Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. 46668
September 25,
1939
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellant,
vs.
PAMPANGA SUGAR MILLS,
INC., defendant-appellee.
Undersecretary of Justice Melencio for
appellant.
Jose Laki for appellee.
CONCEPCION, J.:
The Insular Government brought this action
against the Pampanga Sugar Mills, Inc., for the
recovery of the sum of P233.55 with interest at 6
per cent per annum from February 26, 1923 until
fully paid. Said amount is a part of the costs of
cadastral survey corresponding proportionately to
lot No. 702 included in the cadastral record of
Angeles, Pampanga, and now belonging to
Pampanga Sugar Mills, Inc., by purchase. At the
trial, the provincial fiscal of Pampanga and the
defendant, through counsel, agreed and
stipulated upon the following proven facts:
1. That on September 3, 1920, the original
certificate of title No. 1441 was issued by the
registrar of deeds of Pampanga in the name of
Martina Martin, widow and resident of San
Fernando, Pampanga, over lot No. 702 of the
cadastral survey of Angeles, consisting of a parcel
of land with all the buildings and improvements
thereon. In said certificate of title were stated the
liens mentioned in section 39 of the Land
Registration Act in the following language
(a) a first lien in favor of the Insular
Government to guarantee the payment of
the fees and special taxes assessed
pursuant to the provisions of sections 17
and 18 of Act No. 2259, as amended by
Act No. 2558;
(b) that the property above described, is
subject to a promise of sale in favor of
Thomas J. Piffard.
2. That on February 10, 1921, before the court
ordered the apportionment of the costs of
cadastral survey which apportionment was
ordered on February 26, 1923 Martina Martin
executed a deed of sale of said lot No. 702 in
favor of Thomas J. Piffard. Without paying the
corresponding fees for expenses of survey and

costs of said lot noted as a lien according to the

preceding paragraph, without any court order
declaring that said costs of cadastral survey are
already paid, and without presentation by Martina
Martin in the office of the registrar of deeds of
the corresponding receipt of payment of said
fees, the registrar of deeds of the Province of
Pampanga erroneously issued transfer certificate
of title No. 249 omitting therefrom the lien
above-mentioned.
3. That on August 24, 1927, Thomas J. Piffard
executed a deed of sale of the aforesaid lot in
favor of the defendant Pampanga Sugar Mills,
Inc., in consideration of the sum of P86,639.80,
and upon presentation of said deed to the office
of the registrar of deeds of Pampanga, the latter
issued in favor of Pampanga Sugar Mills, Inc.,
transfer certificate of title No. 2177, likewise
omitting therefrom any mention of the aforesaid
lien noted on original certificate of title No. 1441.
4. That on April 2, 1923, the clerk of the Court of
First Instance notified Martina Martin of the
apportionment of the costs of cadastral survey of
said lot 702 pursuant to the order issued by said
court on February 26, 1923, but having failed to
pay said fees and costs, she was required by the
Director of Lands on December 23, 1932 to pay
the fees and costs corresponding to the said lot,
which amounted to P233.55, plus 6 per cent
interest per annum from February 26, 1923. The
municipal treasurer of Angeles, Pampanga, by
instructions of the provincial treasurer, also
required Martina Martin to pay the said fees and
costs.
5. Having discovered that the Pampanga Sugar
Mills, Inc., is the owner of lot 702, the deputy
provincial treasurer of Pampanga, by letter dated
September 19, 1933, required it to pay the said
fees and costs of cadastral survey plus interest.
Pampanga Sugar Mills has refused and still
refuses to make said payment.
Upon the foregoing facts and the law applicable
to the case, the Court of First Instance of
Pampanga absolved the Pampanga Sugar Mills
from the complaint by its decision of August 24,
1936, which is now the subject matter of the
present appeal.
Counsel for the Government contends that under
Act No. 2558, which was the one in force on the
date the costs of cadastral survey were taxed in
the aforesaid case, the lien for the payment of
the proportionate part of the costs of cadastral
survey is demandable against the land whoever

