Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
I. Introduction
A. Land Administration
The term “land administration” refers to the processes of recording and disseminating
information about the ownership, value and use of land and its associated resources.
Such processes include the determination or “adjudication” of rights and other attributes
of the land, the survey and description of these, their detailed documentation and the
provision of relevant information in support of land markets. (UNICE, 1995)
Land administration can be likened to accounting and bookkeeping, except that instead
of money, it is land that is being inventoried, accounted and booked. Land is inventoried,
accounted and booked through land survey - by dividing it into parcels or lots for easy
identification. The corresponding ownership or interest over these parcels is also
accounted and in some instances, awarded and adjudicated to the owner. The ownership
in each of these parcels are thereafter registered in the Register of Deeds. The lands so
identified, adjudicated and registered become “titled lands” whose ownership are
considered as “indefeasible” or certain. Thus, land administration systems are not
primarily concerned with general data on land but are concerned more with detailed
information of each land parcel within its jurisdiction.
A good land administration system should have the following components to be effective:
✓ Land Survey and Mapping - where land boundaries are identified and land parcels
are created;
✓ Land Adjudication - where interests on land are identified and ownership resolved;
✓ Land Registration - where land titles are created and interest on land registered in a
public registry; and
✓ Cadastre - is normally a parcel based and up-to-date land information system
containing a record of interests in land (i.e. rights, restrictions and responsibilities).
The central component of an effective land administration system is the cadastre where
records on land survey, adjudication and registration are integrated. It usually includes a
geometric description of land parcels linked to other records describing the nature of the
interests, ownership or control of those interests, and often the value of the parcel and its
improvements. It may be established for fiscal purposes (e.g. valuation and taxation), for
titling/legal purposes (transfers of land), for management of land and land use (e.g. for
planning and other administrative purposes), and for sustainable development and
environmental protection. The “tax map” and “tax roll” of the LGUs in the Philippines is an
example of a fiscal cadaster. The “tax map” is usually based from the “cadastral survey”
of the area conducted for titling purposes.
Land administration provides for an immediate means of identifying with certainty and
accuracy the ownership and interest in a land. This information can only be provided by
an efficient land administration based on a modern and efficient system that will:
✓ Guarantee ownership and security of tenure;
✓ Support the land market by facilitating recording of interest and transfers of ownership;
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✓ Support land and property taxation;
✓ Reduce land disputes;
✓ Facilitate land reform;
✓ Improve urban planning and infrastructure development;
✓ Support environmental management; and
✓ Produce statistical data.
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Private land ownership is limited to A and D lands and is primarily governed by the
following laws:
✓ The Constitution
✓ New Civil Code of the Philippines
✓ Public Land Laws
✓ Property Registration Decree
✓ Agrarian Reform Laws
✓ Ancestral Domain Law
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P.D. No. 1529. The land has already been acquired by operation of law and is now private
land although its final adjudication for purposes of Torrens registration is still suspended.
This ordinary meaning of the word “untitled land” has been used in the same ordinary
sense by some land agencies as well. For example, Untitled Private Agricultural Lands
(UPAL) are used by the DENR and DAR to mean lands that have been considered as
private lands already by operation of law but said private ownership is not registered with
the Register of Deeds. Although UPALs are unregistered land, the DAR pays the
owner/claimant compensation when such land is covered and distributed. The most
common evidence of ownership on this type of tenure is the tax declaration that is filed
by land owners in the Assessor's Office of Local Governments for purposes of real
property tax assessment and payment.
B. Spanish Period
1. Ownership of Lands by Discovery
All lands in the Philippines were acquired by the Spanish crown through discovery.
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But such recorded possessory information proceedings did not ripen into ownership
except under certain conditions, the most important of which was the expiration of 20
years after the entry or record in the Registry of Deeds of the possessory information
proceedings. And under Article 394 of the Mortgage Law, the entry or record of
possession in the Registry of Deeds did not prejudice the owners of the property although
his title had not been recorded, unless prescription had confirmed and secured the claim
recorded.
