INTRO (CLM1) – MODULE 7: Registration of Land, Titles & Deeds,

Prescription & Estoppel 1

MODULE 7
REGISTRATION OF LAND, TITLES AND DEEDS,
PRESCRIPTION AND ESTOPPEL
WEEK 6 – 3 September 2018

LAND REGISTRATION

 Definition. – Land registration is a judicial or

administrative proceeding whereby a person’s claim of
ownership over a particular land is determined and
confirmed or recognized so that such land and the ownership
thereof may be recorded in a public registry.

 Purposes. –

(a) To issue a certificate of title to the owner which shall be

the best evidence of his ownership of the land described
therein.
(b) To give every registered owner complete peace of mind.
(c) To relieve the land of unknown claims.
(d) To quiet title to land and to stop forever any question as
to its legality.
(e) To avoid conflicts of title in and to real estate, and to
facilitate transactions.
(f) To guarantee the integrity of land titles and to protect
their indefeasibility once the claim of ownership is
established and recognized.

 Torrens System. – The Torrens system of land

registration was introduced in the Philippines by Act No. 496,
which took effect on February 1, 1903. This law was
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amended and superseded by Presidential Decree No. 1529,

which took effect on June 11, 1978, otherwise known as the
“Property Registration Decree.” This is the principal law now
governing land registration in the Philippines.
 The originator of the system was Sir Richard
Torrens, reformer of Australian Land Laws.
 Under the Torrens system of registration, the
government is required to issue an official certificate of title
attesting to the fact that the person named in the certificate
of title is the owner of the described property, subject to the
liens and encumbrances noted therein or reserved by law,
like in the case of statutory liens. The certificate of title is
indefeasible and imprescriptible and all claims to the parcel
of land are quieted upon the issuance of the certificate of
title.

 Judicial Land Registration. – It is a proceeding

where the application for land registration is filed in the
proper court. (P.D. 1529, Sec. 14.)

 Kinds. – There are two kinds of judicial land

registration:

(a) Ordinary land registration proceeding. – where the

application for land registration is initiated and filed in court
by the owner or person claiming ownership of the land; (P.D.
1529, Sec. 14) and

(b) Cadastral land registration proceeding. – where it is

the government that undertakes the survey of the land and
files the petition in court for the registration of the whole or
part of the lands in a municipality, city or province, and
where all persons are given notice by publication and
required to make known and prove their claims of ownership
or interest over the same; otherwise, the lots will be declared
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public land. In this sense, a cadastral proceeding is in the

nature of a large scale compulsory proceeding. (Act 2259,
as amended by P.D. 1529, Secs. 35-37.)
The court, after hearing the application for land
registration and as warranted by the evidence, shall render
judgment confirming the title of the applicant and ordering:
(1) the Land Registration Authority to issue the decree of
registration; and (2) for the Register of Deeds to issue the
corresponding Original Certificate of Title to the applicant or
adjudged owner.
 Administrative Land Registration. – is a proceeding
where the application for a Free Patent, Homestead Patent,
Sales Patent, or other grant of public land is filed in, and
determined by, the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR). If the application is granted, the DENR
issues a patent for the land applied for. Such patent shall be
registered in the office of the Register of Deeds who shall
then issue the corresponding certificate of title in the name of
the registered owner. (P.D. 1529, Sec. 103.)

 In both judicial and administrative land

registration, the Register of Deeds makes the proper entries
in his Record Book and issues the corresponding owner’s
duplicate certificate of the “ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF
TITLE” to the registered owner.

 Torrens Certificate of Title. – It is the evidence of

ownership issued by the Register of Deeds to the owner of a
particular land which is registered under the Torrens system
of registration.

 Torrens title as conclusive evidence of

ownership – A Torrens title is generally a conclusive
evidence of the ownership of the land referred to therein. A
strong presumption exists that Torrens titles are regularly
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Prescription & Estoppel 4

issued and that they are valid. A Torrens title is

incontrovertible against any title existing prior to the issuance
thereof not annotated on the title.

 Indefeasibility of the Torrens title – A Torrens

title becomes indefeasible and can be attacked only for fraud
within one (1) year after the date of the issuance of the
decree of registration. Such attack must be direct and not by
collateral proceeding. In other words, the issue on the
validity of the title can only be raised in an action expressly
instituted for that purpose.

