land titles and deeds reviewer

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LAND TITLES AND DEEDS REVIEWER AUSL 1st Sem., SY 2013-2014 Atty. Josephine R. Santiago Saturday 1-3 Set B I.INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW LAND TITLE is the evidence of the owner’s right or extent of interest, by which he can maintain control and as a rule assert right to exclusive possession and enjoyment of property. DEED is the instrument in writing by which any real estate or interest therein is created, alienated, mortgaged, or assigned, or by which title to any real estate may be affected in law or equity. LAND REGISTRATION is a judicial or administrative proceeding whereby a person’s claim over a particular land is determined and confirmed or recognized so that such land and the ownership thereof may be recorded in a public registry. TORRENS SYSTEM is a system for registration of land under which, upon the landowner’s application, the court may, after appropriate proceedings, direct the issuance of a certificate of title. A.History of Land Laws i. Lynch Article Spanish Era 1. The indigenous concept of ownership by occupation and cultivation was recognized early on by the Laws of the Indies which governed Spanish possessions in the Philippines and elsewhere. 2. Royal Decree stated that justified long and continuous possession by the natives qualified them for title to their cultivated land. Where such possessors shall not be able to produce title deeds, it shall be sufficient if they shall show ancient possessions as a valid title. 3. Royal Cedula Circular declared: the will of the Crown as expressed in various instructions, royal edicts, orders and decrees, that the distribution of lands to conquistadores discoverers, and settlers should never prejudice the natives and their and-holdings. 4. The Spanish Mortgage Law of 1893 provided for the systematic registration of land titles and deeds as well as for possessory claims. Under its provisions owners who lack recorded title of ownership could have their interests registered during possessory information proceeding before informacion posesoria to qualified applicants. The titulo was merely a record of possession. It could be converted into a record of ownership, however, twenty years (later reduced to ten years) after its date of issue, if certain conditions were met. 5. The Maura Law of 1894 was partly an amendment of the Mortgage Law as well as the Laws of the Indies, as already amended by previous orders and decrees. This was the last Spanish land law promulgated in the Philippines. It required the adjustment or registration of all agricultural lands, otherwise the lands shall revert to the state.

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Land Titles and Deeds Reviewer

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LAND TITLES AND DEEDS REVIEWERAUSL 1stSem., SY2013-2014Atty. Josephine R. Santiago Saturday1-3Set BI.INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEWLAND TITLEis the evidence of the owners right or extent of interest, by which he can maintain control and as a rule assert right to exclusive possession and enjoyment of property.DEEDis the instrument in writing by which any real estate or interest therein is created, alienated, mortgaged, or assigned, or by which title to any real estate may be affected in law or equity.LAND REGISTRATIONis a judicial or administrative proceeding whereby a persons claim over a particular land is determined and confirmed or recognized so that such land and the ownership thereof may be recorded in a public registry.TORRENS SYSTEMis 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.A.History of Land Lawsi. Lynch ArticleSpanish Era1. The indigenous concept of ownership by occupation and cultivation was recognized early on by theLaws of the Indieswhich governed Spanish possessions in the Philippines and elsewhere.2. Royal Decreestated that justified long and continuous possession by the natives qualified them for title to their cultivated land. Where such possessors shall not be able to produce title deeds, it shall be sufficient if they shall show ancient possessions as a valid title.3. Royal Cedula Circulardeclared: the will of the Crown as expressed in various instructions, royal edicts, orders and decrees, that the distribution of lands to conquistadores discoverers, and settlers should never prejudice the natives and theirand-holdings.4. TheSpanish Mortgage Law of 1893provided for the systematic registration of land titles and deeds as well as for possessory claims. Under its provisions owners who lack recorded title of ownership could have their interests registered during possessory information proceeding before informacion posesoria to qualified applicants. The titulo was merely a record of possession. It could be converted into a record of ownership, however, twenty years (later reduced to ten years) after its date of issue, if certain conditions were met.5. TheMaura Law of 1894was partly an amendment of the Mortgage Law as well as the Laws of the Indies, as already amended by previous orders and decrees. This was the last Spanish land law promulgated in the Philippines. It required the adjustment or registration of all agricultural lands, otherwise the lands shall revert to the state.6. Under theTreaty of Paris of December 10, 1998, Spain ceded to the government of the United States all rights, interests and claims over the national territory of the Philippines Islands. However, the Treaty was explicit that the relinquishment and cession cannot in any respect impair the property rights which by law belong to peaceful possession.Separate Opinion of J. PUNOinCruz v. Secretary 347 SCRA 128A. How did Spain acquire the Philippines?The Philippines passed to Spain by virtue of discovery and conquest. Consequently, all lands became the exclusive patrimony and dominion of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish Government took charge of distributing the lands by issuing royal grants and concessions to Spaniards, both military and civilian.Private land titles could only be acquired from the government either by purchase or by the various modes of land grants from the Crown.

Separate Opinion of J. KAPUNANinCruz v. Secretary 347 SCRA 128A. How did Spain acquire the Philippines?When Spain acquired sovereignty over the Philippines by virtue of its discovery and occupation thereof in the 16thcentury and the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 which it entered into with Portugal, the continents of Asia, the Americas and Africa were considered asterra nullius although already populated by other people.In the Treaty of Tordesillas, the world was divided between Spain and Portugal, with the former having exclusive power to claim all lands and territories west of the Atlantic Ocean demarcation line.The discovery and occupation by the European States, who were then considered as the only members of the International Community of civilized nations, of lands in the said continents were deemed sufficient to create title under International Law.ii. Land Laws Reference: Atty. Agcaoili book1) Public Land Act1.Act No. 926 the first Public Land Actpassed in pursuance of the provisions of the Philippine Bill of 1902. The law governed the disposition of lands of the public domain. The Public Land Act operated on the assumption that title to public lands in the Philippine Islands remained in the government. And that the governments title to public land sprung from the Treaty of Paris and other subsequent treaties between Spain and the United States. The termpublic land referred to all lands of the public domain whose title still remained in the government and are thrown open to private appropriation and settlement and excluded the patrimonial property of the government and the friar lands.2.Act No. 2874 the second Public Land Actpassed under the Jones Law. It was more comprehensive in scope but limited the exploitation of agricultural lands to Filipinos and Americans and citizens of other countries which gave Filipinos the same privileges.3.CA No. 141 amended the second Public Land Act after the passage of the 1935 Constitution.The present Public Land Act, which is essentially the same as Act No. 2874. The main difference between the two relates to the transitory provision on the rights of American citizens and corporations during the Commonwealth period at par with Filipino citizen and corporations. CA No. 141, approved November 7, 1936, applies to lands of the public domain which have been declared open to disposition or concession and officially delimited and classified. It contains provisions on the different modes of government grant, e.g., homestead, sale, free patent, and reservations for public andsemi-public purpose.2)Land Registration Act (Act No. 496)1.The original Land Registration Act (Act No. 496) was approved on November 6, 1902, but it became effective on January 1, 1903.2.It established the Torrens system of registration in the country.3.It created a court called the Court of Land Registration which had exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for registration, with power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such applications.4.The sole purpose of the law was to bring land titles in the Philippines under one comprehensive and harmonious system, the cardinal features of which are indefeasibility of title and the intervention of the State as a prerequisite to the creation and transfer of titles and interests, with the resultant increase in the use of land as a business asset by reason of the greater certainty and security of title.5.Registration under the system did not create a title. It simply confirmed a title already created and vested.3)Cadastral Act (Act No. 2259)1.The cadastral system of registration took effect with the enactment on February 11, 1913 of Act No. 2259. When, in the opinion of the President, the public interest requires that title to any lands be settled and adjudicated, he shall order the Director of Lands to make a survey thereof, with notice to all persons claiming an interest therein.2.Thereafter, the Director of Lands, represented by the Solicitor General, shall institute registration proceedings by filing a petition in the proper court against the holders, claimants, possessors or occupants of such lands, stating that the public interest requires that the titles to such lands be settled and adjudicated.3.Cadastral proceeding is a proceedingin rem, hence, generally binding upon the whole world.4) Property Registration Decree (PD No. 1529)1. On June 11, 1978, PD No. 1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree, was approved. The Decree was issued to update the Land Registration Act and to codify the various laws relative to registration of property and to facilitate effective implementation of said laws. It codified and incorporated the following laws related to property registration:a. Act 496, The Land Registration Actb. CA No. 141, The Public Land Actc. Act 2259, The Cadastral Actd. Act 3344, System of Registration for Unregistered Landse. Act No. 1508, as amended, The Chattel Mortgage Lawf. Republic Act No. 26, Reconstitution of Original Certificates of Titleg. PD 27, Emancipation Patents, Land Reform Law2. It supersedes all other laws relative to registration of property.3. Judicial proceedings under the Property Registration Decree, like the old Land Registration Act, arein rem, and are based on the generally accepted principles underlying the Torrens system.4. Jurisdiction over theresis acquired by giving the public notice of initial hearing by means of (a) publication, (b) mailing and (c) notice.5. The Decree created the Land Registration Commission, now renamed Land Registration Authority, as the central repository of records relative to original registration, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands.B. The Torrens Systemi. Alba v. Dela Cruz, 17 Phil 49 (1910)The application for the registration is to be in writing, signed and sworn to by the applicant, or by some person duly authorized in his behalf. It is to contain, among other things, the names and addresses of all occupants of land and of all adjoining owners, if known.Indeed, the Land Registration Act requires that all occupants be named in the petition and given notice by registered mail. However, notice by publication to all whom it may concern is considered a sufficient notice.Under the Land Registration Act, any petition to reopen a case after a land registration decree had been rendered cannot lie on account of the absence, infancy, or other disability of any person affected thereby. It