C. American Period
1. Treaty of Paris of 1898 Between
the U.S. and Spain
What can a holder of a land title
✓ All properties of the Spanish crown registered under the Spanish
were transferred to the United States Mortgage do during the American era?
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✓ Introduction of two modes of acquiring titles to land.
✓ Public land grants - homestead, sales, free patents;
✓ Confirmation of Titles - imperfect titles from the Spanish and title by prescriptions
(by operations of law)
✓ Resulted to the enactment of 2 laws
a. Act No. 496 (Land Registration Law)
Provided for the registration of private lands in “fee simple” (Section 19) or those
lands that are already disposed by the crown as private lands, completed title.
CASES:
1) Johnson vs Mackintosh
2) Chaves vs. The United States (175 U.S., 552)
3) Valenton vs Marciano 3 Phil. Reports 537, 2 Off. Gaz., 434, March 30, 1904;
4) Cansino vs Valdez, G.R. No. L-2468, July 16, 1906
5) Cariño vs Insular Government, 212 U. S., 449
6) Jones vs. Insular Government, G.R. No. L-2506 April 16, 1906, 6 Phil.122
7) Susi vs. Razon and Director of Lands, G.R. No. L-24066, December 9, 1925
8) Mapa vs. Insular Government, G.R. No. L-3793, February 19, 1908, 10 Phil.,1753
9) Cornelio Ramos vs. Director of Lands, (G.R. No. 13298 November 19, 1918)
10) Government of the Philippine Islands vs. Abella, G.R. No. L-25010 October 27,
1926, (49 Phil. 49)
11) Jocson vs Director of Forestry
12) Oh Cho vs Director of Lands, 75 Phil. 890
13) Uy Un vs. Perez, 71 Phil. 508 "En Español”
14) Mindanao vs. Director of Lands, L-19535, July 10, 1967
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1. Agricultural Lands -
Commonwealth Act No. 141
(Public Land Act) Executive Order No. 192 (June 10,
1987) created the National Mapping
2. Forest Lands - Presidential
and Resource Information Authority
Decree No. 795 (Revised Forestry
Code) (NAMRIA), integrating into it the
functions and powers of the Natural
3. Mineral Lands - Republic Act No. Resources and Management Center
7931 (Mining Act of 1995) (NRMC), the National Cartography
Authority (NCA), the Bureau of Coast
4. National Parks - Republic Act No.
7598 (National Integrated and Geodetic Survey (BCGS), and
Protected Area System Act) the Land Classification Teams of the
then Bureau of Forest Development
C. Rules on Land Classification (transformed into a Forest
Management Bureau performing staff
1. Classification describes the legal
nature not the natural state of the
land
2. Executive Department determines land classification (CA No. 141 and
PD No. 705)
3. Congress has the power to reclassify of land (Section 4 of Republic
Act No. 6657)
4. Congress will determine the final forest line
5. Disposition of public lands limited to agricultural lands;
✓ Only to Filipino citizens; corporations cannot receive a public land grant except
by way of lease (not more than 1,000 hectares)
✓ Limit is 12 hectares by way of homestead, sales and grants
✓ Previously 16 hectares (Phil. Bill of 1902); 24 hectares in 1935 Constitution; 12
hectares under the 1987 Constitution
D. Classification of Lands
1. Criteria in Land Classification
✓ Chapter II of PD No. 705
✓ DENR study, devise, determine and prescribe the criteria, guidelines and methods
for the proper and accurate classification and survey of all lands of the public
domain.
✓ Through an Inter-Bureau action - DENR Sectoral Bureaus on Lands (LMB),
Forestry (FMB), Mines (MGB) and Protected area (PAWB)
✓ The Land Classification Teams of the forest bureau was transferred to NAMRIA
under EO No. 192 in 1987.
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✓ Topography 18% in slope unless covered by existing titles or approved public land
application or actually occupied openly, continuously, adversely and publicly for a
period of not less than thirty years (30)
✓ Areas below 18% but are needed for forest purposes (see enumeration in Section
16 of PD No. 1529
✓ Marking of forest boundaries
2. Lands of the Public Domain
Used to describe so much of the lands in the Philippines that has not been subjected
to private rights. Public lands are also used in a limited sense to describe such lands
as are subject to sale or other modes of acquisition or concession under the public
land laws.
1987 CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE XII, SECTION 3.
✓ Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral
lands, and national parks.
✓ Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further classified by law according
to the uses which they may be devoted.
✓ Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands.
✓ Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the
public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years,
renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand
hectares in area.
✓ Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or
acquire not more than twelve (12) hectares thereof by purchase, homestead, or
grant.
3. Agricultural lands.
✓ Alienable and disposable lands refer to those lands of the public domain which
have been the subject of the present system of classification and declared as not
needed for forest purposes.
✓ Suitability for agricultural use is the criteria;
✓ Before, the court can make a determination of what are considered as agricultural
lands;
✓ Agricultural Lands are further sub classified as residential, commercial, industrial,
etc. under Section 9 of the Public Land Act.
4. Forest Land
Definition of Forest Land - Forest lands include the public forest, the permanent
forest or forest reserves, and forest reservations.
(a) Public Forest - Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which has
not been the subject of the present system of classification for the determination
of which lands are needed for forest purposes and which are not.
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(b) Permanent Forest or Forest Reserves - Permanent forest or forest reserves
refer to those lands of the public domain which have been the subject of the
present system of classification and determined to be needed for forest purposes.
(c) Forest Reservations - Forest reservations refer to forest lands which have been
reserved by the President of the Philippines for any specific purpose or purposes.
(d) Production Forest - forest stands tended primarily for the production of timber.
This includes natural and man-made forests.
5. Mineral Lands
(a) Definition of Minerals - Minerals, for legal purposes, refers to all naturally
occurring inorganic substance in solid, gas, liquid or any intermediate state
excluding energy materials such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, radioactive
materials and geothermal energy.
(b) Definition of Mineral Lands under the old Mining Act (CA No. 137) - those lands
in which minerals exist in sufficient quantity or quality to justify the necessary
expenditures to be incurred in extracting and utilizing such minerals
(c) Definition of Mineral Lands under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (RA No.
7932) - any area where mineral resources are found
(d) In relation to land titles - A certificate of title is considered void when it covers
property of public domain classified as mineral lands because possession of
mineral lands, no matter how long does not confer possessory rights.
6. National Parks
✓ New Class - It was introduced only in the 1987 Constitution as a distinct and
separate class of lands. National parks as a classification is implemented under
Republic Act No. 7586 or the NIPAS law (An Act Providing for the Establishment
and Management of National Integrated Protected Areas System, Defining its
Scope and Coverage for other Purposes)
✓ Definition - a forest reservation essentially of natural wilderness character which
has been withdrawn from settlement, occupancy or any form of exploitation except
in conformity with approved management plan and set aside as such exclusively to
conserve the area or preserve the scenery, the natural and historic objects, wild
animals and plants therein and to provide enjoyment of these features in such
areas. It is a relatively large area not materially altered by human activity where
extractive resource uses are not allowed and maintained to protect outstanding
natural and scenic areas of national or international significance for scientific,
educational and recreational use. (Section 4 par. (a) of RA No. 7586)
CASES:
Agencies Involved
15) DOJ Opinion No. 23, Series of 1995.
16) DENR vs Yap (G.R. No. 167707, October 08, 2008)
Agricultural Land
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17) de Aldecoa vs Insular Government (G.R. No. 3894. March 12, 1909)
18) Krivenko vs. Register of Deeds of Manila (18 G.R. No. L-630. November 15, 1947)
Mineral Lands
19) Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. vs. Dumyung (GR No. L-31666, April 20, 1929)
20) Republic vs. Court of Appeals and dela Rosa (GR No. L-43938, April 15, 1988)
Ancestral Domain (RA No. 8371) "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.”
