PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No.

1529

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. Title of Decree. This Decree shall be known as the PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE.

Section 2. Nature of registration proceedings; jurisdiction of courts. 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.

Courts of First Instance shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for original registration of title
to 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 or petitions. The
court through its clerk of court shall furnish the Land Registration Commission with two certified copies of
all 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.

Section 3. Status of other pre-existing land registration system. The system of registration under the
Spanish Mortgage Law is hereby discontinued and all lands recorded under said system which are not yet
covered by Torrens title shall be considered as unregistered lands.

Hereafter, all instruments affecting lands originally registered under the Spanish Mortgage Law may be
recorded under Section 113 of this Decree, until the land shall have been brought under the operation of
the Torrens system.

The books of registration for unregistered lands provided under Section 194 of the Revised Administrative
Code, as amended by Act No. 3344, shall continue to remain in force; provided, that all instruments
dealing with unregistered lands shall henceforth be registered under Section 113 of this Decree.

A. APPLICATIONS

Section 14. Who may apply. The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an
application for registration of title to land, whether personally or through their duly authorized
representatives:

(1) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open,
continuous, 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.

(2) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of
existing laws.

(3) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of
accession or accretion under the existing laws.

(4) Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.

II
CADASTRAL REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS
A. ORDER FOR SPEEDY SETTLEMENT AND ADJUDICATION; SURVEY; NOTICES

Section 35. Cadastral Survey preparatory to filing of petition.

(a) When in the opinion of the President of the Philippines public interest so requires that title to
any unregistered 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.

(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 of the lands to be surveyed. Such notice shall be
punished once in the Official Gazette, and a copy of the notice in English or the national language
shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the municipal building of the
municipality in which the lands or any portion thereof is situated. A copy of the notice shall also be
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.

(c) The Geodetic Engineers or other employees of the Bureau of Lands in charge of the survey
shall give notice reasonably in advance of the date on which the survey of any portion of such
lands is to begin, which notice shall be 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 Geodetic Engineers and
other employees to enter upon the lands whenever necessary for the purposes of such survey or
the placing of monuments.

(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.

(e) Any person who shall willfully obstruct the making of any survey undertaken by the Bureau of
Lands or by a 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 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.

B. PETITION; LOT NUMBERS

Section 36. Petition for registration. When the lands have been surveyed or plotted, the Director of
Lands, represented by the Solicitor General, shall institute original registration proceedings by filing the
necessary petition in the Court of First Instance of the place where the land is situated against the
holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of such lands or any part thereof, stating in substance that
public interest requires that the title to such lands be settled and adjudicated and praying that such titles
be so settled and adjudicated:

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 any right or interest therein.

Where the land consists of two or more parcels held or occupied by different persons, the plan shall
indicate the boundaries or limits of the various parcels as accurately as possible. The parcels shall be
known as "lots" and shall on the plan filed in the case be given separate numbers by the Director of
Lands, which numbers shall be known as "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 municipality. However in cities or
townsites, a designation of the landholdings by blocks and lot numbers may be employed instead of the
designation by cadastral lot numbers.

The cadastral number of a lot shall not be changed after final decision has been entered decreasing the
registration thereof, except by order of court. Future subdivisions of any lot shall be designated by a letter
or letters of the alphabet added to the cadastral number of the lot to which the respective subdivisions
pertain. The letter with which a subdivision is designated shall be known as its "cadastral letter": Provided,
however, that the subdivisions of cities or townsites may be designated by blocks and lot numbers.

C. ANSWER

Section 37. Answer to petition in cadastral proceedings. Any claimant in cadastral proceedings, whether

named in the notice or not, shall appear before the court by himself or by some other authorized person in
his behalf, and shall file an answer on or before the date of initial hearing or 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
married, the name of the spouse and the date of marriage, his nationality, residence and postal address,
and shall also contain:

(a) The age of the claimant;

(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;

(c) The name of the barrio and municipality in which the lots are situated;

(d) The names and addresses of the owners of the adjoining lots so far as known to the claimant;

(e) If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no express grant of the land
by the government to him or to his predecessors-in-interest, the answer shall state the length of
time he has held such possession and 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;

(f) If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the land, the answer shall fully set forth the
interest claimed by him and the time and manner of his acquisition;

(g) if the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value; and

(h) The encumbrances, if any, affecting the lots and the names of adverse claimants, as far as
known.

D. HEARING; JUDGMENT; DECREE

Section 38. Hearing, Judgment, Decree. The trial of the case may occur at any convenient place within
the province in which the lands are situated and shall be conducted, and orders for default and
confessions entered, in the same manner as in ordinary land registration proceedings and shall be
governed by the same rules. All conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the court and decrees
awarded in favor of the persons entitled to the lands or to parts thereof and such decrees shall be the
basis 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.

COMMONWEALTH ACT 141

Section 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The Public Land Act.”

Section2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to the lands of the public domain; but timber and mineral
lands shall be governed by special laws and nothing in this Act provided shall be understood or construed
to change or modify the administration and disposition of the lands commonly called "friar lands'' and
those which, being privately owned, have reverted to or become the property of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines, which administration and disposition shall be governed by the laws at present in force or
which may hereafter be enacted.

Section3. The Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce shall be the executive officer charged with
carrying out the provisions of this Act through the Director of Lands, who shall act under his immediate
control.

Section4. Subject to said control, the Director of Lands shall have direct executive control of the survey,
classification, lease, sale or any other form of concession or disposition and management of the lands of
the public domain, and his decisions as to questions of fact shall be conclusive when approved by the
Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce.

