Professional Documents
Culture Documents
THROUGH :
I. INTRODUCTION
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the
primary agency of the government that has jurisdiction over the disposition
of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain. The Secretary of the
DENR acts as the Executive Officer who has direct executive control of the
survey, classification, lease, sale or any other forms of concessions or
disposition and management of the lands of the public domain.1 The DENR
disposes these A and D lands by way of Homestead, Sales and Free
Patents under the provisions of Commonwealth Act 141, otherwise known as
the Public Land Act of 1936 in relation to Executive Order No. 192, the law
Reorganizing the DENR. After disposition, these A and D lands are
1 Executive Order No. 192, Providing for the Reorganization of the Department of
Environment, Energy and Natural Resources; Renaming it as the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources and for other Purposes.
2
During this time, the King was the source of all assorted rights to ownership
in land. Under the laws of the Indies (Book 4, Title 12, Law I) the King was
2Section 103 of Presidential Decree 1529 (Property Registration Decree) previously under
Section 122 of Act 496 (Land Registration Act of 1902).
3 Republic vs. Sayo, 191 SCRA 71 (1990).
4 "We, having acquired full sovereignty over the Indies, and all lands, territories, and
possessions not heretofore ceded away by our royal predecessors, or by us, or in our
name, still pertaining to the royal crown and patrimony, it is our will that all lands which are
held without proper and true deeds of grants be restored to us according as they belong to
us, in order that after reserving before all what to us or to our viceroys, audiencias, and
governors may seem necessary for public squares, ways, pastures, and commons in those
places which are peopled, taking into consideration not only their present condition, but also
their future and their probable increase, and after distributing to the natives what may be
necessary for tillage and pasturage, confirming them in what they now have and giving them
more if necessary, all the rest of said lands may remain free and unencumbered for us to
dispose as we may wish."
3
Philippine Bill of 1902 was passed by the United States Congress ratifying
the Philippine Commission created by President McKinley and provided for
the administration of civil government in the Philippines. The Commission
enacted Act 218 (Act Creating the Bureau of Public Lands) and Act 926
(Public Land Act of 1903) which became the basis of public land disposition
thereafter. Dispositions of public lands by the Bureau under these laws were
by way of homestead, free patent, sale and lease of public lands suitable for
agriculture. Act 926 also formally recognizes titles, grants and concessions
given by Spain to private individuals requiring only the registration of the
same to the Land Registration Court of the Philippine Islands for
8 Bueneventura vs. Commanding General Philipine Division, G.R. No. 1935. November
6, 1906 and Ichausti & Company vs. Commanding General Philipine Division, G.R. No.
2127. November 1, 1906.
4
The law on public lands disposition was later amended on July 1, 1919 with
the enactment of Act 2874 (An Act to Amend and Compile the Laws Relative
to Lands of the Public Domain). Act 2874, for the first time, classified lands
of the public domain into Alienable or Disposable, Timber and Mineral.10
Under Section 8 of said act, only those lands declared open to disposition
or concession that have been officially delimited and classified and, when
practicable, surveyed, and which have not been reserved for public or quasi-
public uses, nor appropriated by the Government, nor in any manner
become private property, nor those on which a private right authorized and
recognized by this Act or any other valid law may be claimed, or which,
having been reserved or appropriated, have ceased to be so.
After the passage of the 1935 Constitution, Commonwealth Act No. 141
amended Act 2874 in 1936. CA 141, as amended, remains to this day as the
existing general law governing the classification and disposition of lands of
the public domain other than timber and mineral lands, under the following:
During the Spanish period, the system of registration was under the Laws of
the Indies then followed by the Ley Hipotecaria, or the Mortgage Law of
1893. The Spanish Mortgage Law13 provided for the systematic registration
of titles and deeds as well as possessory claims. The law sought to register
and tax lands pursuant to the Royal Decree of 1880. The Royal Decree of
1894, or the "Maura Law," was partly an amendment of the Mortgage Law as
well as the Laws of the Indies, as already amended by previous orders and
decrees. This was the last Spanish land law promulgated in the Philippines.
It required the "adjustment" or registration of all agricultural lands, otherwise
the lands shall revert to the state.14
This system is rather complicated as several kinds of land titles are issued in
particular: (1) the titulo real or royal grant, (2) the concession special or
special grant; (3) the "the composicion con el estado" title or adjustment title;
(4) the titulo de compra or title by purchase and (5) the informacion
possessoria or possessory information title which could become a "titulo
gratuito" or a gratuitous title.15 When the Bureau of Public Lands was
created under Act 218, it was authorized, among others, to collect and safely
keep all existing Spanish records relating to the public lands or their
conveyances.16
There are three fundamental principles to the Torrens System; namely the
Mirror Principle, Curtain Principle and Insurance Principle.