21) Cruz vs. DENR Secretary (G.R. No. 135385, December 6, 2000)
Survey Error
22) Republic vs. Peralta, et al., En Banc (G.R. No. 150327, June 18, 2003)
Lands declared by the courts as agricultural lands prior to the introduction of land
classification;
23) Sta. Monica Industrial and Development Corporation vs. Court of Appeals (189
SCRA 792)
24) Director of Forestry vs. Villareal (G.R. No. L-32266 February 27, 1989)
Lands already registered by the Court as Private Lands
25) Republic vs. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 155450, August 6, 2008) d)
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1. Land Survey
Land surveying is the process of measuring and delineating the natural and artificial
features of the earth. The surveyor’s observations, measurements and
computations are usually reduced into maps that are drawn from the survey data
gathered. Maps are visual representations or descriptions of the land; measured and
delineated with a certain degree of precision and show the relationships between physical
elements of that space through symbols (Cadastral Survey and Records of Rights, Binns
1951) FAO Land Tenure Studies)
2. Survey Maps
A well-drawn map is an accurate scale model of the surface of the land which when
presented in two dimensions at a sufficiently large scale, can be used to indicate any
point on the land with accuracy (Binns, 1951). The large/small terminology arose from the
practice of writing scales as numerical fractions: 1/10,000 is larger than 1/10,000,000.
However, it is important to recognize that even the most accurate maps sacrifice a certain
amount of accuracy in scale to deliver greater visual usefulness to its user. Digitally and
cartographically-enhanced large-scale topographic maps (1:10,000 scale) provide more
detailed information on administrative boundaries, drainage systems, existing
infrastructure, major establishments, road networks, topography, vegetation, and other
economic indicators, showing the present development in the area at barangay level.
Similarly, medium and small scale maps (1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scale) are support tools
for applications at municipal and provincial levels. Administrative maps indicate political
boundaries of provinces and regions of the country. (NAMRIA)
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3. General Uses:
The measurements and delineations of land, when recorded in the form of maps either
on paper or within a computer, can be the basis of an accurate inventory of land
resources. In the Philippines, an accurate inventory of land and its legal classification is
important since only certain types or kinds of public lands can be subject to disposition,
private ownership, registration and titling. An example of this type of map used for
inventory of natural resources are the Land Classification Maps (LC Maps) of the DENR
that show the delineation between alienable and disposable (A and D) lands and those
that are not subject to disposition. LC Maps are generated from forest delineation surveys
that mark the boundaries of agricultural lands and the non-disposable forest/mineral lands
and national parks. These maps are kept by NAMRIA that has the mandate to conduct
delineation surveys under Executive Order (E.O.) No. 192.
✓ Inventory and full and accurate knowledge of natural resources of the land;
✓ Best means of obtaining, recording and analyzing such knowledge resulting to better
land classification and land use planning;
✓ The cadastral maps and corresponding index maps can be conveniently used as a
BASE MAP for the recording of any information which requires maps of these scales.
Cadastral maps greatly assist every branch of the public service connected with land,
(e.g. taxation, irrigation, drainage, flood control, etc.) making them more efficient;
✓ Besides the economic, fiscal, agrarian, scientific and administrative uses, there is a
growing demand for maps and plans of all kinds for recreational purposes, for air
travel, for the use of tourists in connection with historical, archeological or artistic
studies, for commercial and industrial purposes and for educational purposes; and
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B. Government Agencies with Land Survey and Mapping Functions
DENR is the primary agency that exercises direct control and supervision over survey of
lands in the Philippines (Section 4, CA No. 141). Such control is done through the
issuance of Survey Standards - Issues manuals and technical bulletins, that surveyor’s
has to follow in measuring and describing the boundaries of the land. The DENR also has
direct supervision of the conduct of all surveys through inspection, verification and
approval of surveys that are required to be submitted under the provisions of CA No. 141
and PD No. 1529. The LRA has concurrent jurisdiction to approve simple subdivision of
registered lands (Section 6 Par. 1 (f) of PD No. 1529). However, there are other
government agencies that has survey functions too. Below are these agencies and their
functions.
