Basic Laws under the Torrens System Registration

I. Introduction
The Philippines uses the Torrens system of land registration. Under the system, the
recorded titles become absolute, indefeasible, imprescriptible, conclusive, and uncontestable
proof of ownership and cannot be altered, with the recorded owner as the absolute owner of
that property. It is also the process to formalize the ownership, and a publication or notice
against or to the third parties, including the government. There are basic laws under Torrens
System registration. These are the Land Registration Act (Act No. 496) that is judicial and
voluntary and first introduced the Torrens system in the Philippines; Cadastral Act (Act No.
2259)- judicial and compulsory ; Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act No. 141) (and its
amendment) that introduces the administrative proceedings ; and Property Registration
Decree (Presidential Decree No. 1529) that codifies the laws on registration of the property.
In the Torrens System, the person who claimed an unregistered land or property must
apply for registration with the proper court to obtain the original registration of title to the
land. The submitted application will then be examined and investigated for the validity and
legality of the documents therein. If, after a hearing, the court finds that the applicant has title
proper for registration, a decree of confirmation and registration is entered to bind the land
and quiet the title to the land. The Commissioner of Land will then issue the corresponding
decree (decree of registration), which is subsequently transcribed by the relevant Register of
Deeds as an “Original Certificate of Title.”[1]. The certificate of title thereafter becomes the
basis of future transactions.

II. Discussion
1. Fundamental Laws
A. Land Registration Act (Act No. 496)

Discuss this law and provide the answers to these questions.

1. Who may apply or file an application for registration?

The following persons may make an application for registration of
title: The person or persons claiming to own the legal estate in fee simple;
have the power of appointing or disposing of the legal estate in fee simple;
infants or other persons under disability may make application by their legally
appointed guardians, but the person in whose behalf the application is made
shall be named as an applicant by the guardian; corporations may make
application by any officer duly authorized by vote of the directors[2].
2. What are the requirements for the application?
The applicant shall file with the application a plan of the land, a copy
of the description of the land, and all original muniments of title, having
reference to deeds and other written evidence of property title. The original
muniments are to be produced before the examiner or the court at the
hearing when required.
3. Who initiates the registration?
The owner or claimant of the property or land initiates the
registration as it is voluntary and will undergo a judicial process or
proceedings. It is done by filing a petition for registration in Court.
 4. What is the role of a Geodetic Engineer in this registration?
One of the requirements needed for the application is the plan of the
land, which a registered Geodetic Engineer does. They are employed to do
surveys for registration purposes or prepare maps, survey plans, and plats of
property. If a person claiming interest may appear and file an answer to the
notice made by the clerk of court, then the case shall be set down for hearing
on the motion of either party. The court may, in any case before the decree,
require a survey to be made to determine boundaries and may order durable
bounds to be set and referred to in the application by amendment [2].

B. Cadastral Act (Act No. 2259)

Discuss this law and provide the answers to these questions.

1. Who may apply or file an application for registration?

Any owner, holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of such lands
or private lands may answer the petition filed by the Government or the
Director of Lands, represented by the Solicitor General. The owner of the
private lands included in the cadastral survey shall file an answer to the
petition made by the Government and prove their right to that particular
property of land. Otherwise, the private land will revert or become public land
owned by the Government.
2. What are the requirements for the application?
The petition shall contain a description of the lands, accompanied by
a plan. It 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 [3].
3. Who initiates the registration?
The registration is through judicial proceedings and is compulsory.
The Government, or the Director of Lands, represented by the Solicitor
General, initiates the registration for the lands of the public domain to be
settled, identified, and registered. They file a petition in court for the
surveyed lands in the cadastral survey to be registered under the
Government.
4. What is the role of a Geodetic Engineer in this registration?
The Geodetic Engineers were employed to do surveys for registration
purposes or to prepare maps and plats of property. They determined the
metes and bounds of parcels of land. Surveyors shall define the boundaries of
the lands surveyed for registration purposes by means of monuments placed
thereon and shall indicate on the maps or plats the respective boundaries as
designated, both by the applicant for the survey and adverse claimants of
adjoining properties, but the work of survey and demarcation of the
boundaries of the lands as occupied by the said applicant need not be
suspended because of the presentation of any complaint or objections. [3].

C. Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act No. 141)

Discuss this law and provide the answers to these questions.

1. Who may apply or file an application for registration?

 Any citizen of the Philippines over the age of 18 years, head of the
family, and does not own and has not had the benefit of any gratuitous
allotment of more than 24 hectares of land (Homestead Settlement); and any
corporation or association 60% of which is Filipino owned may purchase
disposable public agricultural lands (By Sale and By Lease); any natural-born
citizen of the Philippines who is not the owner of more than twelve (12)
hectares and who, for at least 20 years prior to the effectivity of this
amendatory Act (By confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles:
administrative legalization (Free Patent )); and following-described citizens of
the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or claiming to own any
such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have NOT perfected or
completed (Judicial Legalization).
2. What are the requirements for the application?
Application fee; initial payment from bids; proof of Claims/Ownership
of the Land; Certified True Copy of Approved Survey Plan or Cadastral Map;
Copy of technical description; and all documents evidencing a right on the
part of the applicant to the land claimed.
3. Who initiates the registration?
Qualified Citizen of the Philippines who applied for Homestead
settlement, sale, lease, administrative legalization (free patent), and judicial
legalization. Any person or persons, corporation or association; owner,
claimant of the land whose titles have not yet perfected.
4. What is the role of a Geodetic Engineer in this registration?
Once the survey of a Geodetic Engineer was approved, which
contains the technical description of the land applied for, this is then used as
one of the requirements for application. A Geodetic Engineer surveys the
lands, and an exact plat is created by the Bureau of Lands for a patent to be
issued and concession or contract to be finalized[4].

D. Property Registration Decree (Presidential Decree No. 1529)

Discuss this law and provide the answers to these questions.

1. Who may apply or file an application for registration?

Section 14 of PD 1529 states that the following persons may file for
registration of title to land, whether personally or through their duly
authorized representatives: Those who have been in open, continuous,
exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and
disposable land since June 12, 1945, or earlier; have acquired ownership of
private lands by prescription; have acquired ownership of private lands or
abandoned river beds by right of accession or accretion; have acquired
ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law [5].
2. What are the requirements for the application?
The applicant shall file together with the application all original
muniments of titles or copies thereof and a survey plan of the land approved
by the Bureau of Lands.
3. Who initiates the registration?
 Owner or claimant of the property or land (Ordinary registration
proceedings); Government or Government, or the Director of Lands,
represented by the Solicitor General (Cadastral proceedings).
4. What is the role of a Geodetic Engineer in this registration?
The Geodetic Engineers are responsible for the survey and
demarcation, giving a proper description of the boundaries claimed by such
owners, occupants, or claimants. They shall mark the boundaries of the lands
by monuments set up in proper places thereon.

2. Important Provisions

Provide and discuss the answers to these questions.

1. What is/are the mode/s of payment for the disposition of agricultural lands
by sale, please describe each mode.
The mode of payment for the disposition of agricultural lands by sale
or purchase of the land is in cash. The deposited amount of money at the time
of biddings is the initial payment and is deducted from to purchase price of
the land. It can also be paid in full, or in such cases that the applicant or
purchaser cannot pay in full, will have the option of not more than ten equal
annual installments from the date of the award.
2. Who can’t apply for a lease of agricultural lands under CA 141?
According to CA 141, 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. No person, corporation, or
association shall be permitted to lease lands here-under which are not
reasonably necessary to carry on his business in ease 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 [4].
3. Discuss the procedure for auction in the disposition of agricultural lands by
sale and by lease.
The auction of the right to lease the land shall be conducted under
the same procedure as that prescribed for the auction sale of agricultural
lands. All bids must be sealed and addressed to the Director of Lands and must
have enclosed in addition to that cash or certified check, treasury warrant, or
post-office money order payable to the order of the Director of Lands; the
person shall deposit ten per centum of his bid in the sale and will serve as an
initial payment, while on the lease, a sum equivalent to rental for at least the
first three months of the lease. Upon opening the bids, the land shall be
awarded to the highest bidder.
4. What are the monuments of title and its difference from the certificate of
title?
The monuments of title are documents that serve as evidence of real
or personal property ownership. It includes all means of evidence that a
landowner can use to defend the title to a property, including deeds, wills,
and court judgments through which a particular land title passes [6]. The
monuments of title, with the plan of the land, and a copy of the description
of the land, are filed by the applicant for land registration. The certificate of
 title is the ending or goal of the land registration, while the latter is the
necessary initial process for application of registration. Wherein after these
documents are evaluated and been approved, the court will then issue an
order for the issuance of the decree of registration and the corresponding
certificate of title. It is an uncontestable proof of ownership and cannot be
altered.

III. Conclusion
The basic laws under the Torrens System Registration are either in judicial or
administrative proceeding whereby a person’s claim over a particular land is determined and
confirmed or recognized. Such land and the ownership thereof may be recorded in a public
registry. The judicial proceedings are done by filing petition for registration in Court, and
administrative proceedings by filing an appropriate application for patent (e.g. homestead) in
the Administrative body (DENR) and registration of this patent becomes the basis for issuance
of the Original Certificate of Title by the Register of Deeds [7]. The basic laws under Torrens
System registration were discussed as to who may apply or file an application for registration,
requirements for the application, who initiates the registration, and the role of a Geodetic
Engineer in the registration. Knowing and identifying these will guide the people as to what to
do, and no to do in the application for registration. This also constitutes the legal frame work
of the Torrens System. Geodetic Engineers role in land registration is consistent as the one
responsible for surveying the land or parcels of the applicant. The surveys, maps, and plate
of the property in question are submitted to the Bureau of Lands, for verification and
approval. These are then checked, and verified by the Director of Lands. The approved survey
plan, and technical description of the land are one of the documents needed and required for
the application. The applicant will undergo judicial or administrative proceedings to obtain
and vest the certificate of title.

IV. References

[1] J. Cervantes, “Real Estate Law,” [Online]. Available:

https://resourcehub.bakermckenzie.com/en/resources/global-corporate-real-estate-
[2] Department of Agrarian Reform, “Act.No.496,” [Online]. Available:
http://www.lis.dar.gov.ph/documents/2711.
[3] Land Management Bureau (LMB), “THE CADASTRAL ACT,” [Online]. Available:
https://lmb.gov.ph/index.php/resources/lmb-in-the-news/94-resources/v-laws-and-
policies/republic-acts/
[4] Land Management Bureau (LMB), “COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 141,” [Online].
Available: https://lmb.gov.ph/index.php/e-library/94-resources/v-laws-and-
policies/republic-acts/37-lb-commonwealth-act-no-141.
[5] DS Law, “Fundamentals of Land Registration,” [Online]. Available:
https://www.duranschulze.com/fundamentals-of-land-registration/.
[6] Legal Information Institute, “Muniment of Title,” [Online]. Available:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/muniment_of_title.
[7] M. Laserna, “Titling of public lands,” 2008, [Online]. Available:
https://attylaserna.blogspot.com/2008/04/titling-of-public-lands.html.