is only when said decree was obtained by fraud that said petition will prosper.ii.Separate Opinion of J. PUNOinCruz v. Secretary, 347 SCRA 128Grants of public land were brought under the operation of the Torrens System under Act 496, or the Land Registration Law of 1903. Enacted by the Philippine Commission, Act 496 placed all public and private lands in the Philippines under the Torrens System.The Torrens System requires that the Government issue an official certificate of title attesting to the fact that the person named is the owner of the property described therein; subject to such liens and encumbrances as thereon noted or the law warrants or reserves.The certificate of title is indefeasible and imprescriptibleand all claims to the parcel of land are quieted upon issuance of said certificate. This system highly facilitates land conveyance and negotiation. Its object is to do away with the delay, uncertainty, and expense of the old conveyancing system.Generally, by Torrens Systems are meant those systems of registration of transactions with interest in land whose declared object is, under governmental authority, to establish and certify to the ownership of an absolute and indefeasible title to realty, and to simplify its transfer.iii. Legarda v. Saleeby, 31 Phil 590 (1915)The real purpose of the Torrens Systemis to quiet title to land; to put a stop forever to any question of the legality of the title, except claims which were noted at the time of registration, in the certificate, or which may arise subsequent thereto.That being the purpose of the law, it would seem that once a title is registered the owner may rest secure, without the necessity of waiting in the portals of the court, or sitting in the mirador de su casa, to avoid the possibility of losing his land.The registration under the Torrens System, does not give the owner any better title than he had.The registration of a particular parcel of land is a bar to future litigation over the same between the same parties. It is a notice to the world and no one can plead ignorance of the registration.Purposes:1) To quiet title to the land and to stop forever any question as to the legality of said title.2) To relieve the land of unknown claims.3) To guarantee the integrity of land titles and to protect their indefeasibility once the claim of ownership is established and recognized.4) To give every registered owner complete peace of mind.5) To issue a certificate of title to the owner which shall be the best evidence of his ownership of the land.6) To avoid conflicts of title in and to real estate and to facilitate transactions.iv. D.B.T.Mar-BayConstruction, Inc. v. Panes, 594 SCRA 578 (2009)While the Torrens systemis not a mode of acquiring title, but merely a system of registration of titles to lands, justice and equity demand that the titleholder should not be made to bear the unfavorable effect of the mistake or negligence of the State's agents, in the absence of proof of his complicity in a fraud or of manifest damage to third persons.The real purpose of the Torrens system is to quiet title to land and put a stop forever to any question as to the legality of the title, except claims that were noted in the certificate at the time of the registration or that may arise subsequent thereto. Otherwise, the integrity of the Torrens system would forever be sullied by the ineptitude and inefficiency of land registration officials, who are ordinarily presumed to have regularly performed their duties.Thus, where innocent third persons, relying on the correctness of the certificate of title thus issued, acquire rights over the property, the court cannot disregard those rights and order the cancellation of the certificate. The effect of such outright cancellation will be to impair public confidence in the certificate of title.The sanctity of the Torrens system must be preserved; otherwise, everyone dealing with the property registered under the system will have to inquire in every instance on whether the title had been regularly or irregularly issued, contrary to the evident purpose of the law. Every person dealing with the registered land may safely rely on the correctness of the certificate of title issued therefor, and the law will in no way oblige him to go behind the certificate to determine the condition of the property.v. NOTES TORRENS SYSTEM:1) Torrens system under Act No. 496, or the Land Registration Act of 1903 is said to be almost a verbatim copy of the Massachusetts Land Registration Act of 1898, which, in turn, followed the principles and procedure of the Torrens system of registration formulated bySir Robert Torrenswho patterned it after the Merchant shipping Acts in South Australia.2) Advantages of the Torrens System:a) It has substituted security for insecurity.b ) It has reduced the costs of conveyances from pounds to shillings, and the time occupied from months to days.c) It has exchange brevity and clearness for obscurity and verbiage.d) It has so simplified ordinary dealings that he who has mastered thethree RS(which meansReading, wRiting and aRithmetic)can transact his own conveyancing.e) It affords protection against fraud.f) It has restored to their just value many estates held under good holding titles, but depreciated in consequence of some blur or technical defect, and has barred the reoccurrence of any similar faults.3) The main principle of registration is to make registered titles indefeasible.4) The element of intention to deprive another of just rights constitutes the essential characteristics of actual as distinguished fromlegal-fraud.5) Proof of constructive fraud is not sufficient to authorize the Court of Land Registration to reopen a case and modify its decree. Specific, intentional acts to deceive and deprive another of his right or in some manner injure him, must be alleged and proved; that is there must be actual or positive fraud as distinguished from constructive fraud.II.CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS A. The Regalian Doctrinei. Paragraph 1, Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution: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. The exploration, development and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities or it may enter intoco-production,joint venture orproduction-sharingagreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceedingtwenty-fiveyears, renewable for not more thantwenty-fiveyears, and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. In cases of water rights for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, beneficial use may be the measure and limit of the grant.Under theRegalian doctrine, all lands of the public domain belong to the State and lands not otherwise appearing to be clearly within. Private ownership is presumed to belong to the State. Unless public land is shown to have been reclassified as alienable or disposable, and subsequently alienated by the State, it remains part of the public domain. Occupation or possession thereof by a person in the concept of owner, no matter how long cannot ripen in ownership.ii. Cario v. Insular Government, 41 Phil 935 (1909)The court thus laid down the presumption of a certain title held (1) as far back as testimony or memory went, and (2) under a claim of private ownership. Land held by this title is presumed to never have been public land.The United States Supreme Court found no proof that the Spanish decrees did not honor native title. On the contrary, the decrees discussed inValenton v. Murcianocase appeared to recognize that the natives owned some land, irrespective of any royal grant. The Regalian doctrine declared in the preamble of theRecopilacionwas all theory and discourse and it was observed that titles were admitted to exist beyond the powers of the Crown.iii. Cruz v. Secretary of Environment, 347 SCRA 128 (2000)The Regalian Doctrine does not negate native title.1) Separate Opinion of J. PUNOCario case firmly established a concept of private land title that existed irrespective of any royal grant from the State and was based on the strong mandate extended to the Islands via the Philippine Bill of 1902. The IPRA recognizes the existence of ICCs /IPs as a distinct sector in the society. It grants this people the ownership and possession of their ancestral domains and ancestral lands and defines the extent of these lands and domains.2) Separate Opinion of J. KAPUNANRegalian theory does not negate the native title to lands held in private ownership since time immemorial, adverting to the landmark case ofCario v. Insular Government, where the US SC thru Holmes held:The land has been held by individuals under a claim of private ownership, it will be presumed to have been held in the same way from before the Spanish conquest, and never to have been public land.Existence of native title to land, or ownership of land by Filipinos by virtue of possession under a claim of ownership since time immemorial and independent of any grant from the Spanish crown as an exception to the theory ofjure regalia.iv. Chavez v. Public Estates, 384 SCRA 152The Regalian DoctrineThe ownership of lands reclaimed from foreshore and submerged areas is rooted in the Regalian doctrine which holds that the State owns all lands and waters of the public domain. Upon the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, ownership of all lands, territories and possessions in the Philippines passed to the Spanish Crown. The King, as the sovereign ruler and representative of the people, acquired and owned all lands and territories in the Philippines except those he disposed of by grant or sale to private individuals.The 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions adopted the Regalian doctrine substituting, however, the State, in lieu of the King as the owner of all lands and waters of the public domain. The Regalian doctrine is the foundation of the time honored principle of land ownership that all lands that were not acquired from the Government, either by purchase of by grant, belong to the public domain.The foreshore and submerged areas of Manila Bay are part of the lands of the public domain, waters and other natural resources and consequently owned by the State. As such, foreshore and submerged areas shall not be alienable unless they are classified as agricultural lands of the public domain.The mere reclamation of these areas by the PEA does not convert these inalienable natural resources of the State into alienable and disposable lands of the public domain. There must be a law or presidential proclamation officially classifying these reclaimed lands as alienable and disposable if the law has reserved them for some public or quasi- public use.v. Buenaventura v. Republic, 517 SCRA 271 (2207)It is true that under the Regalian Doctrine all lands of the public domain belong to the State and all lands not otherwise appearing to be clearly within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State. However, such presumption is not conclusive. It can be rebutted by the applicants presentation of incontrovertible evidence showing that the land subject of the application for registration is alienable and disposable.vi.NOTES REGALIAN DOCTRINE:1) Generally, under the concept ofjura regalia, private title to land must be traced to some grant, express or implied, from the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Colonial government, and thereafter, the Philippine Republic.2) In its broad sense, the termjura regaliarefers to royal rights, or those rights which the King has by virtue of his prerogatives. In Spanish Law, it refers to a right which the sovereign has over anything in which a subject as a right of property or propriedad. These were rights enjoyed during feudal times by the King as the sovereign.3)Jura regaliawas therefore nothing more than a natural fruit of conquest.4)Regalian DoctrineorJura Regaliais a Western legal concept that was first introduced by the Spaniards into the country through theLaws of the Indies and the Royal Cedulas.B. Citizenship Requirementi. Paragraph 1, Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution: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. The exploration, development and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities or it may enter intoco-production,joint venture or production-sharingagreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceedingtwenty-fiveyears, renewable for not more thantwenty-fiveyears, and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. In cases of water rights for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, beneficial use may be the measure and limit of the grant.

