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Land,

Titles, and Deeds



I.
Land Registration in the Philippines

A. History

1521 1898 (Spanish Colonization)
- Introduce the Regalian Doctrine.
All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy,
fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State. With the
exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. Art. XII, Sec. 2 of the 1987
Constitution

Regalian Doctrine was introduced in the Law of Lands (?)
1. Spanish Mortgage Law registration of Titles
2. Maura Law compulsory registration

Under US Colonization

Philippine Commonwealth acts as legislative body in the Philippines

Philippine Bill of 1902
a. All land is placed under the Government of the Philippines
b. Allows the government to enact laws disposing public lands (e.g. sales of public lands (?), judicial confirmation of title)

Laws Enacted under the Philippine Bill of 1902:
1. Land Registration Law (Act No. 496, February 1, 1903)
a. Torrens System
A system for registration of land under which, upon the landowners application, the court may, after appropriate
proceedings, direct the issuance of a certificate of title.
Generally, the Torrens system refers to the system of registration transactions (?) with interest in land whose
object is, under governmental authority, to establish and certify to the ownership of an absolute and indefeasible
title to reality, and to simplify its transfer.
as the scheme in registration of land
named after Sir Robert Torrens (1857)
Register of Deeds (ROD)
b. Allowed the Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect Title (JCIT)
c. Created the Court of Land Registration and Registry of Deeds
2. First Public Land Act (Act No. 926, October 7, 1903)
Voluntary Registration
a. Allowed judicial and administrative confirmation of imperfect title
b. Introduced homestead patent
c. Sale and Lease
3. Cadastral Law (Act No. 2259, February 13, 1913)
It is a compulsory registration of lands initiated by the government
4. Act No. 2347, July 1914
It created the Court of First Instance (CFI) and General Land Registration Office (GLRO), which, under it, is the
Registry of Deeds (ROD)
5. Second Public Land Act (Act No. 2847, 1919)
It limited the registration to Filipino Citizens and Agricultural Lands

Laws Enacted under the 1935 Constitution:
1. Public Land Act (Act No. 441, December 1, 1936)
It is the general law to be applied in the registration of land.
2. RA 1151, 1957
Abolished GLRO and created the Land Registration Commission (LRC)
3. PD 892, 1976
Disallowed the use of Spanish Title as evidence of ownership.
4. Property Registration Decree (PD 1529, June 11, 1978)
Original Land Registration Decree (OLR)
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

5.
6.

EO 469, 1981
NLTDRA
Memorandum Circulars, September 30, 1988)
Land Registration Authority (LRA)
It is the agency of the government charged with the efficient execution of the laws relative to the registration
of lands, and is under the executive supervision of the Department of Justice. The authority is headed by an
administrator and is assisted by two deputy administrators, all of whom are appointed by the President of the
Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Justice.
Functions of the Authority:
o Extend speedy and effective assistance to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the Land Bank,
and other agencies in the implementation of the land reform program of the government.
o Extend assistance to courts in ordinary and cadastral registration proceedings; and
o Re(?): the central repository of records (CRR) relative to original registration of lands titled under
the Torrens System, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands.


Register of Deeds (ROD)

The officer of the Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of records of instruments affecting registered or
unregistered land and chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein such office is situated.

Ministerial Character of Duty to Register Instrument

Sec. 10 of PD 1529
It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to immediately register an instrument presented for registration dealing
with real or personal property which complies with all the requisites for registration. He shall see to it that said instrument
bears the proper documentary and science stamps that the same are properly cancelled. If the instrument is not registrable, he
shall forthwith deny registration thereof and inform the presentor of such denial in writing, stating the ground or reason
therefor, and advising him of his right to appeal by consulta in accordance with Section 117 of this Decree.

