LAW 313_ Laws on Property

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Land Registration

Land registration pertains to the proceeding either administrative or judicial, for registering the
title to, or interest on a land in a public registry so that such title or interest becomes a matter of
public record, and all persons who have any interest in the land maybe informed thereof, actually
or constructively, and be bound thereby if they make no objections thereto within a specific time.

There are at present two basic systems of land registration prevailing in the Philippines:
the Torrens system and the system of registration for unregistered lands. The registration system
under the Spanish Mortgage Law was discontinued with the issuance of Presidential Decree No.
892 in 1976 and all lands recorded under these systems which were not yet covered by Torrens
titles were considered as unregistered lands. Less than half of the available A&D lands are
formally titled and recorded in the Torrens System. Of these lands it is known that some
subsequent transactions are not recorded in the ROD’s. Similarly, many transactions with
unregistered land are not formally recorded.

In the Philippines, possibly because of the difficulties imposed by the judicial processes,
the Land Registration Authority (Filipino: Pangasiwaan sa Patalaan ng Lupain), abbreviated as
LRA, an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Justice responsible for
issuing decrees of registration and certificates of title and registered documents, patents and other
land transaction for the benefit of landowners, agrarian reform-beneficiaries and the registering
public in general; providing a secure, stable and trustworthy record of land ownership and
recorded interests therein so as to promote social and economic well-being and contribute to the
national development. But LRA has not engaged in titling activities other than to register
whatever is lodged with it for that purpose. is The only proactive titling activities are those which
can be undertaken under the Cadastral Act No. 2259, which are initiated by the DENR through
the Director of Lands. However, although many Municipalities have been surveyed, little action
has been undertaken to issue titles.

Torrens System

The Torrens Title has been defined under Philippine law as a certificate of ownership
under the Torrens system. Such document is issued through the intervention of the Register of
Deeds which names and declares the owner in fee simple of the real property described in such
document. In doing so, it is thereby understood that such property is free from all liens and
encumbrances except those that are expressly provided for or noted therein.
 Under the Torrens title system, a title that has been registered cannot be defeated by mere
prescription except however, if such is subject to the rights of a third party based on equity. As a
basic principle, registration does not confer or vest title. It merely confirms any pre-existing title
over the property. As such, a registrant who has been successful in registering his or her property
under the system will only have the same rights that he or she possessed prior to the registration.
The process of registration under the Torrens title system involves the intervention of the courts
as such is in the nature of a judicial proceeding. Furthermore, the said proceeding is in the nature
of an in rem proceeding as it is enforceable against anyone in the whole world.

History

Sir Robert Torrens originated the system of land registration known today worldwide as
the Torrens system of land registration. As the commissioner of customs in South Australia,
Torrens was inspired by the comparative facility with which ships or undivided shares therein
were negotiated and transferred in accordance with the Merchant Shipping Acts. Becoming a
register of deeds, he devised a scheme of registration of title that improved the old system of
registration of deeds. He adopted a procedure under the Merchant Shipping Acts with
appropriate modifications. When he became a member of the First Colonial Ministry of the
Province of South Australia, he introduced in the parliament a bill providing for the adoption of
his scheme of land registration. The measure was passed and came to be known as the "Torrens
System."

On November 6, 1902, the Philippine Commission enacted Act 496 known as the Land
Registration Act. This provided for the creation of the Court of Land Registration (CLR), the
offices of the Register of Deeds and the institution in this country of the Torrens system of
registration whereby real estate ownership may be judicially confirmed and recorded in the
archives of the government. The system, however, actually took effect on February 1, 1903, on
which date LRA may be said to have taken roots. Five judges were appointed by the Governor-
General with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission, one of whom was designated
as Judge of Court and the other as Associate Judges, all of whom could be removed by the
Governor-General with the advice and the consent of the Philippine Commission.

On February 11, 1913, the Cadastral Law Act (Act 2259) was enacted for compulsory
registration of land titles with private ownership. Under this Act, registration of titles was
judicial in nature.

