The Philippines passed to Spain by virtue of discovery and conquest.

Consequently, all lands became the

exclusive patrimony and dominion of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish Government took charge of distributing the
LAND TITLES AND DEEDS REVIEWER lands by issuing royal grants and concessions to Spaniards, both military and civilian.

Private land titles could only be acquired from the government either by purchase or by the various modes of land
grants from the Crown.
I.INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW

LAND TITLE is the evidence of the owner’s right or extent of interest, by which he can maintain control and as a rule
assert right to exclusive possession and enjoyment of property. Separate Opinion of J. KAPUNAN in Cruz v. Secretary 347 SCRA 128

DEED is the instrument in writing by which any real estate or interest therein is created, alienated, mortgaged, or A. How did Spain acquire the Philippines?
assigned, or by which title to any real estate may be affected in law or equity.
When Spain acquired sovereignty over the Philippines by virtue of its discovery and occupation thereof in the
LAND REGISTRATION is a judicial or administrative proceeding whereby a person’s claim over a particular land is 16th century and the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 which it entered into with Portugal, the continents of Asia, the
determined and confirmed or recognized so that such land and the ownership thereof may be recorded in a public Americas and Africa were considered as terra nullius although already populated by other people.
registry.
In the Treaty of Tordesillas, the world was divided between Spain and Portugal, with the former having exclusive
TORRENS SYSTEM is a system for registration of land under which, upon the landowner’s application, the court may, power to claim all lands and territories west of the Atlantic Ocean demarcation line.
after appropriate proceedings, direct the issuance of a certificate of title.
The discovery and occupation by the European States, who were then considered as the only members of the
A.History of Land Laws International Community of civilized nations, of lands in the said continents were deemed sufficient to create title
under International Law.
i. Lynch Article
ii. Land Laws Reference: Atty. Agcaoili book
Spanish Era
1) Public Land Act
1. The indigenous concept of ownership by occupation and cultivation was recognized early on by
the Laws of the Indies which governed Spanish possessions in the Philippines and elsewhere. 1.Act No. 926 – the first Public Land Act passed in pursuance of the provisions of the Philippine Bill of
1902. The law governed the disposition of lands of the public domain. The Public Land Act operated on the
2. Royal Decree stated that justified long and continuous possession by the natives qualified them for title assumption that title to public lands in the Philippine Islands remained in the government. And that the
to their cultivated land. Where such possessors shall not be able to produce title deeds, it shall be government’s title to public land sprung from the Treaty of Paris and other subsequent treaties between
sufficient if they shall show ancient possessions as a valid title. Spain and the United States. The term public land referred to all lands of the public domain whose title
still remained in the government and are thrown open to private appropriation and settlement and
excluded the patrimonial property of the government and the friar lands.
3. Royal Cedula Circular declared: the will of the Crown as expressed in various instructions, royal
edicts, orders and decrees, that the distribution of lands to conquistadores discoverers, and settlers should
never prejudice the natives and their and-holdings. 2.Act No. 2874 the second Public Land Act passed under the Jones Law. It was more comprehensive in
scope but limited the exploitation of agricultural lands to Filipinos and Americans and citizens of other
countries which gave Filipinos the same privileges.
4. The Spanish Mortgage Law of 1893 provided for the systematic registration of land titles and deeds as
well as for possessory claims. Under its provisions owners who lack recorded title of ownership could have
their interests registered during possessory information proceeding before informacion posesoria to 3.CA No. 141 amended the second Public Land Act after the passage of the 1935 Constitution. The
qualified applicants. The titulo was merely a record of possession. It could be converted into a record of present Public Land Act, which is essentially the same as Act No. 2874. The main difference between the
ownership, however, twenty years (later reduced to ten years) after its date of issue, if certain conditions two relates to the transitory provision on the rights of American citizens and corporations during the
were met. Commonwealth period at par with Filipino citizen and corporations. CA No. 141, approved November 7,
1936, applies to lands of the public domain which have been declared open to disposition or concession
and officially delimited and classified. It contains provisions on the different modes of government grant,
5. The Maura Law of 1894 was partly an amendment of the Mortgage Law as well as the Laws of the
e.g., homestead, sale, free patent, and reservations for public and semi-public purpose.
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. 2)Land Registration Act (Act No. 496)

6. Under the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1998, Spain ceded to the government of the United States 1.The original Land Registration Act (Act No. 496) was approved on November 6, 1902, but it became
all rights, interests and claims over the national territory of the Philippines Islands. However, the Treaty effective on January 1, 1903.
was explicit that the relinquishment and cession cannot in any respect impair the property rights which by
law belong to peaceful possession. 2.It established the Torrens system of registration in the country.

Separate Opinion of J. PUNO in Cruz v. Secretary 347 SCRA 128 3.It created a court called the Court of Land Registration which had exclusive jurisdiction over all
applications for registration, with power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such
A. How did Spain acquire the Philippines? applications.
 4.The sole purpose of the law was to bring land titles in the Philippines under one comprehensive and The application for the registration is to be in writing, signed and sworn to by the applicant, or by some person duly
harmonious system, the cardinal features of which are indefeasibility of title and the intervention of the authorized in his behalf. It is to contain, among other things, the names and addresses of all occupants of land and
State as a prerequisite to the creation and transfer of titles and interests, with the resultant increase in of all adjoining owners, if known.
the use of land as a business asset by reason of the greater certainty and security of title.
Indeed, the Land Registration Act requires that all occupants be named in the petition and given notice by registered
5.Registration under the system did not create a title. It simply confirmed a title already created and mail. However, notice by publication to all whom it may concern is considered a sufficient notice.
vested.
Under the Land Registration Act, any petition to reopen a case after a land registration decree had been rendered
3)Cadastral Act (Act No. 2259) cannot lie on account of the absence, infancy, or other disability of any person affected thereby. It is only when said
decree was obtained by fraud that said petition will prosper.
1.The cadastral system of registration took effect with the enactment on February 11, 1913 of Act No.
2259. When, in the opinion of the President, the public interest requires that title to any lands be settled ii. Separate Opinion of J. PUNO in Cruz v. Secretary, 347 SCRA 128
and adjudicated, he shall order the Director of Lands to make a survey thereof, with notice to all persons
claiming an interest therein. Grants of public land were brought under the operation of the Torrens System under Act 496, or the Land
Registration Law of 1903. Enacted by the Philippine Commission, Act 496 placed all public and private lands in the
2.Thereafter, the Director of Lands, represented by the Solicitor General, shall institute registration Philippines under the Torrens System.
proceedings by filing a petition in the proper court against the holders, claimants, possessors or occupants
of such lands, stating that the public interest requires that the titles to such lands be settled and The Torrens System requires that the Government issue an official certificate of title attesting to the fact that the
adjudicated. person named is the owner of the property described therein; subject to such liens and encumbrances as thereon
noted or the law warrants or reserves.
3.Cadastral proceeding is a proceeding in rem, hence, generally binding upon the whole world.
The certificate of title is indefeasible and imprescriptible and all claims to the parcel of land are quieted upon
4) Property Registration Decree (PD No. 1529) issuance of said certificate. This system highly facilitates land conveyance and negotiation. Its object is to do away
with the delay, uncertainty, and expense of the old conveyancing system.
1. On June 11, 1978, PD No. 1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree, was
approved. The Decree was issued to update the Land Registration Act and to codify the various laws Generally, by Torrens Systems are meant those systems of registration of transactions with interest in land whose
relative to registration of property and to facilitate effective implementation of said laws. It codified and declared object is, under governmental authority, to establish and certify to the ownership of an absolute and
incorporated the following laws related to property registration: indefeasible title to realty, and to simplify its transfer.

a. Act 496, The Land Registration Act iii. Legarda v. Saleeby, 31 Phil 590 (1915)

b. CA No. 141, The Public Land Act The real purpose of the Torrens System is to quiet title to land; to put a stop forever to any question of the legality
of the title, except claims which were noted at the time of registration, in the certificate, or which may arise
c. Act 2259, The Cadastral Act subsequent thereto.

d. Act 3344, System of Registration for Unregistered Lands That being the purpose of the law, it would seem that once a title is registered the owner may rest secure, without
the necessity of waiting in the portals of the court, or sitting in the œmirador de su casa, to avoid the possibility of
e. Act No. 1508, as amended, The Chattel Mortgage Law losing his land.

f. Republic Act No. 26, Reconstitution of Original Certificates of Title The registration under the Torrens System, does not give the owner any better title than he had. The registration of
a particular parcel of land is a bar to future litigation over the same between the same parties. It is a notice to the
world and no one can plead ignorance of the registration.
g. PD 27, Emancipation Patents, Land Reform Law

Purposes:
2. It supersedes all other laws relative to registration of property.

1) To quiet title to the land and to stop forever any question as to the legality of said title.
3. Judicial proceedings under the Property Registration Decree, like the old Land Registration Act, are in
rem, and are based on the generally accepted principles underlying the Torrens system.
2) To relieve the land of unknown claims.
4. Jurisdiction over the res is acquired by giving the public notice of initial hearing by means of
3) To guarantee the integrity of land titles and to protect their indefeasibility once the claim of ownership
is established and recognized.
(a) publication, (b) mailing and (c) notice.

4) To give every registered owner complete peace of mind.

5. The Decree created the Land Registration Commission, now renamed Land Registration Authority, as
the central repository of records relative to original registration, including subdivision and consolidation
plans of titled lands. 5) To issue a certificate of title to the owner which shall be the best evidence of his ownership of the land.

B. The Torrens System 6) To avoid conflicts of title in and to real estate and to facilitate transactions.

i. Alba v. Dela Cruz, 17 Phil 49 (1910) iv. D.B.T. Mar-Bay Construction, Inc. v. Panes, 594 SCRA 578 (2009)
While the Torrens system is not a mode of acquiring title, but merely a system of registration of titles to lands, All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential
justice and equity demand that the titleholder should not be made to bear the unfavorable effect of the mistake or energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State.
negligence of the State's agents, in the absence of proof of his complicity in a fraud or of manifest damage to third With the exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration,
persons. 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 orproduction-
The real purpose of the Torrens system is to quiet title to land and put a stop forever to any question as to the sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital
legality of the title, except claims that were noted in the certificate at the time of the registration or that may arise is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not
subsequent thereto. Otherwise, the integrity of the Torrens system would forever be sullied by the ineptitude and more than twenty-five years, and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. In cases of water
inefficiency of land registration officials, who are ordinarily presumed to have regularly performed their duties. 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.
Thus, where innocent third persons, relying on the correctness of the certificate of title thus issued, acquire rights
over the property, the court cannot disregard those rights and order the cancellation of the certificate. The effect of Under the Regalian doctrine, all lands of the public domain belong to the State and lands not otherwise appearing to
such outright cancellation will be to impair public confidence in the certificate of title. be clearly within. Private ownership is presumed to belong to the State. Unless public land is shown to have been
reclassified as alienable or disposable, and subsequently alienated by the State, it remains part of the public domain.
The sanctity of the Torrens system must be preserved; otherwise, everyone dealing with the property registered Occupation or possession thereof by a person in the concept of owner, no matter how long cannot ripen in
under the system will have to inquire in every instance on whether the title had been regularly or irregularly issued, ownership.
contrary to the evident purpose of the law. Every person dealing with the registered land may safely rely on the
correctness of the certificate of title issued therefor, and the law will in no way oblige him to go behind the ii. Cariño v. Insular Government, 41 Phil 935 (1909)
certificate to determine the condition of the property.
The court thus laid down the presumption of a certain title held (1) as far back as testimony or memory went, and
v. NOTES TORRENS SYSTEM: (2) under a claim of private ownership. Land held by this title is presumed to never have been public land.

1) Torrens system under Act No. 496, or the Land Registration Act of 1903 is said to be almost a verbatim copy of The United States Supreme Court found no proof that the Spanish decrees did not honor native title. On the
the Massachusetts Land Registration Act of 1898, which, in turn, followed the principles and procedure of the contrary, the decrees discussed in Valenton v. Murciano case appeared to recognize that the natives owned some
Torrens system of registration formulated by Sir Robert Torrens who patterned it after the Merchant shipping Acts in land, irrespective of any royal grant. The Regalian doctrine declared in the preamble of the Recopilacion was all
South Australia. theory and discourse and it was observed that titles were admitted to exist beyond the powers of the Crown.

2) Advantages of the Torrens System: iii. Cruz v. Secretary of Environment, 347 SCRA 128 (2000)

a) It has substituted security for insecurity. The Regalian Doctrine does not negate native title.

b ) It has reduced the costs of conveyances from pounds to shillings, and the time occupied from months 1) Separate Opinion of J. PUNO
to days.
Cariño case firmly established a concept of private land title that existed irrespective of any royal grant from the
c) It has exchange brevity and clearness for obscurity and verbiage. State and was based on the strong mandate extended to the Islands via the Philippine Bill of 1902. The IPRA
recognizes the existence of ICCs /IPs as a distinct sector in the society. It grants this people the ownership and
d) It has so simplified ordinary dealings that he who has mastered the three RS(which means Reading, possession of their ancestral domains and ancestral lands and defines the extent of these lands and domains.
wRiting and aRithmetic) can transact his own conveyancing.
2) Separate Opinion of J. KAPUNAN
e) It affords protection against fraud.
Regalian theory does not negate the native title to lands held in private ownership since time immemorial, adverting
f) It has restored to their just value many estates held under good holding titles, but depreciated in to the landmark case of Cariño v. Insular Government, where the US SC thru Holmes held:
consequence of some blur or technical defect, and has barred the reoccurrence of any similar faults.
The land has been held by individuals under a claim of private ownership, it will be presumed to have been held in
3) The main principle of registration is to make registered titles indefeasible. the same way from before the Spanish conquest, and never to have been public land.

4) The element of intention to deprive another of just rights constitutes the essential characteristics of actual as Existence of native title to land, or ownership of land by Filipinos by virtue of possession under a claim of ownership
distinguished from legal-fraud. since time immemorial and independent of any grant from the Spanish crown as an exception to the theory of jure
regalia.
5) Proof of constructive fraud is not sufficient to authorize the Court of Land Registration to reopen a case and
modify its decree. Specific, intentional acts to deceive and deprive another of his right or in some manner injure iv. Chavez v. Public Estates, 384 SCRA 152
him, must be alleged and proved; that is there must be actual or positive fraud as distinguished from constructive
fraud. The Regalian Doctrine

II.CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS The ownership of lands reclaimed from foreshore and submerged areas is rooted in the Regalian doctrine which
holds that the State owns all lands and waters of the public domain. Upon the Spanish conquest of the Philippines,
A. The Regalian Doctrine ownership of all lands, territories and possessions in the Philippines passed to the Spanish Crown. The King, as the
sovereign ruler and representative of the people, acquired and owned all lands and territories in the Philippines
except those he disposed of by grant or sale to private individuals.
i. Paragraph 1, Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution:
The 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions adopted the Regalian doctrine substituting, however, the State, in lieu of Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his
the King as the owner of all lands and waters of the public domain. The Regalian doctrine is the foundation of the Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.
time honored principle of land ownership that all lands that were not acquired from the Government, either by
purchase of by grant, belong to the public domain. iv. Krivenko v. Register of Deeds, 79 Phil 461

The foreshore and submerged areas of Manila Bay are part of the lands of the public domain, waters and other Public agricultural lands mentioned in Section 1, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution, include residential,
natural resources and consequently owned by the State. As such, foreshore and submerged areas shall not be commercial and industrial lands, the Court stated:
alienable unless they are classified as agricultural lands of the public domain.
Natural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, shall not be alienated, and with respect to public
The mere reclamation of these areas by the PEA does not convert these inalienable natural resources of the State agricultural lands, their alienation is limited to Filipino Citizens. But this Constitutional purpose conserving
into alienable and disposable lands of the public domain. There must be a law or presidential proclamation officially agricultural resources in the hands of Filipino citizens may easily be defeated by the Filipino citizens themselves who
classifying these reclaimed lands as alienable and disposable if the law has reserved them for some public or quasi- may alienate their agricultural lands in favor of aliens.
public use.
Thus Section 5, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution provides:
v. Buenaventura v. Republic, 517 SCRA 271 (2207)
Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private agricultural lands will be transferred or assigned except to
It is true that under the Regalian Doctrine all lands of the public domain belong to the State and all lands not individuals corporations or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain in the Philippines.
otherwise appearing to be clearly within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State. However, such
presumption is not conclusive. It can be rebutted by the applicant’s presentation of incontrovertible evidence NOTES:
showing that the land subject of the application for registration is alienable and disposable.
1)In determining whether a parcel of land is agricultural, the test is not only whether it is actually
vi.NOTES REGALIAN DOCTRINE: agricultural, but also its susceptibility to cultivation for agricultural purposes.

1) Generally, under the concept of jura regalia, private title to land must be traced to some grant, 2)Public Agricultural Lands – under Section 1 of Article XIII (now Section 2, Article XII of the 1987
express or implied, from the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Colonial government, and Constitution) of the 1935 Constitution classifies lands of public domain in the Philippines into agricultural,
thereafter, the Philippine Republic. timber and mineral.

2) In its broad sense, the term jura regalia refers to royal rights, or those rights which the King has by 3)Private Agricultural Lands – Section 5, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution
virtue of his prerogatives. In Spanish Law, it refers to a right which the sovereign has over anything in
which a subject as a right of property or propriedad. These were rights enjoyed during feudal times by the
v. Halili v. CA, 287 SCRA 465 (1998)
King as the sovereign.

The landmark case of Krivenko v. Register of Deeds settled the issue as to who are qualified (and disqualified) to
3)Jura regalia was therefore nothing more than a natural fruit of conquest.
own public as well as private lands in the Philippines.
4)Regalian Doctrine or Jura Regalia is a Western legal concept that was first introduced by the Spaniards
In fine, non-Filipinos cannot acquire or hold title to private lands or to lands of the public domain, except only by
into the country through the Laws of the Indies and the Royal Cedulas.
way of legal succession.

B. Citizenship Requirement
But what is the effect of a subsequent sale by the disqualified alien vendee to a qualified Filipino citizen? This is not
a novel question. Jurisprudence is consistent that if land is invalidly transferred to an alien who subsequently
i. Paragraph 1, Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution: becomes a citizen or transfers it to a citizen, the flaw in the original transaction is considered cured and the title of
the transferee is rendered valid.
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. vi. Muller v. Muller, 500 SCRA 65 (2006)
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
Mr. Muller was aware of the Constitutional prohibition when he purchased the property. He declared the property in
State may directly undertake such activities or it may enter into co-production, joint venture or production-
the name of Mrs. Muller because of said prohibition. His attempt at subsequently asserting or claiming a right on the
sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital
said property cannot be sustained.
is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not
more than 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 There was no implied trust created. Save for hereditary succession, an alien’s disqualification is absolute. Not even
use may be the measure and limit of the grant. an ownership in trust is allowed. Besides, no trust can result in favor of the party who is guilty of the fraud. To hold
otherwise would allow a circumvention of the constitutional prohibition.

He who seeks equity must do equity, and he who comes into equity must come with clean hands. Mr. Muller cannot
seek reimbursement of the funds he used to purchase the property on the ground of equity where it is clear that he
ii. Section 7, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution:
willingly and knowingly bought the property despite the constitutional prohibition.
Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals,
vii. Republic v. CA and Lapiña, 235 SCRA 567
corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.

The Court explained that even if the spouses were already Canadian citizens at the time they applied for
iii. Section 8, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution:
registration, the lots were already private lands, and no longer formed part of the public domain. They were already
private in character at the time of the purchase since respondents predecessors-in-interest had been in open, 14) Exploration, development and utilization of natural resources (Article XII, Section 2 of the
continuous and exclusive possession and occupation thereof under claim of ownership prior to June 12, 1945 or Constitution)
since 1937. Moreover, the law provides that a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine
citizenship may be a transferee of a private land under the terms prescribed by law. 15) Ownership of private lands (Article XII, Section 7 of the Constitution; Chapter 5, Section 22 of
Commonwealth Act No. 141)
viii. Amendments to the IRR of RA No. 7042 (FIA of 1991), as amended by RA No. 8179
16) Operation and management of public utilities (Article XII, Section 11 of the Constitution; Section 16
LIST A: of Commonwealth Act No. 146)

FOREIGN OWNERSHIP IS LIMITED BY MANDATE OF THE CONSTITUTION 17) Ownership/establishment and administration of educational institutions (Article XIV, Section 2 of the
Constitution)
AND SPECIFIC LAWS
18) Engaging in the rice and corn industry (Presidential Decree No. 194)
No Foreign Equity
19) Financing companies regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Section 6 of RA
1) Mass Media except recording (Article XVI, Section 11 of the Constitution; Presidential Memorandum No. 5980)
dated 04 May 1994)
20) Contracts for the supply of materials, goods and commodities to government-owned or controlled
2) Services involving the practice of licensed professions save in cases prescribed by law;(Article XIV, corporation, company, agency or municipal corporation (Section 1 of RA No. 5183)
Section 14 of the Constitution; Section 1 of RA No. 5181)
21) Contracts for the construction of defense-related structures (e.g., land, air, sea and coastal defenses,
3) Retail Trade (Section 1 of RA No. 1180) arsenals, barracks, depots, hangars, landing fields, quarters and hospitals) (Commonwealth Act No. 541)

4) Cooperatives (Chapter III, Article 26 of RA No. 6938) 22) Project proponent and facility operator of a BOT project requiring a public utilities franchise (Article
XII, Section 11 of the Constitution; Section 2a of RA No. 7718)
5) Private Security Agencies (Section 4 of RA No. 5487)
23) Private domestic construction contracts (Republic Act 4566; Article XIV, Section 14 of the
6) Small-scale Mining (Section 3 of RA No. 7076) Constitution)

7) Utilization of Marine Resources in archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone LIST B: FOREIGN OWNERSHIP IS LIMITED FOR REASONS OF SECURITY, DEFENSE, RISK TO HEALTH AND MORALS
(Article XII, Section 2 of the Constitution) AND PROTECTION OF SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTERPRISES

8) Ownership, operation and management of cockpits (Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 449) Up to Forty Percent (40 %) Foreign Equity

9) Manufacture, repair, stockpiling and/or distribution of nuclear weapons (Article II, Section 8 of the 1) Manufacture, repair, storage, and/or distribution used in the manufacture thereof requiring Philippine
Constitution) National Police (PNP) clearance

10) Manufacture, repair, stockpiling and/or distribution of biological, chemical and radiological weapons 2) Manufacture, repair, storage and/or distribution of products requiring Department of National Defense
(Various treaties to which the Philippines is a signatory and conventions supported by the Philippines) (DND) clearance

Up to Twenty-Five Percent (25%) Foreign Equity 3) Manufacture and distribution of dangerous drugs (RA No. 7042 as amended by RA No. 8179)

11) Private recruitment, whether for local or overseas employment (Article 27 of Presidential Decree No. NOTES:
442)
1) Domestic investments are also prohibited (Article II, Section 8 of the Constitution;
12) Contracts for the construction and repair of locally-funded public works except: Conventions/Treaties to which the Philippines is a signatory)

a. infrastructure/development projects covered in RA No. 7718; and 2) Full foreign participation is allowed through financial or technical assistance agreement with the
President (Article XII, Section 11 of the Constitution)
b. projects which are foreign funded or assisted and required to undergo international
competitive bidding ix. Citizenship Requirement - Individuals

Up to Thirty Percent (30%) Foreign Equity 1 )Filipino Citizens

13) Advertising (Article XVI, Section 11 of the Constitution) Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve hectares
of the alienable lands of the public domain, by purchase, homestead, or grant. (Sec. 3, Article XII, Constitution)
Up to Forty Percent (40%) Foreign Equity
Citizens may acquire private lands.
2) Former Natural-Born Citizens maximum area of alienable lands of the public domain could easily set up corporations to acquire more alienable
public lands. The corporation is a convenient vehicle to circumvent the constitutional limitation on acquisition by
A natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, individual of alienable lands of the public domain.
subject to limitations provided by law. (Sec. 8, Article XII, Constitution)
iii. Director v. IAC and ACME, 146 SCRA 509 (1986)
Any natural born citizen who has lost his Philippine citizenship and who has the legal capacity to enter into a
contract under Philippine laws may be a transferee of a private land up to a maximum area of five thousand (5,000) When natural persons have fulfilled the required statutory period of possession, the Public Land Act confers on them
square meters in the case of urban land or three (3) hectares in the case of rural land to be used by him for a legally sufficient and transferable title to the land, which are already private lands because of acquisitive
business or other purposes. In the case of married couples, one of them may avail of the privilege herein granted: prescription, and which could be validly transferred or sold to private corporations.
Provided, That if both shall avail of the same, the total area acquired shall not exceed the maximum herein fixed.
The doctrine of vested rights was articulated by the Supreme Court in this ruling.
In case the transferee already owns urban or rural land for business or other purposes, he shall still be entitled to be
a transferee of additional urban or rural land for business or other purposes which when added to those already The Supreme Court declared that the purely accidental circumstance that confirmation proceedings were brought
owned by him shall not exceed the maximum areas herein authorized. under the aegis of a subsequent law which forbids corporations from owning lands of the public domain cannot
defeat a right already vested before that law came into effect, or invalidate transactions then perfectly valid and
A transferee under this Act may acquire not more than two (2) lots which should be situated in different proper. The Court emphatically stated that even the Constitution or subsequent law cannot impair vested rights.
municipalities or cities anywhere in the Philippines: Provided, that the total land area thereof shall not exceed five
thousand (5,000) hectares in the case of rural land for use by him for business or other purposes. A transferee who iv. NOTES - CORPORATIONS:
has already acquired urban land shall be disqualified from acquiring rural land area and vice versa. (Section 10 of RA
No. 7042, as amended by RA No. 8179, dated March 28, 1996, Foreign Investment Act of 1991, implementing 1) Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except
Section 8, Article XII of the Constitution) by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-
five years, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area.
3) Aliens
(Sec. 3, Article XII, Constitution)
Alien Individuals may be transferees of private lands only in cases of hereditary succession. (Sec. 7, Article XII,
Constitution) 2) Corporations or associations — whether citizens or of citizens and aliens — may not own, but may
only hold by lease lands of the public domain. (DOJ Opinion, 1973)
C. Corporations
3) However, only corporations or associations at least 60% of the capital stock of which is owned by
i. Section 3, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution: Filipinos, and the remainder by foreigners, may own private lands.

Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands and national parks. 4) Condominium Corporation Owns the Land
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 Transfers to aliens of a condominium unit may be made only up to the point where the concomitant
associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period not transfer of membership or stockholding in the condominium corporation would not cause the alien interest
exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand in such corporation to exceed 40% of its entire capital stock. (Sec 5, Condominium Act)
hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more
than twelve hectares thereof, by purchase, homestead, or grant.
5) Corporation Leases the Land

Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and subject to the requirements of
Any corporation which is owned 100% by a foreign firm may establish a "condominium corporation" under
agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law, the size of lands of the public domain which may be
R.A. No. 4726 and set up a condominium project on land leased for a period not to exceed (50)
acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions therefor.
years. (DOJ Opinion 1973)

ii. Chavez v. Public Estates, 384 SCRA 152 (2002)

Foreign Investors may lease private lands for a period not exceeding fifty (50) years, renewable once for a
period of not more than twenty- five (25) years, provided that the leased area shall be used solely for the
The Constitutional intent, both under the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, is to transfer ownership of only a limited purpose of the investment, and provided further that the leased premises shall comprise such area as may
area of alienable land of the public domain to a qualified individual. This constitutional intent is safeguarded by the reasonably be required for the purpose of the investment subject however to the Comprehensive Agrarian
provision prohibiting corporations from acquiring alienable lands of the public domain, since the vehicle to Reform Law and the Local Government Code. (Sec. 4, Investor’s Lease Act)
circumvent the constitutional intent is removed. The available alienable public lands are gradually decreasing in the
face of an ever-growing population. The most effective way to insure faithful adherence to this constitutional intent
6) Land is Co-owned by the Unit Owners
is to grant or sell alienable lands of the public domain only to individuals. This, it would seem, is the practical benefit
arising from the constitutional ban.
Where the common areas in the condominium project are owned by the owners of separate units as co-
owners thereof, no condominium unit therein shall be conveyed or transferred to persons other than
If the constitutional intent is to encourage economic family-size farms, placing the land in the name of a corporation
Filipino citizens, or corporations at least 60% of the capital stock of which belong to Filipino citizens,
would be more effective in preventing the break-up of farmlands. If the farmland is registered in the name of a
except in cases of hereditary succession. (Sec. 5, Condominium Act)
corporation, upon the death of the owner, his heirs would inherit shares in the corporation instead of subdivide
parcels of the farmland. This would prevent the continuing break-up of farmlands into smaller and smaller plots from
one generation to the next. Only citizens of the Philippines, as individuals, may acquire both private lands and lands of the public
domain. Therefore, there can be no joint ownership of such lands between Filipinos and foreign investors
as individuals.
The constitutional ban strengthens the constitutional limitation on individuals from acquiring more than the allowed
area of alienable lands of the public domain. Without the constitutional ban, individuals who already acquired the
D. CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS quest to defend their possession of the properties in an accion publiciana not in a direct action whose main
objective is to impugn the validity of the judgment granting the title.
i. SECTION 2. Nature of registration proceedings; jurisdiction of courts.
8) Nature of Torrens System:
Judicial proceedings for the registration of lands throughout the Philippines shall be in rem and shall be based on the
generally accepted principles underlying the Torrens system. a. Judicial in character and not merely administrative.

Courts of First Instance (now Regional Trial Courts) shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for original b. Proceeding is in rem (binding upon the whole world). A proceeding is in rem when the object
registration of title to lands, including improvements and interests therein, and over all petitions filed after original of the action is to bar indifferently all who might be minded to make an objection of any sort
registration of title, with power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such applications or petitions. The against the right sought to be established, and if anyone in the world has a right to be heard on
court through the clerk of court shall furnish the Land Registration Commission with two certified copies of all the strength of alleging facts which, if true, show an inconsistent interest.
pleadings, exhibits, orders, and decisions filed or issued in applications or petitions for land registration, with the
exception of stenographic notes, within five days from the filing or issuance thereof. c. Distinguished from proceedings in personam and quasi in rem:

NOTES SECTION 2 of PRD: i. It is a proceeding in personam when the technical object of the suit is to establish a claim against some
particular person, with a judgment which generally in theory at least, binds his body, o to bar some
1) Registration is not a mode of acquiring ownership but is merely a procedure to establish evidence of individual claim or objection, so that only certain persons are entitled to be heard in defense.
tile over realty.
ii. On the other hand, actions quasi in rem deal with the status, ownership or liability of a particular
2) A certificate of title is not a source of right. It merely confirms or records a title already existing and property but which are intended to operate on these questions only as between the particular parties to
vested. The mere possession thereof does not make one the true owner of the property. the proceedings and not to ascertain or cut off the rights or interests of all possible claimants. The
judgments therein are binding only upon the parties who joined in the action.
3) Title is generally defined as the lawful cause or ground of possessing that which is ours. Title,
therefore, may be defined briefly as that which constitutes a just cause of exclusive possession, or which 9) RTC have plenary jurisdiction over land registration cases as provided in Section 2 of PD
is the foundation of ownership of property, real or personal. Certificate of title, on the other hand, is a 1529. Exception – Inferior Courts delegated jurisdiction to hear and determine cadastral or land
mere evidence of ownership; it is not the title to the land itself. registration cases in the following instances:

4) Under the Torrens system, a certificate of title may be: a. Where the lot sought to be registered is not the subject of controversy or opposition; or

a.Original Certificate of Title: the first title issued in the name of the registered owner by the b. Where the lot is contested but the value thereof does not exceed P100,000.00, such value to
Register of Deeds covering a parcel of land which had been registered by virtue of a judicial or be ascertained by the affidavit of the claimant or by the agreement of the respective claimants,
administrative proceeding. if there be more than one, or from the corresponding tax declaration of the real property.

b. Transfer Certificate of Title – the title issued by the ROD in favor of the transferee to whom 10)Actions for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands or buildings, original jurisdiction over
the ownership of the already registered land had been transferred by virtue of a sale or other which is conferred upon the metropolitan trial courts, municipal trial courts, and municipal circuit trial
modes of conveyance. courts.

5) Torrens Title is a certificate of ownership issued under the Torres System, through the Register of 11) The Decree has eliminated the distinction between the general jurisdiction vested in the RTC and the
Deeds, naming and declaring the owner of the real property described therein, free from all liens and limited jurisdiction conferred upon it by the former law when acting merely as a cadastral court. The
encumbrances except such as may be expressly noted there or otherwise reserved by law. amendment was aimed at avoiding multiplicity of suits and the change has simplified registration
proceedings.
6) General Rule: A title once registered cannot be impugned, altered, changed, modified, enlarged, or
diminished. It shall not be subject to collateral attack. Exception: Direct proceeding permitted by law, 12) Venue:
usually for the protection of innocent third persons.
a. Real Actions affecting title to or possession of real property, or an interest therein shall be
7) Collateral Attack commenced and tried in the proper court which has territorial jurisdiction over the area where
the real property involved, or a portion thereof, is situated.
A certificate of title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified, or cancelled
except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law. (Sec. 48, P.D. 1529) b. Personal Actions shall be commenced and tried in the proper court where the plaintiff or any
of the principal defendants resides or in the case of anon-resident defendant where he may be
a. Accion Publiciana, also known as accion plenaria de posesion, is an ordinary civil proceeding to found, at the election of the plaintiff.
determine the better right of possession of realty independent of title. It refers to an ejectment suit filed
after the expiry of one year from the accrual of the cause of action or from the unlawful withholding of ii. SECTION 3. Status of other pre-existing land registration system.
possession of the realty. The objective of the plaintiffs in an accion publiciana is to recover possession
only, and not ownership. However, where the question of ownership is raised, the courts may pass upon The system of registration under the Spanish Mortgage Law is hereby discontinued and all lands recorded under said
the issue to determine who has the better right of possession. Such determination is merely provisional system which are not yet covered by Torrens title shall be considered as unregistered lands.
and not conclusive on the question of ownership.
Hereafter, all instruments affecting lands originally registered under the Spanish Mortgage Law may be recorded
b. If the petitioner-defendants attack on the validity of respondent-plaintiffs title, by claiming that fraud under Section 113 of this Decree, until the land shall have been brought under the operation of the Torrens system.
attended its acquisition, is a [prohibited] collateral attack on the title. It is an attack incidental to the
The books or registration for unregistered lands provided under Section 194 of the Revised Administrative Code, as for the issuance of decrees of registration and certificates of title (original and duplicate) where land is
amended by Act No. 3344, shall continue to remain in force; Provided, that all instruments dealing with unregistered brought for the first time under the Torrens system.
lands shall henceforth be registered under Section 113 of this Decree.
iii. Section 6. General Functions.
E. CHAPTER 2 THE LAND REGISTRATION COMMISSION AND ITS REGISTRIES OF DEEDS
1. The Commissioner of Land Registration shall have the following functions:
i. Section 4. Land Registration Commission.
a) Issue decrees of registration pursuant to final judgments of the courts in land registration
In order to have a more efficient execution of the laws relative to the registration of lands, geared to the massive proceedings and cause the issuance by the Registers of Deeds of the corresponding certificates
and accelerated land reform and social justice program of the government, there is created a commission to be of title;
known as the Land Registration Commission under the executive supervision of the Department of Justice.
b) Exercise supervision and control over all Registers of Deeds and other personnel of the
ii. Section 5. Officials and employees of the Commission. Commission;

The Land Registration Commission shall have a chief and an assistant chief to be known, respectively, as the c) Resolve cases elevated en consulta by, or on appeal from decision of, Registers of Deeds;
Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Land Registration who shall be appointed by the President. The
Commissioner shall be duly qualified member of the Philippine Bar with at least ten years of practice in the legal d) Exercise executive supervision over all clerks of court and personnel of the Courts of First
profession, and shall have the same rank, compensation and privileges as those of a Judge of the Court of First Instance throughout the Philippines with respect to the discharge of their duties and functions in
Instance. The Deputy Commissioner, who shall possess the same qualifications as those required of the relation to the registration of lands;
Commissioner, shall receive compensation which shall be three thousand pesos per annum less than that of the
Commissioner. He shall act as Commissioner of Land Registration during the absence or disability of the e) Implement all orders, decisions, and decrees promulgated relative to the registration of
Commissioner and when there is a vacancy in the position until another person shall have been designated or lands and issue, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Justice, all needful rules and
appointed in accordance with law. The Deputy Commissioner shall also perform such other functions as the regulations therefor;
Commissioner may assign to him.
f)Verify and approve subdivision, consolidation, and consolidation- subdivision survey plans of
They shall be assisted by such number of division chiefs as may be necessary in the interest of the functioning of the properties titled under Act No. 496 except those covered by P.D. No. 957.
Commission, by a Special Assistant to the Commissioner, and by a Chief Geodetic Engineer who shall each receive
compensation at the rate of three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than that of the Deputy
2. The Land Registration Commission shall have the following functions:
Commissioner.

a) Extend speedy and effective assistance to the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Land Bank, and
All other officials and employees of the Land Registration Commission including those of the Registries of Deeds
other agencies in the implementation of the land reform program of the government;
whose salaries are not herein provided, shall receive salaries corresponding to the minimum of their respective
upgraded ranges as provided under paragraph 3.1 of Budget Circular No. 273, plus sixty per centum thereof across
the board, notwithstanding the maximum salary allowed for their respective civil service eligibilities. b) Extend assistance to courts in ordinary and cadastral land registration proceedings;

The salaries of officials and employees provided in this Decree shall be without prejudice to such benefits and c) Be the central repository of records relative to original registration of lands titled under the Torrens
adjustments as may from time to time be granted by the President or by the legislature to government employees. system, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands.

All officials and employees of the Commission except Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the Secretary of NOTES SECTION 6 of PRD:
Justice upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration.
1) LRA Administrator, an executive officer with judicial rank.
NOTES SECTION 5 of PRD:
a. Shall have the same rank, compensation, and privileges as those of a Judge of the Court of
1) On June 17, 1954, RA No. 1151 created the Land Registration Commission (LRC) to provide a more First Instance (RTC).
efficient execution of the existing laws relative to the registration of lands.
b. His functions are plainly executive and subject to the President’s power of supervision and
2) LRC exercise supervision and control over all Registers of Deeds, as well as the clerical and archival control.
system of the courts of first instance throughout the Philippines with the reference to the registration of
lands. c. He can be investigated and removed only by the President and not by the Supreme Court.

3) It was headed by a Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner, both appointed by the President 2) Duty of LRA to issue decree ministerial.
with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
a. While the duty of the LRA officials to issue a decree of registration is purely ministerial, it is
4) The LRC has been renamed Land Registration Authority (LRA). It is headed by an Administrator who is ministerial only in the sense that they act under the orders of the court and the decree must be
assisted by two (2) Deputy Administrators, all of whom are appointed by the President upon in conformity with the decision of the court and with the data found in the record, as to which
the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice. All other officials of the LRA, except Register of Deeds, they have no discretion on the matter.
are appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon recommendation of the Administrator.
b. But the issuance by LRA officials of a decree of registration is not a purely ministerial duty in
5) The LRA is the central repository of records relative to original registration of lands titled under the cases where they find that such would result to the double titling of the same parcel of land.
Torrens system, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands. Specifically, it is responsible
 c. The issuance of a decree of registration is part of the judicial function of courts and is not ii. Then, the first possessor in good faith; and
compellable by mandamus because it involves the exercise of discretion.
iii. Finally, the buyer who in good faith presents the oldest title.
d. The duty of land registration officials to render reports is not limited to the period before the
court’s decision becomes final, but may extend even after its finality but not beyond the lapse of This rule, however, does not apply if the property is not registered under the Torrens system.
one (1) year from the entry of the decree.
d. In a case, two certificates of title were issued covering the very same property derived from two
iv. Section 7. Office of the Register of Deeds. different land patents, the Court ruled in favor of the owner who registered his land patent first regardless
of the date of issuance of the said land patent.
There shall be at least one Register of Deeds for each province and one for each city. Every Registry with a yearly
average collection of more than sixty thousand pesos during the last three years shall have one Deputy Register of v. Section 8. Appointment of Registers of Deeds and their Deputies and other subordinate personnel; salaries.
Deeds, and every Registry with a yearly average collection of more than three hundred thousand pesos during the
last three years, shall have one Deputy Register of Deeds and one second Deputy Register of Deeds. Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of
Justice. Deputy Registers of Deeds and all other subordinate personnel of the Registries of Deeds shall be appointed
The Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial jurisdiction of each Registry upon the by the Secretary of Justice upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration.
recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration, with the end in view of making every registry easily
accessible to the people of the neighboring municipalities. The salaries of Registers of Deeds and their Deputies shall be at the following rates:

The province or city shall furnish a suitable space or building for the office of the Register of Deeds until such time 1. First Class Registries - The salaries of Registers of Deeds in first class Registries shall be three
as the same could be furnished out of national funds. thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than that of the Deputy Commissioner.

NOTES SECTION 7 of PRD: 2. Second Class Registries - The salaries of Registers of Deeds in second class Registries shall be three
thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than those of Registers of Deeds in first class Registries.
1) Registry of Property:
3. Third Class Registries - The salaries of Registers of Deeds in third class Registries shall be three
a. The registration of instruments affecting registered land must be done in the proper registry, in order thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than those of Registers of Deeds in second class Registries.
to affect and bind the land and, thus, operate as constructive notice to the world.
4. The salaries of Deputy Registers of Deeds and Second Deputy Registers of Deeds - shall be three
b. If the sale is not registered, it is binding only between the seller and the buyer but it does not affect thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than those of their corresponding Registers of Deeds and
innocent third persons. Deputy Registers of Deeds, respectively.

c. The Civil Code, in Article 708, provides for the establishment of a Registry of Property which has for its The Secretary of Justice, upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration, shall cause the
object the inscription or annotation of acts and contracts relating to the ownership and other rights over reclassification of Registries based either on work load or the class of province/city, whichever will result in a higher
immovable property. classification, for purposes of salary adjustments in accordance with the rates hereinabove provided.

d. The original copy of the original certificate of title shall be filed in the Registry of Deeds. vi. Section 9. Qualifications of Registers of Deeds and Deputy Registers of Deeds.

e. Each Register of Deeds shall keep a primary entry book where all instruments including copies of writs No person shall be appointed Register of Deeds unless he has been admitted to the practice of law in the Philippines
and processes relating to registered land shall be entered in the order of their filing. They shall be and shall have been actually engaged in such practice for at least three years or has been employed for a like period
regarded as registered from the time so noted. in any branch of government the functions of which include the registration of property.

2) Registration in general, as the law uses the word, means any entry made in the books of the Registry, including The Deputy Register of Deeds shall be a member of the Philippine Bar. Provided, however, that no Register of Deeds
both registration in its ordinary and strict sense, and cancellation, annotation, and even the marginal notes. In its or Deputy Register of Deeds holding office as such upon the passage of this Decree shall by reason hereof, be
strict acceptation, it is the entry made in the Registry which records solemnly and permanently the right of removed from office or be demoted to a lower category or scale of salary except for cause and upon compliance with
ownership and other real rights. due process as provided for by law.

3) When a conveyance has been properly recorded, such record is constructive notice of its contents and all vii. Section 10. General functions of Registers of Deeds.
interests, legal and equitable, included therein.
The office of the Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of records of instruments affecting registered or
4) Effect of Registration: unregistered lands and chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein such office is situated.

a. The act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land insofar as third persons It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to immediately register an instrument presented for registration dealing
are concerned, and in all cases under this Decree. with real or personal property which complies with all the requisites for registration. He shall see to it that said
instrument bears the proper documentary and science stamps and that the same are properly canceled. If the
b. Registration in the public registry is notice to the whole world. instrument is not registerable, he shall forthwith deny registration thereof and inform the presentor of such denial in
writing, stating the ground or reason therefor, and advising him of his right to appeal by consultation in accordance
c. Thus, between two buyers of the same immovable property registered under the Torrens system, the with Section 117 of this Decree.
law gives ownership priority to:
NOTES SECTIONS 8, 9, & 10 of PRD:
i. The first registrant in good faith;
1) Office of the Register of Deed: d. The administrative remedy must be resorted to by the interested party before he can have recourse to
the courts.
a. There shall be at least one Register of Deeds for each province and one for each city.
5) The act of registration does not validate an otherwise void contract. While registration operates as a notice of the
b. The Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial jurisdiction of each Registry upon deed, contract, or instrument to others, it does not add to its validity nor converts an invalid instrument into a valid
the recommendation of the LRA Administrator. one as between the parties, not amounts to a declaration that the instrument recognizes a valid and subsisting
interest in the land.
c. Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Secretary of
Justice. 6) Notice to the Register of Deeds or adverse party.

d. Deputy Registers of Deeds and all other subordinate personnel of the Registries of Deeds shall be a) When a writ of preliminary injunction in a cadastral proceeding is dissolved, the obstacle to the
appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon the recommendation of the LRA Administrator. registration of a deed of sale is removed, but it is no authority for the court to issue an order for
registration of said deed without notice to the Register of Deeds or to the adverse party, where the
e. Both the Register of Deeds and Deputy Register of Deeds must be members of the Bar. dismissal of the cadastral case is not yet final.

2) Duty of Register of Deeds to register, ministerial. b) It is one thing for the Register of Deeds, in the exercise of his ministerial duties under the law, to
register an instrument which in his opinion is registrable, and quite another thing for the court itself to
order the registration. The former does not contemplate notice to and hearing of interested parties such
a. Register of Deeds perform both functions of an administrative character and functions which are at
as are required in a judicial proceeding nor carries with it the solemnity and legal consequences of a court
least of a quasi-judicial nature.
judgment.

b. However, the function of a Register of Deeds with reference to the registration of deeds,
viii. Section 11. Discharge of duties of Register of Deeds in case of vacancy, etc.
encumbrances, instruments and the like is ministerial in nature.

1. Until a regular Register of Deeds shall have been appointed for a province or city, or in case of vacancy in the
c. Registration is a mere ministerial act by which a deed, contract or instrument is sought to be inscribed
office, or upon the occasion of the absence, illness, suspension, or inability of the Register of Deeds to discharge his
in the records of the office of the Register of Deeds and annotated at the back of the certificate of the title
duties, said duties shall be performed by the following officials, in the order in which they are mentioned below,
covering the land subject of the deed, contract or instrument. Whether the document is invalid, frivolous
unless the Secretary of Justice designates another official to act temporarily in his place:
or intended to harass, is not the duty of a Register of Deeds to decide, but is for a court of competent
jurisdiction to determine.
a) For the province or city where there is a Deputy Register of Deeds, by said Deputy Register of Deeds,
or by the second Deputy Register of Deeds, should there be one;
3) Instances where Register of Deeds may deny registration:
b) For the province or city where there is no Deputy or second Deputy Register of Deeds, by the
a. Where there are several copies of the title (co-owner’s duplicate) but only one is presented with the
Provincial or City Fiscal, or any Assistant Fiscal designated by the Provincial or City Fiscal;
instrument to be registered.

2. In case of absence, disability or suspension of the Register of Deeds without pay, or in case of vacancy in the
b. Where the property is presumed to be conjugal but the instrument of conveyance bears the signature
position, the Secretary of Justice may, in his discretion, authorize the payment of an additional compensation to the
of only one spouse.
official acting as Register of Deeds, such additional compensation together with his actual salary not to exceed the
salary authorized for the position thus filled by him.
c. Where there is a pending case in court where the character of the land and validity of the conveyance
are in issue.
3. In case of a newly-created province or city and pending establishment of a Registry of Deeds and the
appointment of a regular Register of Deeds for the new province or city, the Register of Deeds of the mother
d. Where required certificates or documents are not submitted. province or city shall be the ex-officio Register of Deeds for said new province or city.

The refusal by the Register of Deeds to register an instrument affecting registered land by reason of non-
compliance with certain requirements does not bar registration if thereafter the defects are cured.

4) Doubtful questions shall be submitted to LRA Administrator for resolution:

ix. Section 12. Owner's Index; reports.
a. A Register of Deeds is precluded from exercising his personal judgment and discretion when confronted
with the problem of whether to register a deed or instrument on the ground that it is invalid.
There shall be prepared in every Registry an index system which shall contain the names of all registered owners
alphabetically arranged. For this purpose, an index card which shall be prepared in the name of each registered
b. When the Register of Deeds is in doubt with regard to the proper step to be taken or memorandum to owner which shall contain a list of all lands registered in his name.
be made in pursuance of any deed, mortgage or other instrument presented to him for registration, or
where any party in interest does not agree with the action taken by him with reference to any such deed
The Register of Deeds shall submit to the Land Registration Commission within ten days after the month to which
or instrument, he shall certify the question to the LRA Administrator who shall, after notice and hearing,
they pertain his monthly reports on collections and accomplishments. He shall also submit to the Commission at the
enter an order prescribing the step to be taken on the doubtful question.
end of December of each year, an annual inventory of all titles and instruments in his Registry.

c. But mandamus does not lie to compel the Register of Deeds to make registration.
x. Section 13. Chief Geodetic Engineer.
There shall be a Chief Geodetic Engineer in the Land Registration Commission who shall be the technical adviser of b. It must establish the existence of a positive act of the government such as a presidential proclamation
the Commission on all matters involving surveys and shall be responsible to him for all plats, plans and works or an executive order; an administrative action; investigation reports of Bureau of Lands investigators;
requiring the services of a geodetic engineer in said office. He shall perform such other functions as may, from time and a legislative act or a statute. (Republic v. CA)
to time, be assigned to him by the Commissioner.
4) With respect to non-agricultural lands like forest lands, the rules on the confirmation of imperfect title do not
NOTES SECTION 13 of PRD: apply unless and until the land classified as forest land is released in an official proclamation to that effect so that it
may form part of the disposable agricultural lands of the public domain.
1) A survey plan serves to establish the true identity of the land to ensure that it does not overlap a
parcel of land or a portion thereof already covered by a previous land registration, and to forestall the 5) Nature of possession must be:
possibility that it will be overlapped by a subsequent registration of any adjoining land.
a. Open- It must be known to all. It must not be a secret or clandestine.
2) Only the Lands Management Bureau has authority to approve original survey plans for registration
purposes. There was a need to centralize in one agency, the function of verifying and approving original b. Continuous- There must not be any interruption.
survey plans for all purposes in order to assure compliance with established standards and minimize
irregularities in the execution of land surveys. c. Exclusive- Land must be possessed by himself or by his predecessors- in-interest to the exclusion of
all others.

d. Notorious - Use or inhabitance of real property that is open and obvious to neighbors, leading to a
III.CHAPTER 3 - ORIGINAL REGISTRATION presumption that the owner has notice of it.

ORDINARY REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS 2. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of existing laws.

A. Who may apply NOTES SECTION 14(2) of PRD:

Registration under the Property Registration Decree i. Section 14. Who may apply. 1) Properties of public dominion cannot be acquired by prescription. No matter how long the possession of the
properties has been, there can be no prescription against the State regarding property of public domain. Even a city
The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an application for registration of title to land, or municipality cannot acquire them by prescription as against the State. The exception is where the law itself so
whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives: provides. Thus, patrimonial property of the State may be the subject of acquisition through prescription.

1.Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive and 2) While as a rule, prescription does not run against the State, the exception is where the law itself expressly
notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim provides.
of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.
3) Article 1113 of the Civil Code provides the legal foundation for the application Section 14(2). It reads:
NOTES SECTION 14(1) of PRD:
Art. 1113. All things which are within the commerce of men are susceptible of prescription, unless
1) Requisites for registration under Section 14(1) otherwise provide. Property of the State or any of its subdivisions not patrimonial in character shall not be
the object of prescription.
a. That the land applied for is an agricultural public land classified as alienable and disposable land at the
time; 4) Under the Civil Code, it is clear that where lands of the public domain are patrimonial and, hence, private in
character, they are susceptible to acquisitive prescription.
b. The application for registration is filed with the proper court;
5) Lands of public dominion shall form part of the patrimonial property of the State when there is a declaration by
c. That the applicant, by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest, has been in open, continuous, the government that these are alienable or disposable and are no longer intended for public use or public service.
exclusive and notorious possession and occupation thereof, under a bona fide claim of ownership; and Only when such lands have become patrimonial can the prescriptive period for the acquisition of property of the
public dominion begin to run.
d. That such possession and occupation has been effected since June 12, 1945 or earlier.
6) Thus, where the land is already a private land, the applicant has the right to register the same under Section
2) Land must already be (a) classified as alienable and disposable land; and (b)possessed and occupied since June 14(2) even if the possession thereof for the required prescriptive period commenced on a date later than June 12,
12, 1945 or earlier at the time of filing of the application for registration. 1945.

a. It need not be classified as alienable and disposable land of public domain since June 12, 1945. It is 7) 2 Kinds of Prescription:
sufficient that the land is already declared as alienable and disposable land at the time of the application
for registration is filed so as to entitle the possessor to registration. a. Ordinary Acquisitive Prescription- a person acquires ownership of a patrimonial property through
possession for at least ten (10) years, in good faith and with just title.
3) Steps in Alienation of Public Agricultural Land:
b. Extraordinary acquisitive prescription - a person’s uninterrupted adverse possession of patrimonial
a. It must be shown to have been reclassified as alienable and disposable land of the public domain; property for at least thirty (30) years, regardless of good faith or just title, ripens into ownership pursuant
to Article 1137 of the Civil Code.

8) In sum, for Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree to apply –
 a) There must be an express declaration by the State that the public dominion property is no longer NOTES SECTION 14(3) of PRD:
intended for public service or the development of the national wealth or that the property has been
converted into patrimonial. Without such express declaration, the property, even if classified as alienable 1) Accession defined
or disposable, remains property of the public dominion, pursuant to Article 420 (2) of the Civil Code, and
thus incapable of acquisition by prescription. a. Accession is the right of the owner of a thing, real or personal, to become the owner of everything
which is:
b) Such declaration shall be in the form of a law duly enacted by Congress or a Presidential Proclamation
in cases where the President is duly authorized by law. produced thereby, incorporated attached thereto, Either naturally or artificially.

