NOTES

ON LAND

TITLES

by 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,

lnpf€tcriPtible,

and

imnune

from collateral

attacks

'

Modes

of

Acqulsitlon

of PloParty:

possesslon,

successlon,

donation,

accrotlon,

ga1e,

and

acgulsj,tlve

prescriPtlon,

j.e.,

10

y€ars

ln

good

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'

REGISTMTION

-

under

PD 1529

llho Can

Rogtet.rt

(sec'

14)

1. Those

who

by

themsel.ves

or through

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,

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

accesslon or

accretion

under tho existing

taws

i

4.

Those who have acquj-red

ownership

of land

in

any

other

nanner

provided

for by

l.aw.

A corporation crnnot

register

pubLic

land.

They

can only

Lease

it.

But

a corporation

can seek the

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

LAND

1.

surv.y

-

ratullr

ln

survey

Plan

to

be

slgned

by

a

g.odatlc englneer

and

aPPloved

by

the

dlrector

of lands.

 

t

r

-

r

a

.

.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.r€d

evldence

aftar ftIiRg

a t0otl'on

for a€conslderatlon

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

for a

new

trlal,

If t.he

motlon for

a

new

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

b€en

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

n€gllgence.

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

dominlcrl

riEhtt

over

the

lsnd thru

actu.l

and

.xtrin.lc

fr.ud.

It

ault

b.

fll.d

lrlthin

1

y€a!

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.

However,

i.f nore than

one

year

has elaPs€d, 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 br€ach 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

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.

(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

p€rson

€ntara

rtter

the lssuance

of thc decree,

tha oxna!

tnuat

ttlc

an

ejectment sult.

 

rT{*ffiIITIII

An

Orlginal C€rtlficate

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

Da€ds 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

th€re 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 degr€es 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

Bernls"

to

"wacks

B€arnas

"'

If

vrife

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.

SUBSEoUENI REGISTBATIoN

(j.e.,

the land is already

titled and

you

dcal

with it)

l. MortgaE!

A

mortgag€

!s

deemed

registered

lf th€

nortgage

is ent€r.d ln the

book lf lt

ls not

annotated

rt the

ack

of the title.

Therefore,

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 exc€Ption

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 # 1

TITLE

raglttcred

owner

o!

TCT

123{5

VAI,I

D

x-

 

trrrrrrrr

IT

r

r

Y-

go6e

uo US, so

gives

tltle

to

friend

antrusted

by

X

VOID

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

t.hGlafore,

has a

vold title)

get

any tit.lo

tn

hts

name,

t.herefore, Z has no

tltle also.

Example

l} 3

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,

othelwlsa, thlro can

be NO

chain of

tittB,

Note

further

thdt

1! there

is no chain of tltle

but

land is

lmortgagcd;

x can recover

froro Z

but

must

resp€ct tho

Bortqage.

***ii

L

-

Y

sells

land

to

Z

.r

IPV

VAII D

Z

r€glsters

laad and

gctc

TcT

12347

z has a

valid tltl.

X r€turn!

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

n€gllgent

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 r€covor

lroa Z.

Exarnple

I 2

x

-

ovrns

TCT

12345

Y -

mitrepresents

to Z that

he

1s x and

sells

the

land

to

z

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.gtst€red

.owneri

lharafor..

X can

recov€r

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