The Court of Land Registration exercised jurisdiction over all applicants for the
registration of titles to land or building in the Philippines, with the power to hear and determine
all questions arising upon such applications.

On July 1, 1914 by virtue of Act No. 2347, the jurisdiction over land registration cases of
the Court of Land Registration was transferred to the Court of First Instance. A new office,
known as the General Land Registration Office (GLRO), was charged with the functions, among
others, of looking into the effective implementation of the land registration law. The offices of
the Register of Deeds were, per Section 192 (a) of the Revised Administrative Code, placed
under the administrative supervision of the GLRO.

However, Republic Act No. 1151 abolished the GLRO and created in its stead, the Land
Registration Commission (LRC), on June 17, 1954. The Commissioner of Land Registration
took over the powers and functions of the GLRO, including those of the judge of the Fourth
branch of the Court of First Instance of Manila. The Land Registration Commission operated
under the supervision of the Department of Justice, and exercised direct supervision and control
of all Registers of Deeds as well as the Clerks of Court of First Instance in land registration
cases.

A registry of deeds was established in every city and every province and branch registry
where legally feasible, charged with the functions of registering deeds under the Torrens System.
Registers of Deeds of the different provinces and chartered cities, who were appointed by the
President, were under the administrative supervision and control of the Land Registration
Commission.

On February 9, 1981, PresidentFerdinand Marcos issued Executive Order No. 469

reorganizing the LRC into the National Land Titles and Deeds Administration (NLTDRA).
Operating under the administrative supervision of the Ministry of Justice, NLTDRA was
implementing the laws governing the Torrens System of land registration in the Philippines.

In the President's Memorandum Circular of September 30, 1988, the latest of these
changes was effected. The National Land Titles and Deeds Registration Administration
(NLTDRA) became the Land Registration Authority (LRA) which was tasked to continue
exercising NLTDRA's powers and functions under existing laws. This was in line with Executive
Order No. 292 dated July 25, 1987, instituting the Administrative Code of 1987, which took
effect on November 3, 1989.

Definition of Terms

Land Title- refers to that upon which ownership based. It is 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 authority.

Certificate of Title- is the transcript of the decree of registration made by the Register of
Deeds.
Original Certificate of Title – a true copy of the decree of registration.

Transfer Certificate of Title – are those issued subsequent to the original certificates and
may not necessarily constitute a transcript of the decree of registration.

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

Deeds- refer to a written instrument executed in accordance with law, wherein a person
grants or conveys to another certain land, tenement and hereditaments. It is a solemn document
and it has been defined as a writing or instrument on paper or parchment sealed and delivered.

Title in fee simple- is meant an absolute title; it is an absolute estate in perpetuity.

Registration- refers to the act where the state provides a public record of the title itself
upon which a prospective purchases or someone else may rely.

Original registration – takes place when the title to land is made of public record for the
first time in the mane of its lawful owner.

Subsequent registration – the registration of a sale, transfer, encumbrance or other

disposition of a land which has been originally registered is within the purview of subsequent
registration.
 CHAPTER II

PROPERTY AND OWNERSHIP

Property is defined as anything, which is or may be the object of appropriation. It is

classified according to its nature as immovable or real, and movable or personal; and according
to its ownership, as public dominion, and private ownership. A real property is land, or any estate
in land. It generally includes whatever is built or growing upon the land. It may be defined to
include anything that is immovable. Personal property is all property other than real property. It
generally refers to property that is movable.

Definition of Terms

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

different persons.
2. 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.
3. Usufruct – a real right by virtue of which a person is given the right to enjoy the property
or another with the obligation or preserving its form and substance.
4. Easement or Servitude – is an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit
or another immovable belonging to a different owner.
5. Patrimonial Property of the State – is that which belongs to the state as a private
individual, without being devoted to common use.
6. Friar lands – lands acquired by the government during the Taft administration from
religious corporation or orders. They are private lands of the government.
7. Conjugal Property – all properties obtained by the husband and wife during their
marriage.
8. Paraphernal Property – the exclusive property of the wife.
9. Capital Property – the exclusive property of the husband.
10. Donation – is an act of liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously a thing or right
in favor of another who accepts it.
11. 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.
12. 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.

