Sec. 47.

Registered land not subject to prescription- no title to registered land in derogation of the title
of the registered owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession.
Prescription and adverse possession can never militate against the right of a registered owner since a
title, once registered, cannot be defeated even by adverse, open and notorious possession. Adverse
possession of real property for the requisite period confers title as effectually as any paper title, but
such title cannot be acquired against a title registered under the provisions of the property registration
decree.
A property registered under the torrens system is not subject to prescription. Prescription is unavailing
not only against the registered owner but also against his heriditatry successors because the latter
merely step into the shoeas of the decedent by operation of law. The legal heirs of a deceased may file
an action arising out of a right belonging to their ancestor, without need of a separate judicial
declaration of their status as such, provided there is no pending special proceeding for the settlement of
the decedents estate.
A title over a property is evidence of ownership. It is a fundamental principle in land registration that the
certificate of title serves as evidence of an indefeasible and incontrovertible tile to the property in favor
of the person whose name appears therein. It is a rule that an owner is entitled to possession as well.