B. Purpose of Land Registration
1. To avoid possible conflicts of title in and to real property, quiet title of land, to put a stop forever to any question
of the legality of the title.
2. To facilitate transactions relative thereto by giving the public the right to rely upon the face of the Torrens
certificate of title and to dispense with the need of inquiring further, except when the party concerned has actual
knowledge of facts and circumstances that should impel a reasonable cautious man to make such further inquiry.
3. To protect the owner of the land from acquisitive prescription.

C. Lands Capable of Being Registered; Non-Registrable Properties

Classification of Lands
1. Under the Constitution
a. Alienable and Disposable Lands of Public Domain
i.
Agricultural
ii.
Industrial, Commercial, and Residential
iii.
Education and Charitable Purposes
iv.
Reservation for town sites and for public and quasi-public purpose
b. Forest
c. Mineral
2. Under the Civil Code
a. State
i. Public Dominion (land which are for public use, public service, and development of the national wealth)
ii. Patrimonial Property
b. Private Property

Lands Capable of Being Registered:
1. Private Land
2. Public agricultural land to which claimants have acquired imperfect or incomplete title within the contemplation of
Sec. 48 of Commonwealth Act No. 141
3. Disposable public lands to which no one has acquired imperfect title disposed by homestead, administrative
legislation (free patent), sale, donation, exchange, and lease.

Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

Non-Registrable Properties
1. Those devoted to general public use
2. Those devoted to public service and for development of national wealth
3. Forest or timberlands, public forest, forest reserves
4. Mangrove swamps
5. Mineral lands
6. Foreshore land and seashore
7. Navigable rivers, streams and creeks
8. Lakes
9. Military reservations
10. Other kinds of reservations (Townsites Reservation)
11. Watershed
12. Grazing lands
13. Previously Titled Lands
14. Alluvial deposit along river when man-made

II.
Land Registration Proceedings
- it is an action in rem, which will bind third persons and a notice to the whole world.

A. Judicial Mode

1. Kinds
1.1 Original Land Registration (OLR)

Section 14 PD 1529

Who may apply?
The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance (CFI) an application for registration of title to
land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:

(1) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest
have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation (OCEN poss. & occ.)
of alienable and disposable land of the public domain
under a bona fide claim of ownership (good faith)
since June 12, 1945, or earlier

Case: Republic vs CA Naguit Case


The more reasonable interpretation of Section 14(1) is that it merely requires the property sought to be registered as
already alienable and disposable at the time the application for registration of title is filed. If the state, at the time the
application is made, has not yet deemed it proper to release the property for alienation or disposition, the presumption is that
the government is still reserving the right to utilize the property, hence, the need to preserve its ownership in the state,
irrespective of the length of adverse possession even if in good faith. However, if the property has already been classified as
alienable and disposable, as it is in this case, then there is already an intention on the part of the State to abdicate its exclusive
prerogative over the property.


To prove that the land subject of an application for registration is alienable, an applicant must establish the existence
of a positive act of the government such as a presidential proclamation or an executive order; an administrative action;
investigation reports of Bureau of Lands investigators; and a legislative act or a statute.


VESTED RIGHT


Where the applicant had already fulfilled all the required requisites to register the land or his name; simply
stated, he already acquired vested right over the land, he may still register title under the Torrens System though the subject
land was subsequently classified as forest land.






Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

(2) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of existing laws.

Case: Heirs of Malabanan vs Republic


Prescription is one of the modes of acquiring ownership under the Civil Code. There is a consistent jurisprudential
rule that properties classified as alienable public land may be converted into private property by reason of open, continuous,
and exclusive possession of at least 30 years. With such conversion, such property may now fall within the contemplation of
private lands under Section 14(2), and thus susceptible to registration by those who have acquired ownership through
prescription. Thus, even if possession of alienable public land commenced on a date later than June 12, 1945, and such
possession had been open, continuous, and exclusive, then the possessor may have the right to register the land by virtue of
Section 14(2) of PD 1529.

Property of the State or any of its subdivisions not patrimonial in character shall not be the object of prescription.