ii. Section 7, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution:Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.iii. Section 8, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution:Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this Article, anatural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.iv. Krivenko v. Register of Deeds, 79 Phil 461Public agricultural lands mentioned in Section 1, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution, include residential, commercial and industrial lands, the Court stated:Natural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, shall not be alienated, and with respect to public agricultural lands, their alienation is limited to Filipino Citizens. But this Constitutional purpose conserving agricultural resources in the hands of Filipino citizens may easily be defeated by the Filipino citizens themselves who may alienate their agricultural lands in favor of aliens.Thus Section 5, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution provides:Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private agricultural lands will be transferred or assigned except to individuals corporations or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain in the Philippines.NOTES:1)In determining whether a parcel of land is agricultural, the test is not only whether it is actually agricultural, but also its susceptibility to cultivation for agricultural purposes.2)Public Agricultural Lands under Section 1 of Article XIII (now Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution) of the 1935 Constitution classifies lands of public domain in the Philippines into agricultural, timber and mineral.3)Private Agricultural Lands Section 5, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitutionv. Halili v. CA, 287 SCRA 465 (1998)The landmark case ofKrivenko v. Register of Deedssettled the issue as to who are qualified (and disqualified) to own public as well as private lands in the Philippines.In fine,non-Filipinoscannot acquire or hold title to private lands or to lands of the public domain, except only by way of legal succession.But what is the effect of a subsequent sale by the disqualified alien vendee to a qualified Filipino citizen? This is not a novel question. Jurisprudence is consistent thatif land is invalidly transferred to an alien who subsequently becomes a citizen or transfers it to a citizen, the flaw in the original transaction is considered cured and the title of the transferee is rendered valid.vi. Muller v. Muller, 500 SCRA 65 (2006)Mr. Muller was aware of the Constitutional prohibition when he purchased the property. He declared the property in the name of Mrs. Muller because of said prohibition. His attempt at subsequently asserting or claiming a right on the said property cannot be sustained.There was no implied trust created. Save for hereditary succession, an aliens disqualification is absolute. Not even an ownership in trust is allowed. Besides, no trust can result in favor of the party who is guilty of the fraud. To hold otherwise would allow a circumvention of the constitutional prohibition.He who seeks equity must do equity, and he who comes into equity must come with clean hands. Mr. Muller cannot seek reimbursement of the funds he used to purchase the property on the ground of equity where it is clear that he willingly and knowingly bought the property despite the constitutional prohibition.vii. Republic v. CA and Lapia, 235 SCRA 567The Court explained that even if the spouses were already Canadian citizens at the time they applied for registration, the lots were already private lands, and no longer formed part of the public domain. They were already private in character at the time of the purchase since respondents predecessors-in-interesthad been in open, continuous and exclusive possession and occupation thereof under claim of ownership prior to June 12, 1945 or since 1937. Moreover, the law provides that anatural-borncitizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of a private land under the terms prescribed by law.viii. Amendments to the IRR of RA No. 7042 (FIA of 1991), as amended by RA No. 8179LIST A:FOREIGN OWNERSHIP IS LIMITED BY MANDATE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAND SPECIFIC LAWSNo Foreign Equity1) Mass Media except recording (Article XVI, Section 11 of the Constitution; Presidential Memorandum dated 04 May 1994)2) Services involving the practice of licensed professions save in cases prescribed by law;(Article XIV, Section 14 of the Constitution; Section 1 of RA No. 5181)3) Retail Trade (Section 1 of RA No. 1180)4) Cooperatives (Chapter III, Article 26 of RA No. 6938)5) Private Security Agencies (Section 4 of RA No. 5487)6) Small-scaleMining (Section 3 of RA No. 7076)7) Utilization of Marine Resources in archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone (Article XII, Section 2 of the Constitution)8) Ownership, operation and management of cockpits (Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 449)9) Manufacture, repair, stockpiling and/or distribution of nuclear weapons (Article II, Section 8 of the Constitution)10) Manufacture, repair, stockpiling and/or distribution of biological, chemical and radiological weapons (Various treaties to which the Philippines is a signatory and conventions supported by the Philippines)Up toTwenty-FivePercent (25%) Foreign Equity11) Private recruitment, whether for local or overseas employment (Article 27 of Presidential Decree No. 442)12) Contracts for the construction and repair oflocally-fundedpublic works except:a. infrastructure/development projects covered in RA No. 7718; andb. projects which are foreign funded or assisted and required to undergo international competitive biddingUp to Thirty Percent (30%) Foreign Equity13) Advertising (Article XVI, Section 11 of the Constitution)Up to Forty Percent (40%) Foreign Equity14) Exploration, development and utilization of natural resources (Article XII, Section 2 of the Constitution)15) Ownership of private lands (Article XII, Section 7 of the Constitution; Chapter 5, Section 22 of Commonwealth Act No. 141)16) Operation and management of public utilities (Article XII, Section 11 of the Constitution; Section 16 of Commonwealth Act No. 146)17) Ownership/establishment and administration of educational institutions (Article XIV, Section 2 of the Constitution)18) Engaging in the rice and corn industry (Presidential Decree No. 194)19) Financing companies regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Section 6 of RA No. 5980)20) Contracts for the supply of materials, goods and commodities togovernment-owned or controlled corporation, company, agency or municipal corporation (Section 1 of RA No. 5183)21) Contracts for the construction ofdefense-relatedstructures (e.g., land, air, sea and coastal defenses, arsenals, barracks, depots, hangars, landing fields, quarters and hospitals) (Commonwealth Act No. 541)22) Project proponent and facility operator of a BOT project requiring a public utilities franchise (Article XII, Section 11 of the Constitution; Section 2a of RA No. 7718)23) Private domestic construction contracts (Republic Act 4566; Article XIV, Section 14 of the Constitution)LIST B: FOREIGN OWNERSHIP IS LIMITED FOR REASONS OF SECURITY, DEFENSE, RISK TO HEALTH AND MORALS AND PROTECTION OF SMALL- ANDMEDIUM-SCALEENTERPRISESUp to Forty Percent (40 %) Foreign Equity1) Manufacture, repair, storage, and/or distribution used in the manufacture thereof requiring Philippine National Police (PNP) clearance2) Manufacture, repair, storage and/or distribution of products requiring Department of National Defense (DND) clearance3) Manufacture and distribution of dangerous drugs (RA No. 7042 as amended by RA No. 8179)NOTES:1) Domestic investments are also prohibited(Article II, Section 8 of the Constitution; Conventions/Treaties to which the Philippines is a signatory)2) Full foreign participation is allowed through financial or technical assistance agreement with the President(Article XII, Section 11 of the Constitution)ix. Citizenship Requirement - Individuals1 )Filipino CitizensCitizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve hectares of the alienable lands of the public domain, by purchase, homestead, or grant.(Sec. 3, Article XII, Constitution)Citizens may acquire private lands.2)FormerNatural-BornCitizensAnatural-borncitizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.(Sec. 8, Article XII, Constitution)Any natural born citizen who has lost his Philippine citizenship and who has the legal capacity to enter into a contract under Philippine laws may be a transferee of a private land up to a maximum area of five thousand (5,000) square meters in the case of urban land or three (3) hectares in the case of rural land to be used by him for business or other purposes. In the case of married couples, one of them may avail of the privilege herein granted: Provided, That if both shall avail of the same, the total area acquired shall not exceed the maximum herein fixed.In case the transferee already owns urban or rural land for business or other purposes, he shall still be entitled to be a transferee of additional urban or rural land for business or other purposes which when added to those already owned by him shall not exceed the maximum areas herein authorized.A transferee under this Act may acquire not more than two (2) lots which should be situated in different municipalities or cities anywhere in the Philippines: Provided, that the total land area thereof shall not exceed five thousand (5,000) hectares in the case of rural land for use by him for business or other purposes. A transferee who has already acquired urban land shall be disqualified from acquiring rural land area and vice versa.(Section 10 of RA No. 7042, as amended by RA No. 8179, dated March 28, 1996,Foreign Investment Act of 1991, implementing Section 8, Article XII of the Constitution)3)AliensAlien Individuals may be transferees of private lands only in cases of hereditary succession.(Sec. 7, Article XII, Constitution)C. Corporationsi. Section 3, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution: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 to 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 exceedingtwenty-fiveyears, renewable for not more thantwenty-fiveyears, 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 hectares thereof, by purchase, homestead, or grant.Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and development, and subject to the requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law, the size of lands of the public domain which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions therefor.ii. Chavez v. Public Estates, 384 SCRA 152 (2002)The Constitutional intent, both under the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, is to transfer ownership of only a limited area of alienable land of the public domain to a qualified individual. This constitutional intent is safeguarded by the provision prohibiting corporations from acquiring alienable lands of the public domain, since the vehicle to circumvent the constitutional intent is removed. The available alienable public lands are gradually decreasing in the face of anever-growingpopulation. The most effective way to insure faithful adherence to this constitutional intent is to grant or sell alienable lands of the public domain only to individuals. This, it would seem, is the practical benefit arising from the constitutional ban.If the constitutional intent is to encourage economicfamily-sizefarms, placing the land in the name of a corporation would be more effective in preventing thebreak-upof farmlands. If the farmland is registered in the name of a corporation, upon the death of the owner, his heirs would inherit shares in the corporation instead of subdivide parcels of the farmland. This would prevent the continuingbreak-upof farmlands into smaller and smaller plots from one generation to the next.The constitutional ban strengthens the constitutional limitation on individuals from acquiring more than the allowed area of alienable lands of the public domain. Without the constitutional ban, individuals who already acquired the maximum area of alienable lands of the public domain could easily set up corporations to acquire more alienable public lands. The corporation is a convenient vehicle to circumvent the constitutional limitation on acquisition by individual of alienable lands of the public domain.iii. Director v. IAC and ACME, 146 SCRA 509 (1986)When natural persons have fulfilled the required statutory period of possession, the Public Land Act confers on them a legally sufficient and transferable title to the land, which are already private lands because of acquisitive prescription, and which could be validly transferred or sold to private corporations.The doctrine of vested rights was articulated by the Supreme Court in this ruling.The Supreme Court declared that the purely accidental circumstance that confirmation proceedings were brought under the aegis of a subsequent law which forbids corporations from owning lands of the public domain cannot defeat a right already vested before that law came into effect, or invalidate transactions then perfectly valid and proper. The Court emphatically stated that even the Constitution or subsequent law cannot impair vested rights.iv. NOTES - CORPORATIONS:1) Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period not exceedingtwenty-fiveyears, renewable for not more thantwenty-fiveyears, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area.(Sec. 3, Article XII, Constitution)2) Corporations or associations whether citizens or of citizens and aliens may not own, but may only hold by lease lands of the public domain.(DOJ Opinion, 1973)3) However, only corporations or associations at least 60% of the capital stock of which is owned by Filipinos, and the remainder by foreigners, may own private lands.4) Condominium Corporation Owns the LandTransfers to aliens of a condominium unit may be made only up to the point where the concomitant transfer of membership or stockholding in the condominium corporation would not cause the alien interest in such corporation to exceed 40% of its entire capital stock. (Sec 5, Condominium Act)5)Corporation Leases the LandAny corporation which is owned 100% by a foreign firm may establish a "condominium corporation" under R.A. No. 4726 and set up a condominium project on land leased for a period not to exceed (50) years.(DOJ Opinion 1973)Foreign Investors may lease private lands for a period not exceeding fifty (50) years, renewable once for a period of not more than twenty- five (25) years, provided that the leased area shall be used solely for the purpose of the investment, and provided further that the leased premises shall comprise such area as may reasonably be required for the purpose of the investment subject however to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law and the Local Government Code. (Sec. 4, Investors Lease Act)6)Land isCo-ownedby the Unit OwnersWhere the common areas in the condominium project are owned by the owners of separate units asco-ownersthereof, no condominium unit therein shall be conveyed or transferred to persons other than Filipino citizens, or corporations at least 60% of the capital stock of which belong to Filipino citizens, except in cases of hereditary succession.(Sec. 5, Condominium Act)Only citizens of the Philippines, as individuals, may acquire both private lands and lands of the public domain. Therefore, there can be no joint ownership of such lands between Filipinos and foreign investors as individuals.D. CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONSi. SECTION 2. Nature of registration proceedings; jurisdiction of courts.Judicial proceedings for the registration of lands throughout the Philippines shall be in rem and shall be based on the generally accepted principles underlying the Torrens system.Courts of First Instance (now Regional Trial Courts) shall 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. The court through the clerk of court shall furnish the Land Registration Commission with two certified copies of all pleadings, exhibits, orders, and decisions filed or issued in applications or petitions for land registration, with the exception of stenographic notes, within five days from the filing or issuance thereof.NOTES SECTION 2 of PRD:1) Registration is not a mode of acquiring ownership but is merely a procedure to establish evidence of tile over realty.2) Acertificate of titleis not a source of right. It merely confirms or records a title already existing and vested. The mere possession thereof does not make one the true owner of the property.3) Title is generally defined as the lawful cause or ground of possessing that which is ours.Title, therefore, may be defined briefly as that which constitutes a just cause of exclusive possession, or which is the foundation of ownership of property, real or personal.Certificate of title, on the other hand, is a mere evidence of ownership; it is not the title to the land itself.4) Under the Torrens system, a certificate of title may be:a.Original Certificate of Title: the first title issued in the name of the registered owner by the Register of Deeds covering a parcel of land which had been registered by virtue of a judicial or administrative proceeding.b. Transfer Certificate of Title the title issued by the ROD in favor of the transferee to whom the ownership of the already registered land had been transferred by virtue of a sale or other modes of conveyance.5) Torrens Titleis a certificate of ownership issued under the Torres System, through the Register of Deeds, naming and declaring the owner of the real property described therein, free from all liens and encumbrances except such as may be expressly noted there or otherwise reserved by law.6) General Rule: A title once registered cannot be impugned, altered, changed, modified, enlarged, or diminished. It shall not be subject to collateral attack. Exception: Direct proceeding permitted by law, usually for the protection of innocent third persons.7) Collateral AttackA certificate of title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified, or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law.(Sec. 48, P.D. 1529)a. Accion Publiciana, also known asaccion plenaria de posesion, is an ordinary civil proceeding to determine the better right of possession of realty independent of title. It refers to an ejectment suit filed after the expiry of one year from the accrual of the cause of action or from the unlawful withholding of possession of the realty. The objective of the plaintiffs in an accion publicianais to recover possession only, and not ownership. However, where the question of ownership is raised, the courts may pass upon the issue to determine who has the better right of possession. Such determination is merely provisional and not conclusive on the question of ownership.b. If thepetitioner-defendantsattack on the validity of respondent-plaintiffstitle, by claiming that fraud attended its acquisition,is a[prohibited]collateral attack on the title.It is an attack incidental to the quest to defend their possession of the properties in an accion publiciananot in a direct action whose main objective is to impugn the validity of the judgment granting the title.8) Nature of Torrens System:a. Judicial in character and not merely administrative.b. Proceeding isin rem(binding upon the whole world).A proceeding is in rem when the object of the action is to bar indifferently all who might be minded to make an objection of any sort against the right sought to be established, and if anyone in the world has a right to be heard on the strength of alleging facts which, if true, show an inconsistent interest.c. Distinguished from proceedingsin personamandquasi in rem:i. It isa proceeding in personamwhen the technical object of the suit is to establish a claim against some particular person, with a judgment which generally in theory at least, binds his body, o to bar some individual claim or objection, so that only certain persons are entitled to be heard in defense.ii. On the other hand, actionsquasi in remdeal with the status, ownership or liability of a particular property but which are intended to operate on these questions only as between the particular parties to the proceedings and not to ascertain or cut off the rights or interests of all possible claimants. The judgments therein are binding only upon the parties who joined in the action.9) RTChave plenary jurisdiction over land registration cases as provided in Section 2 of PD 1529.Exception Inferior Courts delegated jurisdictionto hear and determine cadastral or land registration cases in the following instances:a. Where the lot sought to be registered is not the subject of controversy or opposition; orb. Where the lot is contested but the value thereof does not