Section5. The Director of Lands, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce shall
prepare and issue such forms, instructions, rules, and regulations consistent with this Act, as may be
necessary and proper to carry into effect the provisions thereof and for the conduct of proceedings arising
under such provisions.

CHAPTER II

CLASSIFICATION, DELIMITATION, AND SURVEY OF LANDS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, FOR THE
CONCESSION THEREOF

Section 6. The President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, shall
from time to time classify the lands of the public domain into —

(a) Alienable or disposable;

(b) Timber, and

(c) Mineral lands,

and may at any time and in a like manner transfer such lands from one class to another, for the purposes
of their administration and disposition.

Section7. For the purposes of the administration and disposition of alienable or disposable public lands,
the President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to
time declare what lands are open to disposition or concession under this Act.
Section8. Only those lands shall be declared open to disposition or concession which have been officially
delimited and classified and, when practicable, surveyed, and which have not been reserved for public or
quasi-public uses, nor appropriated by the Government, nor in any manner become private property, nor
those on which a private right authorized and recognized by this Act or any other valid law may be
claimed, or which, having been reserved or appropriated, have ceased to be so However, the President
may, for reasons of public interest, declare lands of the public domain open to disposition before the
same have had their boundaries established or been surveyed, or may, for the same reason, suspend
their concession or disposition until they are again declared open to concession or disposition by
proclamation duly published or by Act of the National Assembly.

Section9. For the purpose of their administration and disposition, the lands of the public domain alienable
or open to disposition shall be classified, according to the use or purposes to which such lands are
destined, as follows:

(a) Agricultural

(b) Residential commercial industrial or for similar productive purposes

(c) Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes

(d) Reservations for town sites and for public and quasi-public uses.

The President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, shall from time to
time make the classifications provided for in this section, and may, at any time and in a similar manner,
transfer lands from one class to another.

Section10. The words "alienation, "'disposition, or "concession" as used in this Act, shall mean any of the
methods authorized by this Act for the acquisition, lease, use, or benefit of the lands of the public domain
other than timber or mineral lands.

CHAPTER III

FORMS OF CONCESSION OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS

Section11. Public lands suitable for agricultural purposes can be disposed of only as follows, and not
otherwise:

(1) For homestead settlement

(2) By sale

(3) By lease

(4) By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles:

(a) By judicial legalization

(b) By administrative legalization (free patent).

Section12. Any citizen of the Philippines over the age of eighteen years, or the head of a family, who does
not own more than twenty-four hectares of land in the Philippines or has not had the benefit of any
gratuitous allotment of more than twenty-four hectares of land since the occupation of the Philippines by
the United States, may enter a homestead of not exceeding twenty-four hectares of agricultural land of
the public domain.

CHAPTER IV

SALE

Section22. Any citizen of lawful age of the Philippines, and any such citizen not of lawful age who is a
head of a family, and any corporation or association of which at least sixty per centum of the capital stock
or of any interest in said capital stock belongs wholly to citizens of the Philippines, and which is organized
and constituted under the laws of Philippines, and corporate bodies organized in the Philippines
authorized under their charters to do so; may purchase any tract of public agricultural land disposable
under this Act, not to exceed one hundred and forty-four hectares in the case of an individual and one
thousand and twenty-four hectares in that of a corporation or association, by proceeding as prescribed in
this chapter: Provided, That partnerships shall be entitled to purchase not to exceed one hundred and
forty-four hectares for each member thereof. But the total area so purchased shall in no case exceed the
one thousand and twenty-four hectares authorized in this section for associations and corporations.

CHAPTER V

LEASE

Section33. Any citizen of lawful age of the Philippines, and any corporation or association of which at
least sixty per centum of the capital stock or of any interest in said capital stock belongs wholly to citizens
of the Philippines, and which is organized and constituted under the laws of the Philippines, may lease
any tract of agricultural public land available for lease under the provisions of this Act, not exceeding a
total of one thousand and twenty-four hectares. If the land leased is adapted to and be devoted for
grazing purposes, an area not exceeding two thousand hectares may be granted. No member,
stockholder, of officer, representative, attorney, agent, employee or bondholder of any corporation or
association holding or controlling agricultural public land shall apply, directly or indirectly, for agricultural
public land except under the homestead and free patent provisions of this Act: Provided, That no lease
shall be permitted to interfere with any prior claim by settlement or occupation, until the consent of the
occupant or settler is first had, or until such claim shall be legally extinguished, and no person,
corporation, or association shall be permitted to lease lands here-under which are not reasonably
necessary to carry on his business in case of an individual, or the business for which it was lawfully
created and which it may lawfully pursue in the Philippines, if an association or corporation.

CHAPTER VI

FREE PATENTS

Section44. Any natural-born citizen of the Philippines who is not the owner of more than twenty-four
hectares and who since July fourth, nineteen hundred and twenty-six or prior thereto, has continuously
occupied and cultivated, either by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest, a tract or tracts of
agricultural public lands subject to disposition, or who shall have paid the real estate tax thereon while
same has not been occupied by any person shall be entitled, under the provisions of this chapter, to have
a free patent issued to him for such tract or tracts of such land not to exceed twenty-four hectares.

