by

accesslon or accretion under tho existing

NOTES ON LAND TITLES

DEAN EDUARDO A. DE LOS ANGEIES

(T.lk of EA, 14 JulY 1993)

The Torrens System was conceived ln Australia and
adopted in the PhlllPPines. Its purPoEes are: to
rnake a titl,e indefeasible, lnpftcriPtible, and
imnune from collateral attacks '
Modes of Acqulsitlon of PloParty: possesslon,
ga1e, and
successlon, donation, accrotlon,
j.e.,
yars
ln good
10
acgulsj,tlve prescriPtlon,
faith and 30 y.ars 1n bad falth.
As a gcncrrl rula, once land l't raglrtered under
the Torlens syst6n and a certlfica!. of title 13
issued, it cannot be taken excePt If taken by the
Depaitment of, Agrarian Reform'

- under PD 1529
llho Can Rogtet.rt (sec' 14)
1. Those who by themsel.ves or through theh
predecessors-in-lnterest havc bcen ln oPen,
contLnuous, excluslve, and notorious
possession and occupation of allcnable and
disposable lands ot the Publlc dgrnaln under
a bona fida clalm of ovrnershlP since ',une
L2, L945 or earlieri
2, Those who have acquired owncrshlp of Private
lands by PrescriPtion undsr th provisions
of exlsting laws i
3. ?ho.a who hlv. acqutrcd ounorrhlp of Prlvat'
landr or .bandonsd rlvGr badr by rtght of
REGISTMTION

taws

4.

Those who have acquj-red ownership of

any other nanner provided for by l.aw.

land in

A corporation crnnot register pubLic land. They

But a corporation can seek the
can only Lease it.
registration of ! private land. EXCEPT lf Publlc
Iand ls held by an lndividual from June L2, L945
or earlier, lpso lure, the land becomes Private.
Note, however, that registration onty confirms
title so the tltl6 must be valid. Reqistration ls
NOT a mode of, acgulrlng title to property. (8.9.
If .Land is ratarvGd as townsite. I't cannot be
acqulred even lf registered already because a
townsLte is ougside the conmerce of man,
therefore, VOtD. Registration cannot validate a
claim if ther6 1! no valid title'
Possesslon, to rlpan tnto ownershiP, must be open,
actual, and contlnuous since ,lune 12, 1945 o!
earlier and nust be physical and material and not
casual (e.g., going to the proPerty once a year. )
A Forelt land lt a non-registrable land. OnIy the
executive branch of lhe governnent can declassify
a forest land into alienable agrlcultural lands.
Mere pa!,nent of lrnd taxes ls not sufficient, it
must be coupled with possession in the concePt of
an owner.
PROCESS

OF REGTSTB,ATION OF LAND

1. surv.y - ratullr ln survey Plan to be slgned

by a g.odatlc englneer and aPPloved by the
dlrector of lands.

-r 5 3 ir a .

t T S g lt ll I I * ffir
.ccident, mlstak and excusable
nogligence or e nrwlY discoveled
rvldancc. It mult b. lllad withln 15
days

c. Th6 loslng party may appeal. on the

ground that the dooltion is contrary
to law/evidence. It nay be filed
ilttrtn t5 aay".
As a general rule, th Patty nust file
either a notion for r.contlderatlon or a
motj,on for new trlal (onnlbu! Botion rule,
put .lI grounds). If th.r ls newly
dlscov.rd evldence aftar ftIiRg a t0otl'on
for aconslderatlon and tha Ptrty is not
aware of lt at the time of haarlng, and j'f
it was denied, the party cln ftle a notion
If t.he motlon for a new
for a new trlal,
trlal is denied, the Party ruay stlll aPPeaI.
3, From e Final Judgimen! - daclrion becomes
flnal aftcr the laPse of 15 dayt.
[.rhere a decree has not yet ben igtuGd, the loslng
party nay fiIE a Potltion for telle! under rule 38
Lt tue Rulcg of court on th. groundE of fraud,
accldent, 'srlstake and excu3rblc ngllgence. It
must ba verlf,led and flled 60 dsyt- frotn notice but
no mgre than 6 mont.hs flom entry of daclslon.
tlhere a Decroe hag already been lssued, the losing
party may flle a Petitlon for lovlew under Sec'
32, PD 1529 on the ground of dlprlvation of

and
dominlcrl riEhtt over the lsnd thru actu.l ya!
.xtrin.lc fr.ud. It ault b. fll.d lrlthin 1
lron llluanca o! thb decrco provldcd thcr. is no
lnnoccnt purchrser for value (IPV). An IPv 19 one

whc buys th6 property without knowledge of any

defect ln thc ttils AND pays just Price for the
tand.

i.f nore than one year has elaPsd, the

loslng party nay file an action for reconveyance
on the ground that the pelson lost dominlcal
rights ov6r the property because of xtrinsic
fraud or brach of trust, provided there ls no
IPv. The actlon nust be filed within { yoars flom
discovery if th. fraud is thru docunent /contract
and wlthin 10 years lf there is breach of imPlied
trust lt,a, t created by contractl EXCEPT
!vocation oC ttust which .has a plBgcriptive
period of 10 yatrr,
But if already lold to IPv, the only remedy for
the losing party ls to file an action for damages
against the petpetrator of fraud within 4 years.
He will not gat the land back, only the value of
However,

the land plua

darnages.