exceed P100,000.00, such value to be ascertained by the affidavit of the claimant or by the agreement of the respective claimants, if there be more than one, or from the corresponding tax declaration of the real property.10)Actions for forcible entryinto andunlawful detainerof lands or buildings, original jurisdiction over which is conferred upon themetropolitan trial courts, municipal trial courts, and municipal circuit trial courts.11) The Decree haseliminated the distinction between the general jurisdiction vested in the RTC and the limited jurisdictionconferred upon it by the former law when acting merely as a cadastral court.The amendment was aimed at avoiding multiplicity of suits and the change has simplified registration proceedings.12) Venue:a. Real Actionsaffecting title to or possession of real property, or an interest therein shall be commenced and tried in the proper court which has territorial jurisdiction over the area where the real property involved, or a portion thereof, is situated.b. Personal Actionsshall be commenced and tried in the proper court where the plaintiff or any of the principal defendants resides or in the case of anon-residentdefendant where he may be found, at the election of the plaintiff.ii. SECTION 3. Status of otherpre-existingland registration system.The system of registration under the Spanish Mortgage Law is hereby discontinued and all lands recorded under said system which are not yet covered by Torrens title shall be considered as unregistered lands.Hereafter, all instruments affecting lands originally registered under the Spanish Mortgage Law may be recorded under Section 113 of this Decree, until the land shall have been brought under the operation of the Torrens system.The books or registration for unregistered lands provided under Section 194 of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended by Act No. 3344, shall continue to remain in force; Provided, that all instruments dealing with unregistered lands shall henceforth be registered under Section 113 of this Decree.E. CHAPTER 2 THE LAND REGISTRATION COMMISSION AND ITS REGISTRIES OF DEEDSi. Section 4. Land Registration Commission.In order to have a more efficient execution of the laws relative to the registration of lands, geared to the massive and accelerated land reform and social justice program of the government, there is created a commission to be known as the Land Registration Commission under the executive supervision of the Department of Justice.ii.Section 5. Officials and employees of the Commission.The Land Registration Commission shall have a chief and an assistant chief to be known, respectively, as the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Land Registration who shall be appointed by the President. The Commissioner shall be duly qualified member of the Philippine Bar with at least ten years of practice in the legal profession, and shall have the same rank, compensation and privileges as those of a Judge of the Court of First Instance. The Deputy Commissioner, who shall possess the same qualifications as those required of the Commissioner, shall receive compensation which shall be three thousand pesos per annum less than that of the Commissioner. He shall act as Commissioner of Land Registration during the absence or disability of the Commissioner and when there is a vacancy in the position until another person shall have been designated or appointed in accordance with law. The Deputy Commissioner shall also perform such other functions as the Commissioner may assign to him.They shall be assisted by such number of division chiefs as may be necessary in the interest of the functioning of the Commission, by a Special Assistant to the Commissioner, and by a Chief Geodetic Engineer who shall each receive compensation at the rate of three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than that of the Deputy Commissioner.All other officials and employees of the Land Registration Commission including those of the Registries of Deeds whose salaries are not herein provided, shall receive salaries corresponding to the minimum of their respective upgraded ranges as provided under paragraph 3.1 of Budget Circular No. 273, plus sixty per centum thereof across the board, notwithstanding the maximum salary allowed for their respective civil service eligibilities.The salaries of officials and employees provided in this Decree shall be without prejudice to such benefits and adjustments as may from time to time be granted by the President or by the legislature to government employees.All officials and employees of the Commission except Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration.NOTES SECTION 5 of PRD:1) On June 17, 1954, RA No. 1151created theLand Registration Commission (LRC)to provide a more efficient execution of the existing laws relative to the registration of lands.2) LRCexercise supervision and control over all Registers of Deeds, as well as the clerical and archival system of the courts of first instance throughout the Philippines with the reference to the registration of lands.3) It washeaded by a Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner, both appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.4) The LRC has been renamed Land Registration Authority (LRA). It isheaded by an Administrator who is assisted by two (2) Deputy Administrators, all of whom areappointed by the Presidentupon therecommendation of the Secretary of Justice. All other officials of the LRA, except Register of Deeds, are appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon recommendation of the Administrator.5) TheLRA is the central repository of records relative to original registration of lands titled under the Torrens system, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands.Specifically, it is responsible for the issuance of decrees of registration and certificates of title (original and duplicate) where land is brought for the first time under the Torrens system.iii. Section 6. General Functions.1. TheCommissioner of Land Registrationshall have the following functions:a) Issue decrees of registrationpursuant to final judgments of the courts in land registration proceedings and cause the issuance by the Registers of Deeds of the corresponding certificates of title;b) Exercise supervision and controlover all Registers of Deeds and other personnel of the Commission;c) Resolve caseselevated en consulta by, or on appeal from decision of, Registers of Deeds;d) Exercise executive supervisionover all clerks of court and personnel of the Courts of First Instance throughout the Philippines with respect to the discharge of their duties and functions in relation to the registration of lands;e) Implement all orders, decisions, and decreespromulgated relative to the registration of lands and issue, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Justice, all needful rules and regulations therefor;f)Verify and approvesubdivision, consolidation, and consolidation- subdivision survey plans of properties titled under Act No. 496 except those covered by P.D. No. 957.2. TheLand Registration Commissionshall have the following functions:a) Extend speedy and effective assistance to the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Land Bank, and other agencies in the implementation of the land reform program of the government;b) Extend assistance to courtsin ordinary and cadastral land registration proceedings;c) Be thecentral repository of recordsrelative to original registration of lands titled under the Torrens system, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands.NOTES SECTION 6 of PRD:1) LRA Administrator, an executive officer with judicial rank.a. Shall have the same rank, compensation, and privileges as those of a Judge of the Court of First Instance (RTC).b. His functions are plainly executive and subject to the Presidents power of supervision and control.c. He can be investigated and removed only by the President and not by the Supreme Court.2) Duty of LRA to issue decree ministerial.a. While theduty of the LRA officials to issue a decree of registration is purely ministerial, it is ministerial only in the sense that they act under the orders of the court and the decree must be in conformity with the decision of the court and with the data found in the record, as to which they have no discretion on the matter.b. But the issuance by LRA officials of a decree of registration isnot a purely ministerial duty in cases where they find that such would result to the double titling of the same parcel of land.c. The issuance of a decree of registration is part of the judicial function of courts and isnot compellable bymandamusbecause it involves the exercise of discretion.d. The duty of land registration officials to render reports is not limited to the period before the courts decision becomes final, but may extend even after its finality but not beyond the lapse of one (1) year from the entry of the decree.iv. Section 7. Office of the Register of Deeds.There shall be at least one Register of Deeds for each province and one for each city. Every Registry with a yearly average collection of more than sixty thousand pesos during the last three years shall have one Deputy Register of Deeds, and every Registry with a yearly average collection of more than three hundred thousand pesos during the last three years, shall have one Deputy Register of Deeds and one second Deputy Register of Deeds.The Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial jurisdiction of each Registry upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration, with the end in view of making every registry easily accessible to the people of the neighboring municipalities.The province or city shall furnish a suitable space or building for the office of the Register of Deeds until such time as the same could be furnished out of national funds.NOTES SECTION 7 of PRD:1) Registry of Property:a. The registration of instruments affecting registered land must be done in the proper registry, in order to affect and bind the land and, thus, operate as constructive notice to the world.b. If the sale is not registered, it is binding only between the seller and the buyer but it does not affect innocent third persons.c. The Civil Code, in Article 708, provides for the establishment of a Registry of Property which has for its object the inscription or annotation of acts and contracts relating to the ownership and other rights over immovable