✓ Issuance of Rules and Regulations that will govern the conduct of surveys in the
Philippines (Land Management Bureau (LMB));
✓ Inspection, verification and approval of simple survey plans (the resulting lots
is not more than 9 and without road lots); and
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survey will result to the creation of not more than nine (9) lots without road lot is
complex.
4. Local Governments
Cities and Municipalities also have survey and mapping functions in support of its land
use regulation and land taxation mandates. These functions are as follows:
✓ Ensure the conformity of subdivision surveys with the comprehensive land use plan
of the LGU;
✓ Receive and compile copies of all approved survey plans furnished by Geodetic
Engineers on surveys conducted within their jurisdiction; and
✓ Maintain a system of tax mapping, showing graphically all data concerning the real
property (land and improvements).
2 The profession was first created under Republic Act No. 4374 (An Act to Regulate the Practice of Geodetic
Engineering in the Philippines.) A Geodetic Engineer - is any person who is technically and legally qualified
to practice geodetic engineering under these laws, which term supersede “surveyor”. The practice of land
surveying was first created under the provisions of Act No. 2711 (Revised Administrative Code of 1917) with
the Bureau of Lands providing apprenticeship and accreditation of land surveyors. A board of examiners was
created under Act No. 3626 to qualify surveyors for private and cadastral surveys and mineral land
surveyors. Geodetic engineering was not recognized as a profession until the enactment of Republic Act No.
4374, the “Geodetic Engineering Law,” on June 19, 1965. Under the Act, any person who was technically
and legally qualified to practice geodetic engineering shall be called “Geodetic Engineer” superseding the
term “Surveyor.”
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✓ The GE has to comply with the survey standards and the rules and regulations set
forth by the DENR under the current Manual of Surveys.
✓ The GE must obtain such survey and tenure information on records available with the
DENR or LRA as is necessary to locate or relocate the boundaries of any land to be
surveyed and to connect his or her survey to the survey system in the Manual.
✓ A GE can conduct land survey activities pursuant to Section 2 (a) of Republic Act No.
8560 (Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998) or for works not requiring strict
legal accuracy under arrangements with a client, in such a manner as agreed upon
by them or if the survey is not intended for land registration, disposition or tenure
definition.
✓ However, the GE must comply with the standards and the rules and regulations set
forth by the DENR, if the survey is of a class that requires approval under existing land
laws.
Geodetic Engineers, when conducting surveys that requires the approval of the DENR or
LRA, shall give due notice in advance to the adjoining owners of the property to be
surveyed of the date and hour of the survey for the protection of their rights. They are to
report all objections made by adjoining property owners or claimants during the
survey and demarcating/describing the boundaries claimed by them.
The survey plans/data sets that the survey project generates, including the maps and
plans, are also submitted to the DENR and to the LRA (simple subdivision) for approval,
before it can have full legal effects. However, GEs may prepare sketch plans that show
the indicative location, position and area of land for purposes other than land
registration without need of DENR/LRA approval.
✓ The land is outside of any existing civil, military or any other reservations; and
✓ The survey applicant must be a public land applicant (homestead, sales, free
patent) or must show that he has acquired a registerable private right recognize by
the law (i.e. acquisitive possession, prescription and accretion)
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consolidation surveys of a previously surveyed land, though these may be
within a cadastral area.
Bounded on the S., along line 1-2 by Lot 14; along line
2-3 by Lot 15; along line 3-4 by Lot 16; along line 4-5 by
Lot 17, all of Blk. 15 of the cons. subd. plan; on the NW.,
along line 5-6 by Lot 541, Piedad Estate; on the N., along
line 6-7 by Lot 12 of Blk. 15 and on the E., along line 7-1
by Road Lot 6, both of the cons. subd. plan.
✓ Cadastral Maps indicating individual parcels and their actual geographic position;
3Reminder: The lot/s on survey plans and land titles are stated in a simple plane that adjusted the curvature
of the earth in order to present the parcel in a two dimensional map. The adjustments sometimes create
seeming overlap when projected against the map of a different contiguous parcel plan from a different survey
system. It is advisable for land buyer to engage the services of a Geodetic Engineer in order to be sure
where the true boundaries of the land lies. Incurring this survey expense makes good sense to any land
buyers or mortgagee.
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✓ Cadastral Cost Registers.
Below are some of the commonly used large scale maps that establish land ownership
and support land titling and registration.
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7. Court Determination of Land Boundaries
Actual occupation and described measurement of the ownership in documents
or titles may be conflicting. If the description of the boundary is ambiguous or
otherwise uncertain, or is in conflict with the occupations, courts may settle the
position of the disputed boundary. The actual location of any boundary, when
disputed, should be subject to the evidence of an on-ground assessment of the
land in relation to survey records, and is best undertaken by a GE.
Where any two or more boundary features or descriptions present conflicting
evidence in the determination of the true boundary position, the courts usually
favor long, acquiescent and undisturbed occupation dating to the time of
the survey as the most convincing evidence of a boundary between
properties. As a rule though, when a property is described by “metes and
bounds”, the described bounds (abuttals) take priority over the stated
measurements. What really defines a piece of land is not the area, calculated
with more or less certainty mentioned in the description, but the
boundaries as enclosing the land and indicating its limits. However, special
circumstances may lead courts to give more weight to other evidence presented.
In determining the boundary of the land, the court may consider the following
physical features and survey marks and descriptions:
✓ Monumented lines (boundaries marked by survey or other defining marks,
natural or artificial);
✓ Adjoining boundaries, i.e. contiguous lots, natural or artificial features such as
a street or road;
✓ Statement of length, bearing or directions (“Metes” or measurements in the
described direction); and
✓ Actual occupation.
A GE is not the final arbiter of boundaries which are under dispute between
owners. This is within the jurisdiction of the regular courts. The GE’s role in
these matters is one of fact-finder and expert witness, providing the evidence of
what the boundaries are or how it was derived, upon which the court will make
the judgment.
CASES:
23) Golloy v. Court of Appeals, (G.R. No. 47491, May 4, 1989)
24) Cambridge Realty and Resources Corporation vs. Eridanus Development, Inc. and
Chiton Realty Corp., (G.R. No. 152445, July 4, 2008)
25) Felipe de Guzman vs. Manuel de Santos, (G.R. No. 6609. December 2, 1911)
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d) Public land disposition on lands suitable for agriculture as certified by the forestry
department;
e) Under Act No. 2874 (1919) - Present system of land classification of public land
was introduced;
(1) Blocks of lands pre-classified even prior to disposition
(2) Classification of land as a legal object;
(3) Private lands and lands for confirmation of title not subject to classification, land
registration court makes determination
f) Under Republic Act No. 3872 (1964) - Cultural minorities can have titles to Non A
and D Lands
g) Under Section 4, Presidential Decree No. 1073 (1977) - Confirmation of Titles
Limited in A and D Lands only)
h) Under Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997 - Ancestral Domain as private
property of IP.
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✓ Under 1936 Constitution - 24 hectares
6. Qualification of Applicant
(a) Citizenship
Only citizens of the Philippines can be a grantee of public land; Non-Citizen
cannot be a grantee of public land; In Free Patent, it is required that the applicant
is a natural born citizen of the Philippines. Corporations not allowed since 1973
to acquire public lands, however, a corporation can lease public lands up to 1,000
hectares (1987 Constitution)
In registration of lands, corporations are allowed to register lands that has already
been acquired by its predecessor through indirect grant; rationale - the land is
already private when acquired and is not part of the public domain anymore.