It is clear under the Civil Code that where lands of public domain are patrimonial in character, they are susceptible to
acquisitive prescription.

*Ownership of real property may be acquired by:
1. Ordinary prescription of 10 years, which requires ?
2. Extraordinary prescription of 30 years ?

(3) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of accession or
accretion under the existing laws.
(4) Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.

Where the land is owned in common, all the co-owners shall file the application jointly.

Where the land has been sold under pacto de retro, the vendor a retro may file an application for the original
registration of the land, provided, however, that should the period for redemption expire during the pendency of the
registration proceedings and ownership to the property consolidated in the vendee a retro, the latter shall be
substituted for the applicant and may continue the proceedings.


1.2 Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect or Incomplete Titles (JCIT)

The applicant must prove that:
a. the land is alienable and disposable public land and
b. his possession and occupation must be in the manner and for the period prescribed by law, or since June
12, 1945.

Applicable provisions; amendments
1. Sec. 48, Public Land Act, original provision
in bona fide possession since July 26, 1894
2. RA 1942, June 22 1957
shortened the period of possession to at least thirty years immediately preceding the filing of the application
3. RA 3872, June 18, 1964
added a new section recognizing rights of cultural minorities to be entitled to the same rights granted suitable to
agriculture, whether disposable or not, bona fide claim of ownership for at least 30 years
4. PD 1073, January 25, 1977
has reverted period of possession to June 12, 1945
5. RA 9176, November 13, 2002
The latest extension of the period - up to December 31, 2020 - in order to register

Who may apply?
1. Filipino Citizens
2. Aliens
a. Natural born citizens of the Philippines who have lost their Philippine Citizenship, who have acquired
disposable and alienable lands of the public domain from Filipino Citizens who had possession over the same
in the same manner and for the same length of time indicated therein.
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

3.

-
-

Limitation: can only acquire up to 5000 sq. m in urban areas and 3 hecatres in rural areas for commercial and
industrial; and 1000 sq. m in urban areas and 1 hectare in rural areas for residential.
b. Succession compulsory heir
c. Aliens who has acquired the land before the effectivity of the 1935 constitution (Nov. 15 (?), 1935)
d. Aliens who were Filipino at the time of acquisition
Private Corporations or Associations
a. Those which acquired lands, formerly part of the alienable and disposable lands of public domain, from
Filipino Citizens who had possessed the same in the manner and or the length of time indicated therein
b. Those which acquired the lands before the effectivity of the 1973 constitution (Oct. 16, 17, 18 (?), 1973)
the constitutional prohibition do not apply to public lands already converted into private ownership by natural
persons under the provisions of the Public Act.
Technically, the private corporation will just resell the property to Filipino citizens for registration then back to the
corporation.


Non-Resident Applicant. If the applicant is not a resident of the Philippines, he shall file with his application an instrument in
due form appointing an agent or representative residing in the Philippines, giving his full name and postal address, and shall
therein agree that the service of any legal process in the proceedings under or growing out of the application made upon his
agent or representative shall be of the same legal effect as if made upon the applicant with the Philippines, the applicant shall
forthwith make another appointment for the substitute, and, if he fails to do so, the court may dismiss the application.

Reclaimed Lands. It does not automatically become alienable and disposable; there must be first an express classification from
the government.
Exception: if a private individual or entity who conducted the reclamation under BOT (build, operate, transfer) contract, the
property becomes a patrimonial property of the state.

1.3 Cadastral Proceedings

It is a compulsory registration of lands initiated by the government. It is when in the opinion of the President of the Philippines
that public interest so requires that title to any unregistered lands be settled and adjudicated.