property.d. The original copy of the original certificate of title shall be filed in the Registry of Deeds.e. Each Register of Deeds shall keep a primary entry book where all instruments including copies of writs and processes relating to registered land shall be entered in the order of their filing. They shall be regarded as registered from the time so noted.2) Registrationin general, as the law uses the word, means any entry made in the books of the Registry, including both registration in its ordinary and strict sense, and cancellation, annotation, and even the marginal notes. In its strict acceptation, it is the entry made in the Registry which records solemnly and permanently the right of ownership and other real rights.3) When a conveyance has been properly recorded, such record is constructive notice of its contents and all interests, legal and equitable, included therein.4) Effect of Registration:a. The act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land insofar as third persons are concerned, and in all cases under this Decree.b. Registration in the public registry is notice to the whole world.c. Thus, between two buyers of the same immovable property registered under the Torrens system, the law gives ownership priority to:i. The first registrant in good faith;ii. Then, the first possessor in good faith; andiii. Finally, the buyer who in good faith presents the oldest title.This rule, however, does not apply if the property is not registered under the Torrens system.d. In a case, two certificates of title were issued covering the very same property derived from two different land patents, the Court ruled in favor of the owner who registered his land patent first regardless of the date of issuance of the said land patent.v. Section 8. Appointment of Registers of Deeds and their Deputies and other subordinate personnel; salaries.Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Justice. Deputy Registers of Deeds and all other subordinate personnel of the Registries of Deeds shall be appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration.The salaries of Registers of Deeds and their Deputies shall be at the following rates:1. First Class Registries- The salaries of Registers of Deeds in first class Registries shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than that of the Deputy Commissioner.2. Second Class Registries- The salaries of Registers of Deeds in second class Registries shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than those of Registers of Deeds in first class Registries.3. Third Class Registries- The salaries of Registers of Deeds in third class Registries shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than those of Registers of Deeds in second class Registries.4. The salaries of Deputy Registers of Deeds and Second Deputy Registers of Deeds- shall be three thousand four hundred pesos per annum less than those of their corresponding Registers of Deeds and Deputy Registers of Deeds, respectively.The Secretary of Justice, upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration, shall cause the reclassification of Registries based either on work load or the class of province/city, whichever will result in a higher classification, for purposes of salary adjustments in accordance with the rates hereinabove provided.vi. Section 9. Qualifications of Registers of Deeds and Deputy Registers of Deeds.No person shall be appointed Register of Deeds unless he has been admitted to the practice of law in the Philippines and shall have been actually engaged in such practice for at least three years or has been employed for a like period in any branch of government the functions of which include the registration of property.The Deputy Register of Deeds shall be a member of the Philippine Bar. Provided, however, that no Register of Deeds or Deputy Register of Deeds holding office as such upon the passage of this Decree shall by reason hereof, be removed from office or be demoted to a lower category or scale of salary except for cause and upon compliance with due process as provided for by law.vii. Section 10. General functions of Registers of Deeds.The office of the Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of records of instruments affecting registered or unregistered lands and chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein such office is situated.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 and that the same are properly canceled. If the instrument is not registerable, 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 consultation in accordance with Section 117 of this Decree.NOTES SECTIONS 8, 9, & 10 of PRD:1) Office of the Register of Deed:a. There shall be at least one Register of Deeds for each province and one for each city.b. The Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial jurisdiction of each Registry upon the recommendation of the LRA Administrator.c. Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Secretary of Justice.d. Deputy Registers of Deeds and all other subordinate personnel of the Registries of Deeds shall be appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon the recommendation of the LRA Administrator.e. Both the Register of Deeds and Deputy Register of Deeds must be members of the Bar.2) Duty of Register of Deeds to register, ministerial.a. Register of Deeds performboth functions of an administrative characterandfunctions which are at least of aquasi-judicialnature.b. However, the function of a Register of Deeds with reference to the registration of deeds, encumbrances, instruments and the like isministerial in nature.c. Registration is a mere ministerial actby which a deed, contract or instrument is sought to be inscribed in the records of the office of the Register of Deeds and annotated at the back of the certificate of the title covering the land subject of the deed, contract or instrument.Whether the document is invalid, frivolous or intended to harass, is not the duty of a Register of Deeds to decide, but is for a court of competent jurisdiction to determine.3) Instances where Register of Deeds may deny registration:a. Where there are several copies of the title(co-ownersduplicate) but only one is presented with the instrument to be registered.b. Where the property is presumed to be conjugal but the instrument of conveyance bears the signature of only one spouse.c. Where there is a pending case in court where the character of the land and validity of the conveyance are in issue.d. Where required certificates or documents are not submitted.The refusal by the Register of Deeds to register an instrument affecting registered land by reason ofnon-compliancewith certain requirements does not bar registration if thereafter the defects are cured.4) Doubtful questions shall be submitted to LRA Administrator for resolution:a. A Register of Deeds is precluded from exercising his personal judgment and discretion when confronted with the problem of whether to register a deed or instrument on the ground that it is invalid.b. When the Register of Deeds is in doubt with regard to the proper step to be taken or memorandum to be made in pursuance of any deed, mortgage or other instrument presented to him for registration, or where any party in interest does not agree with the action taken by him with reference to any such deed or instrument, he shall certify the question to the LRA Administrator who shall, after notice and hearing, enter an order prescribing the step to be taken on the doubtful question.c. Butmandamusdoes not lie to compel the Register of Deeds to make registration.d. The administrative remedymustbe resorted to by the interested party before he can have recourse to the courts.5) The act of registration does not validate an otherwise void contract.While registration operates as a notice of the deed, contract, or instrument to others, it does not add to its validity nor converts an invalid instrument into a valid one as between the parties, not amounts to a declaration that the instrument recognizes a valid and subsisting interest in the land.6) Notice to the Register of Deeds or adverse party.a) When a writ of preliminary injunction in a cadastral proceeding is dissolved, the obstacle to the registration of a deed of sale is removed, but it is no authority for the court to issue an order for registration of said deed without notice to the Register of Deeds or to the adverse party, where the dismissal of the cadastral case is not yet final.b) It is one thing for the Register of Deeds, in the exercise of his ministerial duties under the law, to register an instrument which in his opinion is registrable, and quite another thing for the court itself to order the registration. The former does not contemplate notice to and hearing of interested parties such as are required in a judicial proceeding nor carries with it the solemnity and legal consequences of a court judgment.viii. Section 11. Discharge of duties of Register of Deeds in case of vacancy, etc.1. Until a regular Register of Deeds shall have been appointed for a province or city, or in case of vacancy in the office, or upon the occasion of the absence, illness, suspension, or inability of the Register of Deeds to discharge his duties, said duties shall be performed by the following officials, in the order in which they are mentioned below, unless the Secretary of Justice designates another official to act temporarily in his place:a) For the province or city where there is a Deputy Register of Deeds, by said Deputy Register of Deeds, or by the second Deputy Register of Deeds, should there be one;b) For the province or city where there is no Deputy or second Deputy Register of Deeds, by the Provincial or City Fiscal, or any Assistant Fiscal designated by the Provincial or City Fiscal;2. In case of absence, disability or suspension of the Register of Deeds without pay, or in case of vacancy in the position, the Secretary of Justice may, in his discretion, authorize the payment of an additional compensation to the official acting as Register of Deeds, such additional compensation together with his actual salary not to exceed the salary authorized for the position thus filled by him.3. In case of anewly-createdprovince or city and pending establishment of a Registry of Deeds and the appointment of a regular Register of Deeds for the new province or city, the Register of Deeds of the mother province or city shall be theex-officioRegister of Deeds for said new province or city.

