of an interest
therein.
2.The cession, repudiation or renunciation of hereditary rights or of those of the conjugal
partnership of gains.

Dranreb 41
3.The power to administer property, of any other power which has for its object an act appearing
or which should appear in a public document, or should prejudice a third person.
4. The cession of action or rights proceeding from an act appearing in a public document.

All other contracts where the amount involve exceeds five hundred pesos must appear in writing,
even a private one.

Reformation – is that remedy in equity by means of which a written instrument is made or

construed so as to express or conform to the real intention of the parties or some errors or mistake
has been committed.

Rescission – it is a relief to protect one of the parties or a third person from all injury and
damages which the contract may cancel to protect some preferential right. (Supreme Court
definition in Aquino vs. Tanedo, 39 Phil. 517)

Accion Pauliana – An action to rescind contracts made in fraud of creditors.

Estoppel – When an admission or representation is rendered conclusive upon the person making
it, and cannot be denied or disproved as against the person relying thereon.

ORIGINAL REGISTRATION UNDER TORRENS SYSTEM

(VOLUNTARY OR ORDINARY REGISTRATION)

WHAT IS REGISTRATION?
Registration refers to a process where the state provides a public record of the title itself upon which a
prospective purchaser or someone else may rely.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF REGISTRATION?

The purpose of registration is to afford some means of publicity so that persons dealing with real property
may search the record and thereby acquire security against instruments the execution of which has not been
revealed. Another purpose is to notify and protect the interest of strangers to a given transaction, who may
be ignorant thereof.

WHAT IS VOLUNTARY OR ORDINARY REGISTRATION?

A registration is considered voluntary or ordinary when it is done through the landowner’s initiative and
expenses under the existing laws. The owner or claimants of the land files his application under no
pressures from the government.

WHO MAY APPLY FOR REGISTRATION OF TITLE TO LAND?

The following persons may file in the proper Regional Trial Court an application for registration of title to
land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:

a. Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in 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.

b. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provisions of
existing laws;

c. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river bed by right of accession
or accretion under the existing laws; and

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 Accession – is the right pertaining to the owner of a thing over everything which is
produced thereby, or which is incorporated or attached thereto, either naturally or artificially

Accretion – is the act where soil and earth, weeds and other deposits are washed away
from other places and gradually settle down and attach themselves to one’s land that used to border on a
stream or local body of water.

d. Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.

WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN AN ORDINARY OR VOLUNTARY LAND REGISTRATION CASE?

1. Survey of land by the Bureau of Lands (now LMS-DENR) or a duly licensed private
surveyor (Geodetic Engineer);

2. Filing of application for registration by the applicant;

3. Setting of the date for the initial hearing of the application by the court;

4. Transmittal of the application and the date of initial hearing with all the documents or
other evidences attached hereto by the Clerk of Court to the Land Registration Authority (LRA);

5. Publication of a notice of the filing of the application, and date and place of the hearing in
the Official Gazette;

6. Service of Notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those known to have interest in
the property by the sheriff;

7. Hearing of the case in court;

8. Promulgation of judgment by the court;

9. Issuance of the decree by the court declaring the decision final and instructing the Land
Registration Authority to issue a decree of confirmation and registration;

10. Entry of the decree of registration in the Land Registration Authority;

11. Sending of copy of the decree to the corresponding Register of Deeds;

12. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration book and issuance of the
owners duplicate original certificate of title to the applicant by the Register of Deeds (ROD), upon
payment of the prescribed fees.

WHAT TO ACCOMPANY APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION?

The application which needs to be presented in duplicate must be accompanied with:

1. Tracing cloth plan duly approved by the Bureau of Lands (now LMS-DENR) together with two
(2) blueprints or photographic copies thereof;

2. Three (3) copies of the corresponding technical descriptions;

3. Three (3) copies of the surveyor’s certificate;

4. All original muniments of title in the possession of the applicant which will prove his rights to the
title he prays for or the land he claims; and

5. Certificate in quadruplicate of the city or provincial treasurer of the assessed value of the land, at
its last assessment to taxation, or in the absence thereof, that of the next preceding year. However,

Dranreb 43
 in case the land has not been assessed, the application be accompanied with an affidavit in
quadruplicate of the fair market value of the land, signed by three disinterested persons.

WHERE TO FILE THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TITLE TO LAND?

The application for land registration shall be filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of the province or
city where the land is situated. The applicant shall also file together with the application, all the original
muniments of title or copies thereof, and the survey plan of the land approved by the Bureau of Lands
(LMS-DENR).

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