2. Jurisdiction

A. Exclusive Jurisdiction
Regional Trial Court (RTC) have exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for original registration of title to lands,
including improvements and interests therein, and over all petitions filed after original registration of title, with
power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such applications or petitions. (PD 1529)

B. Delegated Jurisdiction
MeTc, MTC, and MCTC may be assigned by the SC to hear and determine cadastral and land registration cases
covering lots where:
a. There is no controversy or opposition or contested lots
b. The value of land does not exceed P100000.00 (BP 129 Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980 as amended by
RA 7691)

3. Procedure from filing of application until judgment

Petition must be notarized

As provided in Sec. 15 of PD 1529, the application for land registration shall be in writing, signed by the applicant or the
person duly authorized in his behalf, and sworn to before any officer authorized to administer oaths for the province or city
where the application was actually signed. If there is more than one applicant, the application shall be signed and sworn to by
and in behalf of each.

Document as annexes

1. SURVEY PLAN it may be on tracing cloth, blue print, or white print as long as it is a clear, convincing, and strong
evidence
2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF LOT duly certified by the Regional Technical Director (RTD)
3. Certificate from geodetic engineers
4. Tax declaration or certificate of assessment
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

5. Muniments of title

Notice of initial hearing

OLR/JCIT
CADASTRAL
(Voluntary)
(Involuntary, Government Initiates)
PD 1529 Section 23. Notice of initial hearing, Act No. 2259. The notice of initial hearing is
publication, etc.
addressed to all individual person appearing to
The Court shall, within 5 days from filing of the have an interest in the lands involved and the
application, issue an order setting the date and adjoining owners so far as known, and to all
hour of the initial hearing which shall not be whom it may concern.
earlier than forty-five days nor later than
ninety days from the date of the order.
Absent specific provisions in PD 1529

governing notice of the initial hearing of the
The public shall be given notice of the initial petition in Cadastral proceedings, the pertinent
hearing of the application for land registration provisions of the Cadastral Act, which are not
by means of (1) publication; (2) mailing; and inconsistent with said decree, should be
(3) posting.
applied.


1. By publication
1. By publication
Upon receipt of the order of the court
Sec.7. Upon receipt of the order of the
setting the time for initial hearing, the
court setting the time for initial
Commissioner of Land Registration
hearing of the petition of the
shall cause notice of initial hearing to
Administrator of the LRA shall cause
be published once in the official
notice thereof to be published twice, in
gazette and once in a newspaper of
successive issues of the official
general circulation in the Philippines:
gazette, in English language.
Provided,
however,
that
the
publication in the official gazette shall
be sufficient to confer jurisdiction
upon the court.
Purpose of publication:
a. to confer jurisdiction over the land applied for upon the court, and
b. to charge the whole world with knowledge of the application of the land involved, and
invite them to take part in the case and assert and prove their rights over the property
subject thereof.
Publication over bigger lot: as if no publication at all and it confers no jurisdiction over the
court;
Publication over smaller lot: it confers jurisdiction only up to the smaller lot published.
Exception: Bonin Case wherein the unpublished lot is immaterial therefore the court acquires
jurisdiction even to the unpublished area.
2. By mailing
a. Mailing of notice to persons named in the application.
The commissioner of LRA shall also, within 7 days after publication of said notice in
the official gazette, as hereinbefore provided, cause a copy of the notice of initial
hearing to be mailed to every person named in the notice whose address is known.
b. Mailing of notice to the secretary of public highways, the provincial governor, and
the mayor.
If the applicant requests to have the line of a public way or road determined, the
Commissioner of LRA shall cause a copy of said notice of initial hearing to be mailed
to the secretary of public highways, to the provincial governor, and to the mayor of
the municipality or city, as the case may be, in which the land lies.
c. Mailing of notice to the secretary of agrarian reform, the solicitor general, the
director of lands, the director of public works, the director of forest development,
the director of mines, and the director of fisheries and aquatic resources.
If the land borders on a river, navigable stream or shore, or on an arm of the sea
where a river or harbor line has been established, or on a lake, or if otherwise
appears from the application or the proceedings that a tenant-farmer or the national
government may have a claim adverse to that of the applicant, notice of the initial
hearing shall be given in the same manner to the secretary of agrarian reform, the
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