A. Classification of Things
1. Res Nullius - Belongs to no one. (Things that cannot be acquired.)
2. Res Commones - Belong to everyone
3. Res Allicujus - Belongs to only one
B. Classification of Property
1. Mobility

a. Immovable- Real properties includes land and all things immovably attached to it such as
(Art. 415, NCC):

1.) building, roads, and construction of all kinds adhered to the soil;

2.) trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached to the land or form an integral part of
an immovable;

3.) everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way that it cannot be
separated there from without breaking the material or deterioration of the object;

4.) statues, relief, paintings, or other object for use or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on
lands by the owner of the immovable in such a manner that it reveals the intention to attach them
permanently to the tenements;

5.) machinery, receptacles, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the tenement for
an industry or works which may be carried on in a building on a piece of land and which tend
directly to meet the needs of the said industry or works;

6.) animal houses, pigeon houses, beehives, fishponds, or breeding places of similar nature, in
case their owner has placed them or preserved them with the intention to have them permanently
attached to the land and forming a permanent part of it, the animals in these places are included;

7.) fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;

8.) mines, quarries and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed, and water
either running or stagnant;

9.) docks and structures which, though floating, are intended by their nature and object to remain
at a fixed place on a river, lake or coast; and

10.) contracts for public works, and servitude and other legal rights over immovable property.

b. Movable or Personal -Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in
the classification as immovable or real properties.

1. Real properties which by special provision of law is considered personal (as in chattel
mortgage on standing crops).
2. Forces of nature which are brought under control by science.
3. In general, all things can be transported from one place to another without impairment or
damage to the property to which they are fixed.
2. 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 right of
others.

a. Public property – those properties belonging to the state which are intended for public use,
service or for the development of the national wealth, it may be in provinces, cities and
municipalities.

Properties of Public Dominion

1. Those intended for public use such as road, streets, canals, rivers, ports and bridges
constructed by the State.
2. Those which belong to the State, without being for public use, and are intended for some
public service or for the development of the national wealth.
3. Properties for public use in provinces, cities, municipalities such as provincial roads, city
streets, squares, fountains, etc. and public works for public service paid for by said
provinces, cities or municipalities.

Characteristics of Properties of Public Dominion

They are outside the commerce of man, consequently:

1. They cannot be appropriated
2. They cannot be the subject matter of contracts, hence, they cannot be alienated or
encumbered.
3. They cannot be acquired by prescription.
4. They cannot be subject to attachments or execution.
5. They cannot be burdened by any voluntary easement.

The Regalian Doctrine of property ownership

A principle in law which means that all natural wealth - agricultural, forest or timber, and
mineral lands of the public domain and all other natural resources belong to the state. Thus, even
if the private person owns the property where minerals are discovered, his ownership for such
does not give him the right to extract or utilize said minerals without permission from the state to
which such minerals belong.

b. Private property – all properties belonging to private persons, either individually or

collectively.

c. Co-ownership - whenever the ownership of an undivided thing or right belongs to

different persons

3.Alienability – within or outside the commerce of man.

4.Existence - present or future property.

5.Material – material or immaterial.

6.Dependence or Importance.

7.Capability of Substitution.

8.Nature or Definiteness.

9.Whether in the Custody of the Court or Free.

10.Other Classifications

Patrimonial Property – those belonging to the government as a private individual,

without being devoted in common use.

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

Capital Property – the exclusive property of the husband.

Paraphernal Property – the exclusive property of the wife.

C. Characteristics of Property
1. Utility to the Satisfaction of Moral and or Economic Wants

2. Susceptibility to Appropriation

3. Individuality or Sustainability

D. Kinds of Accession on Immovable Property

Alluvium refers to the deposit itself; Accretion denotes the act; and Accession refers to the
right.