A member of the national cultural minorities who has continuously occupied and cultivated, either by
himself or through his predecessors-in-interest, a tract or tracts of land, whether disposable or not since
July 4, 1955, shall be entitled to the right granted in the preceding paragraph of this section: Provided,
That at the time he files his free patent application he is not the owner of any real property secured or
disposable under this provision of the Public Land Law

CHAPTER VII

JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION OF IMPERFECT OR INCOMPLETE TITLES

Section47. The persons specified in the next following section are hereby granted time, not to extend
beyond December 31, 1987 within which to take advantage of the benefit of this chapter: Provided, That
this extension shall apply only 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 acting under this chapter at any time prior to the
period fixed by the President.
 RA NO. 8371 (IPRA LAW)

AN ACT TO RECOGNIZE, PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS

CULTURALCOMMUNITIES/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, CREATING A NATIONAL COMMISSION ON
INDIGENOUSPEOPLES, ESTABLISHING IMPLEMENTING MECHANISMS, APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR, ANDFOR OTHER PURPOSES

CHAPTER I

General Provisions

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as “The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policies. — The State shall recognize and promote all the rights of
Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) hereunder enumerated within the
framework of the Constitution:

a) The State shall recognize and promote the rights of ICCs/IPs within the framework of national unity and
development;

b) The State shall protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains to ensure their economic,
social and cultural well-being and shall recognize the applicability of customary laws governing property
rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain;

c) The State shall recognize, respect and protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to preserve and develop their
cultures, traditions and institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national laws and
policies;

d) The State shall guarantee that members of the ICCs/IPs regardless of sex, shall equally enjoy the full
measure of human rights and freedoms without distinction or discrimination;

e) The State shall take measures, with the participation of the ICCs/IPs concerned, to protect their rights
and guarantee respect for their cultural integrity, and to ensure that members of the ICCs/IPs benefit on
an equal footing from the rights and opportunities which national laws and regulations grant to other
members of the population; and

f) The State recognizes its obligations to respond to the strong expression of the ICCs/IPs for cultural
integrity by assuring maximum ICC/IP participation in the direction of education, health, as well as other
services of ICCs/IPs, in order to render such services more responsive to the needs and desires of these
communities. Towards these ends, the State shall institute and establish the necessary mechanisms to
enforce and guarantee the realization of these rights, taking into consideration their customs, traditions,
values, beliefs, interests and institutions, and to adopt and implement measures to protect their rights to
their ancestral domains.

CHAPTER II

Definition of Terms

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall mean:
a) Ancestral Domains — Subject to Section 56 hereof, refer to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs
comprising lands, inland 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 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 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 grounds, burial grounds, worship areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural
resources, and lands which may no longer be exclusively occupied by ICCs/IPs but from which they
traditionally had access to for their subsistence and traditional activities, particularly the home ranges of
ICCs/IPs who are still nomadic and/or shifting cultivators;

b) Ancestral Lands — Subject to Section 56 hereof, refers to land occupied, possessed and utilized by
individuals, families and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs since time immemorial, by themselves or
through their predecessorsininterest, under claims of individual or traditional group ownership,
continuously, to the present except 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 individuals/corporations, including, but not limited to, residential lots, rice terraces
or paddies, private forests, swidden farms and tree lots;

c) Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title — refers to a title formally recognizing the rights of possession
and ownership of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral domains identified and delineated in accordance with this
law;

d) Certificate of Ancestral Lands Title — refers to a title formally recognizing the rights of ICCs/IPs over
their ancestral lands;

e) Communal Claims — refer to claims on land, resources and rights thereon, belonging to the whole
community within a defined territory;

f) Customary Laws — refer to a body of written and/or unwritten rules, usages, customs and practices
traditionally and continually recognized, accepted and observed by respective ICCs/IPs;

g) Free and Prior Informed Consent — as used in this Act shall mean the consensus of all members of
the ICCs/IPs to be determined in accordance with their respective customary laws and practices, free
from any external manipulation, interference and coercion, and obtained after fully disclosing the intent
and scope of the activity, in a language and process understandable to the community;

h) Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples — refer to a group of people or

homogenous societies identified by selfascription 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 time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common
bonds of language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through
resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, nonindigenous religions and cultures,
became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include peoples
who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the
country, at the time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of nonindigenous religions and
cultures, or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social,
economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional
domains or who may haveresettled outside their ancestral domains;

i) Indigenous Political Structures — refer to organizational and cultural leadership systems, institutions,
relationships, patterns and processes for decisionmaking and participation, identified by ICCs/IPs such
as, but not limited to, Council of Elders, Council of Timuays, Bodong Holders, or any other tribunal or
body of similar nature;

j) Individual Claims — refer to claims on land and rights thereon which have been devolved to
individuals, families and clans including, but not limited to, residential lots, rice terraces or paddies and
tree lots;

k) National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) — refers to the office created under this Act,
which shall be under the Office of the President, and which shall be the primary government agency
responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies, plans and programs to recognize, protect
and promote the rights of ICCs/IPs;

l) Native Title — refers to preconquest rights to lands and domains which, as far back as memory
reaches, have been held under a claim of private ownership by ICCs/IPs, have never been public lands
and are thus indisputably presumed to have been held that way since before the Spanish Conquest;

m) Nongovernment Organization — refers to a private, nonprofit voluntary organization that has been
organized primarily for the delivery of various services to the ICCs/IPs and has an established track
record for effectiveness and acceptability in the community where it serves;

n) People’s Organization — refers to a private, nonprofit voluntary organization of members of an ICC/IP

which is accepted as representative of such ICCs/IPs;

o) Sustainable Traditional Resource Rights — refer to the rights of ICCs/IPs to sustainably use,
manage, protect and conserve a) land, air, water, and minerals; b) plants, animals and other organisms;
c) collecting, fishing and hunting grounds; d) sacred sites; and e) other areas of economic, ceremonial
and aesthetic value in accordance with their indigenous knowledge, beliefs, systems and practices; and

p) Time Immemorial — 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 devolved
to them, by operation of customary law or inherited from their ancestors, in accordance with their customs
and traditions.