9) Prescription Generally: b.Includes: fruits of, additions to, improvements upon a thing; building, planting and sowing; alluvion,
avulsion, change of course of rivers, formation of islands.
a. By prescription, one acquires ownership and other real rights through the lapse of time in the manner
and under the action lay down by law. 2) Ownership of abandoned river beds by right of accession:

b. All things which are within the commerce of men are susceptible of prescription, unless otherwise a. Under Article 461 of the Civil Code, river beds which are abandoned through the natural change in the
provided. course of the waters ipso facto belong to the owners whose lands are occupied by the new course in
proportion to the area lost.
c. Property of the State or any of its subdivisions not patrimonial in character shall not be the object of
prescription. b. However, the owners of the lands adjoining the old bed shall have the right to acquire the same by
paying the value thereof, which value shall not exceed the value of the area occupied by the new bed.
d. For purposes of prescription, there is just title when the adverse claimant came into possession of the
property through one of the modes recognized by law for the acquisition of ownership or other real rights, c.To illustrate: A and B each owns land on opposite sides of a river. The river changed its course, passing
but the grantor was not the owner or could not transmit any right. through the land of C. Who owns the abandoned river bed? C, to compensate him for his loss. Now,
suppose that two owners, C and D, lost portions of their lands. Who owns the river bed? C and D, in
10) Concept of possession for purposes of prescription: proportion to the area lost.

a. Possession in the eyes of the law does not mean that a man has to have his feet on every square d.Law speaks of change of river course. If a river simply dries up or disappears, the bed left dry will
meter of ground before it can be said that he is in possession. belong to public dominion (Art 502 of the Civil Code).

b. Actual possession of land consists in the manifestation of acts of dominion over it of such a nature as a 3) The requisites for the application of Article 461 of the Civil Code:
party would naturally exercise over his own property.
a. The change must be sudden in order that the old river may be identified;
c. To consolidate prescription, the possession must be that of owner, and it must be public, peaceful and
uninterrupted. b. The changing of the course must be more or less permanent, and not temporary over flooding of
another’s land;
d. Acts of a possessory character done by virtue of a license or mere tolerance on the part of the real
owner are not sufficient. c. The change of the river must be a natural one, i.e., caused by natural forces (and not by artificial
means);
11) Computation of prescription:
d. There must be definite abandonment by the government. (If the government shortly after the change
a. The present possessor may complete the period necessary for prescription by tacking his possession to decides and actually takes steps to bring the river to its old bed, Article 461 will not apply for, here, it
that of his grantor or predecessor-in-interest. cannot be said that there was abandonment); and

12) Prescription distinguished from laches: e. The river must continue to exist, that is, it must not completely dry up or disappear.

a. Prescription is concerned with the fact of delay; Laches is concerned with the effect of delay. 4) Ownership by right of accretion along river banks:

b. Prescription is a matter of time; Laches is principally a question of inequity of permitting a claim to be a. Article 457 of the Civil Code provides that to the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belong
enforced, this inequity being founded on some change in the condition of the property or the relation of the accretion which they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the waters.
the parties.
b. In the absence of evidence that the change in the course of the river was sudden or that it occurred
c. Prescription is statutory; Laches is not. through avulsion, the presumption is that the change was gradual and caused by accretion and erosion.

d. Prescription applies at law; Laches applies in equity. 5) 3 Requisites before an accretion is said to have taken place:

e. Prescription is based on a fixed time; Laches is not. a. That the deposit be gradual and imperceptible;

3. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of accession or accretion b. That it be made through the effects of the current of the water; and
under the existing laws.
 c. That the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the banks of rivers. a. Under Article 457 of the Civil Code, the registered owner of property is considered the lawful owner of
the accretion to his property. But the accretion does not become automatically registered land just
6) Accretions affecting lands registered under the Torrens system: because the lot which receives it is covered by a Torrens title thereby making the alluvial property
imprescriptible.
a. In case of diminution of area
b. Ownership of a piece of land is one thing, and registration under the Torrens system of that ownership
Registration does not protect the riparian owner against diminution of the area of his land through gradual is quite another.
changes in the course of the adjoining stream;
c. Ownership over the accretion received by the land adjoining a river is governed by the Civil Code.
Accretions which the banks of rivers may gradually receive from the effect of the current become the
property of the owners of the banks. d. Imprescriptibility of registered land is provided in the registration law.

b. In case of increase of area 11) Where alluvial increment is not registered, it may be acquired by third persons through prescription:

Although alluvion is automatically owned by the riparian owner, it does not automatically become a. In order that the accretion may be protected by the rule on imprescriptibility, it is necessary that the
registered land, just because the lot which receives such accretion is covered by a Torrens title; same be brought under the operation of the Torrens system.

So, alluvial deposit acquired by a riparian owner of registered land by accretion may be subjected to b. Where the adjoining land owner does not cause the registration of the increment to his property, the
acquisition through prescription by a third person, by failure of such owner to register such accretion same may be acquired by third persons.
within the prescribed period.
12) Alluvial formation along the seashore forms part of the public domain:
7) Accretion along the banks of creeks, streams and lakes:
a. In contrast to the rule on accretion, alluvial formation along the seashore is part of the public domain
a.Article 84 of the Spanish Law of Waters of 1866, which remains in effect, reads: and, therefore, not open to acquisition by adverse possession by private persons.

Art. 84. Accretions deposited gradually upon lands contiguous to creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes, by b. It is outside the commerce of man, unless otherwise declared by either the executive or legislative
accessions or sediments from the waters thereof, belong to the owners of such lands.â€ branch of the government.

b. From the foregoing provisions, alluvial deposits along the banks of creeks, streams and lakes do not c. All lands thrown up by the sea and formed upon the shore by the action of the water, together with the
form part of the public domain as the alluvial property automatically belongs to the owner of the estate to adjacent sore, belong to the national domain and are for public uses. The State shall grant these lands to
which it may have been added. the adjoining owners only when they are no longer needed for the purposes mentioned therein.

c. The only restriction is that the owner of the adjoining property must register the same under the 4. Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.
Torrens system; otherwise, the alluvial property may be subject to acquisition through prescription by
third persons. (City Mayor of Paranaque City v. Ebio) NOTES SECTION 14(4) of PRD:

8) Alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature: 1) Land Grant by Presidential Proclamation

a. The requirement that the deposit should be due to the effects of the current of the river is a. The clear implication is that a land grant having been made by a Presidential proclamation and by
indispensable. legislative act, the grantee may apply for the registration of the land and bring it under the operation of
the Torrens system.
b. Alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature.
b. Reservation for a specific public purpose by Presidential proclamation – Lands covered by reservation
c. There must be evidence to prove that the addition to the property was made gradually through the are not subject to entry, and no lawful settlement on them can be acquired.
effects of the current of the river.
2) Public Grant - a conveyance of public land by government to a private individual.
9) Reason for the law on accretion:

a . Compensate the riparian owner for the danger of loss that he suffers because of the location of his
land; 3) Reclamation

b. Compensate him for the encumbrances and various kinds of easements to which his property is a. Filling of submerged land by deliberate act and reclaiming title thereto
subject; and
b. Must be initially owned by government
c. Promote the interests of agriculture for the riparian owner it in the best position to utilize the accretion.
c. May be subsequently transferred to private owners
10) Accretion does not automatically become registered land:
4) Voluntary Transfer
 a. Private grant c. A corporation sole consist of one person only, and his successors (who will always be one at a time), in
some particular station, who are incorporated by law in order to give them some legal capacities and
b. Voluntary execution of deed of conveyance advantages, particularly that of perpetuity, which in their natural persons they could not have had.

c. Contractual relationship between the parties d. A corporation sole is qualified to own and register private agricultural land.

d. Consensual e. A corporation sole by the nature of its incorporation is vested with the right to purchase and hold real
estate and personal property.
5) Involuntary Alienation
f. Bishops or archbishops, as the case may be, as corporations sole are merely administrators of the
a. No consent from the owner of land church properties that come to their possession, and which they hold in trust for the church. Thus, church
properties acquired by the incumbent of a corporation sole pass, by operation of law, upon his death not
to his personal heirs but to his successor in office
b. Forcible acquisition by the State

Where the land is owned in common, all the co-owners shall file the application jointly.
6) Descent or Devise - Hereditary succession to the estate of deceased owner.

NOTES par. 2, SECTION 14 of PRD:

7) Emancipation Patent / Grant(Certificate of Land Ownership Award)

1) Co-owners shall file application jointly:

a. To ameliorate the sad plight of tenant-farmers

a. Under Article 493 of the Civil Code, each co-owner shall have the full ownership of his part and of the
b. Such grant is not transferable except by hereditary succession
fruits and benefits pertaining thereto, and he may therefore alienate, assign or mortgage it, and even
substitute another person in its enjoyment, except when personal rights are involved.
8) Land acquisition by private corporations:
b. But the effect of the alienation or the mortgage, with respect to the co-owners,shall be limited to the
a. By way of exception, juridical persons may apply for registration of leased agricultural and disposable portion which may be allotted to him in the division upon the termination of the co-ownership.
lands not exceeding 1,000 hectares in area for a period of 25 years and renewable for not more than 25
years (Section 3, Article XII, 1987 Constitution), and except when the land has been previously acquired
c. Since a co-owner cannot be considered a true owner of a specific portion until division or partition is
by prescription by a natural person and subsequently transferred to a juridical entity (in this case, a
effected, he cannot file an application for registration for the whole area without joining the co-owners as
corporation may apply for judicial confirmation of title).
applicants.

b. Purpose of the prohibition(see Chavez v. PEA)

Where the land has been sold under pacto de retro, the vendor a retro may file an application for the
original registration of the land, provided, however, that should the period for redemption expire during
c. Limitation to ownership of land by corporations: the pendency of the registration proceedings and ownership to the property consolidated in the vendee a
retro, the latter shall be substituted for the applicant and may continue the proceedings.
i. Private Lands
NOTES par. 3, SECTION 14 of PRD:
1. At least 60% Filipino (Sec. 7, Article XII, 1987 Constitution);
1) Vendee a retro may file application in his name
2. Restricted as to extent reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out purpose for which it was created;
and a. A sale with pacto de retro transfers the legal title to the vendee and the vendee is subrogated to all the
rights and actions of the vendor, subject to the latter’s right of redemption.
3. If engaged in agriculture, it is restricted to 1,024 hectares.
b. Having the legal title to the land, the vendee a retro has therefore a registerable title thereto which
ii. Patrimonial property of the State (Sec. 3, Article XII, 1987 Constitution) may be the subject of initial registration.

1. Lease (CANNOT own land of the public domain) for 25 years renewable; c. The right to redeem the property retained by the vendor a retro should only be noted in the decree and
certificate of title that may be issued.
2. Limited to 1,000 hectares; and
A trustee on behalf of his principal may apply for original registration of any land held in trust by him, unless
3. Apply to both Filipinos and foreign corporations. prohibited by the instrument creating the trust.

9) A corporation sole is qualified to apply for registration NOTES par. 4, SECTION 14 of PRD:

A. A corporation sole is a special form of corporation usually associated with the clergy. 1) Trustee may apply for registration on behalf of his principal:

b. A corporation sole was designed to facilitate the exercise of the functions of ownership carried on by a. A trustee on behalf of his principal may apply for original registration of any land held in trust by him.
the clerics for and on behalf of the church which was regarded as the property owner.
 b. A person who establishes a trust is called the trustor; one in whom confidence is reposed as regards There are three obvious requisites for the filing of an application for registration of title under Section 14(1)- that
property for the benefit of another known as the trustee; and the person for whose benefit the trust has the property in question is alienable and disposable land of the public domain; that the applicants by themselves or
been created is referred to as the beneficiary or cestui que trust. through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation, and; that such possession is under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945 or earlier.
c. Whoever claims an interest in registered land by reason of any implied or constructive trust shall file
with the Register of Deeds for registration a sworn statement containing: Although tax declarations and realty tax payment of property are not conclusive evidence of ownership,
nevertheless, they are good indicia of the possession in the concept of owner for no one in his right mind would be
i. a description of the land; paying taxes for a property that is not in his actual or at least constructive possession. They constitute at least proof
that the holder has a claim of title over the property. The voluntary declaration of a piece of property for taxation
ii. the name of the registered owner; and purposes manifests not only one’s sincere and honest desire to obtain title to the property and announces his
adverse claim against the State and all other interested parties, but also the intention to contribute needed revenues
to the Government. Such an act strengthens one’s bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership.
iii. a reference to the number of the certificate of title.

vi. Domingo v. Landicho, 531 SCRA 606 (2007)

d. Such claim shall not affect the title of a purchaser for value and in good faith before its registration.

Section 14 of P.D. No. 1529 provides that to be entitled of a land, the applicant must prove that: (a) the land
applied for forms part of the disposable and alienable agricultural lands of the public domain and (b) he has been in
open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of the same under a bona fide claim of
ownership either since time immemorial or since June 12, 1945.

ii. Tan v. Republic, G.R. No. 193443, April 16, 2012 All lands not otherwise appearing to be clearly within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State, and
unless it has been shown that they have been reclassified by the State as alienable or disposable to a private
Section 14. Who may apply. The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an application for person, they remain part of the inalienable public domain. To prove that a land is alienable, an applicant must
registration of title to land, whether personally or through their authorized representatives: conclusively establish the existence of a positive act of government, such as presidential proclamation or an
executive order, or administrative action, investigation reports of the Bureau of Lands investigator or a legislative
1) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous, act or statute.
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. vii. Republic v. CA and Tancinco, 132 SCRA 514 (1984) Article 457 of the New Civil Code provides:

2) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of existing To the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belongs the accretion which they gradually receive from the
laws. effects of the current of the waters.

3) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of accession or The above-quoted article requires the concurrence of three requisites before an accretion covered by this particular
accretion under the existing laws. provision is said to have taken place. They are (1) that the deposit be gradual and imperceptible; (2) that it be
made through the effects of the current of the water; and (3) that the land where accretion takes place is adjacent
4) Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law. to the banks of rivers.

In other words, for one to invoke the provisions of Section 14(2) and set up acquisitive prescription The requirement that the deposit should be due to the effect of the current of the river is indispensable. This
against the State, it is primordial that the status of the property as patrimonial be first established. excludes from Art. 457 of the New Civil Code all deposits caused by human intervention. Alluvion must be the
Furthermore, the period of possession preceding the classification of the property as patrimonial cannot be exclusive work of nature.
considered in determining the completion of the prescriptive period.
The reason behind the law giving the riparian owner the right to any land or alluvion deposited by a river is to
iii. Republic v. East Silverlane Realty Development Corp., 666 SCRA 401 compensate him for the danger of loss that he suffers because of the location of his land. If estates bordering on
rivers are exposed to floods and other evils produced by the destructive force of the waters and if by virtue of lawful
Accordingly, there must be an express declaration by the State that the public dominion property is no longer provisions, said estates are subject to encumbrances and various kinds of easements, it is proper that the risk or
intended for public service or the development of the national wealth or that the property has been converted into danger which may prejudice the owners thereof should be compensated by the right of accretion. (Cortes v. City of
patrimonial. Without such express declaration, the property, even if classified as alienable or disposable, remains Manila, 10 Phil. 567)
property of the public dominion, pursuant to Article 420(2), and thus incapable of acquisition by prescription. It is
only when such alienable and disposable lands are expressly declared by the State to be no longer intended for A riparian owner then does not acquire the additions to his land caused by special works expressly intended or
public service or for the development of the national wealth that the period of acquisitive prescription can begin to designed to bring about accretion. Indeed, private persons cannot, by themselves, reclaim land from water bodies
run. Such declaration shall be in the form of a law duly enacted by Congress or a Presidential Proclamation in cases belonging to the public domain without proper permission from government authorities. And even if such
where the President is duly authorized by law. reclamation had been authorized, the reclaimed land does not automatically belong to the party reclaiming the same
as they may still be subject to the terms of the authority earlier granted.
iv. Republic v. Candymaker, 492 SCRA 272 (2006)
viii. Buenaventura v. Republic, 517 SCRA 271 (2207)
Applicants for confirmation of imperfect title must, therefore, prove the following: (a)that the land forms part of the
disposable and alienable agricultural lands of the public domain; and (b) that they have been in open, continuous, In the case of Republic v. CA, it becomes crystal clear from the ruling of the Court that even if the possession of
exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of the same under a bona fide claim of ownership either since alienable lands of the public domain commenced only after June 12, 1945, application for registration of the said
time immemorial or since June 12, 1945. property is still possible by virtue of

v. Republic v. CA and Naguit, 448 SCRA 442 (2005) Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree which speaks of prescription.
The records, indeed, reveal that petitioners were in possession of the subject property for more than 30 years, 32 The following-described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or claiming to own any such
years to be exact, reckoned from the year 1968, when the subject property was finally declared alienable and lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been perfected or completed, may apply to the Court of First
disposable by the DENR to the time they file an application for registration of title over the subject property on June Instance of the province where the land is located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a certificate of
5, 2000. title therefor, under the Land Registration Act, to wit:

Petitioners’ possession of the subject property since 1968 has been characterized as open, continuous, exclusive and a) Those who prior to the transfer of sovereignty from Spain to the prior United States have applied for
notorious possession and occupation in the concept of an owner. the purchase, composition or other form of grant of lands of the public domain under the laws and royal
decrees then in force and have instituted and prosecuted the proceedings in connection therewith, but
By this, the subject alienable and disposable public land had been effectively converted into private property over have with or without default upon their part, or for any other cause, not received title therefor, if such
which petitioners have acquired ownership thru prescription to which they are entitled to have title thru registration applicants or grantees and their heirs have occupied and cultivated said lands continuously since the filing
proceedings. of their applications.

ix. Heirs of Malabanan v. Republic, 587 SCRA 172 (2009) b) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in open, continuous,
exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of agricultural lands of the public domain, under a
Applicants under 14(1) of PD 1529 in relation to sec 48(b) of CA 141 acquire ownership of, and registrable title to, bona fide claim of acquisition or ownership, for at least thirty years immediately preceding the filing of the
such lands based on the length and quality of their possession. It is sufficient that the land be declared alienable and application for confirmation of title except when prevented by war or force majeure. These shall be
disposable at the time of the filing for the application for judicial confirmation of imperfect title and the land need conclusively presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a Government grant and shall be
not be alienable and disposable during the entire period of possession. entitled to a certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter.

Prescription c) 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 to agriculture, whether disposable or not, under a bona fide claim of ownership for
Applicants who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provisions of the Civil Code. (Sec.
at least 30 years shall be entitled to the rights granted in sub-section (b) hereof.
14(2), P.D. 1529) Possession has to be in the concept of an owner, public, peaceful and uninterrupted. (Article
1118, NCC). Ownership is acquired through uninterrupted adverse possession for thirty years, without need of title
or of good faith. (Article 1137, NCC) NOTES Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect or Incomplete Titles:

Lands of the Public Domain are outside the commerce of man and consequently cannot be acquired through 1) Governing Provision: Section 48(b), CA No. 141 (Public Land Act)
prescription.
a. 2 Significant amendments have been introduce by PD No. 1073:
Under 14(2) of PD 1529, applicants acquire ownership of the lands through prescription in the Civil Code. However,
the applicants may only acquire patrimonial lands of the public domain, which only become such after they have i.First, agricultural lands was changed to alienable and disposable lands of the public domain;
been declared alienable and disposable and there must also be an express government manifestation that the and
property is already patrimonial or no longer retained for public service or the development of national wealth under
Article 422 of the Civil Code. Only when the land has become patrimonial property can the prescriptive period for the ii.Second, possession must be since June 12, 1945.
acquisition of property of the public dominion begin to run.
b. As thus amended, Section 48 (b) and (c) of CA No. 141, as amended, reads:
NOTES:
Sec. 48. The following described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain
1) Where the land is owned in common, all the co-owners shall file the application jointly. or claiming to own any such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been perfected or
completed, may apply to the Regional Trial Court of the province or city where the land is located for
2) If the applicant is not a resident of the Philippines, he shall file with his application an instrument in due form confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a certificate of title therefor, under the Property
appointing an agent upon whom service shall be made. Registration Decree to wit:

3) Applications for judicial confirmation of imperfect through possession shall not extend beyond December 31, Xxx xxx xxx
2020.
(b) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in open, continuous,
x. SECTIONS 47, 48, CA 141, as amended exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain,
under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, since June 12, 1945, except when prevented by war
Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect or Incomplete Titles or force majeure. These shall be conclusively presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a
Government grant and shall be entitled to a certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 47.
(c) 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 alienable
The persons specified in the next following section are hereby granted time, not to extend beyond December 31,
and disposable lands of the public domain, under a bona fide claim of ownership, since June 12, 1945,
1987 within which to take advantage of the benefit of this chapter: Provided, That this extension shall apply only
shall be entitled to the rights granted in sub-section (b) hereof.
where the area applied for does not exceed 144 hectares. Provided, further, That the several periods of time
designated by the President in accordance with section forty-five of this Act shall apply also to the lands comprised
in the provisions of this chapter, but this section shall not be construed as prohibiting any of said persons from c. Period of possession: Historical Background
acting under this chapter at any time prior to the period fixed by the President.
i. The significance of the date June 12, 1945 appears to have been lost to history. A major concern raised against
SECTION 48. this date is that the country was at this time under Japanese occupation, and for some years after, was suffering
from the uncertainties and instabilities that World War II brought. Questions were raised on how one could possibly i. The land is alienable public land; and
comply with the June 12, 1945 or earlier occupation/possession requirement of PD 1073 when the then prevailing
situation did not legally or physically permit it. Without the benefit of congressional records, as the enactment of the ii. His possession and occupation has been open, continuous, exclusive, notorious and in the
law (a Presidential Decree) was solely through the President’s lawmaking powers under a regime that permitted concept of owner;
it, the most logical reason or explanation for the date is the possible impact of the interplay between the old law and
the amendatory law. When PD 1073 was enacted, the utmost concern, in all probability, was how the law would iii. Since June 12, 1945.
affect the application of the old law which provided for a thirty-year possession period. Counting 30 years backwards
from the enactment of PD 1073 on January 25, 1977, PD 1073 should have provided for a January 24, 1947cut-
e. Title is void where land is inalienable and may be cancelled even in the hands of an innocent purchaser
off date, but it did not. Instead, it provided, for unknown reasons, the date June 12, 1945.
for value:
ii. The June 12, 1945 cut-off date raised legal concerns; vested rights acquired under the old law (CA 141, as
i. A certificate of title is void when it covers property of public domain classified as forest or
amended by RA 1942) providing for a 30-year possession period could not be impaired by the PD 1073 amendment.
timber and mineral lands.

iii. From this perspective, PD 1073 should have thus provided January 24, 1947 and not June 12, 1945 as its cut-
ii. Any title issued on non-disposable lots even in the hands of an alleged innocent purchaser
off date, yet the latter date is the express legal reality. The reconciliation, as properly defined by jurisprudence, is
for value, shall be cancelled.
that where an applicant has satisfied the requirements of Section 48 (b) of CA 141, as amended by RA 1942, prior
to the effectivity of PD 1073, the applicant is entitled to perfect his or her title, even if possession and occupation
does not date back to June 12, 1945.(Concurring and Dissenting Opinion of J. BRION, Heirs of Mario Malabanan v. 3) Requisites for availment of Chapter VIII only when the following conditions are met that the possessor of the
Republic, 587 SCRA 172) land may acquire, by operation of law, a right to a grant, a government grant, without the necessity of a certificate
of title being issued:
d. Section 48 (b) of the Public Land Act on judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles has a counterpart
provision in Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree. a. That the land forms part of the disposable and alienable agricultural lands of the public domain; and

e. There are no material differences between Section 14(1) of the Property Registration Decree and Section 48(b) b. That he has been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession thereof, under a bona fide
of the Public Land Act, as amended. claim of ownership, since June 12, 1945.

i. True, the Public Land Act does refer to agricultural lands of the public domain, while the Property 4) Land must be A and D land at the time the application for confirmation is filed:
Registration Decree uses the term ‘alienable and disposable lands of the public domain.
a. Section 48(b) of the PLA (Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect or Incomplete Title) applies exclusively
ii. It must be noted though that the Constitution declares that ‘alienable lands of the public domain to alienable and disposable agricultural lands of the public domain.
shall be limited to agricultural lands.
i. Forest or timber lands, mineral lands and lands within national parks are excluded
f. RA No. 9176 extended the period to file application to December 31, 2020
b. The right to file the application for registration derives from a bona fide claim of ownership going back
“On November 13, 2002, RA No. 9176 was enacted: to June 12, 1945 or earlier, by reason of the claimant’s open, continuous, exclusive and notorious
possession of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain.
i. Extending the period to file an application for judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles to
December 31, 2020; c. Section 48(b) of the PLA does not require that the land applied for should have been alienable and
disposable during the entire period of possession. It is sufficient that the land is already classified as
alienable and disposable portion of the public domain at the time the application is filed.
ii. Further limiting the area applied for to 12 hectares; and

5) Rule different where land is not registrable as when it forms part of the public forest:
iii. Providing that all pending applications filed before the effectivity of the amendatory Act shall be
treated as having been filed in accordance with the provisions thereof.
a. A different rule obtains for lands which are incapable of registration as when they belong to the
category of forest or timber, mineral lands, and national parks.
iv. The extension of the period fixed by law for the filing of the application for registration is not
jurisdictional but is more of a time limitation.
b. The reason for this is that, under Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution, only agricultural lands may
be the subject of alienation.
2)Registration proceeding presupposes that the land is a public agricultural land

6) Only A and D(alienable & disposable) lands may be the subject of confirmation of title:
a. Public Land Act, as amended, is a special law specifically applying to agricultural lands of the public
domain.
a. There can be no imperfect title to be confirmed over lands not yet classified as disposable or alienable.
b. As a rule, no title or right to, or equity in, any lands of the public domain may be acquired by
prescription or by adverse possession or occupancy except as expressly provided by law. b. In the absence of such classification, the land remains unclassified public land until released therefrom
and open to disposition.
c. Registration under Section 48(b) of the PLA (No. 141) presumes that the land was originally public
agricultural land but because of adverse possession since June 12, 1945,the land has become private. c. Indeed, it has been held that the rules on the confirmation of imperfect title do not apply unless and
until the land classified as, say, forest land is released in an official proclamation to that effect so that it
may form part of the disposable agricultural lands of the public domain.
d. To entitle him to registration under Section 48(b) of the PLA, the applicant must prove that:
 12) Land declared public land in a previous registration case may be the subject of judicial confirmation:

7) Where applicant has acquired a right to a government grant, application is a mere formality: a. In Zara v. Director of Lands, a parcel of land which had been declared public land in a previous
registration proceeding was again the subject of application by persons claiming an imperfect title thereto
a. When the conditions specified in Section 48(b) of the PLA are complied with, the possessor is deemed on the basis of their continuous and adverse possession for more than thirty years. The trial court
to have acquired, by operation of law, a right to a grant, without the necessity of a certificate of title being dismissed the application on the ground of res judicata. However, the Supreme Court reversed the order
issued. of dismissal, holding, that by reason of the claimant’s possession for thirty years he is conclusively
presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a Government grant.
b. The application for confirmation is a mere formality, the lack of which does not affect the legal
sufficiency of the tile as would be evidenced by the patent and the Torrens title to be issued upon the b. Note, however, that in Diaz v. Republic, the Court ruled that in registration cases filed under the
strength of said patent. provisions of the PLA for the judicial confirmation of an incomplete and imperfect title, an order dismissing
an application for registration and declaring the land as part of the public domain constitutes res judicata,
c. For all legal intents and purposes, the land is segregated from the public domain, because the not only against the adverse claimant, but also against all persons.
beneficiary is conclusively presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a Government grant
and shall be entitled to a certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter. xi. Republic v. Muñoz, 536 SCRA 108 (2007)

8) Compliance with all requirements for a government grant ipso jure converts land to private property: Commonwealth Act No. 141, also known as the Public Land Act, remains to this day the existing general law
governing the classification and disposition of lands of the public domain, other than timber and mineral lands.
a. Where all the requirements for a government grant are complied with, i.e.,possession in the manner Section 6 of CA No. 141 empowers the President to classify lands of the public domain into alienable and
and for the period required by law, the land ipso jure ceases to be public land and becomes private disposable lands of the public domain, which prior to such classification are inalienable and outside the commerce
property. of man. Section 7 of CA No. 141 authorizes the President to declare what lands are open to disposition or
concession. Section 8 of CA No. 141 states that the government can declare open for disposition or concession
only lands that are officially delimited and classified.
9) Application must conform to the requirements of the Property Registration Decree:
To prove that the land subject of an application for registration is alienable, the applicant must establish the
a. Section 50 of the PLA requires that every person claiming any lands or interest in lands under Chapter
existence of a positive act of the government such as a presidential proclamation or an executive order; an
VIII must in every case present an application to the RTC, praying that the validity of the alleged title or
administrative action; investigation reports of Bureau of Lands investigators; and a legislative act or a statute. The
claim be inquired into and that a certificate of title be issued to him under the provisions of PD No. 1529.
applicant may also secure a certification from the Government that the land applied for is alienable and disposable.

b. The application shall conform as nearly as may be in its material allegations to the requirements of an
xii. Republic v. Herbieto, 459 SCRA 183 (2005)
application for registration under Section 15 of the Decree.

In Relation to the Public Land Act Under CA 141

10)Hearing:

The CA overlooked the difference between the Property Registration Decree and the Public Land Act. Under the PRD,
a. Applications for registration shall be heard in the RTC or, in proper cases, in a First Level Court, in the
there already exists a title which is confirmed by the Court; while under the PLA, the presumption always is that the
same manner and shall be subject to the same procedure as established in the Property Registration
land applied for pertains to the State, and that the occupants and possessors only a claim an interest in the same by
Decree.
virtue of their imperfect title or continuous, open and notorious possession [since June 12, 1945 or earlier].

b. Notice of all such applications, together with a plan of the lands claimed, shall be immediately
Since the subject lands are alienable and disposable lands of the public domain, the applicants may acquire title
forwarded to the Director of Lands, who may appear as a party in such cases.
thereto only under the PLA.

c . Prior to the publication for hearing, all of the papers in said case shall be transmitted by the clerk to
Applicants could not acquire land through adverse possession since the land was only classified as alienable in 1963
the Solicitor General or officer acting in his stead, in order that he may, if he deems it advisable for the
AND their possession only started in 1950.
interests of the government, investigate all of the facts alleged in the application or otherwise brought to
his attention.
(Note: Substantial requirements for public lands are in the PLA but the procedural requirements are in the PRD.)
i. The burden is on applicant to prove his positive averments and not for the
government or the private oppositors to establish a negative proposition insofar as Civil Code provisions on prescription, which is subject to confirmation under the PRD, in general applies to all types
the applicants’ specific lots are concerned. of land. However, excluded therefrom are lands of the public domain which are covered by the PLA [special law v.
general law]
ii. He must submit convincing proof of his and his predecessor-in- interest’s actual, peaceful
and adverse possession in the concept of owner of the lots during the period required by law. xiii. Republic v. Manna Properties, 450 SCRA 247 (2005)

11) Order for the issuance of a decree: A party to an action has no control over the Administrator or the Clerk of Court acting as a land court; he has no
right to meddle unduly with the business of such official in the performance of his duties. A party cannot intervene in
matters within the exclusive power of the trial court. No fault is attributable to such party if the trial court errs on
a. Whenever any judgment of confirmation or other decree of the court under Chapter VIII of the PLA
matters within its sole power. It is unfair to punish an applicant for an act or omission over which the applicant has
shall become final, the clerk of court shall certify that fact to the Director of Lands, with a certified copy of
neither responsibility nor control, especially if the applicant has complied with all the requirements of the law.
the decree of confirmation or judgment of the court and the plan and technical description of the land.

NB: Land registration; when periods are merely directory; applicants not bound by mistakes of courts.
b. The final decree of the court shall in every case be the basis for the original certificate of title in favor
of the persons entitled to the property under the procedure prescribed in the Property Registration Decree.
xiv. Republic v. San Lorenzo, 513 SCRA 294 (2007) confirmation of title except when prevented by was or force majeure, there shall be conclusively presumed to have
performed all the conditions essential to a government grant and shall be entitled to a certificate of title under the
The reckoning date under the Public Land Act for the acquisition of ownership of public lands is June 12, 1945 or provisions of this Chapter.
earlier, and that evidence of possession from that date or earlier is essential for a grant of an application for judicial
confirmation of imperfect title. The Court agrees with respondent Court that the period fixed by Section 47 of the Public Land Act CA 141), as
amended, is not jurisdictional but is more of a time limitation. As such, it is a defense or objection which should
The law requires that the possession of lands of the public domain must be from at least June 12, 1945 for the same have been set up either in a Motion to Dismiss or in an Answer. Inasmuch as petitioner had never pleaded the
to be acquired through judicial confirmation of imperfect title. statute of limitations, he is deemed to have waived the same.

A mere showing of possession for thirty years or more is not sufficient. It must be shown too, that possession and The rule is that where the defendants never pleaded the statute of limitations that are deemed to have waived it and
occupation had started on June 12, 1945 or earlier. it is error for the lower court to dismiss the proceeding on that ground.

xv. Republic v. Alconaba, 427 SCRA 611 (2004) xvii. Director v. Buyco, 216 SCRA 78 (1992)

Applicants for confirmation of imperfect title must, prove the following: As to the matter to be proved, the applicant must present evidence of an imperfect title such as those derived from
the old Spanish grants. He may also show that he has been in continuous, open and notorious possession and
(a) that the land forms part of the disposable and alienable agricultural lands of the public domain; and occupation of agricultural lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership and for the
period prescribed under Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act. Simply put, a person who seeks the registration of title
to a piece of land on the basis of possession by himself and his predecessors-in-interest must prove his claim by
(b) that they have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of the
clear and convincing evidence; he should not rely on the weakness of the evidence of the oppositors.
same under a bona fide claim of ownership either since time immemorial or since 12 June 1945.
As defined, immemorial simply means beyond the reach of memory, beyond human memory, or time out of mind.
Section 48(b) of C.A. No. 141, as amended provides that persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance [now
When referring to possession, specifically "immemorial possession," it means possession of which no man living has
Regional Trial Court] an application for registration of title to land those who by themselves or through
seen the beginning and the existence of which he has learned from his elders. Such possession was never present in
their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of
the case of the private respondents.
alienable and disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or
earlier.
Also, the Court has repeatedly held that the declaration of ownership for purposes of assessment on the payment of
the tax is not sufficient to prove ownership.
The law speaks of possession and occupation. Since these words are separated by the conjunction and, the clear
intention of the law is not to make one synonymous with the other. Possession is broader than occupation because it
includes constructive possession. When, therefore, the law adds the word occupation, it seeks to delimit the all- Considering that the private respondents became American citizens before such filing, it goes without saying that
encompassing effect of constructive possession. Taken together with the words open, continuous, exclusive and they had acquired no vested right, consisting of an imperfect title over to property before they lost their Philippine
notorious, the word occupation serves to highlight the fact that for an applicant to qualify, his possession must not citizenship.
be a mere fiction.22 Actual possession of a land consists in the manifestation of acts of dominion over it of such a
nature as a party would naturally exercise over his own property. xviii. Republic v. CA, 148 SCRA 480 (1987)

xvi. Director of Lands v. Daño, 96 SCRA 161 (1980) A parcel of forest land is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Bureau of Forestry and beyond the power and
jurisdiction of the cadastral court to register under the Torrens System. Moreover, it is well-settled that a certificate
Section 47 of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended by republic Act No. 2061, approved on June 13,1958, of title is void, when it covers property of public domain classified as forest or timber and mineral lands. Any title
provides: issued on non- disposable lots even in the hands of an alleged innocent purchaser for value, shall be cancelled. Note
that in granting titles to the land in dispute, the lower court counted the period of possession of private respondents
before the same were released as forest lands for disposition, which release is tantamount to qualifying the latter to
SEC. 47. The persons specified in the next following section are hereby granted time not to extend beyond
a grant on said lands while they were still non-disposable.
December thirty-one, nineteen hundred and sixty-eight within which to take advantage of the benefit of this
chapter: Provided, That the several periods of time designated by the President in accordance with section forty-
five of this Act shall apply also to the lands comprised in the provisions of this chapter, but this section shall not be Thus, under the foregoing rulings, even assuming that the transferees are innocent purchasers for value, their titles
construed as prohibiting an of said persons from acting under this chapter at any time prior to the period fixed by to said lands derived from the titles of private respondents which were not validly issued as they cover lands still a
the President. part of the public domain, may be cancelled.

The "next following section" referred to is section 48 of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended by Republic Act xix. SECTION 12, RA 8371
No. 1942, which reads as follows:
Registration Under The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act
Sec. 48. The following described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or claiming to own
any such land or an interest therein, But those titles have not been perfected or completed, may apply to the Court Section 12. Option to Secure Certificate of Title under Commonwealth Act 141, as amended, or the Land
of First Instance of the province where the land is located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a Registration Act 496.
certificate of title therefor, under the Land Registration Act, to wit:
Individual members of cultural communities, with respect to individually-owned ancestral lands who, by themselves
xxxxxx xxx or through their predecessors-in -interest, have been in continuous possession and occupation of the same in the
concept of owner since the immemorial or for a period of not less than thirty (30) years immediately preceding the
(b)Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in- interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive approval of this Act and uncontested by the members of the same ICCs/IPs shall have the option to secure title to
and notorious possession and occupation of agricultural lands of the public domain, under a bona fide claim of their ancestral lands under the provisions of Commonwealth Act 141, as amended, or the Land Registration Act 496.
acquisitionof ownership, for at least thirty (30) years immediately preceding the filing of the application for
For this purpose, said individually-owned ancestral lands, which are agricultural in character and actually used for time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language,
agricultural, residential, pasture, and tree farming purposes, including those with a slope of eighteen percent (18%) customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social
or more, are hereby classified as alienable and disposable agricultural lands. and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, became historically
differentiated from the majority of Filipinos.
The option granted under this Section shall be exercised within twenty (20) years from the approval of this Act.
b. Ancestral Domains – It refers to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland
NOTES REGISTRATION UNDER IPRA: 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 since time
1) Indigenous Peoples Rights Act: immemorial, continuously to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement
by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of government projects or any other voluntary dealings
entered into by government and private individuals/corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their
a. Constitutional Provisions 1987 Constitution:
economic, social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral lands, forests, pasture, residential,
agricultural, and other lands individually owned whether alienable and disposable or otherwise, hunting
i. Section 2, Article II grounds, burial grounds, worship areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural resources.

The State recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities within the framework of c. Ancestral Lands – It refers to land occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals, families and clans
national unity and development. who are members of the ICCs/IPs since time immemorial, by themselves or through their predecessors-in-
interest, under claims of individual or traditional group ownership, continuously, to the present except
ii. Section 5, Article XII when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth, or as a consequence of
government projects and other voluntary dealings entered into by government and private
The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national development policies and programs, individuals/corporations, including, but not limited to, residential lots, rice terraces or paddies, private
shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their forests, swidden farms and tree lots.
economic, social, and cultural well-being.
d. Native Title – It refers to pre-conquest rights to lands and domains which, as far back as memory
The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary law governing property rights or relations in reaches, have been held under a claim of private ownership by ICCs/IPs, have never been public lands
determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain. and are thus indisputably presumed to have been held that way since before the Spanish Conquest.

iii. Section 6, Article XIII e. Time Immemorial – It 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 owner, and utilized a defined territory
The State shall establish a special agency for disabled persons for their rehabilitation, self- devolved to them, by operation of customary law or inherited from their ancestors, in accordance with
development and self-reliance, and their integration into the mainstream of society. their customs and traditions.

iv. Section 17, Article XIV 3) Indigenous Concept of Ownership:

The State shall recognize, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to preserve and a. The IPRA recognizes the existence of the indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples
develop their cultures, traditions, and institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national plans (ICCs/IPs) as a distinct sector in Philippine society. It grants these people the ownership and possession of
and policies. their ancestral domains and ancestral lands, and defines the extent of these lands and domains.

v. The foregoing provisions are the cornerstone of the IPRA which was enacted to recognize and promote all the b. The ownership given is the indigenous concept of ownership under customary law which traces its origin
rights of the indigenous cultural communities in the country. to native title.

b. Constitutionality of IPRA c. Ancestral lands/domains include such concepts of territories which cover not only the physical
environment but the total environment including the spiritual and cultural bonds to the areas which the
i. As the votes were equally divided (7 to 7) and the necessary majority was not obtained, the case was ICCs/IPs possess, occupy and use and to which they have claims of ownership.
redeliberated upon. However, after redeliberation, the voting remained the same. Accordingly, pursuant to
Rule 56, Section 7 of the Rules of Court, the petition was dismissed, and the questioned law was deemed d. Ancestral lands and ancestral domains are not deemed part of the lands of the public domain but are
upheld as valid. (Cruz v. Secretary, 347 SCRA 128) private lands belonging to indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) who have
actually occupied, possessed and utilized their territories under claim of ownership since time immemorial.
ii. In his separate opinion, Justice Puno said that the IPRA is a novel piece of legislation. It grants the
ICCs/IPs a distinct kind of ownership over ancestral domains and ancestral lands. He noted that land titles 4) The IPRA connotes group or communal ownership:
do not exist in the indigenous peoples’ economic and social system. The concept of individual land
ownership under the civil law is alien to them. The IPRA categorically declares ancestral lands and a. By virtue of the communal character of ownership, the property held in common is meant to benefit the
domains held by native title as never to have been public land. Domains and lands held under native title whole indigenous community and not merely the individual member.
are, therefore, indisputably presumed to have never been public lands and are private.(Cruz v. Secretary,
347 SCRA 128) b. This concept maintains the view that ancestral domains are the ICCs/IPs private but community
property. It is private simply because it is not part of the public domain. But its private character ends
2) Definition of Terms: there.

a. Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples – It refers to a group of people or homogenous c. The ancestral domain is owned in common by the ICCs/IPs and not by one particular person.
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
 d. The domain cannot be transferred, sold or conveyed to other persons by any one person and belongs iii. Delineation Paper - The official delineation of ancestral domain boundaries including census
to the ICCs/IPs as a community. of all community members therein, shall be immediately undertaken by the Ancestral Domains
Office upon filing of the application by the ICCs/IPs concerned;
5) Ownership over the natural resources belong to the State:
iv. Proof required - Proof of Ancestral Domain Claims shall include the testimony of elders or
a. While ancestral domains and ancestral lands are considered private in character, it does not necessarily community under oath, and other documents directly or indirectly attesting to the possession or
mean that natural resources found therein belong to the ICCs/IPs as private property. occupation of the area since time immemorial by such ICCs/IPs in the concept of owners which
shall be any one (1) of the following authentic documents:
b. Justice Kapunan, in Cruz v. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, opines that the mere fact
that Section 3(a) defines ancestral domains to include the natural resources found therein does not ipso 1) Written accounts of the ICCs/IPs customs and traditions;
facto convert the character of such natural resources as private property of the indigenous people.
2) Written accounts of the ICCs/IPs political structure and institution;
c. Justice Puno states that the ICCs/IPs rights over the natural resources the form of management or
stewardship. 3) Pictures showing long term occupation such as those of old improvements, burial
grounds, sacred places and old villages;
d. ICCs/IPs have priority rights in the exploitation of natural resources within ancestral domains:
4) Historical accounts, including pacts and agreements concerning boundaries
i. ICCs/IPs have priority rights in the harvesting, extraction, development or exploitation of any entered into by the ICCs/IPs concerned with other ICCs/IPs;
natural resources within ancestral domains.
5) Survey plans and sketch maps;
ii. A non-member of the ICCs/IPs may be allowed to take part in the development and
utilization of the natural resources for a period not exceeding 25 years renewable for not more 6) Anthropological data;
than 25 years.
7) Genealogical surveys;
iii. It is important, however, that a formal written agreement is entered into with the ICCs/IPs
concerned, or that the community, pursuant to its own decision making process, has agreed to 8) Pictures and descriptive histories of traditional communal forests and hunting
allow such operation. grounds;

iv. Meanwhile, the NCCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) may exercise visitorial 9) Pictures and descriptive histories of traditional landmarks such as mountains,
powers and take appropriate action to safeguard the rights of the ICCs/IPs under the same rivers, creeks, ridges, hills, terraces and the like; and
contract.
10) Write-ups of names and places derived from the native dialect of the community.
e . ICCs/IPs do not lose possession over area covered by a TLA (Timber License Agreement):
v. Preparation of Maps - On the basis of such investigation and the findings of fact based thereon, the Ancestral
i. Ancestral domains remain as such even when possession or occupation of the area has been Domains Office of the NCIP shall prepare a perimeter map, complete with technical descriptions, and a description of
interrupted by causes provided under the law such as voluntary dealings entered into by the the natural features and landmarks embraced therein;
government and private individuals/corporation.
vi. Report of Investigation and Other Documents - A complete copy of the preliminary census and a report of
6) Delineation and recognition of ancestral domains: investigation, shall be prepared by the Ancestral Domains Office of the NCIP;

a. Under RA No. 8371, self-delineation is the guiding principle in the identification and delineation of vii. Notice and Publication - A copy of each document, including a translation in the native language of the ICCs/IPs
ancestral domains. The sworn statement of the elders as to the scope of the territories and concerned shall be posted in a prominent place therein for at least fifteen (15) days. A copy of the document shall
agreements/pacts made with neighboring ICCs/IPs, if any, will be essential to the determination of these also be posted at the local, provincial and regional offices of the NCIP, and shall be published in a newspaper of
traditional territories. The government shall take the necessary steps to identify lands which the ICCs/IPs general circulation once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks to allow other claimants to file opposition thereto
concerned traditionally occupy and guarantee effective protection of their rights of ownership and within fifteen (15) days from the date of such publication: Provided, That in areas where no such newspaper exists,
possession thereto. broadcasting in a radio station will be a valid substitute: Provided, further, That mere posting shall be deemed
sufficient if both newspaper and radio station are not available;
b. Procedures:
viii. Endorsement to NCIP - Within fifteen (15) days from publication, and of the inspection process, the Ancestral
i. Ancestral Domains Delineated Prior to this Act - The provisions hereunder shall not apply to Domains Office shall prepare a report to the NCIP endorsing a favorable action upon a claim that is deemed to have
ancestral domains/lands already delineated according to DENR Administrative Order No. 2, sufficient proof. However, if the proof is deemed insufficient, the Ancestral Domains Office shall require
series of 1993, nor to ancestral lands and domains delineated under any other thesubmission of additional evidence: Provided, That the Ancestral
community/ancestral domain program prior to the enactment of his law.
Domains Office shall reject any claim that is deemed patently false or fraudulent after inspection and verification:
ii. Petition for Delineation - The process of delineating a specific perimeter may be initiated by Provided, further, That in case of rejection, the Ancestral Domains Office shall give the applicant due notice, copy
the NCIP with the consent of the ICC/IP concerned, or through a Petition for Delineation filed furnished all concerned, containing the grounds for denial. The denial shall be appealable to the NCIP: Provided,
with the NCIP, by a majority of the members of the ICCs/IPs; furthermore, That in cases where there are conflicting claims, the Ancestral Domains Office shall cause the
contending parties to meet and assist them in coming up with a preliminary resolution of the conflict, without
prejudice to its full adjudication according to the selection below.
ix. Turnover of Areas Within Ancestral Domains Managed by Other Government Agencies - The Chairperson of the g. The Ancestral Domains Office shall prepare and submit a report on each and every application surveyed
NCIP shall certify that the area covered is an ancestral domain. The secretaries of the DAR, DENR, DILG, and DOJ, and delineated to the NCIP, which shall, in turn, evaluate or corporate (family or clan) claimant over
the Commissioner of NDC, and any other government agency claiming jurisdiction over the area shall be notified ancestral lands.
thereof. Such notification shall terminate any legal basis for the jurisdiction previously claimed;
8) Registration of CADTs and CALTs:
x. Issuance of CADT - ICCs/IPs whose ancestral domains have been officially delineated and determined by the
NCIP shall be issued a CADT in the name of the community concerned, containing a list of all those identified in the a. The NCIP, through the ADO, shall register all CADTs and CALTs with the Register of Deeds of the place
census; and where the properties are located.

xi. Registration of CADTs - The NCIP shall register issued certificates of ancestral domain titles and certificates of b. The recordings of the CADT and CALT does not result in the issuance of a
ancestral lands titles before the Register of Deeds in the place where the property is situated.
Torrens certificate of title, like a Torrens title issued through regular registration proceedings.
c. The NCIP is the agency authorized to issue a certification precondition in favor of any entity which desires to
undertake operations within the ancestral domains of the indigenous peoples or whose proposed projects will affect c. The purpose of registration is simply to apprise the public of the fact of recognition by the NCIP of
the ancestral domains. specific claims to portions of ancestral domains or ancestral lands.

d. The law does not grant the executive department the power to delineate and recognize an ancestral domain d. It is to be noted that no part of the ancestral domains may be the subject of alienation or disposition
claim by mere agreement or compromise. because these are communally owned although private in nature.

7) Identification, delineation and certification of ancestral lands: e. On the other hand, ancestral lands may be the subject of registration under the Public Land Act or
Property Registration Decree.
a. The allocation of lands within any ancestral domain to individual or indigenous corporate (family or
clan) claimants shall be left to the ICCs/IPs concerned to decide in accordance with customs and f. In the event any part of the ancestral land is the subject of a subsequent “dealing,â€ like sale,
traditions; mortgage, or lease, the instrument embodying the transaction, together with the owner’s duplicate
certificate shall be presented to the Register of Deeds for him to annotate the encumbrance created by the
b. Individual and indigenous corporate claimants of ancestral lands which are not within ancestral instrument on said title or to issue a new title to the person to whom the land has been conveyed.
domains may have their claims officially established byfiling applications for the identification and
delineation of their claims with the Ancestral Domains Office. An individual or recognized head of a family 9) Modes of Acquisition:
or clan may file such application in his behalf or in behalf of his family or clan, respectively;
a. 2 Modes of Acquisition:
c. Proofs of such claims shall accompany the application form which shall include the testimony under
oath of elders of the community and other documents directly or indirectly attesting to the possession or
i. By Native Title over both ancestral lands and domains:
occupation of the areas since time immemorial by the individual or corporate claimants in the concept of
owners which shall be any of the authentic documents enumerated under Sec. 52 (d) of this act, including
tax declarations and proofs of payment of taxes; 1.Native title refers to pre-conquest rights to lands and domains which, as far back as
memory reaches, have been held under a claim of ownership by indigenous cultural
communities. Native title presumes that the land is private and was never public.
d. The Ancestral Domains Office may require from each ancestral claimant the submission of such other
documents, Sworn Statements and the like, which in its opinion, may shed light on the veracity of the
contents of the application/claim; ii. By Torrens Title under the Public Land Act (CA No. 141, as amended) or the Property
Registration Decree (PD No. 1529) with respect to ancestral lands only:
e. Upon receipt of the applications for delineation and recognition of ancestral land claims, the Ancestral
Domains Office shall cause the publication of the application and a copy of each document submitted 1. A Torrens certificate of title accumulates in one document a precise and correct statement of
including a translation in the native language of the ICCs/IPs concerned in a prominent place therein for at the exact status of the fee simple title which an owner possesses. The certificate, once issued, is
least fifteen (15) days. A copy of the document shall also be posted at the local, provincial, and regional the evidence of the title which the owner has. What appears on the title is controlling on
offices of the NCIP and shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for two (2) questions of ownership since the certificate of title is an absolute and indefeasible evidence of
consecutive weeks to allow other claimants to file opposition thereto within fifteen (15) days from the date ownership of the property in favor of the person whose name appears therein.
of such publication: Provided, That in areas where no such newspaper exists, broadcasting in a radio
station will be a valid substitute: Provided, further, That mere posting shall be deemed sufficient if both b. The IPRA converts ancestral land as public agricultural land for registration purposes:
newspapers and radio station are not available
i. There is no need to secure a separate certification that the ancestral land is A and D in
f. Fifteen (15) days after such publication, the Ancestral Domains Office shall investigate and inspect each character, it being sufficient to show that the land is duly identified, delineated and certified as
application, and if found to be meritorious, shall cause a parcellary survey of the area being claimed. such.
The Ancestral Domains office shall reject any claim that is deemed patently false or fraudulent after
inspection and verification. In case of rejection, the Ancestral Domains office shallgive the applicant due ii. Unlike regular registration proceedings where the applicant must prove possession of public
notice, copy furnished all concerned, containing the grounds for denial. The denial shall be appealable to agricultural land since June 12, 1945 as well as the classification of the land as A and D land at
the NCIP. In case of conflicting claims among individual or indigenous corporate claimants, the Ancestral least at the time the application for registration is filed, the registration of ancestral lands is
domains Office shall cause the contending parties to meet and assist them in coming up with a preliminary different in the sense that:
resolution of the conflict, without prejudice to its full adjudication according to Sec. 62 of this Act; and
1. The applicant is a member of an indigenous cultural group;
 2. He must have been in possession of an individually-owned ancestral land for not i. By specific provision of law, it is the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) which has authority to
less than thirty (30) years; and issue building permits for the construction of structures within the areas owned or administered by it,
whether on public or private lands.
3. By operation of law (IPRA), the land is already classified as alienable and
disposable (A and D) land, even if it has a slope of 18% or over, hence, there is no ii. PEZA may require owners of structures built without said permit to remove such structures.
need to submit a separate certification that the land has been classified as A and D
land. iii. A certificate of ancestral land claim (CALC) is merely “a registered claim and not a proof of
ownership.â€
c. Effect of Registration:
10) National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP):
i. A duly issued Torrens certificate of title covering ancestral lands has the same efficacy,
validity and indefeasibility as any title issued through regular registration proceedings. a. Specific powers and functions:

ii. It is generally conclusive evidence of ownership. i. Formulation of policies, issuance of rules and regulations:

iii. The title shall not be subject to collateral attach nor can it be impugned, altered, changed, 1.The NCIP has been granted administrative, quasi-legislativeand quasi-judicial powers to carry
modified, enlarged or diminished except in a direct proceeding permitted by law. out its mandate.

iv. It is moreover subject to the rule on imprescriptibility. 2.It is the primary agency charged with the formulation and implementation of policies, plans,
programs and projects for the economic, social and cultural development of the ICCs/IPs and to
v. The land shall not be subject to any burden except those noted on the certificate. monitor the implementation thereof.

3.It is mandated to promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of
the Act.
d. Transfer of Land or Property Rights:
ii. Resolution of conflicts:
i. The right of ownership and possession of the ICCs/IPs to their ancestral lands shall be
recognized and protected. These lands may be transferred subject to the following limitations: 1.The NCIP is vested with jurisdiction over all claims and disputes involving the rights of
ICCs/IPs.
1. Only to the members of the same ICCs/IPs;
2.The only condition precedent to the NCIP’s assumption of jurisdiction over such disputes is
2. In accord with customary laws and traditions; and that the parties thereto shall have exhausted all remedies provided under their customary laws
and have obtained a certification from the Council of Elders/Leaders who participated in the
3. Subject to the right of redemption of the ICCs/IPs for a period of fifteen (15) years attempt to settle the dispute that the same has not been resolved.
if the land was transferred to a non- member of the ICCs/IPs.
3. The NCIP has the authority to decide all appeals from the decisions and acts of all the
ii. Unlike the ICCs/IPs private but communal ownership over ancestral domains which belong to various offices within the Commission.
all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed or destroyed, ownership over the
ancestral domains allows the transfer of ancestral land or property rights thereto to members of 4. Any decision, order, award or ruling of the NCIP on any ancestral domain dispute or on any
the same group. This is in keeping with the option given to ICCs/IPs to secure a Torrens title matter pertaining to the application, implementation, enforcement and interpretation of the Act
over the ancestral lands, but not to domains. may be brought by a petition for review to the Court of Appeals within fifteen (15) days from
receipt of a copy thereof.
e. Generally, no ancestral land shall be opened for mining operations:
iii. Issuance of CADT/CALT:
i. No ancestral land shall be opened for mining operations without the prior consent of the
indigenous cultural community concerned. (Sec. 16 of RA No. 7942, Philippine Mining Act of 1.The NCIP has the authority to issue certificates of ancestral domain title (CADT) or certificates of ancestral land
1995) title (CALT).

ii. In the event of an agreement for mining operations, the royalty payment, upon utilization of iv. Cancellation of ancestral domain and ancestral land titles:
the minerals, shall be agreed upon by the parties, and shall form part of a trust fund for
the socio-economic well- being of the indigenous cultural community.(Sec. 17 of RA No. 7942, 1. The NCIP has exclusive and original jurisdiction over petitions for the cancellation of Certificate of
Philippine Mining Act of 1995) Ancestral Domain Titles/Certificate of Ancestral Land Titles (CADTs/CALTs) alleged to have been
fraudulently acquired by, and issued to, any person or community as provided for under Section 54 of RA
iii. No ancestral land may be declared as a people’s small-scale mining area without the prior No. 8371, provided that such action is filed within one (1) year from the date of registration.
consent of the cultural communities concerned. If ancestral lands are declared as
people’s small-scale mining areas, the members of the cultural communities therein shall be 2. It should be noted however that jurisdiction over actions or incidents affecting a certificate of title
given priority in the awarding of small-scale mining contracts. (Section 7 of RA No. 7076, issued through registration proceedings is vested in the courts of justice.
People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991)
v. Issuance of certification as a precondition to the grant of permit:
f. Authority of PEZA to issue building permits:
 1.The NCIP has the authority to issue the appropriate certification as a pre-condition to the grant of iv. ADO shall also issue, upon the free and prior informed consent of the ICCs/IPs concerned, certification
permit, lease, grant, or any other similar authority for the disposition, utilization and management of prior to the grant of any license, lease or permit for the exploitation of natural resources affecting the
portions of the ancestral domain with the consensus approval of the ICCs/IPs concerned. interests of ICCs/IPs or their ancestral domains and to assist the ICCs/IPs in protecting the territorial
integrity of all ancestral domains.
vi. Power to cite for contempt, issue restraining order; Among the other powers of the NCIP are the following:
v.ADO shall likewise perform such other functions as the NCIP may deem appropriate and necessary.
1. To promulgate rules and regulations governing the hearing and disposition of cases filed before it as
well as those pertaining to its internal functions and such rules and regulations as may be necessary to ADDITIONAL NOTES SEC. 14 of the PRD:
carry out the purposes of this Act;
1) System of Registration:
2. To administer oaths, summon the parties to a controversy, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance
and testimony of witnesses or the production of such books, papers, contracts, records, agreements, and a. There are two systems of registration: one for registered lands under PD No. 1529 (Property
other document of similar nature as may be material to a just determination of the matter under Registration Decree) and the other for unregistered lands under Act No. 3344.
investigation or hearing conducted in pursuance of this Act;
b. If a parcel of land covered by a Torrens title is sold, but the sale is registered under Act No. 3344 and
3. To hold any person in contempt, directly or indirectly, and impose appropriate penalties therefor; and not under the Property Registration Decree, the sale is not considered registered.

4. To enjoin any or all acts involving or arising from any case pending before it which, if not restrained c. There can be no constructive notice through registration under Act No. 3344 if the property is
forthwith, may cause grave or irreparable damage to any of the parties to the case or seriously affect registered under the Torrens system, nor can the registration be effective for purposes of Article 1544 of
social or economic activity. the Civil Code on double sale.

b. Regional Hearing Offices: d. The recording of instruments relating to unregistered lands is governed by Section 113 of PD No.
1529 which provides that no deed, conveyance, mortgage, lease or other voluntary instrument affecting
i. Original and Exclusive Jurisdiction: land not registered under the Torrens system shall be valid, except as between the parties thereto, unless
such instrument shall have been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds.
1. All disputes and controversies involving ancestral lands /domains;
e. The recording, however, shall be without prejudice to a third party with a better right.
2. Violations of the requirement of free and prior and informed consent of ICCs/IPs;
2) Laws governing land registration:
3. Actions for the enforcement of decisions of ICCs/IPs involving violations of customary laws or
desecration of ceremonial sites, sacred places, or rituals; a. Public Land Act (CA No. 141)

4. Actions for redemption/reconveyance under Section 8(b) of RA No. 8371; i. Approved on November 7, 1936, but which became effective on December 1, 1936;

5. And cases analogous to the foregoing. ii. Voluntary;

ii. Original Jurisdiction: iii. The Public Land Act governs the judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles on the basis of
possession and occupation o alienable portions of the public domain in the manner and for the length of
1. Cases affecting time required by law;
a. property rights
b. claims of ownership iv.The relevant provisions are Sections 47 to 57, Chapter VIII of the Act.
c. hereditary succession
d. and settlement of land disputes between and among ICCs/IPs that have not been settled b. Property Registration Decree (PD No. 1529)
under customary laws
i. Issued on June 11, 1978;
2. Actions for damages arising out of any violation of Republic Act No. 8371.
ii. Voluntary;
c. Ancestral Domains Office:
iii. The Property Registration Decree is a codification of all laws relative to registration of property,
i. One of the offices under the NCIP; and supersedes all other laws relative to registration of property;

ii. The ADO shall be responsible for the identification, delineation and recognition of ancestral iv. It has substantially incorporated the provisions of Act No. 496, or the Land Registration Act.
lands/domains.
c. Cadastral Act (Act No. 2259)
iii. ADO shall also be responsible for the management of ancestral lands/domains in accordance with a
master plan as well as the implementation of the ancestral domain rights of the ICCs/IPs as provided in i. Enacted on February 11, 1913;
Chapter III of the IPRA.
ii. Compulsory as it is the government itself which initiates the petition;
 iii. Cadastral Act is an offspring of the system of registration under the Land Registration Act. The undersigned,____________________hereby applies (or apply) to have the land hereinafter described brought
under the operation of the Property Registration Decree, and to have the title thereto registered and confirmed:
iv. It aims to serve public interests by requiring that the title to any lands be titled and adjudicated;
AND DECLARE . . . . .
v. It may be noted, however, that salient provisions in the Cadastral Act have now been carried over in
the present Property Registration Decree, particularly in Sections 35 to 38 of the Decree. 1.That the applicants/s is/are the owners of the land (by virtue of inheritance or deed of sale or conveyance and/or
possession in accordance with Section 14 of said Decree), together with the building and improvements thereon,
d. Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (RA No. 8371) with the exception of the following:_____________________ which is/are the property of __________________

i. Approved on October 29, 1997; residing at __________________ The said land, consisting of __________________ parcel/s is/are situated,
bounded and described as shown on the plan and technical descriptions attached hereto and made a part hereof,
ii. Voluntary; with the following exception:_________________________.

iii. IPRA recognizes the rights of ownership and possession of indigenous cultural communities or 2.That said land at the last assessment for taxation was assessed at P ____, Philippine currency, and the buildings
indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) to their ancestral domains and ancestral land on the basis of native title, and other improvements at P ___________, Philippine currency.
and defines the extent of these lands and domains.
3.That to the best of my/our knowledge and belief, there is no mortgage or encumbrance of any kind whatsoever
iv. For purposes of registration, the IPRA expressly converts ancestral lands into public agricultural lands, affecting said land, nor any other person having any interest therein, legal or equitable, or in possession, other than
and individual members of cultural communities, with respect to their individually-ownedancestral lands, as follows:__________________________________.
shall have the option to secure title to their ancestral lands under the provisions of the Public Land Act of
the Property Registration Decree. 4.That the applicant/s has/have acquired said land in the following manner:
________________________________.
v. This option is limited to ancestral lands only, not domains, and such lands must be individually, not
communally, owned. (Note: Refer to Sec. 14 of said Decree. State also whether the property is conjugal, paraphernal or exclusive
property of the applicant/s)
3) Vested rights cannot be impaired by subsequent law:
5.That said land is occupied by the following person: _________________.
a. Vested rights may not be impaired without violating one’s right to due process;
6.That the names in full and addresses, as far as known to the undersigned, of the owners of all adjoining
b. A right is vested when the right to enjoyment, present or prospective, has become the property of properties, of the persons mentioned in paragraphs 3 and 5, and of the persons shown on the plan as claimants, are
some particular person or persons as a present interest. as follows:

c. It is some right or interest in property which has become fixed and established and is no longer open to _________________________________________.
doubt or controversy.
7.That the applicant/s is/are single or married to____________________ (Note: if marriage has been legally
d. A State may not impair vested rights by legislative enactment by the enactment or by the subsequent dissolved, state when and how the marriage relation terminated.)_______________________.
repeal of a municipal ordinance, or by a change in the constitution of the State, except in a legitimate
exercise of the police power. 8.That the applicant's/s' full name, age, citizenship, residence, and postal address/es is/are as follows:

B. Forms and Contents Dealing With Land _______________________________.

i. Section 15. Form and Contents. 9.That (Note: If the land included in the application is bounded by a public or private way or road, there should be
stated in this paragraph whether or not the applicant claims any and what land within the limits of the way or road
The application for land registration shall be in writing, signed by the application or the person duly authorized in his and whether the applicant desires to have the line of the way or road determined.)
behalf, and sworn to before any officer authorized to administer oaths for the province or city where the application
was actually signed. If there is more than one applicant, the application shall be signed and sworn to by and in ______________________________.
behalf of each. The application shall contain a description of the land and shall state the citizenship and civil status
of the applicant, whether single or married, and, if married, the name of the wife or husband, and, if the marriage 10.That the following documents are attached hereto and made a part hereof:
has been legally dissolved, when and how the marriage relation terminated. It shall also state the full names and
addresses of all occupants of the land and those of the adjoining owners, if known, and, if not known, it shall state ___________________________________.
the extent of the search made to find them.
Signed at ___________________ this _____________________ day of ____________________, in the year
The application, shall, in form, be substantially as follows: twenty hundred and ______________________.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES __________________________

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of _________________ Applicant

_________________________
(Post Office Address) d. Assessed value of the land and the buildings and improvements thereon;

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES e. Whether or not there are mortgages or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever affecting the land, or
any other person having any interest therein, legal or equitable, or in possession, thereof;
PROVINCE (OR CITY) OF _______________
f. The manner by which the applicant has acquired the land (refer to Section14, PD No. 1529);
On this ___ day of _________,20 ___ personally appeared before me the above- named ____________________
known to me to be the person/s who executed the foregoing application and made oath that the statements therein g. Whether or not the property is conjugal, paraphernal or exclusive property of the applicant;
are true of his/their knowledge, information and belief.
h. Names of all occupants of the land, if any;
The Residence Certificate/s __________ of the applicant/s __________ was/were exhibited to me being No.
_______ i. Original muniments of title and other related documents supporting applicants claim of ownership; and

issued at _________ dated _______, 20___. i. Muniments of Title- are instruments or written evidence which applicant holds or possesses to enable
him to substantiate and prove title to his estate.
________________________
j. If the land is bounded by a public or private way or road, whether or not the applicant claims any and
(Notary Public, or other Officer authorized to administer oaths) what portion of the land within the limits of the way or road, and whether the applicant desires to have
the line of the way or road determined.
PTR NO. _________________
Section 16. Non-resident applicant.

If the applicant is not a resident of the Philippines, he shall file with his application an instrument in due form
NOTES SECTION 15 of PRD: appointing an agent or representative residing in the Philippines, giving his full name and postal address, and shall
therein agree that the service of any legal process in the proceedings under or growing out of the application made
1) Requisite steps in bringing land under the Torrens System. Subject to the conditions provided for in Section 15 upon his agent or representative shall be of the same legal effect as if made upon the applicant within the
of the PRD, application for land registration shall provide information on the following: Philippines. If the agent or representative dies, or leaves the Philippines, the applicant shall forthwith make another
appointment for the substitute, and, if he fails to do so the court may dismiss the application.
a. Survey of land by the Lands Management Bureau or a duly licensed private surveyor;
b. Filing of application for registration by the applicant; NOTES SECTION 16 of PRD:
c. Setting of the date for the initial hearing of the application by the court;
d. Transmittal of the application and the date of initial hearing together with all the documents or other 1) Non-resident applicant may be represented by an attorney-in-fact:
evidences attached thereto by the Clerk of Court to the Land Registration Authority;
e. Publication of the notice of the filing of the application and date and place of the hearing in the Official a. A special power of attorney executed before a notary public or other competent official in a foreign
Gazette and in a newspaper of general circulation; country cannot be admitted in evidence unless it is duly certified in accordance with Section 24, Rule 132
f. Service by mailing of notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those known to have interests in of the Rules of Court, i.e., by the secretary of embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice consul or
the property; consular agent or by any officer in the foreign service of the Philippines stationed in the foreign country in
g. Posting by the sheriff of the notice in a conspicuous place on the land and in the bulletin board of the which the record is kept, and authenticated by the seal of his office.
municipal building or city where the land is situated;
h. Filing of answer to the application by any person whether named in the notice or not; Section 17. What and where to file.
i. Hearing of the case by the court;
j. Promulgation of judgment by the court; The application for land registration shall be filed with the Court of First Instance of the province or city where the
k. Issuance of an order for the issuance of a decree declaring the decision final and instructing the Land land is situated. The applicant shall file together with the application all original muniments of titles or copies thereof
Registration Authority to issue the decree of confirmation and registration; and a survey plan of the land approved by the Bureau of Lands.
l. Entry of the decree of registration in the Land Registration Authority;
m. Sending of copy of the decree of registration to the corresponding Register of Deeds; and
The clerk of court shall not accept any application unless it is shown that the applicant has furnished the Director of
n. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration book and the issuance of the owner’s
Lands with a copy of the application and all annexes.
duplicate original certificate of title to the applicant by the Register of Deeds, upon payment of the
prescribed fees.
2)Form and contents of the application for registration: NOTES SECTION 17 of PRD:

a. Full description of the land as evidenced by a survey plan duly approved by the Director of Lands, 1)The application for registration must be accompanied by a survey plan of the land duly approved by the Director
surveyor’s certificate, and technical description; of Lands, together with the claimant’s muniments of title to prove ownership.

b. Citizenship and civil status of the applicant, whether single or married, and, if married, the name of the 2)No plan or survey may be admitted in land registration proceedings until approved by the Director of Lands.
wife or husband, and, if the marriage has been legally dissolved, when and how the marriage relation
terminated; Section 18. Application covering two or more parcels.

c. Full names and addresses of all occupants of the land and those of the adjoining owners, if known,
and, if not known, it shall state the extent of the search made to find them;
An application may include two or more parcels of land belonging to the applicant/s provided they are situated After the filing of the application and before the issuance of the decree of registration, the land therein described
within the same province or city. The court may at any time order an application to be amended by striking out one may still be the subject of dealings in whole or in part, in which case the interested party shall present to the court
or more of the parcels or by a severance of the application. the pertinent instruments together with a subdivision plan approved by the Director of Lands in case of transfer of
portions thereof and the court, after notice to the parties, shall order such land registered subject to the conveyance
Section 19. Amendments. or encumbrance created by said instruments, or order that the decree of registration be issued in the name of the
person to whom the property has been conveyed by said instruments.
Amendments to the application including joinder, substitution, or discontinuance as to parties may be allowed by the
court at any stage of the proceedings upon just and reasonable terms. NOTES SECTION 22 of PRD:

Amendments which shall consist in a substantial change in the boundaries or an increase in area of the land applied 1) Dealings with the land while its registration is pending:
for or which involve the inclusion of an additional land shall be subject to the same requirements of publication and
notice as in an original application. a. Whatever may be the nature of the transaction, the interested party should submit to the court the
pertinent instruments evidencing the transaction to be considered in the final adjudication of the case.
NOTES SECTIONS 18 & 19 of PRD:
b. The applicant or the parties to the transaction ay file the corresponding motion or manifestation,
1) A single application may be filed for two or more parcels: indicating the relief desired.

a. Where during the pendency of an application for registration, the applicant sold the property to another c. In case of transfer of a portion of the land, the corresponding subdivision plan should also be
under pacto de retro, but owing to the lapse of the redemption period, ownership became consolidated in presented.
the vendee, the latter as the new and lawful owner is entitled to be subrogated in place of the
applicant and may continue the proceedings in the case and finally obtain title as owner. d. Upon notice to the parties, the court shall:

2) Substantial amendment of boundaries or area requires publication and notice: i. Order the land registered subject to the conveyance or encumbrance created by such
instruments, or
a. It is not permissible to make amendments or alterations in the description of the land after its
publication in the newspapers and after the registration of the property has been decreed, without the ii. Order that the decree of registration be issued in the name of the person to whom the
publication of new notifications and advertisements making known to everyone the said alterations and property has been conveyed.
amendments.
e. It should be noted that the adjudication of land in a land registration or cadastral proceeding does not
i. Otherwise, the law would be infringed with respect to the publicity which characterizes the become final, in the sense of incontrovertibility, until after one year from the entry of the final
procedure, and third parties who have not had an opportunity to present their claims, might be decree prepared by the LRA.
seriously affected in their rights, through failure of opportune notice.
f. As long as the final decree has not been entered, and the one-year period has not elapsed from such
b. Publication is one of the essential bases of the jurisdiction of the court in land registration and entry, the title is not deemed finally adjudicated and the decision in the registration proceeding continues
cadastral cases, and additional territory cannot be included by amendment of the plan without new to be under the control of the court.
publication.
g. Hence, transactions affecting the property pending registration should be made known to the court for
c. If new survey plans do not conform to the plans earlier presented and affect the rights of third appropriate consideration.
persons, notice shall be given them and an opportunity to present whatever opposition they may have to
the registration of the land included in the new plans. 2) Dealings or transactions entered into pending registration do not require amendment of application:

d. If the amendment does not involve an addition, but on the contrary, a reduction of the original area a. Section 22 should be differentiated from Section 19 which refers to amendments to the application by
that was published, no new publication is required. joinder, substitution or discontinuance of the parties.

b. On the other hand, Section 108 involves amendments after entry of the certificate of title.

Section 20. When land applied for borders on road. c. Section 22 does not require amendment of the application, it being sufficient that the court, by motion
or other appropriate pleading, be presented with the instruments evidencing the transaction, and the
If the application describes the land as bounded by a public or private way or road, it shall state whether or not the approved subdivision plan where a portion of the land is conveyed to another.
applicant claims any and what portion of the land within the limits of the way or road, and whether the applicant
desires to have the line of the way or road determined. d. The law does not require that the application for registration be amended by substituting the buyer
or the person to whom the property has been conveyed for the applicant.
Section 21. Requirement of additional facts and papers; ocular inspection.
i. Neither does it require that the buyer or the person to whom the property has been
The court may require facts to be stated in the application in addition to those prescribed by this Decree not conveyed be a party to the case.
inconsistent therewith and may require the filing of any additional paper. It may also conduct an ocular inspection, if
necessary. ii. He may thus be a total stranger to the land registration proceedings.

Section 22. Dealings with land pending original registration. iii. The only requirements of the law are:
 1.That the instrument be presented to the court by the interested party together with SEC. 22. Dealings with land pending original registration. After the filing of the application and before the issuance
a motion that the same be considered in relation with the application; and of the decree of registration, the land therein described may still be the subject of dealings in whole or in part, in
which case the interested party shall present to the court the pertinent instruments together with the subdivision
2.That prior notice be given to the parties to the case. plan approved by the Director of Lands in case of transfer of portions thereof, and the court, after notice to the
parties, shall order such land registered subject to the conveyance or encumbrance created by said instruments, or
e. A motion to lift order of general default and motion under Section 22 may not be filed after the finality order that the decree of registration be issued in the name of the person to whom the property has been conveyed
of the judgment in the registration case. by said instruments.

ii. Divina v. CA, 352 SCRA 527 (2001) v. Republic v. Muñoz, 536 SCRA 108 (2007)

Section 15 of P.D. 1529 is explicit in requiring that in the application for registration of land titles, the application It bears stressing that the constructive seizure of land accomplished by posting of notices and processes upon all
"shall also state the full names and addresses of all occupants of the land and those of the adjoining owners if persons mentioned in notices by means of publication and sending copies to said persons by registered mail in effect
known, and if not known, it shall state the extent of the search made to find them. gives the court jurisdiction over the lands sought to be registered.

As early as Francisco vs. Court of Appeals, 97 SCRA 22 [1980], we emphasized that a mere statement of the lack of It is true that the best evidence to identify a piece of land for registration purposes is the original tracing cloth plan
knowledge of the names of the occupants and adjoining owners is not sufficient but "what search has been made to from the Bureau of Lands, but blueprint copies and other evidence could also provide sufficient identification.
find them is necessary."
The Court held in Recto v. Republic that the blueprint copy of the cloth plan together with the lot’s technical
The trial court was correct when it took notice that respondent's sister Lydia Gajo- Anonuevo admitted that she had description duly certified as to their correctness by the Bureau of Lands are adequate to identify the land applied for
a conversation with petitioner's cousin elena Dumalaon about the latter's apprehension that their land may have registration.
been included in respondent's application for registration of the disputed land. Respondent's omission of this
material information prevented petitioner from having his day in court. C. Publication, Opposition and Default

The trial court in its decision more than amply supported its conclusion with jurisprudence to the effect that it is i. Section 23. Notice of initial hearing, publication, etc.
fraud to knowingly omit or conceal a fact upon which benefit is obtained to the prejudice of a third person. Such
omission cannot but be deliberate misrepresentation constituting fraud, a basis for allowing a petition for review of The court shall, within five days from filing of the application, issue an order setting the date and hour of the initial
judgment under Section 38 of Act No. 496, The Land Registration Act. hearing which shall not be earlier than forty- five days nor later than ninety days from the date of the order.

iii. Republic v. Vda. De Neri, 424 SCRA 676 (2004) The public shall be given notice of the initial hearing of the application for land registration by means of (1)
publication; (2) mailing; and (3) posting.
Applicants for land registration are required to append a survey plan to their application, duly approved by the
Bureau of Lands which is mentioned in Sec. 17. Of the PD 1529stating that the application for land registration shall 1. By publication.
be filed with the Court of First Instance of the province or city where the land is situated. The applicant shall file
together with the application all original muniments of titles or copies thereof and a survey plan approved by the Upon receipt of the order of the court setting the time for initial hearing, the Commissioner of Land
Bureau of Lands. Registration shall cause notice of initial hearing to be published once in the Official Gazette and once in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines: Provided, however, that the publication in the Official
The submission of the plan approved by the Director of the Bureau of Lands is a statutory requirement which is Gazette shall be sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon the court. Said notice shall be addressed to all
mandatory in nature. The plan approved by the Land Registration Commission is of no value. It behooved the trial persons appearing to have an interest in the land involved including the adjoining owners so far as known,
court not to take cognizance of any application for land registration in the absence of a survey plan duly approved and "to all whom it may concern". Said notice shall also require all persons concerned to appear in court
by the Director of the Bureau of Lands appended thereto. at a certain date and time to show cause why the prayer of said application shall not be granted.

No plan or survey may be admitted in land registration proceedings until approved by the Director of Lands. The 2.By mailing.
submission of the plan is a statutory requirement of mandatory character. Unless a plan and its technical description
are duly approved by the Director of a) Mailing of notice to persons named in the application. The Commissioner of Land Registration shall
also, within seven days after publication of said notice in the Official Gazette, as hereinbefore provided,
Lands, the same are of no value. It is a rule that "void ab initio land titles issued cannot ripen into private cause a copy of the notice of initial hearing to be mailed to every person named in the notice whose
ownership therefore, said lands cannot be registered under the respondents’ name. address is known.

iv. Caoibes, Jr. v. Caoibes-Pantoja, 496 SCRA 273 (2006) b) Mailing of notice to the Secretary of Public Highways, the Provincial Governor and the Mayor. If the
applicant requests to have the line of a public way or road determined, the Commissioner of Land
The law does not require that the application for registration be amended by substituting the "buyer" or the "person Registration shall cause a copy of said notice of initial hearing to be mailed to the Secretary of Public
to whom the property has been conveyed" for the applicant. Neither does it require that the "buyer" or the "person Highways, to the Provincial Governor, and to the Mayor of the municipality or city, as the case may be, in
to whom the property has been conveyed" be a party to the case. which the land lies.

He may thus be a total stranger to the land registration proceedings. The only requirements of the law are: (1) that c) Mailing of notice to the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, the Solicitor General, the Director of Lands, the
the instrument be presented to the court by the interested party together with a motion that the same be Director of Public Works, the Director of Forest Development, the Director of Mines and the Director of
considered in relation with the application; and (2) that prior notice be given to the parties to the case. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. If the land borders on a river, navigable stream or shore, or on an arm
of the sea where a river or harbor line has been established, or on a lake, or if it otherwise appears from
Sec. 22 of P.D. 1529 (Property Registration Decree which became effective on June 11, 1978), provides: the application or the proceedings that a tenant-farmer or the national government may have a claim
adverse to that of the applicant, notice of the initial hearing shall be given in the same manner to the
 Secretary of Agrarian Reform, the Solicitor General, the Director of Lands, the Director of Mines and/or the 2. To apprise the whole world of the pending registration case so that they may
Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, as may be appropriate. assert their rights or interests in the land, if any, and oppose the application, if so
minded.
3.By posting.
a. Constructive seizure of the land for registration is effected through publication of the
The Commissioner of Land Registration shall also cause a duly attested copy of the notice of initial hearing application for registration and posting and service of notice to affected parties.
to be posted by the sheriff of the province or city, as the case may be, or by his deputy, in a conspicuous
place on each parcel of land included in the application and also in a conspicuous place on the bulletin ii.Publication of notice of initial hearing(see Section 23 [1] of the PRD)
board of the municipal building of the municipality or city in which the land or portion thereof is situated,
fourteen days at least before the date of initial hearing. iii.Publication in a newspaper is necessary to accord with due process requirement:

1.While publication of the notice in the Official Gazette is sufficient to confer

jurisdiction upon the court, publication in a newspaper of general circulation remains
The court may also cause notice to be served to such other persons and in such manner as it may deem proper. an indispensable procedural requirement. Couched in mandatory terms, it is a
component of procedural due process and aimed at giving as wide publicity as
The notice of initial hearing shall, in form, be substantially as follows: possible so that all persons having an adverse interest in the land subject of the
registration proceedings may be notified thereof. Although jurisdiction of the court is
(Caption and Title) not affected, the fact that publication was not made in a newspaper of general
circulation is material and relevant in assessing the applicant’s right or title to the
land. (Roxas v. Court of Appeals) (see also Director or Lands v. CA and Abistado)
NOTICE OF INITIAL HEARING
iv.Publication in the Official Gazette does not dispense with the requirement of notice by mailing
To (here insert the names of all persons appearing to have an interest and the adjoining owners so far as known,
and posting
and to all whom it may concern):
1.This is obvious from Section 23 itself which stresses in detail the requirements of
An application (or petition) having been filed in the above-entitled case by (full name and address) praying for the
mailing of notices to all persons named in the petition who, per Section 15, include
registration and confirmation (or for the settlement and adjudication, in case of petition in cadastral proceedings) of
owners of adjoining properties, and occupants of the land.
title to the following described lands:

v. Lack of personal notice does not vitiate the proceedings

(Insert description)
1.A proceeding in rem, dealing with a tangible res, may be instituted and carried to
You are hereby served this notice to appear before this Court at its session to be held at ____________ on the____
judgment, without personal service upon the claimants, for jurisdiction is secured by
day of_________, 20 ___, at_______ o'clock in the _________ then and there to present such claims as you may
the power of the court over the res.
have to said lands or any portion thereof, and to submit evidence in support of such claim; and unless you appear at
said Court at the time and place aforesaid, your default will be recorded and the title to the lands will be adjudicated
and determined in accordance with law and the evidence before the Court, and thereafter you will forever be barred 2.Personal notice is not necessary unless required by the court.
from contesting said application (or petition) or any decree entered thereon.
3.see Adez Realty, Inc. v. CA
Witness, the Hon. ________________ Judge of the Regional Trial Court of _______ this ____ day
of_____________, in the year 20____. Vi .Purpose of notice by all three modes

Attest: 1.The purpose of the law in requiring the giving of notice by all three modes is to
strengthen the Torrens system through safeguards to prevent anomalous titling of
Administrator, Land Registration Authority real property.

NOTES SECTION 23 of PRD: vii. New publication necessary to include additional area

1)Notice of Initial Hearing 1. The purpose of the new publication is to give notice to all persons concerned
regarding the amended application.
a.The duty and the power to set the hearing date lie with the land registration court. After an applicant
has filed his application, the law requires the issuance of a court order setting the initial hearing date. The Without a new publication the registration court cannot acquire jurisdiction over the
notice of initial hearing is signed by the judge and copy of the notice is mailed by the clerk of court to the area or parcel of land that is added to the area covered by the original application,
LRA. This involves a process to which the party applicant absolutely has no participation.(see Republic v. and the decision of the registration court would be a nullity insofar as the decision
Manna Properties, Inc.,) concerns the newly included land.

b.Publication 2. But if the amendment consists in the exclusion of a portion of the area covered by
the original application and the original plan as previously published, a new
publication is not necessary. In this case, the jurisdiction of the court over the
i. Purpose of publication – Two-Fold:
remaining area is not affected by the failure of a new publication.

1. To confer jurisdiction upon the court over the res, and

 3. Where the identity and area of the claimed property are not the subject of The certification of the Commissioner of Land Registration and of the sheriff concerned to the effect that the notice
amendment but merely other collateral matters, a new publication is not needed. of initial hearing, as required by law, has been complied with shall be filed in the case before the date of initial
hearing, and shall be conclusive proof of such fact.
4. The right of the land registration court to correct an error of closure is authorized
by law, provided such correction does not include land not included in the original NOTES SECTION 24 of PRD:
petition.
1)The certification by the LRA Administrator as to the fact of publication and mailing, and that of the sheriff as to
viii. Effect of non- or defective publication posting, as required by law, are conclusive.

1.Where there is no publication of the notice of initial hearing, the decision of the land Section 25. Opposition to application in ordinary proceedings.
registration court is void.
Any person claiming an interest, whether named in the notice or not, may appear and file an opposition on or before
The requirement of publication is one of the essential bases of the jurisdiction of the the date of initial hearing, or within such further time as may be allowed by the court. The opposition shall state all
registration court; it is a jurisdictional requisite. the objections to the application and shall set forth the interest claimed by the party filing the same and apply for
the remedy desired, and shall be signed and sworn to by him or by some other duly authorized person.
2.A mere defect of publication deprives the court of jurisdiction. And when the court a
quo lacks jurisdiction to take cognizance of a case, the same lacks authority over the If the opposition or the adverse claim of any person covers only a portion of the lot and said portion is not properly
whole case and all its aspects. delimited on the plan attached to the application, or in case of undivided co-ownership, conflicting claims of
ownership or possession, or overlapping of boundaries, the court may require the parties to submit a subdivision
c.Mailing plan duly approved by the Director of Lands.â€

i.Mailing to persons named in the application NOTES SECTION 25 of PRD:

1.This requirement is mandatory. 1) Requisites for opposing application:

ii.Mailing to the Secretary of Public (Works) and Highways, Governor and Mayor a. For an opposition then to be considered, the following requisites must concur:

1.If the applicant requests to have the line of a public way or road determined. i.The oppositor must have an interest in the land applied for;

iii.Mailing to the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, Solicitor General, Director of Lands, Etc. ii.He should state the grounds for his objection as well as the nature of his claimed interest;

1.If the land borders on a river, navigable stream or shore, or an arm of the sea; or iii.He should indicate the desired relief; and

2.If it otherwise appears that a tenant-farmer, or the national government, may have a claim adverse to iv.The opposition should be signed and sworn to by him or by his duly authorized
the applicant. representative.

iv.Role of the Solicitor General b. It has been held, however, that unverified oppositions in land registration proceedings are nevertheless
sufficient to confer standing in court to oppositors who may be allowed to verify their oppositions later on,
1.In practice, the Solicitor General is invariably furnished with a copy of the notice of initial hearing. The especially where said defect is deemed waived by the applicant’s failure to invoke said requirement
reason for this is that under the Administrative Code of 1987, the Solicitor General is bound to represent seasonably.
the Government in all land registration and related proceedings.
c. It was a substantial compliance with the law that required a formal answer.
2.As a rule, only notices of court proceedings and related processes actually served upon the Solicitor
General are binding on his office.

3.The Solicitor General, therefore, has control and supervision over the special attorney or prosecutor
who has been deputized to appear for him.
2) Nature of interest to support opposition:
4.Service of orders and decision on the OSG, and not merely on its deputized special attorneys, in court
cases involving land registration and naturalization proceedings, is mandatory. a. Opposition to an application for registration of the title must be based on the right of dominion or some
other real right opposed to the adjudication or recognition of the ownership of the applicant, whether it be
5.The Solicitor General is the only legal counsel of the government in land registration cases and as such, limited or absolute.
he alone may withdraw the government’s appeal with binding effect on the latter.
b. To give a person a legal standing to object to the application for registration, he must make some claim
d.Posting to the property.

i. This requirement is also mandatory. c. All that is necessary to enable one to exert the faculty of opposition is that he should appear to have an
interest in the property. It is immaterial whether this interest is in the character of legal owner or is of a
Section 24. Proof of publication and notice. purely equitable nature as where he is the beneficiary in a trust.
 d. A claim merely noted on the survey plan cannot prevail over the actual decree of registration as i. Where an opposition or answer, which is based on substantial grounds, has been formally
reproduced in the certificate. filed, it is improper for the court to declare the oppositor in default simply because he failed to
appear on the day set for the initial hearing.
e. The phrase claim of ownership means the possession of a piece of property with the intention of
claiming it in hostility to the true owner.It is also defined as a party’s manifest intention to take over d. Government may appeal despite failure of agency to file opposition
land, regardless of title or right.
i. The failure of the government agency concerned to file an opposition to the application for
3) Failure to file opposition, effect of: registration or to appeal from the adverse decision of the registration court is not fatal.

a. Where no answer in writing or any opposition is made to an application for registration of property, all ii. The reason for this is that the government is usually not estopped by the mistake or error of
the allegations contained in the application shall be held as confessed by reason of the absence of denial its officials or agents.
on the part of the opponent.
iii.It is hornbook law that the principle of estoppel does not operate against the government for
b. It has been held that a claimant having failed to present his answer or objection to the registration of a the act of its agents.
parcel of land under the Torrens system or to question the validity of such registration within a period of
one (1) year after the certificate of title had been issued, is deemed to have forever lost his right in said 5) Motion to dismiss based on res judicata proper in a registration proceeding
land even granting that he had any right therein.
a. The Property Registration Decree does not provide for a pleading similar or corresponding to a motion
c. Persons deemed to have legal standing to file opposition: to dismiss.

i. A homesteader who has not yet been issued his title but has fulfilled all the conditions b. Two distinct concepts of res judicata:
required by law for the issuance of patent;
i.Bar by former judgment; and
ii. A purchaser of friar land who is deemed to have an equitable title to the land even before the
issuance of the patent; 1.Res judicata absolutely bars any subsequent action when the following requisites
concur:
iii. An awardee in a sales application who, by virtue of the award, is authorized to take
possession of the land to enable him to comply with the requirements for the issuance of a. The former judgment or order was final;
patent;
b. It adjudged the pertinent issue or issues on their merits;
iv. A person claiming to be in possession of the land and has applied with the Lands
Management Bureau for its purchase.
c. It was rendered by a court that had jurisdiction over the subject matter
and the parties; and
d. Private persons may not file opposition for the Government:
d. Between the first and the second actions, there was identity of parties,
i. A private person may not oppose an application for registration on behalf of the government of subject matter, and of causes of action.
on the ground that the land belongs to the government.
Ii .Conclusiveness of judgment
4) Opposition by the Government:
1.Where no identity of causes of action but only identity of issues exists
a. Absence of opposition by the government does not justify outright registration
2.The rule bars the re-litigation of particular facts or issues involving the same parties
i. Notwithstanding the absence of opposition from the government, the applicant in land even if raised under different claims or causes of action.
registration cases is not relieved of the burden of proving the imperfect right or title sought to
be confirmed.
c. The opposition in a registration case partakes of the nature of an answer with a counterclaim.

ii. He must show, even though there is no opposition, to the satisfaction of the court, that he is
d.Defense of res judicata may be waived if not set up in a motion to dismiss
the absolute owner, in fee simple.

i.In a registration case, it was held that the defense of res judicata when not set up either in a
iii. It is precisely the character of the land as private which the applicant has the obligation of
motion to dismiss or in answer is deemed waived.
establishing.

ii.It cannot be pleaded for the first time on appeal.

b. Hearing necessary to determine validity of ownership claim

6) Submission of subdivision plan- The registration court may require the submission by the parties of a
i.Under Section 1, Rule 131 of the Rules of Court, each party, whether applicant or oppositor,
subdivision plan, duly approved by the Director of Lands, in the following instances:
must prove his own affirmative allegations by the amount of evidence required by law to obtain
a favorable judgment.
a. If the opposition or adverse claim covers only a portion of the lot applied for which is not delimited on
the plan accompanying the application;
c. Failure to appear on the day of initial hearing is not a ground for default where opposition or answer
had been filed
 b.In case of undivided co-ownership, conflicting claims of ownership or possession, or overlapping of a. A defendant party declared in default retains the right to appeal from the judgment by default on the
boundaries. ground that the plaintiff failed to prove the material allegations of the complaint, or that the decision is
contrary to law, even without need of the prior filing of a motion to set aside the order of default.
Section 26. Order of default; effect.
4)Government not estopped by the mistake or error of its agents
If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court shall, upon motion of the applicant, no reason
to the contrary appearing, order a default to be recorded and require the applicant to present evidence. By the a. Order of default issued by the court should not prejudice the Government under the well-known and
description in the notice "To all Whom It May Concern", all the world are made parties defendant and shall be settled rule that the Republic, or its Government, is usually not estopped by the mistake or error on the
concluded by the default order. part of its officials or agents.

Where an appearance has been entered and an answer filed, a default order shall be entered against persons who ii. Republic v. San Lorenzo, 513 SCRA 294 (2007)
did not appear and answer.
The duty and the power to set the hearing date lie with the land registration court. After an applicant has filed his
NOTES SECTION 26 of PRD: application, the law requires the issuance of a court order setting the initial hearing date. The notice of initial hearing
is a court document. The notice of initial hearing is signed by the judge and copy of the notice is mailed by the clerk
1) Order of default, when entered of court to the LRA [Land Registration Authority]. This involves a process to which the party applicant absolutely has
no participation.
a. Order of General Default – addressed to the whole world:
In land registration cases, the applicant must strictly comply with the jurisdictional requirements.
i. If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court shall, upon motion of the
applicant, order a default to be entered and require the applicant to present evidence. By description in The Court held that a party to an action has no control over the Administrator or the Clerk of Court acting as a land
the notice :To all whom it may concern, all the world are made parties defendant and shall be concluded court; he has no right to meddle unduly with the business of such official in the performance of his duties. A party
by the default order. cannot intervene in matters within the exclusive power of the trial court. No fault is attributable to such party if the
trial court errs on matters within its sole power. It is unfair to punish an applicant for an act or omission over which
b. Order of Special Default “ directed only against those who did not enter their appearance and file answer: the applicant has neither responsibility nor control, especially if the applicant has complied with all the requirements
of the law.
i.When an appearance has been entered and answer filed, a default order shall be entered
against persons who did not appear and answer. It is evident in land registration proceedings that what is more important than the date on which the initial hearing is
set is the giving of sufficient notice of the registration proceedings via publication.
c. When the court issues an order of default, it is presumed to have regularly performed its task in accordance with
law especially with regard to notice requirements. iii. Republic v. Herbieto, 459 SCRA 183 (2005)

d. When no answer in writing or any opposition is made to an application for the registration of a property, all the Publication, Mailing, Posting
allegations contained in the application shall be held as confessed by reason of the absence thereof.
The misjoinder of causes of action and parties does not affect the jurisdiction of the courts to hear and proceed with
e. A person who has not challenged an application for registration cannot allege damage or error against the the application for registration of the two respondents who applied for registration on two separate lands.
judgment ordering registration.
The late publication of the Notice of Initial Hearing in the newspaper of general circulation is tantamount to no
f. But a declaration of default is not a guarantee that the application for registration will be granted. publication at all, having the same ultimate result. Owing to such defect, the MTC failed to constructively seize the
lands and acquire jurisdiction over the applications for registration. Therefore, the orders of the court were void for
having been issued by the MTC without jurisdiction.
g. It is still the burden of the applicant to prove that he is entitled to registration by well-nigh incontrovertible
proof.
NOTE:
2) Motion to lift order of general default
The notice of initial hearing shall be published once in the Official Gazette and once in a newspaper of general
circulation in the Philippines: Provided, however, that the publication in the Official Gazette shall be sufficient to
a. An order of general default is interlocutory in character, subject to the control of the court, and may be
confer jurisdiction upon the court.
modified or amended as the court may deem proper at any time prior to the rendition of judgment.

The notice of initial hearing shall also be posted in a conspicuous place on each parcel of land included in the
b. The interests of substantial justice and the speedy determination of the controversy should be the
application and also in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the municipal building of the municipality or
guiding principle of the trial court in lifting an order of general default to allow a party to file an opposition
city. (Sec. 24)
to the application

iv. Director v. CA and Abistado, 276 SCRA 276 (1997)

c. But the motion to lift the order of general default should be filed before entry of final judgment.
It should be noted further that land registration is a proceeding in rem. Being in rem, such proceeding requires
d. A motion to set aside the order of default filed prior to the rendition of the judgment on the merits
constructive seizure of the land as against all persons, including the state, who have rights to or interests in the
should be considered with liberality.
property. An in rem proceeding is validated essentially through publication. This being so, the process must strictly
be complied with. Otherwise, persons who may be interested or whose rights may be adversely affected would be
3) Party in default can appeal judgment barred from contesting an application which they had no knowledge of.
The Court ruled that Section 23 of PD No. 1529 indeed clearly provides that publication in the Official Gazette ii. A natural-born Filipino citizen who has lost his citizenship may be a transferee of
suffices to confer jurisdiction upon the land registration court. However, absent any publication of the notice of initial private land(see Citizenship Requirement Individual under Roman Numeral II-
hearing in a newspaper of general circulation, the land registration court cannot validly confirm and register the title B[ix],Section 10 of Foreign Investment Act)
of the applicants.
iv. Capacity to own land is determined as of the time of its acquisition and not
It may be asked why publication in a newspaper of general circulation should be deemed mandatory when the law registration(see Republic v. CA and Lapiña and Director of Lands v. Buyco)
already requires notice by publication in the Official Gazette as well as by mailing and posting, all of which have
already been complied with in the case at hand. The reason is due process and the reality that the Official Gazette is v.Aliens may lease private lands
not as widely read and circulated as newspapers and is oftentimes delayed in its circulation, such that the notices
published therein may not reach the interested parties on time, if at all. 1. While aliens are disqualified from acquiring lands of the public domain, they may
however lease private lands.
v. Adez Realty v. CA, 212 SCRA 623 (1992)
2. A lease to an alien for reasonable period is valid. So is an option giving an alien
A land registration proceeding is a proceeding in rem, not in personam, and therefore it is not necessary to give the right to buy real property on condition that he is granted Philippine citizenship.
personal notice to the owners or claimants of the land sought to be registered, in order to vest the courts with power
and authority over the res. The failure to give notice does not amount to jurisdictional defect. It is the publication of 3. Aliens are not completely excluded by the Constitution from the use of lands for
such notice that brings in the whole word as a party in the case and vests the court with jurisdiction to hear and residential purposes. They may be granted temporary rights such as a “Lease
decide it. Thus, notice of hearing by proper publication in the Official Gazette is sufficient to clothe the court with Contractâ€.
jurisdiction, and the mere fact that a person purporting to have a legitimate claim in the property did not receive
personal notice is not sufficient ground to invalidate the proceedings.
vi. Foreigners allowed to purchase condominium units

D. Hearing, Judgment and Decree of Registration

1. Under RA No. 4726, foreign national can own Philippine real estate through the
purchase of condominium units or townhouses pursuant to Section of this Act. (see
i. Section 27. Speedy hearing; reference to a referee. Roman Numeral II-C [iv] [4])

The trial court shall see to it that all registration-proceedings are disposed or within ninety days from the date the 2.It expressly allows foreigners to acquire condominium units and shares in
case is submitted for decision, condominium corporations up to not more than 40% of the total and outstanding
capital stock of a Filipino- owned or controlled corporation.
The Court, if it deems necessary, may refer the case or any part thereof to a referee who shall hear the parties and
their evidence, and the referee shall submit his report thereon to the Court within fifteen days after the termination 3. Under this set up, the ownership of the land is legally separated from the unit
of such hearing. Hearing before a referee may be held at any convenient place within the province or city as may be itself. The land is owned by the condominium corporation and the unit owner is simply
fixed by him and after reasonable notice thereof shall have been served the parties concerned. The court may a member in this condominium corporation. As long as 60% of the members of this
render judgment in accordance with the report as though the facts have been found by the judge himself: Provided, condominium corporation are Filipinos, the remaining members can be foreigners.
however, that the court may in its discretion accept the report, or set it aside in whole or in part, or order the case
to be recommitted for further proceedings.
4. Considering that the rights and liabilities of the parties under the contract to sell is
covered by the Condominium Act wherein petitioner as unit owner is simply a member
NOTES SECTION 27 of PRD: of the condominium corporation, then the constitutional proscription against aliens
owning real property does not apply.
1) Hearing Section 27
vii. Donation in favor of a religious corporation controlled by non- Filipinos not registrable
2) Proof required in registration proceedings, generally – The burden is on applicant to prove his positive
averments and not for the government or the private oppositors to establish a negative proposition. He must submit 1.Section 8, Article XII, 1987 Constitution provides that Save in cases of hereditary
convincing proof of his and his predecessors-in-interest’s actual, peaceful and adverse possession in the concept of succession, no private agricultural land shall be transferred or assigned except to
owner of the lots during the period required by law. The applicant must show, even in the absence of opposition, individuals, corporations or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public
that he is the absolute owner, fee simple, of such land. domain in the Philippines.

a. Citizenship Requirement 2.The Constitution makes no exception in favor of religious associations.

i. The Krivenko doctrine: aliens disqualified from acquiring public and private lands. (see the 3.Such prohibition is not violative of the freedom of religion guaranteed by the
case of Krivenko v. Register of Deeds) Constitution as the land ownership is not indispensable to the free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession or worship.
ii. The prohibition is a declaration of imperative national policy
viii. Land acquired by an American citizen in 1945 can be registered under the Ordinance
This fundamental policy of preserving the nation’s lands for Filipino citizens. Thus, as appended to the 1935 Constitution
the rule now stands, the fundamental law explicitly prohibits non-Filipinos from
acquiring or holding title to private lands, except only by way of legal succession or if 1.While aliens are disqualified to acquire lands under the 1935 Constitution, the
the acquisition was made by a former natural-born citizen. Ordinance appended thereto provided that until the final withdrawal of the United
States sovereignty over the Philippines, citizens and corporations of the United States
could enjoy all the same civil rights as Philippine citizens.
 2.The 1935 Constitution provides that upon the proclamation of Philippine a. Filipino citizens can both acquire or otherwise hold lands of the public
Independence (July 4, 1946) all existing property rights of citizens or corporations of domain.
the United States shall be acknowledged, respected, and safeguarded to the same
extent as property rights of citizens of the Philippines. b. Filipino corporations cannot acquire lands of the public domain but
they can hold such lands by modes other than acquisition, such as lease.
ix. A corporation sole may acquire and register private agricultural land
5. NB: A foreign corporation is disqualified to own lands in the Philippines. It is also
1. A corporation sole, which consists of one person only, is vested with the right to disqualified to own rights to ownership to such lands.
purchase and hold real estate and to register the same in trust for the faithful or
members of the religious society or church for which the corporation was organized. b.Classification of Public Lands

2. It is not treated as an ordinary private corporation because whether or not it be so i. Classification of public land is an executive prerogative CA No. 141 (Public Land Act), as amended, remains to this
treated, the constitutional proscription against private corporations acquiring public day the existing general law governing the classification and disposition of lands of the public domain, other than
agricultural lands will not apply. timber and mineral lands. The classification of public lands is an exclusive prerogative of the executive department
of the government and not of the courts.
3.The reason for this is that a corporation sole has no nationality and the framers of
the Constitution did not have in mind the religious corporation sole when they 1. System of classification
provided that 60 per centum of the capital thereof be owned by Filipino citizens.
a. The President is authorized, from time to time, to classify the lands of the public domain into alienable
x. Can a Filipino vendor recover land sold to an alien? and disposable, timber, or mineral lands.

1. The question was answered in the negative in the early case of Rellosa v. Gaw b. Alienable and disposable lands of the public domain are further classified according to their uses into:
Chee Hun because the Filipino vendor was in pari delicto with the alien vendee
i. Agricultural
2. However, Rellosa was reversed by Philippine Banking Corporation v. Lui She where
the Court declared that the pari delicto rule may not be applied in said case since: ii. Residential, commercial, industrial, or for similar productive purposes;

a. The original parties who were guilty of a violation of the fundamental iii. Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes; or
charter have died and have since been substituted by their administrators
to whom it would be unjust to impute their guilt; and
iv. Reservations for town sites and for public and quasi-public uses.

b. As an exception to the rule on pari delicto, when the agreement is not

c. The Secretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is the only other public
illegal per se but is merely prohibited and the prohibition by law is designed
official empowered by law to approve a land classification and declare such land as alienable and
for the protection of the plaintiff, he may, if public policy is thereby
disposable.
enhanced, recover what he has paid or delivered. Public policy referred here
is of preserving lands for Filipinos.
2. Requirements to establish classification
3. If land is invalidly transferred to an alien who subsequently becomes a Filipino
citizen or transfers it to a Filipino, the flaw in the original transaction is considered a.Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) or Community Environment and Natural
cured and the title of the transferee is rendered valid. As the property in dispute is Resources Officer (CENRO) to certify that land is alienable and disposable (A and D);
already in the hands of a qualified person, a Filipino citizen, there would be no more
public policy to be protected. The objective of the constitutional provision to keep our b.Applicant must prove that the DENR Secretary had approved the land classification and released the
lands in Filipino hands has been achieved. land of the public domain as A and D land;

xi. Rule restated -- On the basis of their capacity to acquire or hold lands of the public domain, c.That the land falls within the land classification map as verified through survey by the PENRO or CENRO;
the following ay acquire private lands:
d.The applicant must present a certified copy of the DENR Secretary’s declaration or the President’s
proclamation classifying the land as alienable and disposable.

1.Filipino citizens 3. Only A and D lands may be the subject of disposition

2.Filipino corporations and association as defined in Section 2, Article XII of the a. Before the government could alienate or dispose of lands of the public domain, the President must first
Constitution; and, by exception; officially classify these lands as alienable and disposable, and then declare them open to disposition or
cession.
3.Aliens, but only byhereditary succession; and
4.Classification of Boracay Island
4.A natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his citizenship under the terms
of Section 8, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution. a. President Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1064 classifying Boracay Island into 400 hectares of reserved
forest land (protection purposes) and 628.96 hectares of agricultural land (alienable and disposable).
 b. Except for lands already covered by existing titles, Boracay was an unclassified land of the public Marvyn Rose Arbes
domain prior to Proclamation No. 1064. Under PD No. 705, or Revised Forestry Code, all unclassified lands
are considered public forest.
1) Rivers and their natural beds;
5. Public Lands and Governmental Land distinguished
2) Continuous or intermittent
a. A public land is equivalent to public domain. It does not by any means include all lands of government
ownership, but only so much of said lands as are thrown open to private appropriation and settlement by waters of springs and brooks
homestead and other like general laws.
running in their natural beds
b. Government land includes not only public lands but also other lands of the government already
reserved or devoted to public use or subject to private right. and the beds themselves;

6. Cadastral survey of a municipality does not automatically classify lands within the cadastre as A and D lands
3) Natural lakes and lagoons;
a. A survey made in a cadastral proceeding merely identifies each lot preparatory to a judicial proceeding
for adjudication of title to any of the land upon claim of interested parties. 4) All other categories of surface

b. Where the subject property is still unclassified, whatever possession applicants may have had, and, waters such as water flowing
however long, cannot ripen into private ownership.
over lands, water from rainfall

whether natural or artificial,

ii. Under the Spanish regime, all Crown lands were per se alienable and subject to adjudication by the courts unless
falling under timber or mineral zones, or otherwise reserved for some public purpose in accordance with law. and water from agriculture

iii.Burden of proof rests with applicant to overcome presumption of State ownership runoff, seepage and drainage;

1.Must prove that the land subject of the application for registration is alienable and disposable;
Articles 5 & 6, PD No. 1067, Water 5) Atmospheric water;
2.Applicant must establish the existence of a positive act of the government such as a presidential
proclamation or an executive order; an administrative action; investigation reports of Bureau of Lands Code
investigators; and a legislative act or a statute; and
6) Subterranean or ground water;
3.Applicant must also secure a certification from the government that the land claimed to have been
possessed for the required number of years is alienable and disposable.
7) Seawater.
c.Non-Registrable Properties
Found in Private Land:
1)Those intended for public use, such as roads, rivers, torrents, ports and bridges constructed by the State, banks,
shores, roadsteads, and others of 8) Continuous or intermittent

similar character; waters rising on such lands;

Article 420 of the Civil Code

9) Lakes and lagoons naturally
2) Those which belong to the
waters rising on such lands;
State, without being for public
10) Rain water and falling on such
use, and are intended for some
lands;
public service or for the
11) Subterranean or ground waters;
development of the national
and
wealth.

Page 90 of 121
 1.Yes. The Supreme Court declared that the submission of the tracing cloth plan is a statutory requirement of
12) Water in swamps and marshes
mandatory

1) Forest or timberland; character. The plan of the land must be duly approved by the Director of Lands, otherwise the same have no
probative value.
Regalian Doctrine under the 1935, 2) Public forest;
Note: However, under LRA Circular 05-2000, only a certified copy of the original tracing cloth plan need be
forwarded to the LRA. (Agcaoili, Reviewer)
1973 and 1987 Constitution

Although mere blue print copies were presented in court as evidence, the original tracing cloth plan was attached to
3) Forest reserves lands;
the application for registration and was available to the court for comparison. Hence, the approval of registration
was proper.
4) Mineral lands.
(Republic v. IAC)
d.Specific Evidence of Ownership
v. In case of conflict between areas and boundaries, which prevails?
i. What must the applicant for land registration prove? DIP
1.General Rule: Boundaries prevail over area.
1. Declassification – That the land applied for has been declassified and is a public agricultural land,
alienable and disposable or otherwise capable of registration; a.Exception: Boundaries relied upon do not identify land beyond doubt.

2. Identity of the land; and Boundaries given in the registration plan do not coincide with outer boundaries of the land covered and
described in the muniments of title.
3. Possession and occupation of the land for the length of time and in the manner required by law.
Evidence of Possession and Occupation
Evidence of Declassification
vi.What may constitute proof of possession?
ii. What may constitute sufficient proof to establish declassification of land from forest to alienable or disposable, or
agricultural? PAEB- CIL 1.To prove possession, it is not enough to simply declare one’s possession and that of the applicant’s
predecessors-in-interest to have been adverse, continuous, open, public, peaceful and in concept of owner for the
1.Presidential proclamation required number of years. The applicant should present specific facts to show such nature of possession because
bare allegations, without more, do not amount to preponderant evidence that would shift the burden to the
oppositor.(Diaz v. Republic)
2.Administrative Order issued by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources

vii. What are some specific overt acts of possession which may substantiate a claim of ownership?
3.Executive Order

1.Introducing valuable improvements on the property like fruit- bearing trees;

4.Bureau of Forest Development (BFD) Land Classification Map

2.Fencing the area;

5.Certification by the Director of Forestry, and reports of District Forester

3.Constructing a residential house thereon; or

6.Investigation reports of Bureau of Lands Investigator

4.Declaring the same for taxation purposes.

7.Legislative Act, or by Statute

Note: Evidence to be admissible must, however, be credible, substantial and satisfactory (Agcaoili Reviewer)
Evidence of Identity of Land

viii. What are insufficient proofs of possession?

iii.What may be presented as proof of the identity of the land sought to be registered? STTT

1. Mere Casual cultivation of portions of the land by claimant

1.Survey plan in general

Reason:Possession is not exclusive and notorious so as to give rise to a presumptive grant from the State.
2.Tracing cloth plan and blue print copies of plan

2. Possession of other persons in the land applied for impugns the exclusive quality of the applicant’s
3.Technical description of the land
possession.
4.Tax Declarations
3.Mere failure of Fiscal representing the State tocross-examine the applicant on the claimed possession.
iv.In an application for judicial confirmation of imperfect title, is submission of the original tracing cloth plan
4.Tax declaration of land sought to be registered which is not in the name of applicant but in the name of the
mandatory?
deceased parents of an oppositor.
 Reason: Possession of applicant is not completely adverse or open, nor is it truly in the concept of an owner. 1. Compromise agreement among parties to a land registration case where they have rights and interest over the
land and allocated portions thereof to each of them.
5. Holding of property by mere tolerance of the owner
Note: Assent of Director of Lands and Director of Forest Management to compromise agreement did not and could
Reason: Holder is not in the concept of owner and possessory acts no matter how long do not start the running not supply the absence of evidence of title required of the applicant.
of the period of prescription.
2. Decision in an estate proceeding of a predecessor-in-interestof an applicant that involves a property over which
6. Where applicants tacked their possession to that of their predecessor-in-interest but they did not present the decedent has no transmissible rights, and in other cases where issue of ownership was not definitely passed
him as witness or when no proofs of what acts of ownership and cultivation were performed by the upon.
predecessor.
3. Survey plan of an inalienable land.
Reason
Note: Such plan does not convert such land into alienable land, much less private property.
Evidence of Private Ownership
Section 28. Partial judgment.
ix. What are the proofs of private ownership of land?
In a case where only a portion of the land subject of registration is contested, the court may render partial judgment
1.S panish title, impending cases. provided that a subdivision plan showing the contested and uncontested portions approved by the Director of Lands
is previously submitted to said court.
Note: However, Spanish titles are now inadmissible and ineffective as proof of ownership in land registration
proceedings filed after Aug. 16, 1976. It is mere indicia of a claim of ownership that the holder has a claim of title Section 29. Judgment confirming title.
over the property.
All conflicting claims of ownership and interest in the land subject of the application shall be determined by the
2.T ax declaration and tax payments. court. If the court, after considering the evidence and the reports of the Commissioner of Land Registration and the
Director of Lands, finds that the applicant or the oppositor has sufficient title proper for registration, judgment shall
Note: While tax declarations and real estate tax receipts are not conclusive evidence of ownership, if presented as be rendered confirming the title of the applicant, or the oppositor, to the land or portions thereof.
documentary evidence coupled with proof of actual possession for the period required by law of the land, they are
good evidence of ownership. NOTES SECTION 28 & 29 of PRD:

Even if belatedly declared for taxation purposes, it does not negate possession especially if there is no other 1)After due hearing for registration, what will the court do?
claimant of the land.
a. IF the court, after considering the evidence and report of the LRA, finds that the applicant or the oppositor has
Mere failure of the owner of the land to pay the realty tax does not warrant a conclusion that there was sufficient title proper for registration, it shall render judgment confirming the title of the applicant, or the oppositor,
abandonment of his right to the property. to the land or portions thereof, as the case may be.

3. Other kinds of proof. Section 30. When judgment becomes final; duty to cause issuance of decree.

E.g. Testimonial evidence (i.e. accretion is on a land adjacent to a river). The judgment rendered in a land registration proceedings becomes final upon the expiration of thirty days(now
fifteen days) to be counted from the data of receipt of notice of the judgment. An appeal may be taken from the
Note: Any evidence that accretion was formed through human intervention negates the claim. judgment of the court as in ordinary civil cases.

4.Presidential issuances and legislative acts. After judgment has become final and executory, it shall devolve upon the court to forthwith issue an order in
accordance with Section 39 of this Decree to the Commissioner for the issuance of the decree of registration and the
corresponding certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged entitled to registration.
Note: It is constitutive of a fee simple title or absolute title in favor of the grantee.

Section 31. Decree of registration.

x. Are tax declarations or payment of realty tax conclusive evidence of ownership?
Every decree of registration issued by the Commissioner shall bear the date, hour and minute of its entry, and shall
1. No. Tax declarations or realty tax payment of property are not conclusive evidence of ownership. However, they
be signed by him. It shall state whether the owner is married or unmarried, and if married, the name of the husband
are good indicia of possession in the concept of an owner, for no one in his right mind would be paying taxes for a
or wife: Provided, however, that if the land adjudicated by the court is conjugal property, the decree shall be issued
property that is not in his actual or at least constructive possession. They constitute at least proof that the holder
in the name of both spouses. If the owner is under disability, it shall state the nature of disability, and if a minor, his
has a claim of title over the property.
age. It shall contain a description of the land as finally determined by the court, and shall set forth the estate of the
owner, and also, in such manner as to show their relative priorities, all particular estates, mortgages, easements,
Note: The voluntary declaration of a piece of property for taxation purposes manifests not only one’s sincere and liens, attachments, and other encumbrances, including rights of tenant-farmers, if any, to which the land or owner's
honest desire to obtain title to the property and announces his adverse claim against the State and all other estate is subject, as well as any other matters properly to be determined in pursuance of this Decree.
interested parties, but also the intention to contribute needed revenues to the Government. Such an act strengthens
one’s bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership. (Agcaoili Reviewer; Aquino, p.75-76)
The decree of registration shall bind the land and quiet title thereto, subject only to such exceptions or liens as may
be provided by law. It shall be conclusive upon and against all persons, including the National Government and all
xi. What proofs are insufficient to establish private ownership or right over land? branches thereof, whether mentioned by name in the application or notice, the same being included in the general
description "To all whom it may concern".
NOTES SECTIONS 30 & 31 of PRD: 2. Any person adversely occupying the land or any portion thereof during the land registration
proceedings up to the issuance of the final decree.
1)J udgment --It is a decision of court constituting its opinion after taking into consideration the evidence
submitted. ii.No, if it is against person who took possession of the land after final adjudication of the same in a
registration proceeding. In which case, the remedy is file a separate action for:
a.What must a judgment in land registration proceeding contain?
1.Unlawful entry;
i.When judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, the court shall order the entry of a new certificate of
title and the cancellation of the original certificate and owner’s duplicate of the former registered owner. 2.Unlawful detainer;

b. It becomes final upon the lapse of 15 days counted from the receipt of notice of the judgment. 3.Reinvindicatory action, as the case may be, and only after a favorable judgment can the
prevailing party secures a writ of possession.
c. However, notwithstanding the lapse of the 15-day period from receipt of judgment by the parties, the court
continues to retain control over the case until the expiration of one (1) year after the entry of decree of registration g.Does petition for the issuance of a writ of possession prescribe?
by the LRA.
i.General Rule: No
2)Post-Judgment Incidents
Exception: If a party has once made use of the benefit of a writ of possession, he cannot again ask for it,
a. Writ of Possession is a writ employed to enforce a judgment to recover the possession of land, if afterwards he loses possession of the property obtained by virtue of the original writ.
commanding the sheriff to enter into the land and give the possession thereof to the person entitled under
the judgment. 3)Means to Recover Possession:

Note: It may be issued only pursuant to a decree of registration in an original land registration a.Forcible entry
proceeding.
b.Unlawful Detainer
b. Writ of Possession – order to sheriff to deliver the land to the successful party litigant; no prescription
against: (1) the loser and (2) anyone unlawfully and adversely occupying. c.Accion Publiciana

i.When writ may not issue: When a party entered into property after issuance of final decree, is not an oppositor in d.Accion Reivindicatoria
registration proceeding, and is in possession of land for at least 10 years.
4)What must a judgment in land registration proceedings contain?
c. Writ of Demolition – the complement of writ of possession; to demolish improvements introduced by
oppositor or his successor in interest.
a. When judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, the court shall order the entry of a new certificate
of title and the cancellation of the original certificate and owner’s duplicate of the former registered owner.
d. How may possession of property be obtained?
5)Decree of Registration – It is a document prepared in the prescribed form by the LRA Administrator, signed by
i. Possession of the property may be obtained by filing an ex parte motion with the RTC of the him in the name of the court, embodying the final disposition of the land by the court and such other data found in
province or place where the property is situated. Upon filing of the motion and the required the record, including the name and other personal circumstances of the adjudicate, the technical description of the
bond, it becomes a ministerial duty of the court to order the issuance of a writ of possession in property, liens and encumbrances affecting it, and such other matters as determined by the court in its judgment.
favor of the purchaser. After the expiration of the 1-year period without redemption being
effected by the property owner, the right of the purchaser to the possession of the foreclosed
a.The decree issued by the LRA pursuant to the order of the court;
property becomes absolute.

b.Binds the land, quiets title thereto, subject only to such exceptions or liens as may be provided by law;
e. Against whom may a writ of possession be issued?

c.Conclusive upon all persons including the government.

i.In a registration case, a writ of possession may be issued against:

6)What does a decree of registration cover?

1.The person who has been defeated in a registration case; and

a.Only claimed property or a portion thereof can be adjudicated. A land registration court has no
2.Any person adversely occupying the land or any portion thereof during the land
jurisdiction to adjudge a land to a person who has never asserted any right of ownership thereof.
registration proceedings up to the issuance of the final decree.

7) What is the effect of a decree of registration?

f. If the court granted the registration, must the applicant move for the issuance of a writ of possession in
case he is deprived of possession over the land subject of the registration proceedings?
a.The decree of registration binds the land, quiets title, subject only to such exceptions or liens as may be
provided by law.
i. Yes, if it is against:

b.It is conclusive upon all persons including the national government and all branches thereof. And such
1. The person who has been defeated in a registration case; and
conclusiveness does not cease to exist when the title is transferred to a successor.
 c.Note: Title once registered cannot be impugned, altered, changed, modified, enlarged or diminished, a.In a case for recovery of possession based on ownership, is a third-party complaint to nullify the title of the third-
except in a direct proceeding permitted by law. party defendant considered a direct attack on the title?

8) What are the effects of the entry of the decree of registration in the National Land Titles and Deeds Registration i.If the object of the third-party complaint is to nullify the title of the third-party defendant, the third-
Authority? party complaint constitutes a direct- attack on the title because the same is in the nature of an original
complaint for cancellation of title.
a.This serves as the reckoning date to determine the 1-year period from which one can impugn the
validity of the registration. b.If an attack is made thru a counterclaim, should it be disregarded for being a collateral attack?

b.1 year after the date of entry, it becomes incontrovertible, and amendments will not be allowed except i.No. A counterclaim is also considered an original complaint, and as such, the attack on the title is direct
clerical errors. It is deemed conclusive as to the whole world. and not collateral.

c.Puts an end to litigation. Section 32. Review of decree of registration; Innocent purchaser for value.

9 )What is decree of confirmation and registration? The decree of registration shall not be reopened or revised by reason of absence, minority, or other disability of any
person adversely affected thereby, nor by any proceeding in any court for reversing judgments, subject, however, to
a.It is issued by LRA after finality of judgment, and contains technical description of land. It is subject only the right of any person, including the government and the branches thereof, deprived of land or of any estate or
to an appeal. interest therein by such adjudication or confirmation of title obtained by actual fraud, to file in the proper Court of
First Instance a petition for reopening and review of the decree of registration not later than one year from and after
b.It is conclusive evidence of the ownership of the land referred to therein and becomes indefeasible and the date of the entry of such decree of registration, but in no case shall such petition be entertained by the court
incontrovertible after one year from the issuance of the decree. where an innocent purchaser for value has acquired the land or an interest therein, whose rights may be prejudiced.
Whenever the phrase "innocent purchaser for value" or an equivalent phrase occurs in this Decree, it shall be
deemed to include an innocent lessee, mortgagee, or other encumbrancer for value.
10) Differentiate decree of confirmation and registration from decree of registration?
Upon the expiration of said period of one year, the decree of registration and the certificate of title issued shall
a.Decree of registration is issued pursuant to the Property Registration Decree, where there already exists
become incontrovertible. Any person aggrieved by such decree of registration in any case may pursue his remedy by
a title which is confirmed by the court.
action for damages against the applicant or any other persons responsible for the fraud.

b.Decree of confirmation and registration of title is issued pursuant to the Public Land Act, where the
NOTES:
presumption always is that the land applied for pertains to the State, and that the occupants and
possessors only claim an interest in the same by virtue of their imperfect title or continuous, open and
notorious possession. 1) Indefeasibility

11) What is the doctrine of non-collateral attack of a decree or title? After the lapse of one year from the entry of the decree of registration, said the decree of registration and the
certificate of title issued shall become incontrovertible.(Sec 32, P.D. 1529)
a.A decree of registration and registered title cannot be impugned, enlarged, altered, modified, or
diminished either in collateral or direct proceeding, after the lapse of one year from the date of its entry. 2) Purchaser in good faith

12)Differentiate direct from collateral attack. a. An innocent purchaser for value is one who buys the property of another without notice that some other
person has a right to or interest in it, and who pays a full and fair price at the time of the purchase or
before receiving any notice of another person’s claims.
Direct Attack Collateral Attack
b.When the buyer enters into a contract of sale, he assumes 2 obligations

i.First, the payment of the consideration; and

The issues are raised in a direct It is made when, in another action to
ii.Second, the performance of such first obligation in good faith, and implied obligation but just
proceeding in an action instituted for that obtain a different relief, an attack on as binding and as important as the first.

purpose. the judgment is mad as an incident in c.While good faith is presumed, conversely, bad faith must be established by competent proof by the party
alleging the same.
said action.
d.Property Registration Decree guarantees to every purchaser of registered land in good faith that they
e.g. Torrens title is questioned in the can take and hold the same free from any and all prior claims, liens and encumbrances except those set
forth on the certificate of title and those expressly mentioned in the decree as having been preserved
ordinary civil action for recovery of against it.

possession. e.Purchaser is not required to explore further than what title indicates for hidden defects
 i.Every person dealing with registered land may safely rely on the correctness of the certificate k. Prior registration of a lien
of title and is no longer required to look behind the certificate in order to determine the actual
owner. i.Registration is not the operative act for a mortgage to be binding between the parties. But to third
persons, it is indispensable.
ii.But one who buys from one who is not the registered owner is expected to examine not only
the certificate of title but all factual circumstances necessary for him to determine if there are l. Rule of good faith equally applies to mortgagees of real property
any flaws in the title of the transferor, or in his capacity to transfer the land.
i.The phrase innocent purchaser for value in Section 32 of the PRD includes an innocent lessee,
iii.A purchaser of a property cannot be in good faith where the title thereof shows that it was mortgagee, or other encumbrancer for value.
reconstituted.
ii.The right or lien of an innocent mortgagee for value upon the land mortgaged must be respected and
iv.In a series of transfers, in order that a purchaser may be considered in good faith, it is protected, even if the mortgagor obtained his title thereto thru fraud.
enough that he examines the latest certificate of title.
iii.Where the bank had exercised the due care demanded of it relative to real estate loans, it will be
f. A purchaser who has knowledge of defect of his vendor’s title cannot claim good faith. considered an innocent mortgagee for value. Unlike private individuals, banks are expected to exercise
greater care and prudence in their dealings, including those involving registered lands.
g. As between two persons in good faith, the lawful holder of a title is preferred.
m. Good faith is a question of fact
i. As between two persons both of whom are in good faith and both innocent of any negligence, the law
must protect and prefer the lawful holder of registered title over the transferee of a vendor bereft of any i. There is a question of fact when the doubt or difference arises as to the truth of the falsity of the statement of
transmissible rights. facts while a question of law exists when there is doubt or controversy as to what the law is on a certain state of
facts.
h. Purchaser charged only with notice of liens noted on the title
n. Burden of proof
i.A person dealing with registered land is only charged with notice of the burdens on the
property which are noted on the face of the register or the certificate of title. i. The burden of proving the status of a purchaser in good faith lies upon one who asserts that status and this onus
probandi cannot be discharged by mere invocation of the legal presumption of good faith.
ii.This rule however refers only to properties registered under the Torrens system, not to those
under Act No. 3344. o.Rule on double sale of property

iii.A person dealing with registered land has a right to rely on the Torrens certificate of title and i.Between two buyers of the same immovable property registered under the Torrens system, the law gives
to dispense with the need of inquiring further except when the party has actual knowledge of ownership priority to:
facts and circumstances that would impel a reasonably cautious man to make such inquiry or
when the purchaser has knowledge of a defect or the lack of title in his vendor or of sufficient 1.The first registrant in good faith;
facts to induce a reasonably prudent man to inquire into the status of the title of the property in
litigation.
2.Then, the first possessor in good faith; and

iv.Article 526 of the Civil Code says that one who is unaware of any flaw in his title, or mode of
3.Finally, the buyer who in good faith presents the oldest title.
acquisition, by which it is invalidated, shall be deemed a possessor in good faith. But one who is
aware of such flaw is deemed a possessor in bad faith.
ii.This provision, however, does not apply if the property is not registered under the Torrens system.
i.Rule of œcaveat emptor (buyer beware)
p.Principle of prior est temporae, prior est in jura
i.The rule of caveat emptor requires the purchaser to be aware of the supposed title of the vendor and one
who buys without checking the vendor’s title takes all the risks and losses consequent to such failure. i.In a situation where not all the requisites are present which would warrant the application of Article
1544, the principle of prior tempore, potior jure or he who is first in time is preferred in right, should
apply.

ii.The only essential requisite of this rule is priority in time; in other words, the only one who can invoke
j.Sale of property pending litigation
this is the first vendee.

i.The annotation of an adverse claim is a measure designed to protect the interest of a person over a piece
iii.The principle of first in time, stronger in right gains greater significance in case of double sale of
of real property, and serves as a notice and warning to third parties dealing with said property that
immovable property. When the thing sold twice is an immovable, the one who acquires it and first records
someone is claiming an interest on the same or may have a better right than the registered owner
it in the Registry of Property, both made in good faith, shall be deemed the owner. Verily, the act of
thereof.
registration must be coupled with good faith.
ii.A bona fide purchaser for value of property at an auction sale acquires good title as against a prior
iv.Knowledge gained by the first buyer of the second sale cannot defeat the first buyer’s right except only
transferee of the same property if such transfer was unrecorded at the time of the auction sale.
as provided by the Civil Code and that is where the second buyer first registers in good faith the second
sale ahead of the first.
iii.The rule of caveat emptor applies to execution sale.
 i.A party who has filed a timely motion for new trial cannot file a petition for relief after his
motion has been denied. These two remedies are exclusive of each other. He should appeal
Section 33. Appeal from judgment, etc. from the judgment and question such denial.

The judgment and orders of the court hearing the land registration case are appealable to the Court of Appeals or to ii.Relief will not be granted to a party who seeks to be relieved from the effects of a judgment
the Supreme Court in the same manner as in ordinary actions. when the loss of the remedy at law was due to his own negligence, or a mistaken mode of
procedure.
Section 34. Rules of procedure.
3)Appeal
The Rules of Court shall, insofar as not inconsistent with the provision of this Decree, be applicable to land
registration and cadastral cases by analogy or in a suppletory character and whenever practicable and convenient. a.It must be filed within 15 days from receipt of the judgment or final order appealed from

NOTES SECTIONS 32, 33 & 34 of PRD: b.Under PD 1529, judgments and orders in land registration cases are appealable to the CA or to the SC in
the same manner as ordinary actions.
1)What are the remedies of an aggrieved party in registration proceedings:
c.Who may file an appeal in land registration cases?
a.Relief from judgment
i.Only those who participated in the proceedings can interpose an appeal.
b.Appeal
d.In land registration cases, may a party validly move for execution pending appeal?
c.Action for Damages
i.No. A motion for execution pending appeal is not applicable to land registration proceedings.
d.Action for Compensation from the Assurance Fund The reason is to protect innocent purchasers.

e.Action for Reconveyance 4)Petition for Review:

f.Cancellation of suits a.Requisites:

g.Annulment of judgment i.Petitioner has a real right;

h.New Trial ii.He has been deprived thereof;

i.Quieting of Title iii.The deprivation is through fraud (actual/extrinsic);

j.Petition for Review (of a Decree) iv.Petition is filed within 1 year from issuance of the decree; and

2)Relief from judgment; relief from denial of appeal v.The property has not yet passed to an innocent purchaser for value.

a.When a judgment or final order is entered, or any proceedings is thereafter taken against a party in any b.In land registration cases, when may a petition for review may be filed? Any person may file a petition
court through, accident, mistake, or excusable negligence, he may file a petition in such court and in the for review to set aside the decree of registration on the ground that he was deprived of their opportunity
same case praying that the judgment, order or proceeding be set aside. to be heard in the original registration case not later than 1 year after the entry of the decree.

b.When a judgment or final order is rendered by any court in a case, and a party thereto, by fraud, c. Grounds for filing a petition for review:
accident, mistake, or excusable negligence, has been prevented from taking an appeal, he may file a
petition in such court and in the same case praying that the appeal be given due course. i.That a land belonging to a person has been registered in the name of another or that an
interest has been omitted in the application;
c.Time for filing petition
ii.Registration has been procured thru actual fraud;
i.A petition for relief from judgment or from denial of appeal under Sections 1 and 2, Rule 38,
must be verified, filed within sixty (60) days after the petitioner learns of the judgment, final iii.Petitioner is the owner of the said property or interest therein;
order, or other proceeding to be set aside, and not more than six (6) months after such
judgment or final order was entered, or such proceeding was taken. iv.Property has not been transferred to an innocent purchaser for value;

ii.The date of finality of the judgment or final order shall be deemed to be the date of its entry. v.Action is filed within one year from the issuance ad entry of the decree of registration; or

d.Petition for relief and motion for new trial/reconsideration are exclusive of each other vi.Actual fraud must be utilized in the procurement of the decree and not thereafter.

Note: What is contemplated by law is extrinsic fraud.

5) Reconveyance: Void Contract Imprescriptible

a.Reconveyance is an action seeking to transfer or reconvey the land from the registered owner to the d.If the ground relied upon for an action for reconveyance is fraud, what is the period for filing the same?
rightful owner.
i.If ground relied upon is fraud, action may be filed within 4 years from discovery thereof.
b.Purpose: An action for reconveyance does not aim or purport to re-open the registration proceedings Discovery is deemed to have taken place when said instrument was registered. It is because
and set aside the decree of registration but only to show that the person who secured the registration of registration constitutes constructive notice to the whole world.
the questioned property is not the real owner thereof. The action, while respecting the decree as
incontrovertible, seeks to transfer or reconvey the land from the registered owner to the rightful owner. e.May the court cancel the notice of lis pendens even before final judgment is rendered?