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

1. Natural Fruits- the spontaneous products of the soil.

2. Industrial Fruits – those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation and labor.

3. Civil Fruits – those which are derived from rents of buildings or the price of leased lands.

4. Natural Accessions – created by nature.

Alluvium – the accretion in which the lands adjoining the banks of rivers, lakes, creeks or
torrents gradually receive from the effects of the current of the water.

Avulsion – the accretion which takes place whenever the current of water or river, lake, or
torrent segregates from the estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers it to another
estate.

Change of Riverbeds

Formation of Islands

Alluvium and Avulsion distinguished:

1. In alluvium, the accretion is gradual, whereas in avulsion it is sudden and abrupt;

2. In alluvium, the accretion can’t be identified whereas in avulsion it can be identified;
3. In alluvium, there is merely an attachment, whereas in avulsion, there is a detachment
then followed by an attachment;
4. In alluvium, 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 and 6 months for trees, etc.)

E. Modes of Acquiring Ownership

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.

1. Law – through judicial proceedings.

2. Donation – An act of liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously a thing or right in
favor of a person that accepts it.
3. Prescription - acquisition of title by actual, open, continuous, and uninterrupted
possession in the concept of owner for the period required by law.a possessor of land who
may not be the owner, after the lapse of a certain period prescribed in the law, may assert
ownership thereof as against anyone except the true owner or one with the better title
based on an earlier possession which he had not abandoned.
4. Succession(Descent or Devise) – 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.
5. Reclamation - filling of submerged land, subject to existing laws and government
regulations.
 6. Emancipation Patent or Grant –- as in lands acquired by tenant-farmers by virtue of PD
27 and under the CARP.
7. Public Grant- the conveyance of public land by the government to a private individual.
8. Accretion- when soil and earth, weeds and other deposits are washed away from the other
places and gradually settles down and attach themselves to one’s land that usedto border
on a stream or local body of water, the owner of this said land becomes the owner of the
additional area thus formed by accretion.
9. Voluntary transfer- or by private grant; the transfer is given effect by the voluntary
execution of a deed of conveyance in certain prescribed form, completed by the recording
or registration thereof in a public office.
10. Involuntary alienation- this method of transfer does not require the consent or
cooperation of the owner of the land, and in fact, is usually carried out against his will.

F. 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 power of the government to collect taxes on property for the
maintenance of public service, if not collected the government sells the property.

4. Escheat – the reversion of the property to the government when the owner dies without
leaving a will or heirs.

G. Elements or Attributes of Ownership.

1. the right to enjoy – the right to use, the right to enjoy the fruits and the right to consume the
thing by its use.

1. The right to use or “jus utendi”

2. The right to enjoy the fruits or “jus fruendi”
3. The right to consume the thing by its use or “jus abutendi

2. the right to dispose (“jus disponendi”) or the right to alienate, encumber, transform or even the
right to destroy.
3. the right to vindicate (“jus vindicandi”) or the right to action available to the owner to recover
the property against the holder or prossessor.

The Steward Concept of property ownership

The Steward Concept is a legal doctrine which holds that property ownership
presupposes concomitant obligations to the state and the community and that property is
supposed to be held by the individual only as trustee for people in general; and that as mere
steward, the property owner must exercise his rights to the property not just for his own
exclusive and selfish benefit or interest but for the good and general welfare of the nation as a
whole.

H. Limitations on right of property ownership

CONSTITUTIONAL - such as police power, eminent domain or expropriation of private

property for public use, taxation and escheat when revision of private property to state ownership
in case of death of property owner without an heir;
1. Police Power – is the power of the government of any of its instrumentalities 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 – power of the government to take private property for public use upon
payment of just compensation.
3. Power of Taxation – government exacts 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.

LEGAL - zoning ordinances, regulations on subdivision projects, building code, and other
special laws and regulations; and
CONSENSUAL/VOLUNTARY - easements and servitudes, usufructs, lease agreements,
restrictions in subdivision and condominium deeds or restriction.