3.

solicitor general, the director of lands, the director of mines, and/or the director of
fisheries and aquatic resources, as may be appropriate.
By posting
The commissioner of LRA shall also cause a duly attested copy of the notice of initial
hearing to be posted by the sheriff of the province or city, as the case may be, or by his
deputy, in a conspicuous place on each parcel of land included in the application and also
in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the municipal building of the
municipality or city in which the land or portion thereof is situated, 14 days at least
before the date of initial hearing.
The court may also case notice to be served to such other persons and in such manner as
it may deem proper.


PD 1529 Section 24. Proof of publication and notice.
The certification of the commissioner of LRA (now administrator of LRA; ALRA) and of the sheriff concerned to the effect that
the notice of initial hearing, as required by law, has been complied with shall be filed in the case before the date of initial
hearing, and shall be conclusive proof of such fact.

Proof of Publication certification from ALRA

Proof of Mailing certification from ALRA; and

Proof of Posting certification from sheriff.

Exception: Such certification cannot, however, be conclusive proof of the fact of publication and/or posting, if the certification
is made even:
1. Prior to the actual publication of the notice or release for circulation of the official gazette; or
2. Prior to the completion of the 14-day period of actual posting of such notice.

PD 1529 Section 19. Amendments.
Amendments to the application including _____________ substitution, or discontinuance as to parties may be allowed by the court
at any stage of the proceedings upon just and reasonable terms.

Amendments, which shall consist in a substantial change in the boundaries or an increase in area of the land applied for or
which involve the inclusion of an additional land, shall be subject to the same requirements of publication and notice as in an
original application.

Amendment can be made at any stage.

Requirement of republish in order for the court to acquire jurisdiction in 3 instances:
1. Substantial change in boundaries
2. Increase in area
3. Additional land

Opposition to application in ordinary proceedings


The interested party to the land subject of registration may file his opposition to the application on or before the date
of initial hearing.


It must be a verified opposition. However, failure to verify said pleading is not sufficient to divest the party from his
standing in court. The court, instead of dismissing his opposition outright, may allow the oppositor to verify his opposition.

Sec.25 of PD 1529 provides:
Any person claiming an interest, whether named in the notice or not, may appear and file an opposition on or before the date
of initial hearing, or within such further time as may be allowed by the court. The opposition shall state all the objections to
the application and shall set forth the interest claimed by the party filing the same and apply for the remedy desired, and shall
be signed and sworn to by him or by some other duly authorized person.

If the opposition or the adverse claim of any person cover only a portion of the lot and said portion is not properly delimited
on the plan attached to the application, or in case of undivided co-ownership, conflicting claims of ownership or possession, or
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

overlapping of boundaries, the court may require the parties to submit a subdivision plan duly approved by the director of
lands.

The oppositors

The oppositor to an application for registration may not be named in the notice of initial hearing. He must claim an
interest to the property applied for, based on a right of dominion or some other real right independent of, and not at all
subordinate to, the right of the government. The oppositor does not have to show title in himself; he should, however, appear
to have an interest in the property.

Contents and Form of Opposition

The opposition shall state:
1. All the objections to the application
2. Set forth the interest claimed by the oppositor
3. Duly signed and sworn to by him or by his duly authorized representative

Declaration of default

General Default
Absent any oppositor, the court will issue an order of default pursuant to Sec. 26 of PD 1529 which reads:
If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court shall, upon motion of the applicant, no reason to
the contrary appearing, order a default to be recorded and require the applicant to present evidence. By the
description in the notice, To all whom it may concern, all the world are made parties defendant and shall be
concluded by the default order.

Where an appearance has been entered and an answer filed, a default order shall be entered against persons who did
not appear and answer.

Special Default
It is where an oppositor has already filed with the court an opposition based on substantial grounds but failed to
appear in the initial hearing. It is improper, even illegal, to declare him in default simply because he failed to appear at
the initial hearing.

Motion to dismiss opposition

It is based on the following:
1. Lack of jurisdiction
2. Res judicata

Hearing/Trial

The parties are:
1. Applicant
2. Oppositor
3. Government

Who has the burden of proof?
The applicant must show incontrovertible evidence.
He must prove:
(a) That the land applied for has been declassified from the forest or timber zone and is a public agricultural land, is
alienable and disposable, or otherwise capable of registration;
(b) Identity of land;
(c) His possession and occupation thereof for the length of time and in the manner required by law;
(d) The basis of such claim by submitting his muniments of title or whatever evidence to support the same, if he claims
private ownership not because of his possession.





Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

Specific Evidence

A. Proofs that the land has been declassified from the forest zone, is alienable or disposable, and is registrable.
1. Presidential proclamation;
2. Executive order;
3. Administrative order issued by Secretary of DENR;
4. BFD Land Classification Map;
5. Certification by the Director of Forestry; and reports of district Forester;
6. Investigation reports of Bureau of Lands investigator;
7. Legislative act or by statute.
B. Proofs of Identity of Land
1. Survey plan in general;
2. Tracing cloth plan and blue print copies plan;
3. Technical description of land applied for, duly signed by Geodetic Engineer;
4. Tax declaration;
5. Boundaries and area.

C. Proofs of Private Ownership
1. Spanish titles, in pending cases;
2. Tax declaration and realty tax payments;
3. Presidential issuances and legislative acts;
4. Other kinds of proof, like, testimonial evidence and deeds of sale.

Section 27. Speedy hearing; reference to a referee.
The trial court shall see to it that all registration-proceedings are disposed of within 90 days from the date the case is
submitted for decision.

The court, if it deems necessary, may refer the case or any part thereof to a referee who shall hear the parties and their
evidence, and the referee shall submit his report thereon to the Court within 15 days after the termination of such hearing.
Hearing before a referee may be held at any convenient place within the province or city as may be fixed by him and after
reasonable notice thereof shall have been served the parties concerned. The court may render judgment in accordance with
the report as though the facts have been found by the judge himself: provided, however, that the court may in its discretion
accept the report, or set it aside in whole or in part, or order the case to be recommitted for further proceedings.

Judgment

It was provided for in PD 1529 that:

Section 28. Partial judgment. In a case where only a portion of the land subject of registration is contested, the court may
render partial judgment provided that a subdivision plan showing the contested and uncontested portions approved by the
Director of Lands is previously submitted to said court.

Section 29. Judgment confirming title.
All conflicting claims of ownership and interest in the land subject of the application shall be determined by the court. If the
court, after considering the evidence and the reports of the Commissioner of LRA and the director of lands, finds that the
applicant or the oppositor has sufficient title proper for registration, judgment shall be rendered confirming the title of the
applicant, or the oppositor, to the land or portions thereof.

Finality of judgment and order to issue decree

Section 30. When judgment becomes final; duty to cause issuance of decree.
The judgment rendered in a land registration proceedings becomes final upon the expiration of 30 days to be counted from the
date of receipt of notice of the judgment. An appeal may be taken from the judgment of the court as in ordinary civil cases.
(The finality of judgment as above provided by the decree has been modified to the lapse of 15 days counted from receipt of
the notice of judgment; as provided for by PB? 129)

After judgment has become final and executor, it shall devolve upon the court to forthwith issue an order in accordance with
section 39 of this decree to the commissioner for the issuance of the decree of registration and the corresponding certificate of
title in favor of the person adjudged entitled to registration.

Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

Period of appeal

The period of appeal shall be reckoned from receipt of the decision, within 15 days before the judgment becomes final. Receipt
of judgment by solicitor general, not by fiscal, binds the government.