16 Act 218, An Act Creating the Bureau of Public Lands, September 2, 1901
17 Noblejas & Noblejas, Registration of Land Titles and Deeds, 1992 Ed.
18 Edna Collado, et al. vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 107764, October 4, 2002.
19 Peña, Peña and Peña, Registration of Land Titles and Deeds, 1994.
7
The Torrens System as conceived had four qualities being speed, simplicity,
cheapness and suitability to the needs of the community.20
Though the Torrens system became effective as early as 1902, the old
system of registration under the Spanish Mortgage Law continued and was
not abolished by American colonial government. However, due to the
introduction of the Torrens System, land titles registered under the Spanish
Mortgage law migrated to the new title system. More so, newly issued
certificate of titles coming from public land dispositions were being registered
in the Torrens system and thus, the Spanish mortgage law slowly died. By
1970s, due to disuse, to simplify evidence of and ownership, and to remove
the confusion in land rights recording caused by these Spanish titles and
grants, Presidential Decree No. 892 was enacted and became effective
February 16, 1976 declaring that Spanish Titles can no longer be used as
evidence of land ownership. Under the same decree, all lands not under the
Torrens System are all be considered as unregistered lands including those
registered under the Spanish Mortgage law.21
Said legislation was enacted due to the fraudulent sales, transfers, and other
forms of conveyances of large tracts of public and private lands to
unsuspecting and unwary buyers perpetrated by unscrupulous persons
claiming ownership under Spanish titles or grants of dubious origin. These
fraudulent transactions have often resulted in conflicting claims and
litigations between legitimate Torrens title holders, bona fide occupants or
applicants of public lands and the holders of, or person claiming rights under
the said Spanish titles or grants, thus creating confusion and instability in
property ownership and threatening the peace and order conditions in the
areas affected.
For over forty years after its introduction in the Philippines, the Torrens
System of Land Registration was enjoying the confidence and trust of the
people. Its credibility did not experience any serious challenge. It has been
observed that the land records were complete and available when needed.
However, as a result of the last world-war, a sizable portion of the records
22 Land Administration and Management Project Paper on Fake and Spurious Title,
Philippines-Australia Land Administration and Management Project, 2002
8
was burned, lost or destroyed. More records were further lost due to
pilferages and poor storage facilities; others were lost because of poor
handling and the movement of records from one office location to another.
There are two kinds of illegal titles that are being circulated.
First, fake/spurious titles are those certificates of title which have not gone
through the regular process of registration or have not been duly issued by
9
23Land Administration and Management Project Paper on Fake and Spurious Title,
Philippines-Australia Land Administration and Management Project, 2002
11
This is the most fantastic land claim in the history of the Philippines.
The heirs of the late Mariano San Pedro y Esteban laid claim and
12
have been laying claim to the ownership of, against third persons and
the Government itself, a total land area of approximately 173,000
hectares or "214,047 quinones," on the basis of a Spanish title,
entitled "Titulo de Propriedad Numero 4136" dated April 25, 1894. The
claim, according to the San Pedro heirs, appears to cover lands in the
provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Quezon; and
such Metro Manila cities as Quezon City, Caloocan City, Pasay City,
City of Pasig and City of Manila, thus affecting in general lands
extending from Malolos, Bulacan to the City Hall of Quezon City and
the land area between Dingalan Bay in the north and Tayabas Bay in
the south.
Titulo de Propriedad No. 4136 was declared null and void by the
Supreme Court24 and the heirs, agents, privies and/or anyone acting
for and in behalf of the estate of the late Mariano San Pedro y
Esteban are expressly disallowed to exercise any act of possession
or ownership or to otherwise, dispose of in any manner the whole or
any portion of the estate covered by Titulo de Propriedad No. 4136
and they are ordered to immediately vacate the same.
Per opinion of the LRA contained in its letter dated April 15, 1992,
Titutlo de Propriedad de Terrenos of 1891, Royal Decree No. 01-4
covering the so called Kadakilaan Estate are absolutely inadmissible
and ineffective in sa ofar as proof of private ownership for not having
brought within the operation of Act 496 pursuantto PD 892 dated
February 16, 1976. This PD provides that all holder of Spanish Titles
24Intestate Estate of Don Mariano Esteban vs. IAC, G.R. No. 103727, December 18, 1996 and
Engracio San Pedro, et al., vs. CA, G.R. No. 106496, December 18, 1996.
13
or grants should apply for registration of their land under Act 496
within six (6) months from the effectivity of this decree: and thereafter,
the Spanish title cannot be used as evidence of land ownership in any
registration proceedings under the Torrens system. The LRA
pronouncement effectively debunked Section 8 of PD 1143 relied on
by the petitioners which stated that said “Titulo” was registered with
the Land Registration Commission. Furthermore, the contents of
petitioner’s copy of PD 1143 is entirely different from that issued by
then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
The efficacy and integrity of the Torrens System must be protected and
preserved to ensure the stability and security of land titles for otherwise land
14
ownership in the country would be rendered erratic and restless and can
certainly be a potent and veritable cause of social unrest and agrarian
agitation. However, the fight against fake titles requires not only police
action but also institutional changes in our land agencies and laws. Lapses
in the government systems and processes are often used by land syndicates
in perpetuating this crime. The DENR had been at the forefront of this
advocacy as the primary agency pushing for reforms in land administration
through the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP).