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61 Register of Deeds Vs Chinabank
61 Register of Deeds Vs Chinabank
61 Register of Deeds Vs Chinabank
CHINABANK (1962)
Petitioner: Register of Deeds of Manila
Respondent: China Banking Corporation
Ponente: J. Dizon
By: Vida, John Michael
FACTS:
Alfonso Pangilinan (an employee of Chinabank) and
Guillermo Chua were charged in an information before the
CFI Manila for qualified theft on the 16 th of June, 1953,
involving money amounting to 275,000.00. Pangilinan and
his wife Belen eventually admitted their civil liability in favor
of Chinabank, and in doing so, executed a Deed of
Transfer in favor of Chinabank, transferring a parcel of land
in Manila, registered in the name of Belen.
Chinabank presented the Deed to the Register of Deeds on
the 24th of October for registration. However, because
Chinabank as transferee was alien-owned and therefore
barred from acquiring lands in the Philippines by virtue of
Section 5 (should be Section 1), Article XIII of the 1935
Constitution, the Register submitted the matter to the Land
Registration Commission, which decided against
Chinabank, holding that the Deed of Transfer in favor of
Chinabank, an alien-owned bank, is unregisterable for
being in contravention of the 1935 Constitution.
Chinabank argues that:
(a) The temporary holding of land by an alien-owned
commercial bank under a public instrument such as the
Deed of Transfer "bears no reasonable connection with the
constitutional purpose" of Section 1, Article XIII of the 1935
Constitution, and therefore such holding or acquisition "was
not within the contemplation of the framers of the
Constitution";
(b) The constitutional prohibition against alien landholding
does not preclude enjoyment by aliens of temporary rights
and land, and;
(c) Under the provisions of Section 25 (c) and (d) of RA 337
(the General Banking Act) an alien or an alien-owned
commercial bank may acquire land in the Philippines
subject to the obligation of disposing of it within 5 years
from the date of its acquisition.
SEC. 25. Any commercial bank may purchase, hold, and
convey real estate for the following purposes:
(c) Such shall be conveyed to it in satisfaction of debts
previously contracted in the course of its dealings;
(d) Such as it shall purchase at sales under judgments,
decrees, mortgages, or trust deeds held by it and such
as it shall purchase to secure debts due to it.
But no such bank shall hold the possession of any real
estate under mortgage or trust deed, or the title and
possession of any real estate purchased to secure any
debt due to it, for a longer period than five years.
The Land Registration Commission, on the other hand
argues that: