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Land Titles and Deeds by Gregorio G. Bilog, JR.: Book 1 Registration of Lands
Land Titles and Deeds by Gregorio G. Bilog, JR.: Book 1 Registration of Lands
by
Gregorio G. Bilog, Jr.
Book 1
REGISTRATION OF LANDS
INTRODUCTION
Purposes
1. To issue a certificate of title to the owner which shall be the best evidence
of his ownership of the land described therein;
4. To quiet title to land and to stop forever any question as to its legality;
Torrens System – the Torrens System of land registration was introduced in the
Philippines by Act. No. 496, which took effect on February 1, 1903.
This law was amended and superseded by Presidential Decree No. 1529, which took
effect on June 11, 1978, otherwise known as the “Property Registration Decree.” This is
the principal law now governing land registration in the Philippines.
The originator of the system was Sir Richard Torrens, reformer of Australian Land Laws.
Judicial Land Registration – is a proceeding where the application for land registration
is filed in the proper court.
The court, after hearing, shall render judgment confirming the title of the
applicant and ordering:
(a) the Land Registration Authority to issue the decree of registration; and,
If the application is granted, the DENR issues a patent for the land applied for. Such
patent shall be registered in the office of Register of Deeds who shall then issue the
corresponding certificate of title.
Original Certificate of Title – is the first title issued in the name of a registered owner
by the Register of Deeds covering a parcel of land which had been registered under the
Torrens System, by virtue of judicial or administrative proceeding.
Transfer of Certificate of Title – is the title issued by the Register of Deeds in favor of a
transferee to whom the ownership of the registered land has been transferred by virtue of
a sale or other modes of conveyance.
4. Department of Agriculture
Regalian Doctrine (or jura regalia) – is a time-honored Constitutional precept that all
lands of the public domain belong to the State, and that the State is the source of any
asserted right to ownership in land and charged with the conservation of such patrimony.
The 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitution of the Philippines adopted the universal feudal
theory that all lands belong to the crown, ownership, however, being vested in the State,
as such, rather than the head thereof.
Art. XII, Sec. 2 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines states that all lands of the
public domain and other natural resources are owned by the State; and that with the
exception of agricultural lands,all other natural resources shall not be alienated.
The theory of jura regalia was nothing more than a natural fruit of conquest. The regalian
theory does not negate native title to lands held in private ownership since time
immemorial. (Cruz vs Secretary of Environment and Natural resources, 347 SCRA 128)
SEVEN (7) STEPS IN JUDICIAL LAND REGISTRATION
3. Opposition to said application shall be filed by any person who claims the land or
interest therein;
6. Decree of Registration for the land shall be issued by the LRA Administrator;
and
7. Original Certificate of Title for the land shall be issued by the LRA
Administrator which shall then be entered by the Register of Deeds in his record
book. The owners duplicate of said certificate of title shall be given to the
registered owner thereof.
by law (Civil Code, Art. 712) – e.g. public grants; title to accretion in
river banks under Art. 457, Civil Code); title by escheat under the
Rules of Court, Rule 91
by donation
by prescription
1. In the RTC – it has the exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for original
registration of title of lands, including improvements and interests therein, and
over all petitions filed after original registration of title, with power to hear and
determine all questions arising upon such applications and petitions.
2. In the MTC and MCTC (if authorized by the Supreme Court) – to hear and
determine cadastral or land registration cases.
3. Verification – the application shall be signed by the applicant or the person duly
authorized in his behalf, and sworn to before any officer authorized
4. Application covering tow or more parcels of land may be included provided they
are situated in the same province or city
After the filing of the application and before the issuance of the decree of registration, the
land therein described may still be the subject of dealings in whole or in part.
STEP 2: PUBLICATION OF THE NOTICE OF THE INITIAL HEARING OF
SAID APPLICATION
Any person claiming the land or adverse interest therein, whether named in the notice or
not, may appear and file an opposition to the application for land registration on or before
the date of initial hearing, or within such further time as may be allowed by the court.
The opposition shall state all the objections to the application, the interest claimed by the
party filing the same, and apply for the remedy desired; it shall be signed and sworn to by
the oppositor or by some other duly authorized person.
Case Notes
A. Rules of Court
The Rules of Court shall, insofar as not inconsistent with the provisions of Presidential
Decree No. 1529, be applicable to land registration and cadastral cases by analogy or in a
suppletory character and whenever practicable and convenient.
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.
B. Evidence
1. To prove: that the Notice of Initial Hearing of the application has been
published, mailed, and posted as required by Law
(b) by virtue of possession of public land – the general rule is that public land
cannot be acquired by prescription because there can be no prescription against
the State
Case Notes:
Possession of the applicant for land application for land registration must
be under bonafide claim of ownership, which presupposes colorable title
or acquisition of land through some state grant.
Filipino Corporations: can acquire private lands – if the land was already
private at the time the corporation bought it from the seller, then the
prohibition in the Constitution against corporations holding alienable lands
of the public domain, except by lease, does not apply. Title and ownership
over lands within the meaning of the Constitutional prohibition dates back
to the time of their purchase, not later.
The owners of estates adjoining ponds or lagoons do not acquire the land
left dry by the natural decrease of the waters, nor lose those inundated by
them in extraordinary floods.
With the exception of agricultural land, lands of the public domain shall not
be alienated.
Case Notes
All lands not appearing to be clearly within private ownership are presumed to
belong to the State.
A. Judgment
Under the principle of res judicata, the Court and the parties, are bound by
such final decision, otherwise there will be no end to litigation.
A void judgment has no legal or binding effect for any purpose. It is a nullity,
and leaves the parties litigants in the same position they were in before the
trial.
After judgment of the land registration court has become final and executory, it shall
devolve upon the court to forthwith issue an order to the Administrator of LRA for the
issuance of the decree of registration and the corresponding certificate of title in the name
of the person adjudged entitled to registration.
The decree of registration shall bear the date, hour and minute of its entry, and shall be
signed by the Administrator of LRA. It shall state whether the owner id married or
unmarried, and if married, the name of husband or wife: provided however that if the
land adjudicated by the court is conjugal property, the decree shall be issued in the name
of both spouses.
Upon finality of judgment in the land registration cases, the winning party does not file a
motion for execution as in ordinary civil actions. Instead, he files a petition with the LRA
to issue a decree of registration, a copy of which is then sent to the Register of Deeds for
transcription in the registration book, and issuance of original certificate of title.
A writ of demolition must, likewise, issue, specially considering that the latter writ is but
a complement of the former.
Book 2
REGISTRATION OF DOCUMENTS INVOLVING LANDS
Part 1
DOCUMENTS DEALING WITH “TITLED LANDS”
A. PRELIMINARY
1. Definition of Terms
Titled land – refers to land which has been registered under the Torrens system and for
which a Torrens title issued in the name of registered owner thereof.
Untitled land – refers to land which has not been registered under the Torrens system,
hence, not covered by a Torrens title.
3. Ministerial Duty
The function of the Register of Deeds with reference to the registration of deeds,
encumbrances, instruments and the like is ministerial in nature.