 Registration is not a mode of acquiring

ownership. – Registration is not a mode of acquiring
ownership. It does not vest or create ownership. The
person who has not previously acquired a title over the land
under the law, but was able to register the title to said land,
does not make him an owner because registration is not a
mode of acquiring ownership.
 Title, not land, is registered. – What is being
registered is the title to the land and not the land itself. It
presupposes then that the title to the land must come first
before registration; otherwise there is nothing to register.
The applicant must prove first his title or ownership before
registration will be approved.
 If the applicant does not have valid existing
right or ownership over the land, but was able to successfully
register or secure a title in his name through fraud, he has
the obligation to reconvey the title to the land to the rightful
owner. The certificate of title is merely an evidence of
ownership over the particular property described therein. It
does not make the person the owner of the land by virtue of
registration, unless it is based on valid title. The certificate of
title is evidence or a certification of the government of the
existence of ownership prior to registration. The registration
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or the issuance of the certificate of title merely confirms the

existing title or ownership.
 Illustrative Example: Melchor has been in
open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation of a piece of land for 31 years. Ronaldo began to
assert a claim over the property by securing a tax declaration
and an original certificate of title covering the land. Melchor
then filed an action for reconveyance of the land based on
fraud on the part of Ronaldo in obtaining the title.
Question: Who has rightful ownership over the property?
Answer: Melchor, having possessed and occupied said land
for 31 years as of the filing of the action for reconveyance,
has already acquired ownership of the land by acquisitive
prescription. This could not be defeated by Ronaldo’s acts
of securing a tax declaration and obtaining a Torrens title,
because registration is not a mode of acquiring ownership.

 Rights of the registered owner – Every

registered owner receiving a certificate of title in pursuance
of a decree of registration, and every subsequent purchaser
of registered land taking a certificate of title for value and in
good faith, shall hold the same free from all encumbrances
except those noted on the certificate and any of the
encumbrances which may be subsisting and enumerated in
the law.

 Illustrative examples of the operation of the

Torren system–

(a) Certificate of title is the best evidence of ownership. –

Juan claims that he is the absolute owner of a parcel of land
because he is in possession of a certificate of title covering
the said land under his name. Maria, on the other hand,
claims that she is the absolute owner of the same parcel of
land because she is in possession of a tax declaration
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Prescription & Estoppel 6

covering the same property under her name. Maria further

claims that she has been in open, continuous, exclusive and
notorious possession thereof for a period of more than 30
years.
Question: Who is considered the true owner of the land in
question?
Answer: Juan is the absolute owner of the said parcel of
land because he has the certificate of title thereof under his
name. While the tax declaration is under the name of Maria,
it cannot defeat Juan’s claim and ownership of the subject
property. While a tax declaration is evidence of ownership, it
is not the best evidence of ownership but only proof of
payment of real property taxes. Moreover, Maria’s
possession of the property for more than 30 years may ripen
into ownership under the law of acquisitive prescription. But
prescription cannot take place if the land is already covered
by a certificate of title.

(b) All transactions affecting real property must be

registered to affect third persons. – Pedro, a mortgagor,
mortgaged his property to Conchita, mortgagee.
Subsequently, Pedro mortgaged the same property to
Severina, another mortgagee. Severina has no knowledge
of the first mortgage.
Question: Can the rights of Severina as mortgagee be
protected if Conchita registered her mortgage by annotating
the same in Pedro’s certificate of title?
Answer: Conchita’s right as mortgagee would be superior as
against Severina because the registration of Conchita’s
mortgage operates as notice to the whole world. Severina
cannot claim good faith because she is presumed to have
known about the prior mortgage. It was, thus, incumbent
upon Severina to inquire with the Register of Deeds
regarding previous transactions affecting the said property.
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In this instance, Conchita can claim on the mortgage ahead

of Severina.

 Kinds – A certificate of title may be an Original

Certificate of Title (P.D. 1529, Sec. 40) or a Transfer
Certificate of Title. (P.D. 1529, Sec. 43.)

 Original Certificate of Title – An original certificate of title is

the first title issued in the name of a registered owner by the
Register of Deeds covering a parcel of land which had been
registered under the Torrens System, by virtue of judicial or
administrative proceeding.
 A parcel of land is registered under the Torrens system
by the Register of Deeds in his Record Book of an Original
Certificate of Title in the name of the person who has been
declared to be the owner of the land pursuant to judicial or
administrative proceeding. (P.D. 1529, Sec. 40.)
 As a rule, the Original Certificate of title consists of one
original copy and one owner’s copy (also denominated
“owner’s duplicate” certificate of title). However, if two or
more persons are the registered owners, one owner’s
duplicate may be issued for the whole land, or if the co-
owners so desire, a separate duplicate may be issued to
each of them in like form. The Register of Deeds shall note
on each certificate of title a statement as to whom a copy
thereof was issued. (P.D. 1529, Sec. 41.)
 Under the law, the Register of Deeds shall in each
case make an exact duplicate of the Original Certificate of
Title but putting on it the words “Owner’s Duplicate
Certificate.” The original of said Original Certificate of Title is
filed in the Office of the Register of Deeds, whereas the
“owner’s duplicate certificate” thereof is delivered to the
owner. (P.D. 1529, Secs. 40 & 41.)
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 Transfer Certificate of Title – It is the title issued by the

Register of Deeds in favor of a transferee to whom the
ownership of the registered land has been transferred by
virtue of a sale or other modes of conveyance. The original
of the Transfer Certificate of Title is filed in the Registry of
Deeds, whereas the duplicate thereof (which shall be called
“owner’s duplicate”) shall be delivered to the transferee or
new owner. (P.D. 1529, Secs. 41 & 43.)
 The Transfer Certificate of Title is issued in
lieu of the certificate of title of the transferor which is
cancelled by virtue of the transfer of ownership.

 Laws Affecting Registration of Titles to Land. –

(a) Land Registration Act (Act. No. 496). – On February

1, 1903, Act No. 496 took effect.
(a.1) It established the Torrens system of registration
in the country.
(a.2) It created the “Court of Land Registration” which
had exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for
registration.
(a.3) It provides for an Assurance Fund. (Where a
person sustains loss or damage or is deprived of
any estate or interest in land in consequence of
the operations of the Torrens system of
registration, without negligence on his part, he
may bring an action for the recovery of damages
to be paid out of the Assurance Fund.)

(b) Cadastral Act (Act 2259, as amended). – On February

11, 1913, Act No. 2259, known as the Cadastral Act, took
effect. It provides that when in the opinion of the President,
the public interest requires that title to any lands be settled
and adjudicated; he shall order the Director of Lands to
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make a survey thereof with notice to all persons claiming an

interest thereon. The Director of Lands represented by the
Solicitor General, shall institute registration proceedings by
filing a petition in the proper court against the holders,
claimants, possessors or occupants stating that the public
interest requires that titles to such lands be settled and
adjudicated. The initiative to settle and adjudicate the land
comes from the government.

(c) Land Registration Decree (P.D. No. 1529) –

Presidential Decree No. 1529, known as the Property
Registration Decree, was issued on June 11, 1978. It
supersedes all other laws relative to registration of title to
property.

 Agencies Implementing Land Registration and

Land Reform. – Government agencies implementing land
registration proceedings under the Torrens system are the:

(a) Courts;
(b) Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR);
(c) Department of Justice (DOJ):
(c.1) Land Registration Authority (LRA);
(c.2) Registries of deeds.

(d) Department of Land Reform (DLR);

(e) Department of Agriculture.

 The Regalian Doctrine. – The Regalian doctrine (or

jura regalia) is a time-honored Constitutional precept that all
lands of the public domain belong to the State, and that the
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State is the source of any asserted right to ownership in land

and charged with the conservation of such patrimony.

 Doctrine reflected in the fundamental law – The

1987 Constitution, like the 1935 and 1973 Constitutions,
embodies the principle of State ownership of lands and all
other natural resources in Section 2 of Article XII on
“National Economy and Patrimony,” to wit:

“SEC. 2. All lands of the public domain,

waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other
mineral oils, all forces of potential energy,
fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and
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 corporations or
associations at least sixty per centum of whose
capital is owned by such citizens. Such
agreements may be for a period not exceeding
twenty-five years, and under such terms and
conditions as may be provided by law. In
cases of water rights for irrigation, water
supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than
the development of water power, beneficial use
may be the measure and limit of the grant.”

Hence, the present Constitution provides that, except

for agricultural lands of the public domain which alone may
be alienated, forest or timber, and mineral lands, as well as
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all other natural resources must remain with the State, the
exploration, development and utilization of which shall be
subject to its full control and supervision, albeit allowing it to
enter into co-production, joint venture or production-sharing
agreements, or into agreements with foreign-owned
corporations involving technical or financial assistance for
large-scale exploration, development, and utilization.

 Seven Steps in Judicial Land Registration. –

 Application for land registration shall be filed in court

by the applicant;

 Publication of the notice of the initial hearing of said

application;

 Opposition to said application shall be filed by any

person who claims the land or interest therein;

 Hearing of said application and presentation of

evidence in court;

 Judgement shall be rendered by the court;

 Decree of Registration for the land shall be issued by

the LRA Administrator; and

 Original Certificate of Title for the land shall be issued

by the LRA Administrator which shall then be entered by the
Register of Deeds in his record book. The owner’s duplicate
of said certificate of title shall be given to the registered
owner thereof.