ix. Section 12. Owner's Index; reports.There shall be prepared in every Registry an index system which shall contain the names of all registered owners alphabetically arranged. For this purpose, an index card which shall be prepared in the name of each registered owner which shall contain a list of all lands registered in his name.The Register of Deeds shall submit to the Land Registration Commission within ten days after the month to which they pertain his monthly reports on collections and accomplishments. He shall also submit to the Commission at the end of December of each year, an annual inventory of all titles and instruments in his Registry.x. Section 13. Chief Geodetic Engineer.There shall be a Chief Geodetic Engineer in the Land Registration Commission who shall be the technical adviser of the Commission on all matters involving surveys and shall be responsible to him for all plats, plans and works requiring the services of a geodetic engineer in said office. He shall perform such other functions as may, from time to time, be assigned to him by the Commissioner.NOTES SECTION 13 of PRD:1) A survey plan serves to establish the true identity of the landto ensure that it does not overlap a parcel of land or a portion thereof already covered by a previous land registration, and to forestall the possibility that it will be overlapped by a subsequent registration of any adjoining land.2) Only the Lands Management Bureau has authority to approve original survey plans for registration purposes.There was a need to centralize in one agency, the function of verifying and approving original survey plans for all purposes in order to assure compliance with established standards and minimize irregularities in the execution of land surveys.

III.CHAPTER 3 - ORIGINAL REGISTRATIONORDINARY REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGSA. Who may applyRegistration under the Property Registration Decreei.Section 14. Who may apply.The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance an application for registration of title to land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:1.Those who by themselves or through theirpredecessors-in-interesthave been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.NOTES SECTION 14(1) of PRD:1) Requisites for registration under Section 14(1)a. That the land applied for is an agricultural public land classified as alienable and disposable land at the time;b. The application for registration is filed with the proper court;c. That the applicant, by himself or through hispredecessors-in-interest, has been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation thereof, under abona fideclaim of ownership; andd. That such possession and occupation has been effected since June 12, 1945 or earlier.2) Land must already be(a)classified as alienable and disposable land; and(b)possessed and occupied since June 12, 1945 or earlier at the time of filing of the application for registration.a. It need not be classified as alienable and disposable land of public domain since June 12, 1945.It is sufficient that the land is already declared as alienable and disposable landat the timeof the application for registration is filedso as to entitle the possessor to registration.3) Steps in Alienation of Public Agricultural Land:a. It must be shown to have been reclassified asalienable and disposableland of the public domain;b. It 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. (Republic v. CA)4) With respect tonon-agriculturallandslike forest lands, the rules on the confirmation of imperfect title do not apply unless and until the land classified as forest land is released in an official proclamation to that effect so that it may form part of the disposable agricultural lands of the public domain.5) Nature of possession must be:a. Open- It must be known to all. It must not be a secret or clandestine. b. Continuous- There must not be any interruption.c. Exclusive- Land must be possessed by himself or by his predecessors-in-interestto the exclusion of all others.d. Notorious- Use or inhabitance of real property that is open and obvious to neighbors, leading to a presumption that the owner has notice of it.2. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of existing laws.NOTES SECTION 14(2) of PRD:1) Properties of public dominion cannot be acquired by prescription.No matter how long the possession of the properties has been, there can be no prescription against the State regarding property of public domain. Even a city or municipality cannot acquire them by prescription as against the State.The exception is where the law itself so provides.Thus, patrimonial property of the State may be the subject of acquisition through prescription.2) While as a rule, prescription does not run against the State, the exception is where the law itself expressly provides.3) Article 1113 of the Civil Code provides the legal foundation for the application Section 14(2). It reads:Art. 1113.All things which are within the commerce of men are susceptible of prescription, unless otherwise provide. Property of the State or any of its subdivisions not patrimonial in character shall not be the object of prescription.4) Under the Civil Code, it is clear that where lands of the public domain are patrimonial and, hence, private in character, they are susceptible to acquisitive prescription.5) Lands of public dominion shall form part of the patrimonial property of the State when there is a declaration by the government that these are alienable or disposable and are no longer intended for public use or public service. Only when such lands have becomepatrimonial can the prescriptive period for the acquisition of property of the public dominion begin to run.6) Thus, where the land is already a private land, the applicant has the right to register the same under Section 14(2) even if the possession thereof for the required prescriptive period commenced on a date later than June 12, 1945.7) 2 Kinds of Prescription:a. Ordinary Acquisitive Prescription- a person acquires ownership of a patrimonial property through possession for at least ten (10) years, in good faith and with just title.b. Extraordinary acquisitive prescription- a persons uninterrupted adverse possession of patrimonial property for at least thirty (30) years, regardless of good faith or just title, ripens into ownership pursuant to Article 1137 of the Civil Code.8) In sum, for Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree to apply a) There must be an express declaration by the State that the public dominion property is no longer intended for public service or the development of the national wealth or that the property has been converted into patrimonial. Without such express declaration, the property, even if classified as alienable or disposable, remains property of the public dominion, pursuant to Article 420 (2) of the Civil Code, and thus incapable of acquisition by prescription.b) Such declaration shall be in the form of a law duly enacted by Congress or a Presidential Proclamation in cases where the President is duly authorized by law.9) Prescription Generally:a. By prescription, one acquires ownership and other real rights through the lapse of time in the manner and under the action lay down by law.b. All things which arewithin the commerce of menare susceptible of prescription, unless otherwise provided.c. Property of the State or any of its subdivisions not patrimonial in character shall not be the object of prescription.d. For purposes of prescription, there isjust titlewhen the adverse claimant came into possession of the property through one of the modes recognized by law for the acquisition of ownership or other real rights, but the grantor was not the owner or could not transmit any right.10) Concept of possession for purposes of prescription:a. Possession in the eyes of the law does not mean that a man has to have his feet on every square meter of ground before it can be said that he is in possession.b. Actual possession of land consists in the manifestation of acts of dominion over it of such a nature as a party would naturally exercise over his own property.c. To consolidate prescription, the possession must be that of owner, and it must be public, peaceful and uninterrupted.d. Acts of a possessory character done by virtue of a license or mere tolerance on the part of the real owner are not sufficient.11) Computation of prescription:a. The present possessor may complete the period necessary for prescription by tacking his possession to that of his grantor or predecessor-in-interest.12) Prescription distinguished from laches:a. Prescriptionis concerned with the fact of delay;Lachesis concerned with the effect of delay.b. Prescriptionis a matter of time;Lachesis principally a question of inequity of permitting a claim to be enforced, this inequity being founded on some change in the condition of the property or the relation of the parties.c. Prescription is statutory;Lachesis not.d. Prescriptionapplies at law;Lachesapplies in equity.e. Prescriptionis based on a fixed time;Lachesis not.3. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of accession or accretion under the existing laws.NOTES SECTION 14(3) of PRD:1) Accession defineda. Accession is the right of the owner of a thing, real or personal, to become the owner of everything which is:produced thereby, incorporated attached thereto, Either naturally or artificially.b.Includes: fruits of, additions to, improvements upon a thing; building, planting and sowing; alluvion, avulsion, change of course of rivers, formation of islands.2) Ownership of abandoned river beds by right of accession:a. Under Article 461 of the Civil Code, river beds which are abandoned through the natural change in the course of the watersipso factobelong to the owners whose lands are occupied by the new course in proportion to the area lost.b. However, the owners of the lands adjoining the old bed shall have the right to acquire the same by paying the value thereof, which value shall not exceed the value of the area occupied by the new bed.c.To illustrate: AandBeach owns land on opposite sides of a river. The river changed its course, passing through the land ofC. Who owns the abandoned river bed?C,to compensate him for his loss. Now, suppose that two owners,CandD, lost portions of their lands. Who owns the river bed?CandD, in proportion to the area lost.d.Law speaks of change of river course. If a river simply dries up or disappears, the bed left dry will belong to public dominion(Art 502 of the Civil Code).3) The requisites for the application of Article 461 of the Civil Code:a. Thechange must be suddenin order that the old river may be