I.

Definition
1. Land Title- evidence of the right of the owner or the extent of his interest, and by
which means he can maintain control, and as a rule, assert right to exclusive
possession and enjoyment of the property.
2. Deeds- a written instrument executed in accordance with law, wherein a person
grants or conveys to another certain land, tenements or hereditaments.
3. Torrens Title- certificate of ownership issued under the Torrens system of
registration by the government, thru the Register of Deeds naming and declaring
the owner in fee simple of the real property described therein, free from all liens
and encumbrances except such as may be expressly noted thereon or otherwise
reserved by law
4. Fee Simple- an absolute title; it is an absolute estate in perpetuity. It is where title
to land is conferred upon a man and his heirs absolutely and without any
limitation imposed upon the estate. The word simple signifi es that it is without
qualifi cation or restriction.
5. Lis Pendens- latin term for pending suit or litigation. This is synonymous to litis
pendencia as used in Spanish law. It indicates the control which a court has,
during the pendency of an action, over the property involved therein.Registration

II.

of title vs. Recording of evidence of title

Registration of Title vs. Recording of Title
In title registration, the state provides a public record of the title itself upon which a
prospective purchaser or someone else interested may rely. On the other hand,
recording acts provide for the recording of deeds of conveyance and other
instruments, without guaranteeing the title, leaving to the prospective purchasers or
other persons interested to examine the instruments in the records and formulate their

III.

own conclusions as to their effect on the title.

Modes of Acquiring Land Titles

Of the various methods of modes of acquiring titles to lands, mention may be made of
the following: (a) by public grant; (b) by adverse possession; (c) by accretion; (d) by
reclamation; (e) by private grant or voluntary transfer; (f) by involuntary alienation;
(g) by descent or devise; and (h) by emancipation patent.

IV.

Rights of Co-Owners
Article 493. Each co-owner shall have the full ownership of his part and of the fruits
and benefi ts 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. But the effect of the alienation or the mortgage, with
respect to the co-owners shall be limited to the portion which may be allowed to him

V.

in the division upon termination of the co-ownership.

Purpose of Torrens System
(1) avoid possible conflicts of title in and to real property, and (2) facilitate
transactions relative thereto by giving the public the right to rely upon the face of the
Torrens certificate of title and to dispense with the need of inquiring further, except
when the party concerned has actual knowledge of facts and circumstances that
should impel a reasonably cautious man to make such further inquiry. It was
therefore adopted in this country since it is the most effective measure to guarantee
the integrity of land titles.
However, the purpose of land registration is not the acquisition of lands but only the
registration of title which the applicant already possessed over the land. Registration

was never intended as a means of acquiring.

VI.
Procedure of Registration under PD 1529
1. Survey of land by the Bureau of Lands or a duly licensed private surveyor;
2. Filing of application for registration by the applicant;
3. Setting of the date for the initial hearing of the application by the Court;

4. Transmittal of the application and the date of initial hearing together with all the
documents or other evidences attached thereto by the Clerk of Court to the Land
Registration Commission (now National Land Titles and Deeds Registration
Administration);
5. Publication of a notice of the fi ling of the application and date and place of hearing once
in the Offi cial Gazette and once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines;
6. Service of notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those known to have interest in
the property by the Sheriff;
7. Filing of answer or opposition to the application by any person whether named in the
notice or not;
8. Hearing of the case by the Court;
9. Promulgation of judgment by the Court;
10. Issuance of the decree by the Court declaring the decision final and instructing the
National Land Titles and Deeds Registration Administrator to issue a decree of
confirmation and registration;
11. Entry of the decree of registration in the National Land Titles and Deeds Registration
Administration;
12. Sending of copy of the decree of registration to the corresponding Register of Deeds
(Registrar of Land Titles and Deeds); and
13. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration book and the issuance of the
owners duplicate original certificate of title of the applicant by the Registrar of Land
Titles and Deeds, upon payment of the prescribed fees.
VII. Effect of Failure to Answer
If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court may at once upon
motion of the applicant, no reason to the contrary appearing, order a general default to
be recorded and the application to be taken for confessed. By the description in the
notice, To all whom it may concern, all the world are made parties defendant and
hall be concluded by the default and order. After such default and order, the court may
enter a decree confirming the title of the applicant and ordering registration of the