CHAPTER III

Rights to Ancestral Domains

SECTION 4. Concept of Ancestral Lands/Domains. — Ancestral lands/domains shall 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 ICCs/IPs possess, occupy and use and to which
they have claims of ownership.

SECTION 5. Indigenous Concept of Ownership. — Indigenous concept of ownership sustains the view
that ancestral domains and all resources found therein shall serve as the material bases of their cultural
integrity. The indigenous concept of ownership generally holds that ancestral domains are the

ICC’s/IP’s private but community property which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold,
disposed or destroyed. It likewise covers sustainable traditional resource rights.

SECTION 6. Composition of Ancestral Lands/Domains. — Ancestral lands and domains shall consist
of all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs as referred under Sec. 3, items (a) and (b) of this Act.
SECTION 7. Rights to Ancestral Domains. — The rights of ownership and possession of ICCs/IPs to
their ancestral domains shall be recognized and protected. Such rights shall include:

a) Right of Ownership. — The right to claim ownership over lands, bodies of water traditionally and
actually occupied by ICCs/IPs, sacred places, traditional hunting and fishing grounds, and all
improvements made by them at any time within the domains;

b) Right to Develop Lands and Natural Resources. — Subject to Section 56 hereof, right to develop,
control and use lands and territories traditionally occupied, owned, or used; to manage and conserve
natural resources within the territories and uphold the responsibilities for future generations; to benefit and
share the profits from allocation and utilization of the natural resources found therein; the right to
negotiate the terms and conditions for the exploration of natural resources in the areas for the purpose of
ensuring ecological, environmental protection and the conservation measures, pursuant to national and
customary laws; the right to an informed and intelligent participation in the formulation and implementation
of any project, government or private, that will affect or impact upon the ancestral domains and to receive
just and fair compensation for any damages which they may sustain as a result of the project; and the
right to effective measures by the government to prevent any interference with, alienation and
encroachment upon these rights;

c) Right to Stay in the Territories. — The right to stay in the territory and not to be removed therefrom.
No ICCs/IPs will be relocated without their free and prior informed consent, nor through any means other
than eminent domain. Where relocation is considered necessary as an exceptional measure, such
relocation shall take place only with the free and prior informed consent of the ICCs/IPs concerned and
whenever possible, they shall be guaranteed the right to return to their ancestral domains, as soon as the
grounds for relocation cease to exist. When such return is not possible, as determined by agreement or
through appropriate procedures, ICCs/IPs shall be provided in all possible cases with lands of quality and
legal status at least equal to that of the land previously occupied by them, suitable to provide for their
present needs and future development. Persons thus relocated shall likewise be fully compensated for
any resulting loss or injury;

d) Right in Case of Displacement. — In case displacement occurs as a result of natural catastrophes,

the State shall endeavor to resettle the displaced ICCs/IPs in suitable areas where they can have
temporary life support systems: Provided, That the displaced ICCs/IPs shall have the right to return to
their abandoned lands until such time that the normalcy and safety of such lands shall be determined:
Provided, further, That should their ancestral domain cease to exist and normalcy and safety of the
previous settlements are not possible, displaced ICCs/IPs shall enjoy security of tenure over lands to
which they have been resettled: Provided, furthermore, That basic services and livelihood shall be
provided to them to ensure that their needs are adequately addressed;

e) Right to Regulate Entry of Migrants. — Right to regulate the entry of migrant settlers and
organizations into the domains;

f) Right to Safe and Clean Air and Water. — For this purpose, the ICCs/IPs shall have access to
integrated systems for the management of their inland waters and air space;

g) Right to Claim Parts of Reservations. — The right to claim parts of the ancestral domains which
have been reserved for various purposes, except those reserved and intended for common public welfare
and service; and

h) Right to Resolve Conflict. — Right to resolve land conflicts in accordance with customary laws of the
area where the land is located, and only in default thereof shall the complaints be submitted to amicable
settlement and to the Courts of Justice whenever necessary.
SECTION 8. Rights to Ancestral Lands. — The right of ownership and possession of the ICCs/IPs to
their ancestral lands shall be recognized and protected.

a) Right to transfer land/property. — Such right shall include the right to transfer land or property rights
to/among members of the same ICCs/IPs, subject to customary laws and traditions of the community
concerned.

b) Right to Redemption. — In cases where it is shown that the transfer of land/property rights by virtue
of any agreement or devise, to a nonmember of the concerned ICCs/IPs is tainted by the vitiated consent
of the ICCs/IPs, or is transferred for an unconscionable consideration or price, the transferor ICC/IP shall
have the right to redeem the same within a period not exceeding fifteen (15) years from the date of
transfer.

SECTION 9. Responsibilities of ICCs/IPs to their Ancestral Domains. — ICCs/IPs occupying a

dulycertified ancestral domain shall have the following responsibilities:

a) Maintain Ecological Balance. — To preserve, restore, and maintain a balanced ecology in the ancestral
domain by protecting the flora and fauna, watershed areas, and other reserves;

b) Restore Denuded Areas. — To actively initiate, undertake and participate in the reforestation of
denuded areas and other development programs and projects subject to just and reasonable
remuneration; and

c) Observe Laws. — To observe and comply with the provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations
for its effective implementation.

SECTION 10. Unauthorized and Unlawful Intrusion. — Unauthorized and unlawful intrusion upon, or
use of any portion of the ancestral domain, or any violation of the rights hereinbefore enumerated, shall
be punishable under this law. Furthermore, the Government shall take measures to prevent nonICCs/IPs
from taking advantage of the ICCs/IPs customs or lack of understanding of laws to secure ownership,
possession of land belonging to said ICCs/IPs.