Registration does not confirm ownership. See Judicial Confirmation of Title
(b) Age
In general, there is no age limitation in public land grants; except in homestead,
the applicant must be 18 years or head of Family if minor
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c) Payment by 10 equal yearly installment is allowed
2. Republic Act No. 730 (1952) - Direct sale of residential lands subject to
conditions
a) Any citizen of legal age, not the owner of a home lot in the municipality or city; in
good faith established his residence on a parcel; not needed for the public service;
private or direct sale (appraisal but no bidding); not more than one thousand square
meters; occupants has constructed his house on the land and actually resided
therein. 10% payment upon approval balance may be paid in full, or in ten equal
annual installments; restriction on transfer 15 years;
b) Restriction was removed under PD No. 2004 (1985)
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4. Republic Act No. 10023 (2010) - Residential Free Patent Law
a) Conditions - any citizen; actual occupant, resided under a bona fide claim of
ownership for 10 years; land not needed for public service and/or public use; all
lands zoned as residential; townsites included; delisted military reservation or
abandoned military camp included; actual survey; two supporting affidavits of
disinterested person(residents)
b) Applies to all cities and municipalities
D. Restrictions on Patents
Patents issued by the government are subject to the following restrictions:
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CASES:
29) Balboa vs. Farrales, G.R. No. L-27059, February 14, 1928;
30) Republic vs. Diamonon, G.R. No. L-7813, October 31, 1955;
31) Mejia vs. Mapa, G.R. No. L-7042, May 28, 1954
32) Diaz and Reyes vs. Macalinao, et al, 102 Phil. 999
33) Dauan vs. Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 19 SCRA 223
34) Pascua vs. Talens, G.R. No. L-348 April 30, 1948
35) Simeon v. Peña, GR No. L-29049, December 29, 1970;
36) Benzonan vs CA, 97998, January 27, 1992
37) Vargas and Vargas vs. Court of Appeals, GR No. L-35666, June 29, 1979
38) Santana and Panganiban vs. Mariñas, GR No. L-35537, December 27, 1979
39) Bajenting, et al. vs. Bañes, et al., GR No. 166190, September 20, 2006
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public domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12,
1945, or earlier;
a) In 1976 all holders of Spanish titles or grants should apply for registration of their
lands under Act No. 496 within six (6) months afterwards Spanish titles cannot be
used as evidence of land ownership in any registration proceedings under the
Torrens system P.D. No. 892;
b) In 1977 lands that are not declared alienable and disposable are no longer included
however long the possession of the applicant was; judicial confirmation of
incomplete titles to public land based on unperfected Spanish under the laws and
royal decrees in force prior to the transfer or sovereignty from Spain to the United
States are disallowed (Presidential Decree No. 1073);
c) Period of possession before declaration of A and D is not important for disposition
as long as the land is A and D at the time of application (Heirs of Malabanan v.
Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 179987, April 29, 2009).
d) Evidence to Prove Adverse Possession
e) Tax Declarations - Not conclusive evidence of ownership but are good indicia of
possession in the concept of the owner. It is at least a proof that the holder has a
claim of title over the property. It announces the tax payer’s adverse claim against
the State and other interested parties.
4Section14(2) is patrimonial property as defined in Article 421 in relation to Articles 420 and 422 of the Civil
Code.
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47) Republic of the Philippines vs. East Silverland Realty Development Corporation;
G.R. No. 186961, February 20, 2012;
48) Tan, et al. vs. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 193443, April 16, 2012.
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and private research and quarantine centers and all lands with eighteen percent (18%)
slope and over, except those already developed.