may be its owner. In fact, the said lien noted on

original certificate of title No. 1441 is expressly
based upon the said law which has created it in
favor of the Government.
We believe that Act No. 3081 approved on March
16, 1923, not Act No. 2558, is applicable to the
case in view of the fact that the former was the
law in force when the Pampanga Sugar Mills
purchased lot No. 702 on August 24, 1927.
But even under the provisions of Act No. 2558,
the Government is without right to require the
defendant Pampanga Sugar Mills to pay the
proportionate part of the costs of cadastral
survey corresponding to the said lot No. 702. The
said Act, amending section 18 of Act No. 2259,
provided that the amount taxed against each of
the lots or parcels of land included in the
cadastre "shall be considered a special
assessment of taxes against the respective
parcels, shall constitute a first lien upon the land,
and shall be collected by the provincial treasurer
in equal annual installments in not less than five
nor more than fifteen years". Each installment
shall become due and payable at the same time
as the general land tax.
There is no doubt that the said Act considered
the payment of the costs of the cadastral survey
as a special assessment of taxes, and although
the lien be not noted on the certificate of title,
payment thereof could be demanded; but this
could only be done within the two years after the
special assessment has become due and payable,
as provided in the second paragraph of section
39 of Act No. 496, as amended by Act No. 2011.
According to the stipulated facts, the
appointment of the costs of survey in the
aforementioned cadastral record, was ordered on
February 26, 1923. Hence, the payment thereof
could be demanded as a lien within two years
from that date. Payment was demanded of the
defendant on September 19, 1933, many years
after the special assessment in question has
become due; for from the year 1923, the date of
the apportionment, until September 19, 1933,
when the defendant was required to pay the sum
of P233.55 plus 6 per cent interest per annum
from 1923, more than ten years have elapsed.
Under Act No. 3081, which, as above stated, was
the law in force when the Pampanga Sugar Mills
purchased lot 702, it was the duty of the registrar
of deeds, under paragraph (b) of section 18
thereof, to demand of the vendor before
registering the deed of sale of the lot, to exhibit

the receipt showing that the said incumbrance or

lien has already been paid. If the apportionment
of costs has not yet been decreed, the same
section 18, paragraph (b), provides that the
registrar shall endorse on the certificate of
transfer issued by him the incumbrance or lien
appearing on the former certificate as guarantee
of the payment of the costs above referred to.
In the original certificate of title of said lot issued
on September 3, 1920 in favor of Martina Martin,
it was stated: "a first lien in favor of the Insular
Government to guarantee the payment of the
fees and special taxes assessed pursuant to the
provisions of sections 17 and 18 of Act No. 2259,
as amended by Act No. 2558." This incumbrance
was not stated in the transfer certificate of title in
favor of Thomas J. Piffard who purchased the lot
in question from Martina Martin. Hence, when
Pampanga Sugar Mills purchased said lot from
Piffard, no incumbrance appeared on the latter's
transfer certificate of title. Consequently, the
incumbrance in question was likewise not stated
in the certificate of title issued in favor of
Pampanga Sugar Mills. In these circumstances,
"pursuant to the provisions of section 39 of Act
No. 496, as amended by Act No. 2011
(Pampanga Sugar Mills), an assignee of title is
not and cannot be held responsible for any
obligation not appearing on the Torrens title
assigned and transferred to (it) him. That is to
say, no claim or obligation can affect (its) his
right of ownership as a subsequent holder f the
title unless said claim or obligation has been
previously endorsed or noted on the title".
(Vargas & Maalac, Philippine Land Registration
Law, p. 347.)
The general purpose of the Land
Registration Act was to create an
indefeasible title and one free from all
charges, liens and incumbrances except
those preserved against it by special
mention in the decree of registration or by
provision of law. (De Jesus vs. City of
Manila, 29 Phil., 73).
The title intended to be created by the
Land Registration Act is one not subject to
hidden defects, to undeveloped or
inchoate claims, to any sort of restriction,
limitation or reduction except those
named in the certificate of registration and
in the law itself as having been preserved
against the land. (De Jesus vs. City of
Manila, supra.)

The appealed decision is affirmed, without costs.

So ordered.
ACT NO. 2259

THE CADASTRAL ACT

Sec. 18. (a) One-tenth of the cost of registration
proceedings and the cadastral survey and
monumenting had under this Act shall be borne
by the Insular Government; one-tenth shall be
paid by the province concerned, and one-tenth
by the city, municipality, municipal district,
township, or settlement in which the land is
situated, the City of Manila to be considered for
this purpose, both as a province, and
municipality; and the remaining seven-tenth shall
be assessed and collected against each and all of
the lots included in a cadastral proceeding and
shall be apportioned in accordance with the
square root of the area thereof, but in no case
shall less than five-pesos be taxed against each
lot: Provided, That when the province, a
municipality, municipal district, township, or
settlement has not sufficient funds to pay this
obligation, its share may be paid in five equal
installments within five years, without interest.
The amount thus taxed against each of the lots
or parcels of land shall be considered a special
assessment of taxes against the respective
parcels, shall constitute a first lien upon the land,
and shall be collected by the Director of Lands or
his duly authorized representatives in equal
installments within a period of five years, bearing
interest at the rate of six per centum per annum.
The first installment shall become due and
payable at the same time as the general land
taxes for the year next succeeding the year in
which the assessment of the costs shall be
received by the provincial treasurer, and shall be
collected in the same manner as such general
land taxes. Each succeeding installment shall
become due and payable at the same time as the
general land taxes for the corresponding current
year and shall be collected in the same manner.
The Director of Lands shall for this purpose send
to the officer in charge of such collection a copy
of said assessment of costs: Provided, however,
That the amounts representing the proportional
shares of the costs taxed against lots surveyed at
the request and expenses of their owner and for
which a plan other than the cadastral plan has
been made by a duly authorized surveyor prior to
the decision in the cadastral proceeding, or which
have been registered in accordance with the
provisions of Act Numbered Four hundred and
ninety-six, entitled. "The Land Registration Act"