same. when no answer in writing nor any opposition is made to an application for
registration of a property in the Court, all the allegations contained in the application
shall be held as confessed by reason of the absence of denial on the part of the
opponent. A person who has not challenged an application for registration of land,
even if the appeal afterwards interposed is based on the right of dominion over the
same land, cannot allege damage or error against the judgment ordering the
registration, inasmuch as he did not allege or pretend to have any right to such land.
So also, it was held that a claimant having failed to present his answer or objection to
the registration of a parcel of land under the Torrens system or to question the validity
of such registration within a period of one year after the certifi cate of title had been
issued, had forever lost his right in said land, even granting that he had any right
therein.
VIII. Effect of Withdrawal of Application in Land Registration
In a land registration case, when the applicant withdraws her application with the
consent of the court, and only the Director of Lands and the private oppositors are
left, it does not mean, that the withdrawal terminates the proceedings. The withdrawal
by either the applicant or any of the private oppositors from the case does not ipso
facto obliterate the conflicting interests in the case. Neither is the case terminated
because under the above-cited law, as amended, the trial court is required to resolve
the claims of the remaining parties, the withdrawal of the application by the applicant
IX.

and/or some private oppositors notwithstanding.

Dismissal with Prejudice vs. Dismissal without Prejudice
A dismissal with prejudice is a conclusive judgement where the ownership or title to
the piece of land was litigated by the same parties and a judgment rendered for one
party and against the other.

When a decision or decree dismissing the application is ordered to be without

prejudice, it simply means that it is not a conclusive judgment and the principle of res
judicata does not apply. In other words, the applicant is not precluded from filing later
on another application for registration of the same property, the moment he can
improve his position as, for instance, some additional evidence tending to establish or
complete his title to the property has been found. Accordingly, a renewal of an
application for registration of the same parcel of land or an amendment thereto upon a
ground different from that alleged in the previous application may only be allowed if
the dismissal of the first application was without prejudice and not when the
ownership or title to the piece of land was litigated by the same parties and a
X.

judgment rendered for one party and against the other

Jurisdiction of RTC under PD1529
RTC shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all applications original for registration of
title, with power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such applications or
petition. The court through its 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

XI.

stenographic notes, within five days from the filing or issuance thereof
Requisites of a Registrable Title
The Public Land Act requires that the applicant must prove that: (a) the land is
alienable public land; and (b) his open, continuous, exclusive and notorious
possession and occupation of the same are either since time immemorial or for the

XII.

period prescribed in the Public Land Act.

Decree vs. Judgment
it was held that after trial in a registration case, three actions are taken. The first
adjudicates ownership in favor of one of the claimants. This constitutes the decision
the judgment the decree of the court, and speaks in a judicial manner. The

second action is the declaration of the court that the decree is final, ordering the Chief
of the General Land Registration Office (Administrator of the Land Registration
Authority) to issue the corresponding decree of registration. Such order is made if
within thirty days from the date of receipt of a copy of the decision or judgment no
appeal is taken therefrom. This again is a judicial action, although at a less degree
than the first. The third and last action devolves upon the Land Registration Authority
which was created for the due effectuation and accomplishment of the laws relating to
the registration of land. This office prepares and issues the final decree containing the
technical description of the land, which decree may not be issued until after the
finality of the court decree or judgment of adjudication.
It will therefore be observed that while a judgment may always be considered a
decree, not all decrees are judgments; and it is all the more when referring to a
decree of registration issued by the Administrator, which is distinct from the court
decree dismissing an application or awarding land to the applicant or an adverse
claimant
XIII. Statutory Liens Affecting Title
Section 44 of P.D. No. 1529. Every registered owner receiving a certificate of title in
pursuance of a decree of registration, and every subsequent purchaser of registered
land taking a certificate of title for value and in good faith, shall hold the same free
from all encumbrances except those noted on said certificate and any of the following
encumbrances which may be subsisting, namely:
First, Liens, claims or rights arising or existing under the laws and Constitution of the
Philippines which are not by law required to appear of record in the Registry of
Deeds in order to be valid against subsequent purchasers or encumbrancers of
record.

