1. AVILA vs. TAPUCAR Registration does not vest title.

It is not a mode of acquiring ownership but is merely evidence of such title over a particular property. It does not give the holder any better right that what he actually has, especially if the registration was done in bad faith. The effect is that it is as if no registration was made at all.

and whosoever is minded to oppose it, may do so within 30 days before the date set by the court for hearing the petition. It is the publication of such notice that brings in the whole world as a party and vests the court with jurisdiction to hear the case. In this case, the petitioner did not oppose the institution of land registration proceedings despite notice of publication. Failure to oppose the same at its institution, petitioner is now stopped to contest the validity of the decree.

2. REPUBLIC vs. LEE No public land can be acquired by private persons without any grant, express or implied from government. In land registration cases, the burden of proof is upon the applicant to show that he is the real and absolute owner in fee simple. The bare statement of the applicant that the land applied for has been in the possession of her predecessors-in-interest for more than 20 years, does not constitute the well-nigh controvertible and conclusive evidence required in land registration. -

5. CHING vs. CA The landowner whose property has been wrongfully registered in anothers name, after the one year period, could not ask for the court to set aside the decree, but he could bring an ordinary action for damages if, as in this case, the property has passed unto the hands of innocent purchasers for value.

6. HEIRS OF TEODORO de la CRUZ vs. CA Laches sets in if would take 18 years for a person to file an action to annul the land registration proceedings, especially so if the registrant has already subdivided the land and sold the same to innocent third parties. A partys long inactionor passivity in asserting his rights over disputed property precludes him from recovering the same.

3. CACHO vs. CA A land registration proceeding is in rem and, therefore, the decree of registration is binding and conclusive against all persons including the government and its branches. A decree of registration that has become final shall be deemed conclusive not only on the questions actually contested and determined but also upon all matters that might be litigated or decided in land registration proceedings. As a proceeding in rem, the decree of registration issued in land registration cases is binding upon and conclusive against the entire world.

7. SALAO vs. CRISOSTOMO However, where a private individual opposing an application for registration alleges while the land sought to be registered was part of the public domain for which he had a sales application approved by the Bureau of Lands and was in actual possession thereof by authority of said Bureau, it was held that such an opposition cannot be dismissed inasmuch as it is predicated upon actual possession which constitutes sufficient interest to make the oppositor an adverse claimant within the meaning of Sec. 34 of Act No. 496.

4. DIRECTOR OF LANDS vs. CA Land registration proceedings are actions in rem. It is not necessary to give personal notice to the owners or claimants of the land sought to be registered, to vest the court with the authority over the res. Instead, it is the publication of notice of the application for registration which serves to apprise the whole world that such petition has been filed

8. AVERIA vs. CAGUIAO

Sec. 2 of the Property Registration Decree (P.D No. 1529) has eliminated the distinction between the general jurisdiction vested in the RTC and the limited jurisdiction conferred upon it by the former law (Act 496) when acting merely as a cadastral court. Aimed at avoiding multiplicity of suits, the change has simplified registration proceedings by conferring upon the RTCs the authority to act not only on original applications but also those filed after original registration, with power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such applications or petitions.