SECTION 11. Recognition of Ancestral Domain Rights. — The rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral
domains by virtue of Native Title shall be recognized and respected. Formal recognition, when solicited by
ICCs/IPs concerned, shall be embodied in a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), which shall
recognize the title of the concerned ICCs/IPs over the territories identified and delineated.

SECTION 12. Option to Secure Certificate of Title Under Commonwealth Act 141, as amended, or the
Land Registration Act 496. — Individual members of cultural communities, with respect to their
individuallyowned ancestral lands who, by themselves or through their predecessorsininterest, have been
in continuous possession and occupation of the same in the concept of owner since time immemorial or
for a period of not less than thirty (30) years immediately preceding the approval of this Act and
uncontested by the members of the same ICCs/IPs shall have the option to secure title to their ancestral
lands under the provisions of Commonwealth Act 141, as amended, or the Land Registration Act 496.For
this purpose, said individuallyowned ancestral lands, which are agricultural in character and actually used
for agricultural, residential, pasture, and tree farming purposes, including those with a slope of eighteen
percent (18%) or more, are hereby classified as alienable and disposable agricultural lands. The option
granted under this section shall be exercised within twenty (20) years from the approval of this Act.
 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION OF 1987

PREAMBLE

We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane
society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common
good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of
independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality,
and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

ARTICLE I: National Territory

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced
therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its
terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular
shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the
Philippines.

ARTICLE II: State Policies

SECTION 21. The State shall promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform.

SECTION 22. The State recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities within the
framework of national unity and development.

ARTICLE III: Bill of Rights

SECTION 2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against
unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no
search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally
by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may
produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

ARTICLE IV: Citizenship

SECTION 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:

(1) Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution;

(2) Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;

(3) Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon
reaching the age of majority; and

(4) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

SECTION 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having
to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship
in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.

SECTION 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by law.

SECTION 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship, unless by their act
or omission they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.

SECTION 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be dealt with by law.
ARTICLE IX: Constitutional Commissions

B. The Civil Service Commission

SECTION 2

(1) The civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the
Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters.

(2) Appointments in the civil service shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined,
as far as practicable, and, except to positions which are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or
highly technical, by competitive examination.

(3) No officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended except for cause provided
by law.

(4) No officer or employee in the civil service shall engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or
partisan political campaign.

(5) The right to self-organization shall not be denied to government employees.

(6) Temporary employees of the Government shall be given such protection as may be provided by law.

SECTION 3. The Civil Service Commission, as the central personnel agency of the Government, shall
establish a career service and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness,
progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service. It shall strengthen the merit and rewards system,
integrate all human resources development programs for all levels and ranks, and institutionalize a
management climate conducive to public accountability. It shall submit to the President and the Congress
an annual report on its personnel programs.

SECTION 4. All public officers and employees shall take an oath or affirmation to uphold and defend this
Constitution.

SECTION 8. No elective or appointive public officer or employee shall receive additional, double, or
indirect compensation, unless specifically authorized by law, nor accept without the consent of the
Congress, any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind from any foreign government.

Pensions or gratuities shall not be considered as additional, double, or indirect compensation.

ARTICLE X: Local Government

General Provisions

SECTION 1. The territorial and political subdivisions of the Republic of the Philippines are the provinces,
cities, municipalities, and barangays. There shall be autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the
Cordilleras as hereinafter provided.

SECTION 2. The territorial and political subdivisions shall enjoy local autonomy.

SECTION 10. No province, city, municipality, or barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or
its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria established in the Local
Government Code and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite in the political
units directly affected.

Autonomous Region

SECTION 15. There shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras
consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities, and geographical areas sharing common and distinctive
historical and cultural heritage, economic and social structures, and other relevant characteristics within
the framework of this Constitution and the national sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the
Republic of the Philippines.

ARTICLE XII: National Economy and Patrimony

SECTION 2. 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. 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 State may directly undertake such activities, or it may
enter into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or
corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital 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
use may be the measure and limit of the grant.

The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive
economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.

The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens, as well
as cooperative fish farming, with priority to subsistence fishermen and fish workers in rivers, lakes, bays,
and lagoons.

SECTION 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands,
and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further classified by law according to
the uses which they may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural
lands. Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except
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. 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.

Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and subject to the
requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law, the size of lands of the public
domain which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions therefor.

SECTION 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine by law the specific limits of forest lands
and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and
national parks shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by law. The
Congress shall provide, for such period as it may determine, measures to prohibit logging in endangered
forests and watershed areas.

SECTION 5. The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national development policies
and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to
ensure their economic, social, and cultural well-being.

The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in
determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.

SECTION 6. The use of property bears a social function, and all economic agents shall contribute to the
common good. Individuals and private groups, including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective
organizations, shall have the right to own, establish, and operate economic enterprises, subject to the
duty of the State to promote distributive justice and to intervene when the common good so demands.

SECTION 7. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed
except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.
SECTION 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this Article, a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to
limitations provided by law.

SECTION 22. Acts which circumvent or negate any of the provisions of this Article shall be considered
inimical to the national interest and subject to criminal and civil sanctions, as may be provided by law.

ARTICLE XIII: Social Justice and Human Rights

SECTION 1. The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and
enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities,
and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.

To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and its
increments.