If the perPltrttor ot fraud is insolveht the

Ioslng party nay file an action for damages
agatnst tho Inturance Fund within 5 yearr Provided
there ls no nagllgonce and breach of trust'
As a general rule, a fina] decislon with
publicat.ion blnd8 all Parties ln rem, therefor,
blnds th whol. world. Persons (oPpoeltors and
squatterg) can b evicted,/ousted by a nerc writ of
pgsgession flofir court. If a Person enters before
the issuancs of the decree, the owner can evict
the person thru a writ of possession. But if a
prson ntara rtter the lssuance of thc decree,
tha oxna! tnuat ttlc an ejectment sult.

rT{*ffiIITIII
An Orlginal Crtlficate of tttl.

!s cvldence of
titl, thaL the Iand ls r.giltar.d under the
Torr6ng Syrtam. It ls lssusd ln two coples: one
original which is xith the R.gl.t.r of Dads and
one dupllcat. tor the raglsta!.d owner.
Amendments can be done surN[allly und.r sec. 108 of
PD 1529 tt thGre ls a typographlcll erlor and
there ls no dlgpute as to atror or change of
status. But lf thre ls a subttrntlal. chang6 tn
the OCt or lhe change ls dlsputed, th party must
go thru th6 ordlnaly reqlstratlon Procc.ding.
1. change tlom 16 degres to l8 degrees
cannot be changed sunmarlly undGr sec. 108
bacau!6 thls 1s . substrntlal changa ' Eile
an ordlnary Proceedlng.

2, typographlcal erlor - change from "wacks

If vrife
Bernls" to "wacks Barnas
"'
objcctr, Sec. 108 ls not .PPIlcabIe
' It
rrust qo thtu a full-blown helrlng'
3, change from "Sed cande, trarlled to Ana
s.ntos" to "sed cande." I! wlfe obJects,
sac, I08 ls not applicable. It ltrust 9o thru
a full-blown hearlng.

If a duplicata OCT ls lost, on. nay !11 an action

for repl,aceDent, If th origlnal OCT ls lostr one
may flle for, an action for raconstltutlon (wlth
rigid publlcallon requllementg). If a title has
be6n leconstituted, anyone doallng wlth the title
muEt exelclso extraordinary dlllganc to be deened
an

I PV.

(j.e., the land is already

with it)

SUBSEoUENI REGISTBATIoN

titled
l.

and you dcal

MortgaE!

A mortgag !s deemed registered lf th nortgage

is entr.d ln the day book even lf lt ls not
Therefore,
annotated rt the ack of the title.
a buyer i! bound by the mortgage. Lrtest SC
decision:

entry of Dortgage tn day book - reglgtraEion

2. Adverga Clllms or Lis

Pendens

An advcrs. claim has a life of 30. days,

otherwlre, lt lapses. An affldavit o! adverse
clalm must ba anlered at once lnto th day book
so that, thl rubsequent buye! ls conltructlvely
bound. tn cagc of doubLe sale, th6 person
cannot lnvoka registration in good falth as
mentloned ln Art. 1544 of the Civil' Code of the
Philippin.r when there is a ]'ls pendens
annotatld rt the back of the tj't}. El1lng of
an actlon Bly take time.
CHAIN OT TITI.E

Thts 13 an excPtion to the civil law doctrine

that the straaD cannot be higher than the source,
Le,, even lt th seller has no title. the buyer
can have titla,
Exanple #

TITLE

x-

raglttcred
VAI,I

owner

o!

TCT 123{5

ffiffitrrrrrrrr
go6e uo US, so gives

friend

Y-

get any tit.lo tn hts name, t.herefore, Z has

tltle also.

tltle to

antrusted by

Example

VOID

VAII

Z rglsters laad and gctc TcT

z has a valid tltl.

12347

xY-

ovrns TCT 12345

mitrepresents to Z that he 1s x
sells the land to z

and

z - if Z, gets tltle, TCT L?341 ) title is

voID, z ls . negligent becaur h ha9 the duty to
flnd out thrt thB seller ic th. r.gtstred .owneri
lharafor.. X can recovr tha proPrrty from z.
Also t! tho prtco ot tht ProParty 1, tulplcloully
low. Th.ra Ir no chaln of tltl. rtnc! Y dld not

respct tho Bortqage. ***ii

X rturn! and asks Y for tltlG snd Iearns the

sate of land fo Z, X caruot rccover fron A
becaure gs between two partont, tha one who
cauJcd the loas and who 13 daaoad ngllgent
mu6t tuffcr. Remedy of X It to tlle an action
again3t Y for da&ages. But lf Z has not yet
obtained tttle, X can rcovor lroa Z.
Exarnple

l}

no

y forg.r th6 deed of sale but, does not

reglster it to qat a new Eitle. Y shows to z. z
buys. Y mrkar da.d of title in fbvor of Z. X can
recover the propalty fron z because thcre ls no
chaln of tltla,
A! between 2 Persons, th one Hho
shoul.d should.r the loss is th onc who Ls
negligent, In thls example, z j.s neglig.nt. Note
that X murt h.v. . valid title ln the llrtt plac6,
Note
othelwlsa, thlro can be NO chain of tittB,
further thdt 1! there is no chain of tltle but
land is lmortgagcd; x can recover froro Z but must

forgeg X's signatura ln daad of sale

of land in Y's favor, Y getc TcT 12346
from R6glste! of o..dt
(Y ls a forger, t.hGlafore, Y has a
vold title)
Y sells land to Z .r IPV

L-

IT

'