PRESCRIPTION
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 Concept of Prescription. – Prescription is the loss

or acquisition of a right through lapse of time. (Art. 1106,
NCC.)

 Types of prescription. –

(a) Acquisitive prescription. – By acquisitive prescription,

one acquires ownership and other real rights through the
lapse of time in the manner and under the conditions laid
down by law. (Arts. 1117, 1118, 1134 & 1137, NCC.) It is
also known as adverse possession, which has two kinds:

(a.1) Ordinary acquisitive prescription, which

requires possession of things in good faith and with just title
for 10 years.

(a.2) Extraordinary acquisitive prescription, which

is the acquisition of ownership and other real rights without
the need of title or of good faith or any other condition, and
would prescribe in 30 years.

(b) Extinctive prescription. – By extinctive prescription,

rights and actions are lost through the lapse of time in the
manner and under the conditions laid down by law. (Art.
1139, NCC.) A person’s uninterrupted adverse possession
of patrimonial property for at least 30 years, regardless of
good faith or just title, ripens into ownership pursuant to Art.
1137 of the Civil Code.

 Prescription of actions. – Actions prescribe by the

mere lapse of time fixed by law. (Art. 1139, NCC.) THUS,

(a) Actions to recover movables shall prescribe eight

years from the time the possession thereof is lost. (Art.
1140, NCC.)
INTRO (CLM1) – MODULE 7: Registration of Land, Titles & Deeds,
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(b) Real actions over immovables prescribe after thirty

years. (Art. 1141, NCC.)

(c) A mortgage action prescribes after ten years. (Art.

1142, NCC.)

(d) The following actions must be brought within ten

years from the time the right of action accrues: (Art. 1144,
NCC.)

(d.1) Upon a written contract.

(d.2) Upon an obligation created by law.
(d.3) Upon a judgment.

(e) The following actions must be commenced within six

years: (Art. 1145, NCC.)

(e.1) Upon an oral contract.

(e.1) Upon a quasi-contract.

(f) The following actions must be instituted within four

years: (Art. 1146, NCC.)

(f.1) Upon an injury to the rights of the plaintiff.

(f.2) Upon a quasi-delict.

(g) All other actions whose periods are not fixed in this
Code or in other laws must be brought within five years from
the time the right of action accrues. (Art. 1149, NCC.)

 When prescription of actions interrupted. – The

prescription of actions is interrupted:

(a) When they are filed before the court.

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(b) When there is a written extrajudicial demand by the

creditors; and,
(c) When there is any written acknowledgement of the
debt by the debtor.

ESTOPPEL

 Concept of Estoppel – Generally speaking,

estoppel is a bar which precludes a person from denying or
asserting anything to the contrary of that which has, in
contemplation of law, been established as the truth, either by
the acts of judicial or legislative officers or by his own deed
or representation, either expressed or implied.

 It concludes the truth in order to prevent fraud

and falsehood, and imposes silence on a party only when in
conscience and honesty he should not be allowed to speak.
 Thus, whenever a party has, by his own
declaration, act, or omission, intentionally and deliberately
led another to believe a particular thing to be true, and to act
upon such belief, he cannot, in any litigation arising out of
such declaration, act, or omission, be permitted to falsify it.
The principle of estoppel would step in to prevent one party
from going back upon his own acts and representations to
the prejudice of the other party who relied upon them.

 Kinds of Estoppel. –

(a) Estoppel in pais (equitable estoppel) – It arises when

one, by his acts, representations or admissions, or by his
silence when he ought to speak out, intentionally or through
culpable negligence, induces another to believe certain facts
to exist, and such other rightfully relies and acts on such
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belief, so that he will be prejudiced if the former is permitted

to deny the existence of such facts.
 Illustrative examples:

(a.1) A divorce decree was obtained from a

U.S. Court by Henry, American husband of Fe, a Filipina.
While Philippine nationals are covered by the policy against
absolute divorces, aliens may obtain divorces abroad, which
may be recognized in the Philippines, provided they are valid
according to their national law. Before the U.S. Court,
Henry represented that they had no community of property.
He contends that divorce is not valid in the Philippines, the
same being contrary to local law and public policy.
Question: Does Henry have the standing to sue as Fe’s
husband, entitled to exercise control over the conjugal
assets?
Answer: No. He is estopped by his own representations
before said court from asserting his right over the alleged
conjugal property. To maintain that under our laws, Fe has
to be considered still married to Henry, and still subject to a
wife’s obligations cannot be just. Fe should not be
discriminated in her own country if the ends of justice are to
be served.