Agrarian and Natural Resources Reform

SECTION 4. The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program founded on the right of
farmers and regular farmworkers, who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in
the case of other farmworkers, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall
encourage and undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and
reasonable retention limits as the Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological, developmental,
or equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just compensation. In determining retention limits,
the State shall respect the right of small landowners. The State shall further provide incentives for
voluntary land-sharing.

SECTION 5. The State shall recognize the right of farmers, farmworkers, and landowners, as well as
cooperatives, and other independent farmers’ organizations to participate in the planning, organization,
and management of the program, and shall provide support to agriculture through appropriate technology
and research, and adequate financial, production, marketing, and other support services.

SECTION 6. The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform or stewardship, whenever applicable
in accordance with law, in the disposition or utilization of other natural resources, including lands of the
public domain under lease or concession suitable to agriculture, subject to prior rights, homestead rights
of small settlers, and the rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral lands.

The State may resettle landless farmers and farmworkers in its own agricultural estates which shall be
distributed to them in the manner provided by law.

SECTION 7. The State shall protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local communities,
to the preferential use of local marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore. It shall provide
support to such fishermen through appropriate technology and research, adequate financial, production,
and marketing assistance, and other services. The State shall also protect, develop, and conserve such
resources. The protection shall extend to offshore fishing grounds of subsistence fishermen against
foreign intrusion. Fish workers shall receive a just share from their labor in the utilization of marine and
fishing resources.

SECTION 8. The State shall provide incentives to landowners to invest the proceeds of the agrarian
reform program to promote industrialization, employment creation, and privatization of public sector
enterprises. Financial instruments used as payment for their lands shall be honored as equity in
enterprises of their choice.

Urban Land Reform and Housing

SECTION 9. The State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the public
sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable
cost decent housing and basic services to underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and
resettlements areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the
implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small property owners.
 ACT NO. 2259

THE CADASTRAL ACT

SECTION 1.  When, in the opinion of the Governor-General (now the President), the public interests
require that the title to any lands be settled and adjudicated, he may to this end order the Director of
Lands to make a survey and plan thereof. (As amended by Sec. 1850, Act No. 2711.)

The Director of Lands shall, thereupon, give notice to persons claiming an interest in the lands, and to the
general public, of the day on which such survey will begin, giving as full and accurate a description as
possible of the lands to be surveyed. Such notice shall be published in two successive issues of the
Official Gazette, and a copy of the notice in the English and Spanish languages shall be posted in a
conspicuous place on the chief municipal building of the municipality, township or settlement in which the
lands, or any portion thereof, are situated. A copy of the notice shall also be sent to the president of such
municipality, township, or settlement, and to the provincial board. (As amended by Sec. 1851, Act No.
2711.)

SECTION 2.  The surveyor or other employees of the Bureau of Lands in charge of the survey shall give
reasonable notice to the day on which the survey of any portion of such lands is to begin, and shall post
such notice in the usual place on the chief municipal building of such municipality, township, or settlement
in which the lands are situated, and shall mark the boundaries of the lands by monuments set up at
proper places thereon. (As amended by Sec. 1852, Act No. 2711.) 

SECTION 3.  (Repealed by Act No. 2711.)

SECTION 4.  It shall be lawful for surveyors and other employees of the Bureau of Lands to enter upon
the lands whenever necessary for the making of such survey or for the placing of monuments. (As
amended by Sec. 1853, Act No. 2711.)

It shall be the duty of every person claiming an interest in the lands to be surveyed, or in any parcel
thereof, to communicate to the surveyor in charge 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. (As amended by Sec. 1584, Act No. 2711.)

Interference with surveys and monuments. Any person who shall interfere with the making of any survey
undertaken by the Bureau of Lands, or shall interfere with the placing of any monument in connection with
any such survey, or shall deface, destroy, or remove any monuments so placed, or shall alter the location
of any such monument, or shall destroy or remove any notice of survey posted on the land pursuant to
law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred pesos or by imprisonment for not more
than thirty days or both. (As amended by Section 2753, Act No. 2711.)

SECTION 5.  When the lands have been surveyed and platted, the Director of Lands represented by the
Attorney-General (now Solicitor General), shall institute registration proceedings, by petition against the
holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of such lands or any part thereof, stating in substance that
the public interests require that the titles to such lands be settled and adjudicated, and praying that such
titles be so settled and adjudicated.

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 any right or interest therein. (As amended by Sec. 1855, Act No. 2711.)
If the lands contain two or more parcels held or occupied by different persons, the plan shall indicate the
boundaries or limits of the various parcels as correctly as may be. The parcels shall be known as "lots"
and shall on the plans filed in the case be given separate numbers by the Director of Lands, which
numbers shall be known is "cadastral numbers." The lots situated within each municipality, township or
settlement, shall, as far as practicable, be numbered consecutively, beginning with the number "one" and
only one series of numbers shall be used for that purpose in each municipality, township, or settlement.

In cities or townsites, a designation of the land holdings by block and lot numbers may be employed
instead of the designation by cadastral numbers and shall have the same effect for all purposes as the
latter. (As amended by Sec. 1856, .Act No. 2711.)

SECTION 6.  After final decree has been entered for the registration of a lot, its cadastral number shall
not be changed except by order of the Court of First Instance. Future subdivisions of any lot shall, with the
approval of said Court, be designated by a letter or letters of the alphabet added to the cadastral number
of the lot to which the respective subdivisions pertain. The letter with which a subdivision, is designated
shall be known as its "cadastral letter": Provided, however, That subdivisions of additions to cities or town
sites may, with the approval of the court, be designated by block and lot numbers instead of cadastral
numbers and letters.

All subdivisions under this section shall be made in accordance with the provisions of section forty-four of
Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six and the provisions of section fifty-eight of the said Act shall be
applicable to conveyances of lands so subdivided.

SECTION 7.  Upon the receipt of the order of the court setting the time for initial hearing of the petition,
the Chief of the General Land Registration Office shall cause notice thereof to be published twice, in
successive issues of the Official Gazette, in the English language. The notice shall be issued by order of
the court, attested by the Chief of the General Land Registration Office, and shall be in form substantially
as follows:

SECTION 8.  The return of said notice shall not be less than thirty days nor more than one year from the
date of issue. The Chief of the General Land Registration Office shall also. within seven days after the
publication of said notice in the Official Gazette, as hereinbefore provided, cause a copy of the notice to
be mailed to every person named therein whose address is known. Said official shall also cause a duly,
attested copy of the notice to be posted, in a conspicuous place on the lands included in the petition and
also in a conspicuous place upon the chief municipal building of the city, municipality, township, or
settlement in which the lands or a portion thereof are situated, by the sheriff of the province, or by his
deputy, or by such other person as may be designated by the Chief of the General Land Registration
Office, fourteen days at least before the return day thereof. A copy of the notice shall also be sent by
registered mail to the Mayor of the city, municipality, township, or settlement in which the lands are
situated and to the Provincial Governor. The court may cause other or further notice of the petition to be
given in such manner and to such persons as it may deem proper. (As amended by Sec. 4 of Republic
Act No. 96.)

SECTION 9.  Any person claiming any interest in any part of the lands, whether named in the notice or
not, shall appear before the Court by himself, or by some person in his behalf and shall file an answer on
or before the return day or 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 person in his behalf, and shall state whether the claimant
is married or unmarried, and, if married, the name of the husband or wife and the date of the marriage,
and shall also contain:

(a)               The age of the claimant.

(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.
(c)               The name of the barrio and municipality, township, or settlement in which the lots are
situated.

(d)               The names of the owners of the adjoining lots as far as known to the claimant.

(e)               If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no express grant of the land
by the Government to him or to his predecessors in interest, the answer shall state the length of time he
has held such possession and the manner in which it has been acquired, and shall also state the length of
time, as far as known, during which his predecessors, if any, held possession.

(f)                 If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the lands, the answer shall fully set forth
the interest claimed by him and the time and manner of its acquisition.

(g)               If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value.

(h)               The encumbrance, if any, affecting the lots and the names of the adverse claimants as far as
known.
 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 26

AN ACT PROVIDING A SPECIAL PROCEDURE FOR THE RECONSTITUTION OF TORRENS

CERTIFICATES OF TITLE LOST OR DESTROYED

Section 1. Certificates of title lost or destroyed shall be reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of
this Act

Section 2. Original certificates of title shall be reconstituted from such of the sources hereunder
enumerated as may be available, in the following order:

(a) The owner's duplicate of the certificate of title;

(b) The co-owner's, mortgagee's, or lessee's duplicate of the certificate of title;

(c) A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the register of deeds or by a legal
custodian thereof;

(d) An authenticated copy of the decree of registration or patent, as the case may be, pursuant to which
the original certificate of title was issued;

(e) A document, on file in the registry of deeds, by which the property, the description of which is given in
said document, is mortgaged, leased or encumbered, or an authenticated copy of said document showing
that its original had been registered; and

(f) Any other document which, in the judgment of the court, is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting
the lost or destroyed certificate of title.

Section 3. Transfer certificates of title shall be reconstituted from such of the sources hereunder
enumerated as may be available, in the following order:

(a) The owner's duplicate of the certificate of title;

(b) The co-owner's, mortgagee's, or lessee's duplicate of the certificate of title;

(c) A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the register of deeds or by a legal
custodian thereof;

(d) The deed of transfer or other document, on file in the registry of deeds, containing the description of
the property, or an authenticated copy thereof, showing that its original had been registered, and pursuant
to which the lost or destroyed transfer certificate of title was issued;

(e) A document, on file in the registry of deeds, by which the property, the description of which is given in
said document, is mortgaged, leased or encumbered, or an authenticated copy of said document showing
that its original had been registered; and

(f) Any other document which, in the judgment of the court, is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting
the lost or destroyed certificate of title.

Section 4. Liens and other encumbrances affecting a destroyed or lost certificate of title shall be
reconstituted from such of the sources hereunder enumerated as may be available, in the following order:
(a) Annotations or memoranda appearing on the owner's co-owner's mortgagee's or lessee's duplicate;

(b) Registered documents on file in the registry of deeds, or authenticated copies thereof showing that the
originals thereof had been registered; and

(c) Any other document which, in the judgment of the court, is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting
the liens or encumbrances affecting the property covered by the lost or destroyed certificate of title.
 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 456

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 456 - AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE REGISTRATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS
AFFECTING REAL PROPERTY WHICH IS DELINQUENT IN THE PAYMENT OF REAL ESTATE
TAXES

Section 1. No voluntary document by which real property or on interest therein sold, transferred,
assigned, mortgaged or leased shall be registered in the registry of property, unless the real estate taxes
levied and actually due thereon shall have been fully paid. If evidence of such payment is not presented
within fifteen days from the date of entry of said document in the primary entry book of the register of
deeds, the entry shall be deemed cancelled. A certificate of the provincial, city or municipal treasurer
showing that the real property involved is not delinquent in taxes shall be sufficient evidence for the
purposes of this Act.

