Republic of the Philippines

2nd Judicial Region

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

IN RE: PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A

NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE OF ORIGINAL
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. P-2539,
REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF BEN
APANGCHAN, IN LIEU OF THE ONE LOST
(REPLACEMENT OF LOST TITLE).

BEN APANGCHAN, LRA CASE

PETITIONER. NO. _____________

- VERSUS -

THE REGISTRY OF DEEDS,

LAMUT, IFUGAO,
RESPONDENTS
X--------------------------------------------------X

PETITION
PETITIONER, assisted by the Public Attorney’s Office, through the
undersigned counsel, unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully submits
this Petition, and hereby alleges the following:

1) Petitioner, BEN APANGCHAN, is of legal age, Filipino, married and

presently residing at Purok 7, Francisco San Miguel, Ramon, Isabela.
For purposes of this action, copies of notices and orders of the
Honorable Court may be served at the office address of the
undersigned Public Attorney indicated below;

2) Respondent, REGISTRY OF DEEDS OF IFUGAO, is being

impleaded in its official capacity, being the official repository of land
titles in the Province of Ifugao, and such public instruments bearing
relation to its encumbrance, conveyance, subdivision, and/or such
other incidences subsequent to its issue. It is necessarily impleaded as
the Registry of Deeds concerned where the land, subject of this
Petition, lies, and may be served through their Office at Poblacion
West, Lamut, Ifugao;

FACTS of the CASE

 3) Registered with the Office of Respondent Registry of Deeds is a
certain parcel of land located at Brgy. Sta. Maria (Potia), Ifugao. The
same is covered and embraced by Original Certificate of Title
(OCT) No. P-2539 registered in the name of Petitioner, BEN
APANCHAN a.k.a BEN H. APANGCHAN and which particularly
describes his lot as follows:1

OCT No. P-2539

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION2

4) The above-said described parcel of land covered by Original

Certificate of Title No. P-2539 was declared for taxation purposes in
the name of Ben Apangchan as evidenced by Tax Declaration No.
2014-030001-040343 in the year 2020 and Tax Declaration No.
2022-030001-000074 in the year 2023;

5) Petitioner was issued and has held the owner’s duplicate copy of the
said Title. He kept it in his personal files in their house at Barangay
San Miguel, Ramon, Isabela;

6) For how many years, the said owner’s duplicate copy of Original
Certificate Title No. P-2539 was safely kept. However, on August 3,
2022, when Petitioner looked for the said Title among his personal
files, he discovered that the same was gone and missing;

7) And despite diligent search and effort to locate the Owner’s Duplicate
Copy of Original Certificate of Title No. P-2539, he could not find it
such that he genuinely believes that the said copy is now lost and
beyond recovery;

8) Prior to the filing of this Petition, Petitioner had executed an Affidavit

of Loss5 and caused its annotation at the Registry of Deeds of Ifugao;

9) An original duplicate copy of the said title is intact and on file with
Respondent Registry of Deeds as per Certification / Certified True
Copy of the said Title dated August 12, 2022, which the said Office
had issued, a copy of which is hereto attached and made an integral

1
Certified True Copy of the same Title is hereto attached and marked as Annex “A, A-1, A-2, A-3
and A-4” and made an integral part hereof.
2
In case of discrepancies between such contents and values that has been manually copied and
encoded on this page, and that appearing on the attached Certified True Copy-- the latter shall be
deemed controlling and a conclusive representation of the same.
3
A copy of the said Tax Declaration No. is hereto attached, marked as Annex “B” and form an
integral part of this Petition;
4
A copy of the said Tax Declaration No. is hereto attached, marked as Annex “C” and form an
integral part of this Petition
5
Attached is an “Affidavit of Loss”

PETITION : PAGE 2 OF 5
 part hereof6. As a matter of fact, Petitioner’s Affidavit of Loss was
already annotated on the said duplicate Original Copy of the Title on
file with the said Respondent7, to wit:

10) Petitioner noticed that his surname was misspelled as

“APANCHAN” in the said OCT and in the Tax Declaration
No. 2022-030001-00007. In truth and in fact, the correct
spelling of his surname is “APANGCHAN” as reflected in his
Certificate of Live Birth, Tax Declaration No. 2022-030001-
00007, Affidavit of Loss, IDS, and as attested by two
disinterested persons;

11) Petitioner’s surname had been known by his family, friends and his
community as “APANGCHAN” and not “APANCHAN” as
misspelled in the OCT, subject to this case, and that he has been
using “APANGCHAN” as his surname in all his private and public
transactions/documents;

CAUSES of ACTION
12) Petitioner anchors his cause of action in Section 108 of P.D. No.
1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree, to wit:

“Section 108. Amendment and alteration of certificates. No erasure,

alteration, or amendment shall be made upon the registration book
after the entry of a certificate of title or of a memorandum thereon
and the attestation of the same be Register of Deeds, except by order
of the proper Court of First Instance. A registered owner of other
person having an interest in registered property, or, in proper cases,
the Register of Deeds with the approval of the Commissioner of
Land Registration, may apply by petition to the court upon the
ground that the registered interests of any description, whether
vested, contingent, expectant or inchoate appearing on the
certificate, have terminated and ceased; or that new interest not
appearing upon the certificate have arisen or been created; or that an
omission or error was made in entering a certificate or any
memorandum thereon, or, on any duplicate certificate; or that
the same or any person on the certificate has been changed; or that
the registered owner has married, or, if registered as married, that the
marriage has been terminated and no right or interests of heirs or
creditors will thereby be affected; or that a corporation which owned
registered land and has been dissolved has not convened the same
within three years after its dissolution; or upon any other reasonable
ground; and the court may hear and determine the petition after

6
See Annex “A, A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4”
7
Said Affidavit of Loss was annotated on page 5 or Annex “A-4” of the duplicate original copy of
the Title on file with Respondent Registry of Deeds, with “Entry No. ” -which be encircled and
submarked as Annex “A-4-a” and made an integral part hereof.

PETITION : PAGE 3 OF 5
 notice to all parties in interest, and may order the entry or
cancellation of a new certificate, the entry or cancellation of a
memorandum upon a certificate, or grant any other relief upon such
terms and conditions, requiring security or bond if necessary, as it
may consider proper; Provided, however, That this section shall not
be construed to give the court authority to reopen the judgment or
decree of registration, and that nothing shall be done or ordered by
the court which shall impair the title or other interest of a purchaser
holding a certificate for value and in good faith, or his heirs and
assigns, without his or their written consent. Where the owner's
duplicate certificate is not presented, a similar petition may be filed
as provided in the preceding section.

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

13) The misspelled surname was due to inadvertence and did not arise
from any malevolence, ill-will or to defraud any other persons or
agency. Said mistake is only clerical, and certainly not a
controversial issue;

14) For the purpose of correcting the spelling of Petitioner’s surname

from “APANCHAN” to “APANGCHAN”, he has no better recourse
but to file this instant petition in lieu of Sec. 108 of P.D 1529 which
would not in any way reopen the decree of registration, and could not
thereby impair the rights of innocent persons or any persons in
interest;

15) Petitioner also anchors his cause of action in Section 109 of P.D. No.
1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree, to wit:
“Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate.
In case of loss or theft of an owner’s duplicate certificate of title,
due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone
in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province or city
where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a
duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a
person applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the
registration of any instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such
loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other
person in interest and registered.

Upon petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the

court may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new
duplicate certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of the fact
that it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in
all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as the original
duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of
this decree.”

PETITION : PAGE 4 OF 5
 16) In compliance to paragraph 1 of Section 109, P.D. No 1529,
Petitioners has already given due notice to the Registry of Deeds,
Lamut, Ifugao that the Owner’s Duplicate Copy of Title is loss. The
Affidavit of Loss executed by the Petitioner has been annotated as an
encumbrance on the Title.8

17) In view of the foregoing facts, Petitioner have a causes of action to

file the instant Petition.

WITNESS to be PRESENTED
18) To support the allegations in the Petition, the Petitioner, BEN H.
APANGCHAN9, will testify to prove that he is the Petitioner in this
case and the registered owner of the subject Title lost, as well as to
prove all the allegations in the Petition, particularly the circumstances
surrounding the title’s loss.

PRAYER
WHEREFORE, it is most respectfully prayed of the Honorable
Court, after due notice and hearing, that a judgment be rendered in favour of
the Petitioner, declaring the owner’s duplicate copy of OCT No. P-2539 as
already LOST, and thereby Ordering the Registry of Deeds of Lamut, Ifugao
to:

i. ISSUE a NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE ORIGINAL

CERTIFICATE OF TITLE No. P-2539 in lieu of the one lost, in the
correct name of the Petitioner, particularly his surname, BEN H.
APANGCHAN;

ii. ANNOTATE on the said newly issued duplicate Certificate of Title

of the fact that it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but
shall in all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as the original
duplicate;

Other reliefs, just and equitable, under the premises are likewise
prayed for.

8
See Annex “4-A-a”
9
His testimony is contained in his Judicial Affidavit which is hereto attached, marked, and
made part hereof as Annexes “F and series”.

PETITION : PAGE 5 OF 5