Example:


Date of Receipt
Judgment becomes final
Applicant
Jan. 1
Jan. 17
Oppositor
Jan. 8
Jan. 24
SolGen
Jan. 15
Jan. 31

Notwithstanding the lapse of the 15 day period from receipt of judgment by the parties, the court continues to retrain
control of the case until the expiration of 1 year after the entry of decree of registration by the LRA.

Whether or not res judicata will apply?
In OLR, res judicata will apply.
In JCIT, res judicata will NOT apply.

Remedies

An aggrieved party may take any of the remedies available in law to challenge the judgment in a land registration case or the
validity of title issued pursuant thereto.

Before the judgment becomes final

1. Motion for reconsideration
Ground: error committed by the court in interpreting the facts of the case and the law.

2. New trial
Grounds:
a. fraud, accident, mistake, or excusable negligence which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against and by
reason of which such aggrieved party has probably been impaired of his rights;
b. newly discovered evidence, which he could not, with reasonable diligence, have discovered, and produced at the
trial and which, if presented, would probably alter the result;
c. award or excessive damages, or insufficiency of the evidence to justify the decision or that the decision is against
the law.

After rendering judgment but before judgment becomes final

3. Appeal

Laws applicable are PD 1529 and Rule 41, 45, and 65 of Rules of Court

Appeal to the Court of Appeals is taken by simply filing a notice of appeal with the lower court within 15 days from
receipt of said judgment of order by counsel of the aggrieved party. However, appeals to the appellate court in the
exercise of its appellate jurisdiction are by petition for review. And petition for certiorari under rule 65 on the ground
of grave abuse of discretion amount to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

Example:

Jan. 1, 2011
Jan. 14, 2011
Feb. 5, 2011

Date of receipt
Motion for reconsideration
Denial of MR/NT,
Another 15 days period to
or New Trial
Date of order
perfect an appeal (fresh
period)

4. Relief from judgment
Grounds: when a judgment or order is entered, or other proceedings is taken against a party in RTC through fraud,
accident, mistake, or excusable negligence, a party may file a petition in such court and in the same cause praying that
the judgment, order or proceeding be set aside.
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

10


The petition must be verified and filed within 60 days after the petitioner learns (receipt) the judgment, order, or
other proceeding, and not more than 6 months after such judgment or order was entered or such proceeding was
taken.

Only a party that is either the applicant or the oppositor may avail of the remedy.

5.
6.

Annulment (Rule 47 of Rules of Court)


Grounds: extrinsic fraud and lack of jurisdiction
Other remedies are no longer available.
Petition for review
A petition for review must be filed not later than 1 year from and after the date of the entry of such decree of
registration. Unless, upon the expiration of said period of 1 year, the decree of registration and certificate of title shall
become incontrovertible.

Limitation: well in no case shall such petition be entertained by the court where an innocent purchaser for value or
buyer in good faith has acquired the land or an interest therein, whose rights may be prejudiced.

Who may file a petition?
Any person who were deprived of their opportunity to be heard in the original land registration.

Essential requisites for the reopening or review decree:
1. Petitioner has a real and dominical right;
2. He has been deprived thereof;
3. Through fraud;
4. Petition is filed within 1 year from issuance of the decree and in respect to a review of the judgment, from
rendition thereof; and
5. The property has not yet passed to an innocent purchaser for value.


Writ of Possession

It is a mere post-judgment ________ _________ adjudicating ownership to a successful applicant impliedly carries
with it the delivery of possession if he is deprived thereof because the right of possession is inherent to right
of ownership.
A motion for writ of possession may be filed by the winning party.
The sheriff, upon the order of the court, shall implement the writ of possession for the eviction of any person
in the property.
Limitation: it is a settled rule that when parties against whom a writ of possession is sought have been in
possession of the land for at least 10 years, and they entered into possession apparently after the issuance of
the final decree, and none of them had been a party in the registration proceedings, the writ of possession will
not issue.
Reason for the limitation: because they cannot be ousted without giving them their day in court in proper
independent proceedings.
Proper remedy of the successful applicant: a separate action for unlawful detainer or entry, or for
reivindicatory action, as the case may be.
When there is refusal to vacate the property despite the writ, the proper remedy is for the sheriff who
implemented the writ to avail himself of the public force (resorting help from police or tanod), had it been
necessary to resort thereto.
If subsequent to such dispossession or ejectment, the losing party enters or attempts to enter into or upon
the property, then and only then may be the loser be charged with and punished for contempt.
Writ of demolition is against the property. It is a consequence of writ of possession.









Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

11

Decree of Registration


It is pursuant to the order of the court that the LRA prepares and issues a decree of registration. 1 year after the
decree has been entered in the books of registry, it becomes incontrovertible or indefeasible.

Duty of the administrator of LRA to issue decree


The duty of the land registration officials to issue the decree of registration is ministerial in the sense that they act
under the orders of the court and the decree must be in conformity with the court judgment and with the date found in the
record. They have no discretion.

However, if they are in doubt upon any point in relation to the preparation and issuance of the decree or if there was
an apparent mistake or error that can invalidate the title, they are duty bound to refer the matter to the court. They act in this
respect as court officials and not as administrative officials.

The administrator is thus not legally obligated to issue the decree where he finds that subject land has already been
decreed and titled in anothers name. And he could not be compelled through mandamus because the issuance of the decree is
part of the judicial function of courts and not a mere ministered act.

General Rule: The decree becomes incontrovertible or indefeasible after the lapse of 1 year from the date of entry and it
cannot be attacked. It may be set as a defense.
Exception:
a. when there is a previous valid title;
b. non-registrable land;
c. expanded area;

Situations where a person cannot invoke the incontrovertibility of the decree:
a. action for reconveyance, it is when another person has registered the property through fraud or mistake giving rise to
implied trust;
b. validity of TCT.

B. Administrative Mode

Land Patents: Kinds

???
Homestead Patent
Free Patent
Sales Patent



Residential, industrial,
?
?
With bidding
Without bidding RA
730, June 30, 1952
Citizenship
Any Filipino
Natural Born Filipino
Any Filipino Citizen
Any Filipino Citizen
Citizen
Age
Over the age of 18, or

Lawful age
Over 18 years old
head of the family?
Head of the family
Land ownership
Does not own more than
Does not own more
Purchase agricultural
Not owner of a home
12 hectares of land in
than 12 hectares of
land
lot in the municipality
the Philippines or has
land
in which he resides
not had the benefit of
any gratuitous allotment
of more than 12
hectares of land since
the occupation of the
Philippines by the US
Residence
Resided continuously
At least 30 years (at
None
Who has in good faith
for at least one year in
least from March 8,
established his
the municipality where
1960) prior to the
residence on parcel of
the land is situated
effectivity of this
land of the public
amendatory act
domain of RP which is
(March 28, 1990), has
not needed for public
continuously COC?
service
Cultivation
Must have cultivated
occupied and
1. If agricultural Agricultural: 1/5
at least 1/5 of the land
cultivated, either by
land:
Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

12

applied for

Limitation in area
restrictions

12 hectares
Not subject to
encumbrance
or disposition
within 5 years
from the date
of issuance. The
patent
is
deemed issued
upon
the
promulgation
of the order for
issuance
thereof by the
Director
of
Lands.
Limitation: except in
favor of the:
a. government
b. or ?
1.

himself or through his


P-I-N a tract of
agricultural public
land subject to
disposition, who shall
have paid realty tax
thereon

12 hectares
Same

Required to
have at least
1/5 of the
land broken
and cultivated
within 5 years
from the date
of award
2. If for
residential,
commercial,
industrial:
after he
shall have
completed the
construction
of permanent
improvement
s appropriate
for the
purpose for
which the
land is
purchased
within 18
months from
the date of
award
12 hectares
None

1000 sq.m.
None













Reviewer

Land, Titles, and Deeds

13

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