Second. Unpaid real estate taxes levied and assessed within two years immediately
preceding the acquisition of any right over the land by an innocent purchaser for
value, without prejudice to the right of the government to collect taxes payable before
that period from the delinquent taxpayer alone.
Third. Any public highway or private way established or recognized by law, or any
government irrigation canal or lateral thereof, if the certificate of title does not state
that the boundaries of such highway or irrigation canal or lateral thereof have
been determined.
Fourth. Any disposition of the property or limitation on the use thereof by virtue of,
or pursuant to, Presidential Decree No. 27 or any other law or regulations on agrarian
reform such as Republic Act No. 6657 known as the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program.
XIV. When Decree of Registration becomes Final
The decree of registration shall not be reopened or revised by reason of absence,
minority, or other disability of any person adversely affected thereby, nor by any
proceeding in any court for reversing judgments, subject, however, to the right of any
person, including the government and the branches thereof, deprived of land or of any
estate or interest therein by such adjudication or confirmation of title obtained by
actual fraud, to file in the proper Court of First Instance a petition for reopening and
review of the decree of registration not later than one year from and after the date of
the entry of such decree of registration, but in no case shall such petition be
entertained by the court where an innocent purchaser for value has acquired the land
or an interest therein, whose rights may be prejudiced. Whenever the phrase "innocent
purchaser for value" or an equivalent phrase occurs in this Decree, it shall be deemed
to include an innocent lessee, mortgagee, or other encumbrancer for value.
Upon the expiration of said period of one year, the decree of registration and the
certificate of title issued shall become incontrovertible. Any person aggrieved by

such decree of registration in any case may pursue his remedy by action for
damages against the applicant or any other persons responsible for the fraud.
(Section 32, PD 1529. Review of decree of registration; Innocent purchaser for
XV.

value.)
Remedies available to aggrieved party in Registration proceedings
An aggrieved party in a registration proceeding may avail himself of the following
remedies: (1) new trial; (2) appeal; (3) review of decree of registration; (4) relief from

judgment; (5) reconveyance; and (6) recovery of damages.

XVI. Who has right to possess owners duplicate copy
Section 41 of Act No. 496, as amended by P.D. No. 1529, provides that the owners
duplicate certificate shall be issued by the Register of Deeds in the name of the
person in whose favor the land was decreed, and further disposes that said duplicate
shall be delivered to the registered owner. The mere fact that another person has a
right to participate as a co-heir in the property covered by the title doesnot give him
the right to withhold the owners duplicate. What he may do is to institute a separate
action in court with the end in view of obtaining his corresponding share or
participation. Following the same principle, a mortgagee cannot as a matter of right
withhold the owners duplicate certifi cate, while his mortgage subsists. The right of
the owner to keep in his possession the owners duplicate
Section 41. Owner's duplicate certificate of title. The owner's duplicate certificate of
title shall be delivered to the registered owner or to his duly authorized representative.
If two or more persons are registered owners, one owner's duplicate certificate may be
issued for the whole land, or if the co-owners so desire, a separate duplicate may be
issued to each of them in like form, but all outstanding certificates of title so issued
shall be surrendered whenever the Register of Deeds shall register any subsequent
voluntary transaction affecting the whole land or part thereof or any interest therein.