identified;b. The changing of the course must bemore or less permanent, and not temporary over flooding of anothers land;c. The change of the river must be anatural one, i.e., caused by natural forces (and not by artificial means);d. There must bedefinite abandonmentby the government. (If the government shortly after the change decides and actually takes steps to bring the river to its old bed, Article 461 will not apply for, here, it cannot be said that there was abandonment); ande. The river mustcontinue to exist, that is, it must not completely dry up or disappear.4) Ownership by right of accretion along river banks:a. Article 457 of the Civil Codeprovides that to the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belong the accretion which they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the waters.b. In the absence of evidence that the change in the course of the river was sudden or that it occurred through avulsion, the presumption is that the change was gradual and caused by accretion and erosion.5) 3 Requisites before an accretion is said to have taken place:a. That the deposit be gradual and imperceptible;b. That it be made through the effects of the current of the water; andc. That the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the banks of rivers.6) Accretions affecting lands registered under the Torrens system:a. In case of diminution of areaRegistration does not protect the riparian owner against diminution of the area of his land through gradual changes in the course of the adjoining stream;Accretions which the banks of rivers may gradually receive from the effect of the current become the property of the owners of the banks.b. In case of increase of areaAlthough alluvion is automatically owned by the riparian owner, it does not automatically become registered land, just because the lot which receives such accretion is covered by a Torrens title;So, alluvial deposit acquired by a riparian owner of registered land by accretion may be subjected to acquisition through prescription by a third person, by failure of such owner to register such accretion within the prescribed period.7) Accretion along the banks of creeks, streams and lakes:a.Article 84 of the Spanish Law of Waters of 1866, which remains in effect, reads:Art. 84. Accretions deposited gradually upon lands contiguous to creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes, by accessions or sediments from the waters thereof, belong to the owners of such lands.b. From the foregoing provisions, alluvial deposits along the banks of creeks, streams and lakes do not form part of the public domain as the alluvial property automatically belongs to the owner of the estate to which it may have been added.c. The only restriction is that the owner of the adjoining property must register the same under the Torrens system; otherwise, the alluvial property may be subject to acquisition through prescription by third persons.(City Mayor of Paranaque City v. Ebio)8) Alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature:a. The requirement that the deposit should be due to the effects of the current of the river is indispensable.b. Alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature.c. There must be evidence to prove that the addition to the property was made gradually through the effects of the current of the river.9) Reason for the law on accretion:a . Compensate the riparian owner for the danger of loss that he suffers because of the location of his land;b. Compensate him for the encumbrances and various kinds of easements to which his property is subject; andc. Promote the interests of agriculture for the riparian owner it in the best position to utilize the accretion.10) Accretion does not automatically become registered land:a. Under Article 457 of the Civil Code, the registered owner of property is considered the lawful owner of the accretion to his property. But the accretion does not become automatically registered land just because the lot which receives it is covered by a Torrens title thereby making the alluvial property imprescriptible.b. Ownership of a piece of land is one thing, and registration under the Torrens system of that ownership is quite another.c. Ownership over the accretion received by the land adjoining a river is governed by the Civil Code.d. Imprescriptibility of registered land is provided in the registration law.11) Where alluvial increment is not registered, it may be acquired by third persons through prescription:a. In order that the accretion may be protected by the rule on imprescriptibility, it is necessary that the same be brought under the operation of the Torrens system.b. Where the adjoining land owner does not cause the registration of the increment to his property, the same may be acquired by third persons.12) Alluvial formation along the seashore forms part of the public domain:a. In contrast to the rule on accretion, alluvial formation along the seashore is part of the public domain and, therefore, not open to acquisition by adverse possession by private persons.b. It is outside the commerce of man, unless otherwise declared by either the executive or legislative branch of the government.c. All lands thrown up by the sea and formed upon the shore by the action of the water, together with the adjacent sore, belong to the national domain and are for public uses. The State shall grant these lands to the adjoining owners only when they are no longer needed for the purposes mentioned therein.4. Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.NOTES SECTION 14(4) of PRD:1) Land Grant by Presidential Proclamationa. The clear implication is that a land grant having been made by a Presidential proclamation and by legislative act, the grantee may apply for the registration of the land and bring it under the operation of the Torrens system.b. Reservation for a specific public purpose by Presidential proclamation Lands covered by reservation are not subject to entry, and no lawful settlement on them can be acquired.2) Public Grant- a conveyance of public land by government to a private individual.

3) Reclamationa. Filling of submerged land by deliberate act and reclaiming title theretob. Must be initially owned by governmentc. May be subsequently transferred to private owners4) Voluntary Transfera. Private grantb. Voluntary execution of deed of conveyancec. Contractual relationship between the partiesd. Consensual5) Involuntary Alienationa. No consent from the owner of landb. Forcible acquisition by the State6) Descent or Devise- Hereditary succession to the estate of deceased owner.7) Emancipation Patent / Grant(Certificate of Land Ownership Award)a. To ameliorate the sad plight oftenant-farmersb. Such grant is not transferable except by hereditary succession8) Land acquisition by private corporations:a. By way of exception, juridical persons may apply for registration of leased agricultural and disposable lands not exceeding 1,000 hectares in area for a period of 25 years and renewable for not more than 25 years (Section 3, Article XII, 1987 Constitution), and except when the land has been previously acquired by prescription by a natural person and subsequently transferred to a juridical entity(in this case, a corporation may apply for judicial confirmation of title).b. Purpose of the prohibition(see Chavez v. PEA)c. Limitation to ownership of land by corporations:i. Private Lands1. At least 60% Filipino(Sec. 7, Article XII, 1987 Constitution);2. Restricted as to extent reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out purpose for which it was created; and3. If engaged in agriculture, it is restricted to 1,024 hectares.ii. Patrimonial property of the State(Sec. 3, Article XII, 1987 Constitution)1. Lease (CANNOT own land of the public domain) for 25 years renewable;2. Limited to 1,000 hectares; and3. Apply to both Filipinos and foreign corporations.9) A corporation sole is qualified to apply for registrationA. A corporation sole is a special form of corporation usually associated with the clergy.b. A corporation sole was designed to facilitate the exercise of the functions of ownership carried on by the clerics for and on behalf of the church which was regarded as the property owner.c. A corporation sole consist of one person only, and his successors (who will always be one at a time), in some particular station, who are incorporated by law in order to give them some legal capacities and advantages, particularly that of perpetuity, which in their natural persons they could not have had.d. A corporation sole is qualified to own and register private agricultural land.e. A corporation sole by the nature of its incorporation is vested with the right to purchase and hold real estate and personal property.f. Bishops or archbishops, as the case may be, as corporations sole are merely administrators of the church properties that come to their possession, and which they hold in trust for the church. Thus, church properties acquired by the incumbent of a corporation sole pass, by operation of law, upon his death not to his personal heirs but to his successor in officeWhere the land is owned in common, all theco-ownersshall file the application jointly.NOTES par. 2, SECTION 14 of PRD:1)Co-ownersshall file application jointly:a. Under Article 493 of the Civil Code, eachco-ownershall have the full ownership of his part and of the fruits and benefits pertaining thereto, and he may therefore alienate, assign or mortgage it, and even substitute another person in its enjoyment, except when personal rights are involved.b. But the effect of the alienation or the mortgage, with respect to theco-owners,shall be limited to the portion which may be allotted to him in the division upon the termination of theco-ownership.c. Since aco-ownercannot be considered a true owner of a specific portion until division or partition is effected, hecannot file an application for registration for the whole area without joining theco-ownersas applicants.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.NOTES par. 3, SECTION 14 of PRD:1) Vendee a retro may file application in his namea. A sale withpacto de retrotransfers the legal title to the vendeeand the vendee is subrogated to all the rights and actions of the vendor, subject to the lattersright of redemption.b. Having the legal title to the land, thevendee aretrohas therefore a registerable titlethereto which may be the subject of initial registration.c. Theright to redeemthe property retained by the vendor aretroshould only benoted in the decree and certificate of titlethat may be issued.A trustee on behalf of his principal may apply for original registration of any land held in trust by him, unless prohibi