Standard Oil Co.

vs Jaranillo
44 PHIL 631
GR No. L-20329
March 16, 1923
FACTS
Gervasia de la Rosa, Vda. de Vera, who was renting a parcel of land in
Manila, constructed a building of strong materials thereon, which she
conveyed to Standard Oil Company of New York by way of chattel
mortgage.
When the mortgagee presented the deed to the Register of Deeds of
Manila for registration in the Chattel Mortgage Registry, Joaquin Jaranillo,
the Registrar refused to allow the registration on the ground that the
building was a real property, and therefore could not be the subject of a
valid chattel mortgage.
ISSUES
1. May the deed be registered in the chattel mortgage registry?
2. Whether the interests conveyed in the instrument are real or personal.
HELD
1. Yes. The Registrar's duty is MINISTERIAL in character.
There is no legal provision conferring upon him any judicial or quasi-
judicial power to determine or qualify the nature of the document
presented before him.
The determination of the nature of the property lies with the courts of
justice, and not by the Register of Deeds.
Moreover, the act of recording a chattel mortgage operates as
constructive notice of the existence of the contract, and the legal effects
of the contract must be discovered in the instrument itself in relation with
the fact of notice. Registration adds nothing to the instrument and affects
nobody's rights except as a speciefies of notice.
As such, the Registrar should therefore accept the legal fees being
tendered, and place the document on record.
2. Art.334 and 335 of the Civil Code do not supply an absolute criterion for
discriminating between real and personal property for the purpose of
applying the Chattel Mortgage Law.
It should also be noted that under given conditions property may have
character different from that imputed in said articles. Parties to a contract
may, by agreement, treat as personal property that which by nature would
be real property.
It is undeniable that the parties to a contract may by agreement treat
aspersonal property that which by nature would be a real property, as
long as no interest of third parties would be prejudiced thereby.
However, it should be reiterated that the determination of the nature of
the property, with reference to the placing of the document on record, is
neither a function or an authority granted to the Registrar of the Registry
of Deeds.

Standard Oil Co. v. Jaranillo

44 Phil. 631

FACTS: De la Rosa, who was renting a parcel of land in Manila, constructed a building of strong materials
thereon, which she conveyed to plaintiff Standard Oil Co. by way of chattel mortgage. When the
mortgagee was presenting the deed to the Register of Deeds of Manila for registration in the Chattel
Mortgage Registry, the Registrar refused to allow the registration on the ground that the building was a
real property, not personal property, and therefore could not be the subject of a valid chattel mortgage.

ISSUE: May the deed be registered in the chattel mortgage registry?

HELD: Yes, because the Registrar's duty is MINISTERIAL in character.There is no legal provision conferring
upon him any judicial or quasi-judicial power to determine the nature of the document presented before
him. He should therefore accept the legal fees being tendered, and place the document on record.