January 25, 2023

Mr. Mobarac Dimasindel

Rosary Heights
Cotabato City

Dear Mr. Dimasindel:

This legal opinion seeks to provide you with remedy under

the law regarding your lost certificate of land title bearing TCT
No. 1234 and OCT No. 5678.

The Facts:

As per our initial discussion, you said that you had been
looking for the original copies of the missing land titles for quite
some time now. One of which is a certificate of land title bearing
TCT No. 1234 and the other one bearing OCT No. 5678. You do
not have a copy of the owner’s duplicate copies and that both of
which had been certified by the Register of Deeds of Cotabato
City to be non existent in its system. In lieu of which, you had
been advised to verify the same from the Land Registration
Authority’s main office in Quezon City, among others, which you
heeded but unfortunately obtained the same empty results.

The Applicable Laws:

R.A. No 26 Section 1, 2 and 3 provide:

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 12 of the said Act further provides,

Petitions for reconstitution from sources enumerated in

sections 2(c), 2(d), 2(e), 2(f), 3(c), 3(d), 3(e) and/or 3(f) of this
Act, shall be filed with the proper Court of First Instance, by the
registered owner, his assigns, or any person having an interest in
the property. The petition shall state or contain, among other
things, the following: (a) that the owner's duplicate of the
certificate of title had been lost or destroyed; (b) that no co-
owner's mortgagee's or lessee's duplicate had been issued, or, if
any had been issued, the same had been lost or destroyed; (c) the
location, area and boundaries of the property; (d) the nature and
description of the buildings or improvements, if any, which do not
belong to the owner of the land, and the names and addresses of
the owners of such buildings or improvements; (e) the names and
addresses of the occupants or persons in possession of the
property, of the owners of the adjoining properties and all persons
who may have any interest in the property; (f) a detailed
description of the encumbrances, if any, affecting the property;
and (g) a statement that no deeds or other instruments affecting the
property have been presented for registration, or, if there be any,
the registration thereof has not been accomplished, as yet. All the
documents, or authenticated copies thereof, to be introduced in
evidence in support of the petition for reconstitution shall be
attached thereto and filed with the same: Provided, That in case
the reconstitution is to be made exclusively from sources
enumerated in section 2(f) of 3(f) of this Act, the petition shall be
further be accompanied with a plan and technical description of
the property duly approved by the Chief of the General Land
Registration Office, or with a certified copy of the description
taken from a prior certificate of title covering the same property.

Republic Act 6732 Section 1 amended Section 110 of P.D. 1529

which reads:

"Sec. 110. Reconstitution of Lost or Destroyed Original of Torrens

Title. - Original copies of certificates of titles lost or destroyed in
the offices of Register of Deeds as well as liens and encumbrances
affecting the lands covered by such titles shall be reconstituted
judicially in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Republic
Act No. 26 insofar as not inconsistent with this Decree. The
procedure relative to administrative reconstitution of lost or
destroyed certificate prescribed in said Act may be availed of only
in case of substantial loss or destruction of land titles due to fire,
flood or other force majeure as determined by the Administrator of
the Land Registration Authority: Provided, That the number of
certificates of titles lost or damaged should be at least ten percent
(10%) of the total number in the possession of the Office of the
Register of Deeds: Provided, further, That in no case shall the
number of certificates of titles lost or damaged be less than five
hundred (500).

"Notice of all hearings of the petition for judicial reconstitution

shall be furnished the Register of Deeds of the place where the
land is situated and to the Administrator of the Land Registration
Authority. No order or judgment ordering the reconstitution of a
certificate of title shall become final until the lapse of fifteen (15)
days from receipt by the Register of Deeds and by the
Administrator of the Land Registration Authority of a notice of
such order or judgment without any appeal having been filed by
any such officials."
Legislative Intent

The R.A. No. 26 specifically provides the owner of the land of

appropriate actions in cases where their certificate of title is lost or
destroyed. On the other hand R.A. no 6732 which amended P.D.
No. 1529 has simplified the process in filing a petition for the
reconstitution of title through administrative and judicial
reconstitution.

Analysis and Conclusion

Thus, taking into consideration the legislative intent and

applying the rule of reason, R.A. No. 26 shall apply to your case
because the title which you supposedly should have was either lost
or destroyed and that such was neither in the records of the
Registry of Deeds. However, you must be so certain that these
properties have been registered for it is a different action when
these have not been registered.

I am confident that the Court will grant the petition for

reconstitution especially so that said properties have been
registered and that you are in possession of such.

Recommendation

To invoke the R.A. No. 26 for petition for reconstitution,

you have to be definite that these properties have been registered
and under your name. That by filing the petition, certain
documents must be provided. If really the duplicate copy cannot
be found other documents such as the co-owner's, mortgagee's, or
lessee's duplicate of the certificate of title;

a certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the

register of deeds or by a legal custodian thereof; 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;
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 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 110 of Presidential Decree No. 1529, otherwise

known as the Property Registration Decree, as amended by R.A.
No. 6732, allows the reconstitution of lost or destroyed original
Torrens title. Based on the foregoing, reconstitution of a lost or
destroyed certificate of title may be done judicially, in accordance
with the special procedure laid down in R.A. No. 26;20 or
administratively, in accordance with the provisions of R.A. No.
6732 by filing the Petition for Reconstitution with the RTC,
(Marcelino De La Paz vs Republic of the Philippines G. R. No
159726, May 2017). Hence, the petition for reconstitution may be
done judicially and administratively in certain cases. However, in
your case, since the duplicate title cannot be found reconstitution
shall be done judicially.

I appreciate the opportunity to share to you my legal

knowledge about this matter. Please let me know if you wish to
discuss this further.

Yours faithfully,

(Sgd) LEGAL COUNSEL