The Register of Deeds shall note on each certificate of title a statement as to whom a
copy thereof was issued.
XVII. Rules to be applied when land is registered in the name of two persons
The general rule is that the certificate earlier in date must prevail as between the
original parties, and in case of successive registration where more than one certificate
is issued over the land, the person holding under the prior certificate is entitled to the
land as against the person who relies on the second certificate. The decree issued in a
land registration proceeding does not have the effect of annuling the title that had
been previously issued in accordance with P.D. No. 1529 or the Land Registration Act
(Act 496), although the earlier title may have been issued pursuant to a public land
patent. The person obtaining the subsequent or later title has no true title to the land
covered thereby and cannot transmit the same to another. Thus, from such later title,
the holder be he an innocent purchaser or transferee for value, may not validly hold
the same as against the prior title.
The principle of according superiority to a certificate of title earlier in date cannot
however apply if it is established that the same was procured through fraud or is
otherwise jurisdictionally flawed. Moreover, the indefeasible character of the earlier
title may be waived by the title holder in favor of another who holds a subsequent
certificate of title.
XVIII. Nature and purpose of adverse claim
(Cant find it sa books but for prescription diba?)
XIX. Assurance Fund
The Assurance Fund is the special fund which is created under the Torrens system for
the compensation of certain persons for losses sustained by operations under the
system.
PURPOSE

The Assurance Fund has been created for the compensation of certain persons who
may have suffered losses or damages by reason of operations under the Torrens
system. This indemnity fund has been created for the purpose of compensating
persons who suffered losses by erroneous registration due to mistake, omission, or
misfeasance of the Clerk of Court or the Registrar of Deeds or any of the respective
employees with or without the intervention of other persons. Those who may have
been wrongfully deprived of their land or any interest therein thru the bringing of the
land under the provisions of the Land Registration Act provided that no negligence
can be attributable to them or that the losses or damages were not occasioned by a
breach of trust, can recover such losses and damages from the Assurance Fund.
WHAT CONSTITUTES
Upon the entry of a certificate of title in the name of the registered owner, and also
upon the original registration on the certificate of title of a building or other
improvements on the land covered by said certificate, as well as upon the entry of a
certifi cate pursuant to any subsequent transfer of registered land, there shall be paid
to the Registry of Deeds one-fourth of one percent of the assessed value of the real
estate on the basis of the last assessment for taxation purposes, as contribution to the
XX.

assurance fund.
Consultas and appeals to land registration authority
Consultas refers to the quasi-judicial power of the Land registration Authority to
reverse or affirm the Register of Deeds decision.
See : Section 117. Procedure. 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 the Register of Deeds with

reference to any such instrument, the question shall be submitted to the

Commissioner of Land Registration by the Register of Deeds, or by the party in
interest thru the Register of Deeds.
Xxxx
The Commissioner of Land Registration, considering the consulta and the records
certified to him after notice to the parties and hearing, shall enter an order
prescribing the step to be taken or memorandum to be made. His resolution or
ruling in consultas shall be conclusive and binding upon all Registers of Deeds,
provided, that the party in interest who disagrees with the final resolution, ruling or
order of the Commissioner relative to consultas may appeal to the Court of Appeals
within the period and in manner provided in Republic Act No. 5434.

XXI. Tomas Claudio Memorial College vs. CA

XXII. Director of Lands vs. CA
XXIII. Benin vs. Tuason
The case of Benin vs. Tuason,1 clearly explains the effects of publication and nonpublication of the application, as follows:
The settled rule, further, is that once the registration court had acquired jurisdiction
over a certain parcel, or parcels, of land in the registration proceedings in virtue of the
publication of the application, that jurisdiction attaches to the land or lands mentioned
and described in the application. If it is later shown that the decree of registration had
included land or lands not included in the original application as published, then the
registration proceedings and the decree of registration must be declared null and void
insofar but only insofar as the land not included in the publication is concerned.
This is so, because the court did not acquire jurisdiction over the land not included

in the publication the publication being the basis of the jurisdiction of the court.
But the proceedings and the decree of registration, relating to the lands that were
included in the publication, are valid. Thus, if it is shown that a certificate of title had
been issued covering lands where the registration court had no jurisdiction, the
certificate of title is null and void insofar as it concerns the land or lands over which
he registration court had not acquired jurisdiction.
This case of Benin nonetheless ruled that if the area of the land appearing in the
decree of registration and as reproduced in the original certificate of title is bigger by
only 27.10 square meters than that published, the entire parcel of land decreed being
more than 879 hectares, then the difference is not so substantial as would affect the
identity of the land. The failure to publish the bigger area does not perforce affect the
courts jurisdiction.
XXIV. Matute vs. Government of the Phil
XXV. Paraiso et al vs. Camon