Sec. 2. Every document of transfer or alienation of real property filed with the Register of Deeds shall be
accompanied with an extra copy of the same which copy shall be transmitted by said officer to the city or
provincial assessor, irrespective of whether said document has been registered or denied registration:
Provided, however, That the failure to furnish the Register of Deeds with a copy of the document of
transfer or alienation referred to in this section shall not invalidate an otherwise valid agreement.
 ACT NO. 1508

Chattel Mortgage Law

Section 1. The short title of this Act shall be “The Chattel Mortgage Law.”

Section 2. All personal property shall be subject to mortgage, agreeably to the provisions of this Act, and
a mortgage executed in pursuance thereof shall be termed chattel mortgage.

Section 3. Chattel mortgage defined. A chattel mortgage is a conditional sale of personal property as
security for the payment of a debt, or the performance of some other obligation specified therein, the
condition being that the sale shall be void upon the seller paying to the purchaser a sum of money or
doing some other act named. If the condition is performed according to its terms the mortgage and sale
immediately become void, and the mortgagee is thereby divested of his title.

Section 4. Validity. A chattel mortgage shall not be valid against any person except the mortgagor, his
executors or administrators, unless the possession of the property is delivered to and retained by the
mortgagee or unless the mortgage is recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the province in
which the mortgagor resides at the time of making the same, or, if he resides without the Philippine
Islands, in the province in which the property is situated: Provided, however, That if the property is
situated in a different province from that in which the mortgagor resides, the mortgage shall be recorded
in the office of the register of deeds of both the province in which the mortgagor resides and that in which
the property is situated, and for the purposes of this Act the city of Manila shall be deemed to be a
province.

Section 5. Form. A chattel mortgage shall be deemed to be sufficient when made substantially in
accordance with the following form, and shall be signed by the person or persons executing the same, in
the presence of two witnesses, who shall sign the mortgage as witnesses to the execution thereof, and
each mortgagor and mortgagee, or, in the absence of the mortgagee, his agent or attorney, shall make
and subscribe an affidavit in substance as hereinafter set forth, which affidavit, signed by the parties to
the mortgage as above stated, and the certificate of the oath signed by the authority administering the
same, shall be appended to such mortgage and recorded therewith.

Section 6. Corporations. When a corporation is a party to such mortgage the affidavit required may be
made and subscribed by a director, trustee, cashier, treasurer, or manager thereof, or by a person
authorized on the part of such corporation to make or to receive such mortgage. When a partnership is a
party to the mortgage the affidavit may be made and subscribed by one member thereof.

Section 7. Descriptions of property. The description of the mortgaged property shall be such as to
enable the parties to the mortgage, or any other person, after reasonable inquiry and investigation, to
identify the same.

If the property mortgaged be large cattle,” as defined by section one of Act Numbered Eleven and forty-
seven, 2 and the amendments thereof, the description of said property in the mortgage shall contain the
brands, class, sex, age, knots of radiated hair commonly known as remolinos, or cowlicks, and other
marks of ownership as described and set forth in the certificate of ownership of said animal or animals,
together with the number and place of issue of such certificates of ownership.

If growing crops be mortgaged the mortgage may contain an agreement stipulating that the mortgagor
binds himself properly to tend, care for and protect the crop while growing, and faithfully and without delay
to harvest the same, and that in default of the performance of such duties the mortgage may enter upon
the premises, take all the necessary measures for the protection of said crop, and retain possession
thereof and sell the same, and from the proceeds of such sale pay all expenses incurred in caring for,
harvesting, and selling the crop and the amount of the indebtedness or obligation secured by the
mortgage, and the surplus thereof, if any shall be paid to the mortgagor or those entitled to the same.

A chattel mortgage shall be deemed to cover only the property described therein and not like or
substituted property thereafter acquired by the mortgagor and placed in the same depository as the
property originally mortgaged, anything in the mortgage to the contrary notwithstanding.

Section 8. Failure of mortgagee to discharge the mortgage. If the mortgagee, assign, administrator,
executor, or either of them, after performance of the condition before or after the breach thereof, or after
tender of the performance of the condition, at or after the time fixed for the performance, does not within
ten days after being requested thereto by any person entitled to redeem, discharge the mortgage in the
manner provided by law, the person entitled to redeem may recover of the person whose duty it is to
discharge the same twenty pesos for his neglect and all damages occasioned thereby in an action in any
court having jurisdiction of the subject-matter thereof.

Section 13. When the condition of a chattel mortgage is broken, a mortgagor or person holding a
subsequent mortgage, or a subsequent attaching creditor may redeem the same by paying or delivering
to the mortgagee the amount due on such mortgage and the reasonable costs and expenses incurred by
such breach of condition before the sale thereof. An attaching creditor who so redeems shall be
subrogated to the rights of the mortgagee and entitled to foreclose the mortgage in the same manner that
the mortgagee could foreclose it by the terms of this Act.

Section 14. Sale of property at public auction; Officer’s return; Fees; Disposition of proceeds. The
mortgagee, his executor, administrator, or assign, may, after thirty days from the time of condition broken,
cause the mortgaged property, or any part thereof, to be sold at public auction by a public officer at a
public place in the municipality where the mortgagor resides, or where the property is situated, provided
at least ten days’ notice of the time, place, and purpose of such sale has been posted at two or more
public places in such municipality, and the mortgagee, his executor, administrator, or assign, shall notify
the mortgagor or person holding under him and the persons holding subsequent mortgages of the time
and place of sale, either by notice in writing directed to him or left at his abode, if within the municipality,
or sent by mail if he does not reside in such municipality, at least ten days previous to the sale.