THE REGISTRY OF PROPERTY

PD 1529: Section 51
- No deed, mortgage, lease or other voluntary
instrument purporting to convey or affect
registered land shall take effect as a
conveyance or bind the land until its registration.
Except: a will

Thus, if the sale is not registered, it is binding only between the
seller and buyer but it does not affect innocent third persons.

Each Register of Deeds shall keep a primary entry book where all
instruments including copies of writs and processes relating to
registered land shall be entered in the order of their filing. They be
regarded as registered from the time so noted.

Registration
- The entry of instruments or deeds in a book or public
registry.
- To register means to enter in a register, to
record formally and distinctly, to enroll, and to
enter in a list.

Purpose: To give notice thereof to all persons.

Registration in general, as the law uses the word, means any entry
made in the books of the Registry, including both registration in its
ordinary and strict sense and cancellation, annotation and even the
marginal notes. In its strict acceptation, it is the entry made in the
Registry which records solemnly and permanently the right of
ownership and other real rights.

Effect of Registration
- Registration in the public registry is notice to the
whole world.
- The act of registration shall be operative act to
convey or affect the land insofar as third persons
are concerned.
In all cases under this Decree, the registration shall be made in
the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where
the land lies.

Section 52, PD 1529:
- Every conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment,
order, judgment, instrument or entry affecting the
registered land shall, if registered, filed or entered in
the Office of the Register of Deeds of the province or
city where the land to which it relates lies, be
constructive notice to all persons from the time of
such registering, filing or entering.

Priority Between Two Buyers of the Same Immovable
Property Registered Under the Torrens System:
(1) The first registrant in good faith.
(2) The first possessor in good faith.
(3) The buyer who in good faith presents the oldest
title.
This rule does not apply if the property is not registered under
the Torrens System.
Where a piece of property is first sold to a person who only
secures a receipt evidencing the sale, and the same property is
later sold to another person who records the sale in the Registry
of Deeds and secures a Torrens Title, the latter is legally
recognized.

Question: In case a piece of land is sold to a buyer who only secures
a receipt evidencing the sale, subsequently, the same land is sold to a
second buyer who has knowledge of the first sale, this time, the
second buyer registered the sale in the Registry of Deeds and secures
a title over the land, will it not taint the second buyer with bad faith?

Office of the Register of Deeds
- This a public repository of records of instruments
affecting registered or unregistered lands and
chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein
such office is situated.

The existence of a certificate of title in the Registry supports and
strengthens the authenticity of the title.

Conditions:
a. There shall be at least one Register of Deeds for
each province and one for each city.
b. The Secretary of Justice shall define the official
station and territorial jurisdiction of each Registry
upon the recommendation of the LRA Administrator.

Officers of the Register of Deeds:
a. Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the
President upon recommendation of the Secretary of
Justice.
b. Deputy Registers & all subordinate personnel
shall be appointed by the Sec. of Justice upon the
recommendation of the LRA Administrator.
c. Both the registers of deeds and deputy registers
must be members of the bar.

Duty of the Register of Deeds
Register of Deeds
- They perform both functions of an administrative
character and functions which at least a quasi-
judicial nature.
Functions:
Register of Deeds
- Its function in relation to the registration of
deeds, encumbrances, instruments and the like
is ministerial.

Registration is a mere ministerial act by which a deed, contract or
instrument is sought to be inscribed in the records of the office of
the Register of Deeds and annotated at the back of the certificate
of the title covering the land subject of the deed, contract or
instrument.
Whether the document is invalid, frivolous or intended to harass,
It is not the duty of a Register of Deeds to decide, but is for a
court of competent jurisdiction to determine.
A register of deeds is precluded from exercising his personal
judgment and discretion when confronted with the problem of
whether to register a deed or instrument on the ground that it is
invalid. When the Register of Deeds is in doubt with regard to the
proper step to be taken or memorandum to be made in pursuance
of any deed, mortgage or other instrument presented to him for
registration, or where any party in interest does not agree with the
action taken by him reference to any such deed or instrument, he
shall certify the question to the LRA Administrator who shall, after
notice and hearing, enter an order prescribing the step to be
taken on the doubtful question.

Registration does not validate an otherwise invalid
instrument
- The act of registration does not validate an
otherwise void contract.

Whether the document is invalid, frivolous or intended to harass, I
not the duty of a Register of Deeds to decide, but is for a court of
competent jurisdiction to determine.