6. Repurchase
Children or the spouse of the transferor within a period of two (2) years (Sold to the
Government and Land Bank)
7. Collective Titles
Option provided that the total area that may be awarded shall not exceed the total award
limit of all beneficiary. Title to the property shall be issued in the name of the co-owners
or the cooperative or collective organization as the case may be. If the certificates of land
ownership award are given to cooperatives then the names of the beneficiaries must also
be listed in the same certificate of land ownership award.
Cases:
52) DOJ OPINION NO. 100, s. 2012, November 13, 2012
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K. Title issued under IPRA Law
1. Identification and delineation of Ancestral Domain
2. Issuance of Ancestral Domain Certificate of Title
3. Ancestral Domain and the Regalian Doctrine
Cases:
53) Cruz vs. DENR Secretary, GR No. 135385, December 6, 2000
c) Initial/Jurisdictional hearing
✓ Applicant presents evidence of compliance to the order of the court for
notices on the setting of initial hearing; court will ask if there are oppositions
d) Order of Default
✓ If no person appears and answers, upon motion of the applicant the court
may order a default to be recorded and require the applicant to present
evidence. But when an appearance has been entered and an answer filed,
a default order shall be entered against persons who did not appear and
answer.
e) Hearing/Referee/Commisioner -
✓ The court may hear the case (applicant presents evidence; oppositors
presents evidence) or refer the case or any part to a referee; hearing at any
place within the province; submit his report thereon to the court within
fifteen days after the termination of such hearing. Court may adopt the
report or set it aside for further proceedings;
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f) Judgement -
✓ Within ninety (90) days from the date the case is submitted for decision.
The Court, after considering the evidence and the reports of the
Commissioner of Land Registration 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. Becomes final upon the expiration of thirty (30) days
to be counted from the data of receipt of notice of the judgment. An appeal
may be taken from the judgment of the court as in ordinary civil cases.
✓ Partial Judgement - All conflicting claims of ownership and interest in the
land subject of the application determined by the court but the court may
render partial judgement where only a portion of the land is contested.
g) Issuance of Decree
✓ After judgment has become final and executory, the court issue an order to
LRA for the issuance of the decree of registration and the corresponding
certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged entitled to registration.
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✓ Penalty: Any person who shall wilfully obstruct the making of any survey
undertaken by the Bureau of Lands or by a licensed Geodetic Engineer duly
authorized to conduct the survey under this Section, or shall maliciously
interfere with the placing of any monument or remove such monument, or
shall destroy or remove any notice of survey posted on the land pursuant to
law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand pesos or by
imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
c) Answer
✓ Any claimant in cadastral proceedings, whether named in the notice or not,
shall appear before the court and shall file an answer on or before the date of
initial hearing or within such further time as may be allowed by the court and
shall state:
• Marital status;
• Name of the spouse and the date of marriage,
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• Nationality
• Residence and postal address, and
• The age
• The cadastral number of the lot or lots claimed
• The name of the barrio and municipality in which the lots are situated;
• The names and addresses of the owners of the adjoining lots so far as
known to the claimant;
• If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no express
grant of the land by the government, the answer shall state the length of
time he has held such possession and the manner in which it has been
acquired;
• If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the land, the answer
shall fully set forth the interest claimed by him and the time and manner of
his acquisition;
• If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value; and
• The encumbrances, if any, affecting the lots and the names of adverse
claimants, as far as known.
d) Hearing
✓ The trial of the case in a place within the province in which the lands are
situated; Claimant presents evidence
✓ Orders for default and confessions entered, in the same manner as in
ordinary land registration proceedings and shall be governed by the same
rules.
✓ All conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the court and decrees
awarded in favor of the persons entitled to the lands or to parts thereof and
such decrees shall be the basis for issuance of original certificates of title
in favor of said persons
e) Judgement
✓ Same as ordinary registration
f) Issuance of Decree
✓ After judgment has become final and executory, the court issue an order to
LRA for the issuance of the decree of registration and the corresponding
certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged entitled to registration.
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