or surveyed, patented, or leased under the Public

Land and Mining Laws, prior to the decision in the
cadastral proceeding, or have been declared to
be public land by the court, shall not constitute a
lien against said lot nor shall be collected from
the owners thereof: Provided, further, that the
owner of any lot may, if he so desired, pay any
installment of the costs taxed against his lot at
any time before the same becomes due.
(b) In case of the sale, transfer, or conveyance,
for a pecuniary consideration, of any property, or
part thereof, registered by virtue of a decree
issued in a cadastral proceeding, prior to the
payment of the total amount of the costs taxed
against such property in accordance with the
preceding paragraph, endorsed as an
encumbrance of lien upon each cadastral
certificate of title, the vendor or his legal
representatives shall pay such costs in their
entirety in case the order apportioning the costs
has already been issued in the cadastral
proceeding in which the property being sold,
transferred, or conveyed is included, and the
register of deeds concerned shall demand of the
vendor, before registering the deed for such sale,
transfer, or conveyance of said property, that he
exhibit a receipt signed by the Director of Lands
or his duly authorized representative, showing
that such encumbrance or lien has been paid:
Provided, however, That in cases of sale, transfer,
or conveyance of the property in. which the order
apportioning the costs has not yet been issued,
the register shall endorse on the certificate of
transfer issued by him the encumbrance or lien
appearing on the former certificate as guarantee
of the payment of the costs above referred to.
(c) The costs of the registration proceedings
under the provisions of this Act shall consist of a
sum equivalent to ten per centum of the cost of
the survey and monumenting of the land. The
amount of the costs of the proceeding so taxes
shall be for all services rendered by the General
Land Registration Office and the clerk or his
deputies in each cadastral proceeding, and the
expense of publication, mailing, and posting
notices, as well as the notices of the decision and
the order apportioning the costs shall be borne
by the General Land Registration Office.
(d) All amounts collected by the Director of Lands
or his duly authorized representatives from the
owners of the various lots as costs of
proceedings, survey, and monumenting in
accordance with this section, shall be covered
into the Insular Treasury: Provided, however,
That the various lots and owners thereof, and in
such event the payments required to be made by

said owners shall be made as herein provided

and shall be covered into the provincial or
municipal treasury as a part of the general funds
of the province or municipality.
(e) Upon the collection of the amount of the cost
of the registration proceedings, or part thereof, in
each cadastral proceeding in accordance with this
Section, the Commissioner of Land Registration
shall forward to the Insular Auditor and the
Insular Treasurer a statement of such collection,
and the latter is hereby authorized and
empowered to pay to the General Land
Registration office a sum equal to the amount of
said cost of proceedings collected, and the sums
necessary to make such payments, are hereby
appropriated, such sums to be credited to the
appropriation for the General Land Registration
Office for disbursement in other cadastral
registration proceedings. (As amended by Sec. 2,
Act No. 3081, and Secs. 3 and 5, Rep. Act No.
1151.)

PROCEEDINGS DESTROYED DURING AND

AFTER THE LAST WORLD WAR.
Section 1. The party or parties interested in any
case pending in the courts the records of which
have been destroyed by reason of war, rebellion, or
armed revolt or by fire, flood, storm, or any other
public calamity since the termination of the last
world war, may file a petition for reconstitution
within two years from the date of the approval of
this Act.
Section 2. The procedure, requirements and all
other incident of such reconstitution shall be
governed by existing law: Provided, That in
whatever state the case may be when the records
were destroyed, the records or copies thereof
salvaged by the courts or their personnel or by
government offices which may have records of
such cases or documents thereof shall constitute
prima facie evidence of the records of such court.
Section 3. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval

REPUBLIC ACT No. 3081

Approved: June 17, 1961
AN ACT TO EXTEND THE PERIOD FOR FILING
PETITIONS FOR THE RECONSTITUTION OF
RECORDS OF PENDING JUDICIAL