Note: This action may be filed even after the lapse of 1 year from entry of the decree of i.A notice of lis pendens may be cancelled even before final judgment upon proper showing that
registration as long as the property has not been transferred or conveyed to an innocent the notice if for the purpose of molesting or harassing the adverse party or that the notice of lis
purchaser for value. pendens is not necessary to protect the right of the party who cause it to be registered.

c.What are the grounds and their corresponding period for filing an action for reconveyance? 6)Damages

GROUNDS PRESCRIPTIVE PERIOD a.When may an action for damages be resorted to in land registration cases?

4 years from the discovery of the i.It may be resorted to when a petition for review and an action for reconveyance is no longer possible
because the property has passed to an innocent purchaser for value and in good faith.
fraud (deemed to have taken place
b.When will an action for damages in land registration cases prescribe?
from the issuance of the original
i.An ordinary action for damages prescribes in ten (10) years after the issuance of the Torrens title over
certificate of title) the property.

Fraud 7)Cancellation Suit

Note: a.What is cancellation suit?

The State has an imprescriptible right i.It is an action for cancellation of title brought by a private individual, alleging ownership as well as the
defendant’s fraud or mistake, as the case may be, in successfully obtaining title over a disputed land
to cause the reversion of a piece of claimed by the plaintiff.

property belonging to the public b.When is resort to a cancellation suit proper?

i.When two certificates of title are issued to different persons covering the same parcel of land in whole or
in part;
domain if title has been acquired
ii.When certificate of title is issued covering a non-registrable property; or
through fraudulent means.
iii.Other causes such as when the certificate of title is issued pursuant to a judgment that is not final or
when it is issued to a person who did not claim and applied for the registration of the land covered.
10 years from the date of the issuance
c.What are the rules as regards cancellation of certificates of title belonging to different persons over the same land?
of the OCT or TCT. It does not apply
i.Where two certificates are issued to different persons covering the same land, the title earlier in date
where the person enforcing the trust is
must prevail. The latter title should be declared null and void and ordered cancelled.

Implied or Constructive Trust in actual possession of the property

d.What is meant by prior est temporae, prior est in jura?

because he is in effect seeking to quiet

i.It is a principle which means he who is first in time is preferred in right.

title to the same which is

8)New trial or reconsideration

imprescriptible. a.Within the period for taking an appeal, the aggrieved party may move the trial court to set aside the
judgment or final order and grant a new trial for one or more of the causes materially affecting the
Express Trust Not barred by prescription substantial rights of said party.
b.If the motion for new trial is granted, the judgment is set aside; if the motion for reconsideration is ii.Accident or surprise- It must appear that there was accident or surprise which
granted, the judgment is merely amended. ordinary prudence could not have guarded against and by reason of which the party
applying has probably been impaired in his rights.
c.The period for filing either motion is within the period for taking, not perfecting, an appeal.
iii.Mistake -- It is some unintentional act, omission, or error arising from ignorance,
d.Grounds: surprise, imposition or misplaced confidence.

i.Fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence; iv.Excusable neglect- It means a failure to take the proper steps at the proper time, not in consequence of the
party’s own carelessness, inattention, or willful disregard of the process of the court, but in consequence of some
ii.Newly discovered evidence, which he could not, with reasonable diligence, have discovered, unexpected or unavoidable hindrance or accident, or reliance on the care and vigilance of his counsel or on promises
and produced at the trial, and which if presented would probably alter the result; made by the adverse party.

1.Within the same period, the aggrieved party may also move for reconsideration 9)Quieting of Title
upon the grounds that the damages awarded are excessive, that the evidence is
insufficient to justify the decision or final order or that decision or final order is a.What is action for quieting of title?
contrary to law.
i.It is an action that is brought to remove clouds on the tile to real property or any interest therein, by
e.Contents: reason of any instrument, record, claim, encumbrance, or proceeding which is apparently valid or effective
but is in truth and in fact invalid, ineffective, voidable or unenforceable, and may be prejudicial to said
1.The motion shall be made in writing stating the ground or grounds therefor, a written notice of title.
which shall be served by the movant on the adverse party.
b.Who may file an action to quiet title?
2.A pro forma motion for new trial or reconsideration shall not toll the reglementary period of
appeal. i.Registered owner;

3.No motion for extension of time to file a motion for new trial or reconsideration shall be ii.A person who has an equitable right or interest in the property; or
allowed.
iii.The State.
f.Affidavits of merit
c.Note:
i.A motion for new trial grounded on fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence should
ordinarily be accompanied by two affidavits; i.Criminal action- State may criminally prosecute for perjury the party who obtains registration through
fraud, such as by stating false assertions in the sworn answer required of applicants in cadastral
1.One, setting forth the facts and circumstances alleged to constitute such fraud, proceedings.
accident, mistake, or excusable negligence;
ii.Action for damages-Filed in an ordinary action for damages if the property has passed unto the hands of
a.Reason:It is to enable the court to determine if the movant’s claim of an innocent purchaser for value.
fraud, etc. is not mere conclusion but is indeed borne out by the relevant
facts. 10)Remedy in Case of Loss or Destruction of Certificate of Title:

2.And the other, an affidavit setting forth the particular facts claimed to constitute the a.What is the remedy in case a person lost his certificate of title?
movant’s meritorious cause of action or defense.
i.It depends.
a.Reason: Equally evident as it would be useless, a waste of time, to set
aside the judgment and reopen the case to allow the movant to adduce 1.If what is lost is the OCT or TCT – Reconstitution of certificate of title;
evidence when he has no valid causes of action or meritorious defense.
2.If, however, it is the duplicate of the OCT or TCT –Replacement of lost duplicate certificate
g.Definition of Terms: of title.

i.Fraud to be ground for nullity of a judgment must be extrinsic to the litigation. 11)Reconstitution of Certificate of Title

1.Extrinsic fraud- refers to any fraudulent act of the successful party in a litigation which is a.What is the remedy in case a certificate of title is lost or destroyed?
committed outside the trial of a case against the defeated party, or his agents, attorneys or
witnesses, whereby said defeated party is prevented from presenting fully and fairly his side of i.Remedy is reconstitution of lost or destroyed certificate of title in the office of Register of
the case. Deeds in accordance with R.A. 26

2.Intrinsic fraud- refers to acts of a party in a litigation during the trial, such as the use of b.What is reconstitution of certificate of title?
forged instruments or perjured testimony, which did not affect the presentation of the case, but
did prevent a fair and just determination of the case.
 i.The restoration of the instrument which is supposed to have been lost or destroyed in its 4.Petitioner must have the duplicate copy of the certificate of title (RA No. 6732)
original form and condition, under the custody of Register of Deeds.
12)Replacement of Lost Duplicate Certificate of Title
c.What is the purpose of reconstitution of title?
a.If what is lost or destroyed is the duplicate title, is reconstitution the proper remedy?
i.To have the same reproduced, after proper proceedings, in the same form they were when the
loss or destruction occurred. i.No. When the duplicate title of the landowner is lost, the proper petition is not reconstitution of title, but
one filed with the court for issuance of new title in lieu of the lost copy.
d.Does reconstitution determine ownership of land covered by a lost or destroyed certificate of title?
b.Who are the persons entitled to a Duplicate Certificate of Title?
i.A reconstituted title, by itself, does not determine or resolve the ownership of the land covered
by the lost or destroyed title. The reconstitution of a title is simply the re-issuance of a lost i.Registered owner
duplicate certificate of title in its original form and condition. It does not determine or resolve
the ownership of the land covered by the lost or destroyed title. A reconstituted title, like the ii.Each co-owner
original certificate of title, by itself does not vest ownership of the land or estate covered
thereby.

e.May a writ of possession be issued in a petition for reconstitution?

c.What are the requirements for the replacement of lost duplicate certificate of title?
i.No, because, reconstitution does not adjudicate ownership over the property. A writ of
i.Due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone is his behalf to the Register of Deeds of
possession is issued to place the applicant-owner in possession.
the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered.

f.What are the elements of reconstitution of certificates of title?

ii.Petition for replacement should be filed with the RTC of the province or city where the land lies.

i.Certificate has been lost or destroyed;

iii.Notice to Solicitor General by petitioner is not imposed by law but it is the Register of Deeds who should
request for representation by the Solicitor General.
ii.Petitioner is the registered owner or has an interest therein; and
iv.A proceeding where the certificate of title was not in fact lost or destroyed is null and void for lack of
iii.Certificate was in force at the time it was lost or destroyed. jurisdiction and the newly issued duplicate is null and void.

g.What are the jurisdictional requirements in petitions for reconstitution of title? 13)Amendment or Correction of Title

i.Notice thereof shall be: a.What are the grounds for amendment or correction of certificate of title?

1.Published twice in successive issues of the Official Gazette; i.When registered interests of any description, whether vested, contingent or inchoate have terminated
and cease;
2.Posted on the main entrance of the provincial building and of the municipal building
of the municipality or city, where the land is situated; and ii.When new interests have arisen or been created which do not appear upon the certificate;

3.Sent by registered mail to every person named in said notice. iii.When any error, omission or mistake was made in entering a certificate or any memorandum thereon or
on any duplicate certificate;
Note: The above requirements are mandatory and jurisdictional
iv.When the name of any person on the certificate has been changed;
h.What are the kinds of reconstitution of title?
v.When the registered owner has been married, or registered as married, the marriage has terminated
i.Judicial - partakes the nature of a land registration proceeding in rem. The registered owners, and no right or interest of heirs or creditors will thereby be affected;
assigns, or any person having an interest in the property may file a petition for that purpose
with RTC where property is located. RD is not the proper party to file the petition. vi.When a corporation, which owned registered land and has been dissolved, has not conveyed the same
within 3 years after its dissolution; or
ii.Administrative may be availed of only in case of:
vii.When there is a reasonable ground for the amendment or alteration of title.
1.Substantial loss or destruction of the original land titles due to fire, flood, or other
force majeure as determined by the Administrator of the Land Registration Authority b.What are the requisites for the amendment or correction of title?

2.The number of certificates of title lost or damaged should be at least 10% of the i.It must be filed in the original case;
total number in the possession of the Office of the Register of Deeds
ii.By the registered owner or a person in interest;
3.In no case shall the number of certificates of title lost or damaged be less than P500
iii.On grounds enumerated
 iv.All parties must be notified; ii.Ting v. Heirs of Diego Lirio, 518 scra 334 (2007)

v.There is unanimity among them; and Section 30 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 or the Property Registration Decree provides:

vi.Original decree must not be opened. The judgment rendered in a land registration proceeding becomes final upon the expiration of thirty days to be
counted from the date of receipt of notice of the judgment.
14)Cancellation of Title
In a registration proceeding instituted for the registration of a private land, with or without opposition, the judgment
a.What are the grounds for cancellation of title? of the court confirming the title of the applicant or oppositor, as the case may be, and ordering its registration in his
name constitutes, when final, res judicata against the whole world. It becomes final when no appeal within the
i.When title is void; reglementary period is taken from a judgment of confirmation and registration.

ii.Title is replaced by one issued under a cadastral proceeding; or iii. Gomez v. CA, 168 SCRA 503 (1988)

iii.When condition for its issuance has been violated by the registered owner. Unlike ordinary civil actions, the adjudication of land in a cadastral or land registration proceeding does not become
final, in the sense of incontrovertibility until after the expiration of one (1) year after the entry of the final decree of
registration. The Court, in several decisions, has held that as long as a final decree has not been entered by the
15)Surrender of Withheld Duplicate Certificate of Title
Land Registration Commission (now NLTDRA) and the period of one (1) year has not elapsed from date of entry of
such decree, the title is not finally adjudicated and the decision in the registration proceeding continues to be under
a.What are the grounds for surrender of withheld duplicate certificate of title? the control and sound discretion of the court rendering it.

i.When it is necessary to issue a new certificate of title pursuant to any involuntary instrument which It is a settled rule that a homestead patent, once registered under the Land Registration Act, becomes indefeasible
divests the title of the registered owner against his consent; and incontrovertible as a Torrens title, and may no longer be the subject of an investigation for determination or
judgment in cadastral proceeding.
ii.Where a voluntary instrument cannot be registered by reason of the refusal or failure of the holder to
surrender the owner’s duplicate certificate of title; or E.CADASTRAL REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS

iii.Where the owner’s duplicate certificate is not presented for amendment or alteration pursuant to a A. ORDER FOR SPEEDY SETTLEMENT AND ADJUDICATION; SURVEY; NOTICES
court order.
i. Section 35. Cadastral Survey Preparatory to filing of petition.
16)Reversion
(a) When in the opinion of the President of the Philippines public interest so requires that title to any unregistered
a.What is meant by reversion? lands be settled and adjudicated, he may to this end direct and order the Director of Lands to cause to be made a
cadastral survey of the lands involved and the plans and technical description thereof prepared in due form.
i.It is an action instituted by the government, through the Solicitor General, for cancellation of certificate
of title and the consequential reversion of the land covered thereby to the State. (b) Thereupon, the Director of Lands shall give notice to persons claiming any interest in the lands as well as to the
general public, of the day on which such survey will begin, giving as fully and accurately as possible the description
ii.Note: The difference between reversion suit and action for declaration of nullity of title is that in the of the lands to be surveyed. Such notice shall be punished once in the Official Gazette, and a copy of the notice in
former, the allegations in the complaint would admit State ownership of the disputed land. On the other English or the national language shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the municipal
hand, action for declaration of nullity of title requires allegation of the plaintiff’s ownership of the building of the municipality in which the lands or any portion thereof is situated. A copy of the notice shall also be
contested lot prior to the issuance of free patent and certificate of title. sent to the mayor of such municipality as well as to the barangay captain and likewise to the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan and the Sangguniang Bayan concerned.
b.When does reversion apply?
(c)The Geodetic Engineers or other employees of the Bureau of Lands in charge of the survey shall give notice
i.Generally, reversion applies in all cases where lands of public domain and the improvements thereon and reasonably in advance of the date on which the survey of any portion of such lands is to begin, which notice shall be
all lands are held in violation of the Constitution. posted in the bulletin board of the municipal building of the municipality or barrio in which the lands are situated,
and shall mark the boundaries of the lands by monuments set up in proper places thereon. It shall be lawful for such
c.What are the grounds for reversion of lands covered by a patent? Geodetic Engineers and other employees to enter upon the lands whenever necessary for the purposes of such
survey or the placing of monuments.
i.Violation of Sections 118, 120, 121 and 122, Public Land Act (e.g. alienation or sale of homestead
executed within the 5 year prohibitory period) (d)It shall be the duty of every person claiming an interest in the lands to be surveyed, or in any parcel thereof, to
communicate with the Geodetic Engineer upon his request therefor all information possessed by such person
concerning the boundary lines of any lands to which he claims title or in which he claims any interest.
ii.When land patented and titled is not capable of registration

(e)Any person who shall willfully obstruct the making of any survey undertaken by the Bureau of Lands or by a
iii.Failure of the grantee to comply with the conditions imposed by law to entitle him to a patent grant
licensed Geodetic Engineer duly authorized to conduct the survey under this Section, or shall maliciously interfere
with the placing of any monument or remove such monument, or shall destroy or remove any notice of survey
iv.When the area is an expanded area
posted on the land pursuant to law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand pesos or by
imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
v.When the land is acquired in violation of the Constitution (e.g. land acquired by an alien may be
reverted to the State)
B.PETITION; LOT NUMBERS D. HEARING; JUDGMENT; DECREE

ii. Section 36. Petition for registration. iv. Section 38. Hearing, Judgment, Decree.

When the lands have been surveyed or plotted, the Director of Lands, represented by the Solicitor General, shall The trial of the case may occur at any convenient place within the province in which the lands are situated and shall
institute original registration proceedings by filing the necessary petition in the Court of First Instance of the place be conducted, and orders for default and confessions entered, in the same manner as in ordinary land registration
where the land is situated against the holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of such lands or any part proceedings and shall be governed by the same rules. All conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the court and
thereof, stating in substance that public interest requires that the title to such lands be settled and adjudicated and decrees awarded in favor of the persons entitled to the lands or to parts thereof and such decrees shall be the basis
praying that such titles be so settled and adjudicated: for issuance of original certificates of title in favor of said persons and shall have the same effect as certificates of
title granted on application for registration of land under ordinary land registration proceedings.
The petition shall contain a description of the lands and shall be accompanied by a plan thereof, and may contain
such other data as may serve to furnish full notice to the occupants of the lands and to all persons who may claim v. Tan Sing Pan v. Republic, 496 SCRA 189 (2006)
any right or interest therein.
Cadastral proceedings, like ordinary registration proceedings, are proceedings in rem, and are governed by the usual
Where the land consists of two or more parcels held or occupied by different persons, the plan shall indicate the rules of practice, procedure and evidence. A cadastral decree and a certificate of title are issued only after the
boundaries or limits of the various parcels as accurately as possible. The parcels shall be known as "lots" and shall applicants prove all the requisite jurisdictional facts: that they are entitled to the claimed lot; that all parties are
on the plan filed in the case be given separate numbers by the Director of Lands, which numbers shall be known as heard; and that evidence is considered.
"cadastral lot numbers". The lots situated within each municipality shall, as far as practicable, be numbered
consecutively beginning with number "one", and only one series of numbers shall be used for that purpose in each It is incumbent upon the petitioners to establish by positive proof that the publication requirement has been
municipality. However in cities or townsites, a designation of the landholdings by blocks and lot numbers may be complied with, what with the fact that they are the ones who stood to be benefited by the adjudication of the
employed instead of the designation by cadastral lot numbers. subject lot. Regrettably, they failed to present proof of publication of the Notice of Initial Hearing.

The cadastral number of a lot shall not be changed after final decision has been entered decreasing the registration All told, there being no indication at all from the records of the case that notice of the Order for Initial Hearing was
thereof, except by order of court. Future subdivisions of any lot shall be designated by a letter or letters of the published in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper of general circulation, without which the trial court did not
alphabet added to the cadastral number of the lot to which the respective subdivisions pertain. The letter with which acquire jurisdiction over the case, the decision rendered by the 7th MCTC of Atimonan-Plaridel, Quezon, confirming
a subdivision is designated shall be known as its "cadastral letter": Provided, however, that the subdivisions of cities petitioners' title over the subject lot is void ab initio for having been rendered without jurisdiction.
or townsites may be designated by blocks and lot numbers.
vi. Rodil v. Benedicto, 95 SCRA 137, (1980)
C.ANSWER
The Court is convinced that the respondent Judge committed an error in denying the petition for the issuance of a
iii.Section 37. Answer to petition in cadastral proceedings. writ of possession. The findings of the respondent Judge that a writ of possession cannot be issued in the cadastral
case because the respondents were not parties in said registration proceedings, or that they were not occupants of
Any claimant in cadastral proceedings, whether named in the notice or not, shall appear before the court by himself the land during the registration proceedings prior to the issuance of the final decree of registration is not supported
or by some other authorized person in his behalf, and shall file an answer on or before the date of initial hearing or by the evidence and law.
within such further time as may be allowed by the court. The answer shall be signed and sworn to by the claimant or
by some other authorized person in his behalf, and shall state whether the claimant is married or unmarried, and if The respondent heirs of Alejandro Abes cannot be said to be strangers to the registration proceedings. A cadastral
married, the name of the spouse and the date of marriage, his nationality, residence and postal address, and shall proceeding is a proceeding in rem and against everybody, including the respondents herein, who are deemed
also contain: included in the general order of default entered in the case. Besides, it appears that the said respondent heirs of

(a)The age of the claimant; Alejandro Abes filed a petition for the review of the decree of registration, thereby becoming a direct party in the
registration proceedings by their voluntary appearance.
(b)The cadastral number of the lot or lots claimed, as appearing on the plan filed in the case by the Director of
Lands, or the block and lot numbers, as the case may be; The respondent heirs of Alejandro Abes, being in possession of the lots in questionunlawfully and adversely, during
the registration proceedings, may be judicially evicted by means of a writ of possession and it is the duty of the
(c)The name of the barrio and municipality in which the lots are situated; registration court to issue said writ when asked for by the successful claimant.

(d)The names and addresses of the owners of the adjoining lots so far as known to the claimant; The respondents claim that the petition for the issuance of a writ of possession was filed out of time, the said
petition having been filed more than five years after the issuance of the final decree of registration.In the case
(e)If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no express grant of the land by the government of Manlapas and Tolentino vs. Lorente, which has not yet been abandoned, the Court stated that the right of the
to him or to his predecessors-in-interest, the answer shall state the length of time he has held such possession and applicant or a subsequent purchaser to ask for the issuance of a writ of possession of the land never prescribes.
the manner in which it has been acquired, and shall also state the length of time, as far as known, during which the
predecessors, if any, held possession; NOTES SECTIONS 35 38 of PRD:

(f)If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the land, the answer shall fully set forth the interest claimed 1)What is cadastral registration?
by him and the time and manner of his acquisition;
a.It is a proceeding in rem, initiated by the filing of a petition for registration by the government, not by
(g)If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value; and the persons claiming ownership of the land subject thereof, and the latter are, on the pain of losing their
claim thereto, in effect compelled to go to court to make known their claim or interest therein, and to
(h) The encumbrances, if any, affecting the lots and the names of adverse claimants, as far as known. substantiate such claim or interest.
2)Nature and purpose of cadastral proceedings a.Lands already decreed and registered in an ordinary registration proceeding cannot again be subject of
adjudication or settlement in a subsequent cadastral proceeding.
a.The purpose, as stated in Section 35(a), is to serve the public interest by requiring that the titles to any
unregistered lands be settled and adjudicated. b.A registration court has no jurisdiction to decree again the registration of land already decreed in an
earlier land registration case and a second decree for the same land is null and void. This is so because
b.The piecemeal and isolated registration of lands, so inadequate in more ways than one, is avoided. The when once decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction, the title to land thus determined is already res
principal aim is to settle as much as possible all disputes over land and to remove all clouds over land judicata, and binding on the whole world, the proceeding being in rem.
titles, as far as practicable, in a community.
7)Jurisdiction of the cadastral court over previously titled lands limited to the correction of technical errors in the
c.The object of a cadastral petition is to have the title to the various lots embraced in the survey be description of the land
settled and adjudicated.
a.Provided that such corrections do not impair the substantial rights of the registered owner of his title;
d.It is in the nature of a proceeding in rem, promoted by the Director of Lands, somewhat akin to a
judicial inquiry and investigation leading to a judicial decree. b.The cadastral court has jurisdiction to determine the priority or relative weight of two or more
certificates of title for the same land.
3)Procedure leading to the adjudication of property through cadastral proceedings
8)New titles may be issued for private lands within the cadastral survey
a.Cadastral survey preparatory to filing of petition
a.No modification or alteration can be permitted to be made in the Torrens title for the sole purpose of
b.Notice of survey and publication making the area of the and described therein agree with that given in the cadastral survey plan

c.Filing of petition for registration b.The new title issued under the cadastral system to a person who already holds a valid Torrens title must
include the whole land specified in the latter.
d.Publication
c.A decree entered by the court cannot be considered as permanent if the limits of the land therein
e.Filing of answer registered may be changed or the area thereof altered by a subsequent adjudication by the court.

f.Hearing of the petition 9)Cadastral answer may not be thrown out upon a mere motion of adverse claimants

g.Judgment; when title deemed vested a.Suppressing the presentation of evidence in support of claims would perpetuate conflicts over lands.

i.In the absence of fraud, title to land in a cadastral proceeding is vested on the owner upon the expiration 10)Amendment of the plan to include additional territory
of the period to appeal from the decision or adjudication by the cadastral court, without such appeal being
perfected; and from that time the land becomes registered property which cannot be lost by adverse a.An order of a court in a cadastral case amending the official plan so as to make it include land not
possession. The certificate of tile would then be necessary for purposes of effecting registration of previously included therein is a nullity unless new publication is made.
subsequent disposition of the land where court proceedings would no longer be necessary.
b.Publication is one of the essential bases of the jurisdiction of the court in land registration and cadastral
4)Actions taken in a cadastral proceeding cases, and additional territory cannot be included by amendment of the plan without new publication.

a.First - adjudicates ownership in favor of one of the claimants. This constitutes the decision the 11)When title to land in a cadastral case is vested
judgment the decree of the court, and speaks in a judicial manner.
a.In a cadastral case, title of ownership on the land is vested upon the owner upon the expiration of the
b.Second action is the declaration by the court that the decree is final and its order for the issuance of the period to appeal from the decision or adjudication by the cadastral court, without such an appeal having
certificate of title by the Administrator of the Land Registration Authority. been perfected.

c.Third and last action devolves upon the Land Registration Authority. This office has been instituted in b.In other words, upon the promulgation of the order issuance of a decree, the land, for all intents and
order to have a more efficient execution of the laws relative to the registration of lands and to issue purposes, had become, from that time, registered property which could not be acquired by adverse
decrees of registration pursuant to final judgments of the courts in land registration proceedings. possession.

5)Only unregistered lands may be the subject of a cadastral survey c.The certificate of title would then be necessary for purposes of effecting registration of subsequent
disposition of the land where court proceedings would no longer be necessary.
a.As provided for in Section 35, the law would limit the cadastral survey to any unregistered lands such that
private lands are excluded. This interpretation appears to be reasonable considering that the object of cadastral d.As a general rule, registration of title under the cadastral system is final, conclusive and indisputable,
proceedings is to settle and adjudicate to lands. Private lands are obviously not contemplated since ownership after the lapse of the period allowed for an appeal.
thereof had already been finally determined and adjudicated.
12)Decision declaring land as public land not a bar to a subsequent action for confirmation of title over the same
6)Lands already titled cannot be the subject of cadastral proceedings land

13)Neither prescription nor laches may render inefficacious a decision in a land registration case
 a.In line with the doctrine of the inapplicability of prescription and laches in registration cases, it has been
held that the failure on the part of the administrative authorities to do their part in the issuance of the
decree of registration cannot oust the prevailing party from ownership of the land.

14)Cadastral court has no jurisdiction over a petition for reconstitution

a.A reconstituted title is ordered issued in an ordinary civil case, not in a cadastral proceeding for judicial
confirmation of imperfect title over unregistered property.

15)Neither prescription nor laches may render inefficacious a judgment in acadastral case

a.The mere fact that there has been a delay in the issuance of the corresponding certificate of title
pursuant to a decree of registration in a cadastral case will not render inefficacious the decision rendered
by the court on account of prescription or laches. The rule is that the failure on the part of the
administrative authorities to do their part in the issuance of the decree of registration cannot oust the
prevailing party from ownership of the land.

16)Issuance of writ of possession imprescriptible

a.It has been held that where respondent heirs were in possession of the lots in question, unlawfully and adversely,
during the cadastral proceedings, they may be judicially evicted by means of a writ of possession, the issuance of
which never prescribes. Respondent heirs cannot be said to be strangers since a cadastral proceeding is a
proceeding in rem and against everybody.