(a.2) Although the lack of jurisdiction of a court

may be raised at any stage of the action, a party may be
estopped from raising such questions if he has actively taken
part in the very proceedings which he questions, belatedly
objecting to the court’s jurisdiction in the event that the
judgment or order subsequently rendered is adverse to him.

(a.3) If a vendee a retro agrees to accept a

check in payment of the repurchase price, he cannot
afterwards allege that the check is not legal tender. He is
bound by his own act.
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(b) Estoppel by deed (technical estoppel) – It is a bar

which precludes a party to a deed and his privies from
asserting as against the other and his privies any right or title
in derogation of the deed, or from denying the truth of any
material fact asserted in it.

 Estoppel by deed may be subclassified into

estoppel by deed proper and estoppel by record. Their
common characteristic is that both are in writing.

(b.1) Estoppel by deed. – This is the kind of

technical estoppel which is in writing signed by a party,
which bars him from denying the truth of any material facts
asserted in it. It may be invoked only in a suit on the deed
itself, or concerning a right arising from it.
 Example: If a shipper has his goods valued at
only P100,000.00, he cannot later on recover damages
for its value more than what he has declared in the bill
of lading, even if the value of the goods be worth much
more, for he is in estoppel.

(b.2) Estoppel by record. – This is the kind of

technical estoppel where the truth set forth in a record,
whether judicial or legislative, cannot be denied.
 Example: Agnes obtains a judgment of paternity
in court showing that Diego is the father of her daughter
Allyanna. Later, Agnes seeks an order for Diego to pay
child support. Because the issue of paternity has
already been established by the court, Diego is
collaterally estopped (or “estopped by record”) from
claiming he is not the father, in an attempt to avoid his
child support obligations.
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(c) Estoppel by laches. – Laches is failure or neglect, for

an unreasonable and unexplained length of time, to do that
which, by exercising due diligence, could or should have
been done earlier; it is negligence or omission to assert a
right within a reasonable time, warranting a presumption that
the party entitled to assert it either has abandoned or
declined to assert it.

 The doctrine of laches or of “stale demands”

presumes that the party guilty of negligence, silence or
inaction had the right and opportunity to speak or do what
should have been done, and, in addition, the obligation and
duty to do so, but failed to do so.

 Example: The prescriptive period in an action

for recovery of a sum of money based on a promissory note
is 10 years counted from the time of the maturity date of the
obligation. Let us assume that the debt covered by the
promissory note is due for collection on January 15, 2009.
Under the statute of limitations, the creditor has until January
15, 2019 within which to collect the indebtedness.
Supposing that the creditor files his claim for collection
against the debtor on November 15, 2018, although the
action is filed within the prescriptive period of 10 years, the
court can dismiss the case on the ground of laches.

 Estoppel cannot be invoked against the

government. – The government is not estopped by reason
of the errors or mistakes of its officials or agents.
 Thus, estoppel cannot be applied to validate a
contract entered into by a Municipality over which it has no
power to make. To apply estoppel in such a case would
enable the Municipality to do indirectly what it cannot do
directly. Also, where the contract is violative of public policy,
the Municipality executing it cannot be estopped to assert
the invalidity of the contract. Neither can it be estopped from
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asserting the invalidity of a contract which has ceded away,

controlled or embarrassed its legislative or governmental
powers.

* * * END * * *

HAPPY READING & LEARNING! 

SOURCES of NOTES:

The discussions outlined in this module

have been collectively lifted from the cases
cited and commentaries made by the
authors in the references cited below:

1. Oswaldo D. Agcaoili. Property Registration Decree

and Related Laws (Manila: Rex Book Store, 2015).

2. Gregorio G. Bilog, Jr. Land Titles and Deeds (Manila:

Rex Book Store, 2005).

3. Hector S. De Leon. Obligations and Contracts

(Manila: Rex Book Store, 2014).

4. Marcelino T. Lizaso. Introduction to Law (Quezon

City: Central Lawbook Publishing Co., Inc., 1991).

5. Emmanuel B. Palabrica. Land Titles and Deeds:

Cases and Commentaries (Manila: Rex Book Store, 2017).

6. Paras, Edgardo. (Manila: Rex Book Store, 2016).

INTRO (CLM1) – MODULE 7: Registration of Land, Titles & Deeds,
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7. Ernesto L. Pineda. Obligations and Contracts

(Quezon City: Central Book Supply Inc., 2009).

8. Arturo M. Tolentino. Commentaries and

Jurisprudence on the Civil Code of the Philippines, Volume
IV (Quezon City: Central Lawbook Publishing Co., Inc.,
1991).

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“By three methods we may learn

wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and
Third, by experience, which is the bitterest.”
Confucius