LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 1

Lecture Notes #1
From the lecture of Judge Alberto Serrano
July 23, 2016

Private land ownership connotes some form of

control over land
Attributes of Ownership: ownership over piece of land
includes exclusive possession, use, and enjoyment of
the property
It is physically impossible for a person to have
absolute and permanent control over land

Q: How does one manifest his right ownership over a piece

of land?
A: Through Possession.
Possession
-It is the outward manifestation of a persons control over
a piece of land;
-But a person may only exercise temporary control over
the land (because of migration, death, may be driven away
by forces of nature)
Regalian Doctrine (Jura Regalla)
-translated as Royal Right
-land ownership emanates from the State
-How did this doctrine come about: because of the
Spanish conquest.
-King of Spain proclaimed ownership over all lands in the
Philippines so that private land titles can only be acquired
from the government either by PURCHASE or by GRANT.
Forms of Grant by the State:
1. Titulo Royale (Royal Grant)
2. Concession Espesyal (Special Grant)
3. Composisyon Un Estado (Adjustment Title)
4. Titulo de Compra (Title by Purchase)
5. Possessory Information Title
RD was adapted and enforced by the King of Spain
Aspects of the Regalian Doctrine:

National Economy and Patrimony

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.
All lands of the public domain are owned by the State.
1935 Constitution
1973 Constitution Art14 Sec8
Exceptions to the rule that in order that a
person may claim ownership over a parcel of
land:
*There must be a document showing that there is a
government grant or grant by the State
1.

The Regalian Doctrine does not negate native

title to lands held in ownership since time in
memorial (J. Kapunan, Cruz vs Sec. of Natural
Resources 2000)
Basis? Carino vs Insular Government. Reversed
the decision of the Philippine Supreme Court,
decided by the US SC. Penned by Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes: In Carino case, Igorot, Matteo
Carino, applied for the registration of his name of
an ancestral land located in Benguet. The
applicant established that he and his ancestors
have lived on the land, had cultivated it and had
used it as far as they could remember. They also
proved that they had all been recognized as
owners, the passed by inheritance according to
native custom but no document from the Spanish
crowd. Government opposed the application for
registration invoking the theory of jura regalla,
Regalian Doctrine. On appeal, United States SC
held that applicant was entitled to native title to
their ancestral land.

1.

All lands of the public domain

belong to the State

Justice Kapunan: Carino case was decided by the

US SC in 1909 at the time when decisions of US
were binding as president in our jurisdiction.

2.

Private Land Ownership or Title must

emanate from the State by some form
of Purchase or Grant

SC applied in the Carino doctrine in the 1946

case of Ocho vs Director of Lands:

3.

State is the source of any asserted right

to ownership of land (and charge in the
concentration of such patrimony)

Any land that should have been in the

possession of an occupant and of his
predecessors in interest since time in
memorial (Native Title)

4.

All lands not otherwise appearing to be

clearly within private ownership are
presumed to belong to the State

Purpose: Such possession would justify the

presumption that:

Constitutional Basis for the Regalian

Doctrine? YES.
1987 Constitution Art12 Sec2

1)

The land had never been part of the public

domain
2) It had been private property even before
the Spanish conquest.

LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 2

Cruz vs Natural Resources

Invoked the IGPRA 1971
There is a presumption that land had never
been part of a public domain
2.

Exclude properties/lands owned by the

Church
Why? King decided that he was not the owner of
ecclesiastical property so he excluded the properties
of the Roman Catholic Church.
Therefore, titles over ecclesiastical properties could
not have passed to the US under the treaty of
Paris, because these properties, meaning
Church properties, do not pertain to the
government of Spain.

Torrens System of Land Registration

-Source of the rules governing private land ownership
- Act No. 496 or Land Registration Act
(Was repealed by Property Registration Decree or PD
1529)
Definition of Terms:
1.
2.

Land - solid part of the surface of the earth

Land Title - that upon which ownership of the land
is based
Specific description:
Evidence of the right of the owner of extent of his
interest; this means he can retain control and as a
rule assert right to exclusive possession and
enjoyment of the property.
Possession v. Ownership

NOT THE SAME. One can own something but

does not have possession.
Example: Lease Contract
3.

Deed written document executed in accordance

with the form prescribed by law where a person
grants /conveys to another, certain land, tenements
or predicaments.
Document evidencing the transaction, the contract, or
the agreement covering the land
Examples:
Deed of Absolute Sale
Deed of Donation
Deed of Real Estate Mortgage
Deed of Assignment

Certificate Title the document evidencing right of

ownership

Transfer Certificate Title when land is subject to

subsequent transaction, after it has been registered under
the TSLR. The title issued by the Register of Deeds in favor
of a transferee to whom the ownership of a registered land
has been transferred by any legal mode of conveyance
(sale, donation); it consists if an original and an owners
duplicate certificate.
The seven (7) requirements for a deed to be
effective and binding upon third person:
1)
2)
3)

4)
5)

6)
7)

Grantor or transferor
Grantee or transferee
Description of the property involved
Since the deed refers to contract or agreement,
the description determines the Object/Subject
Matter of the contract)
Words of Grant (e.g. transfer, convey, cede,
assign)
Signature of the Grantor
It satisfies the element of Consent in a contract.
It establishes or shows the voluntary act of the
grantor in conveying or transferring the property.
Attestation of at least 2 witnesses
Notarial acknowledgement
This renders a document, a public document.
The document, as a result become a registrable
document)

Registration
the entry made in the registry, which records, solemnly
and permanently, the right of ownership and other real
rights (Cheng v. Genato)
Classification of Land:
1) Immovable or Real Property (New Civil Code, Art. 414)
susceptible of private ownership or appropriation
Art. 414. All things which are or may be the object
of appropriation are either:
1) Immovable or real property
2) Movable of personal property
2) Public Lands
-Those which have not been segregated from the
general mass of the public domain
Private Lands
-Those segregated from the general mass by any form
of grant by the state which are in the possession of
original grantees or their successors in interest
-Registrable under the Torrens System of Land
Registration
3) General Classifications under the Constitution:
(1) Forest/Timber
(2) Mineral Lands
(3) Agricultural Lands
Only Agricultural Lands may be the subject to
private ownership
(4) National parks (additional)

LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 3

4) Public Dominion owned by the State

SC described the three (3) types of lands
considered lands of public dominion:
a. Lands devoted to public use
b. Lands devoted to public service
c. Lands devoted to the development of the national
wealth
Private Ownership properties belonging to a private
persons either collectively or individually (Art. 425 of
the Civil Code)

2. Judicial Registration registration of title or

ownership itself
Systems of Land Registration in the Philippines:
*It is important because the basis in the issuance of
Certificates of Title; gives the owner document showing
his ownership over his parcel of land
1.

5) Alienable and Disposable

Susceptible of private appropriation or private
ownership; registrable
Inalienable Land
Lands which are not capable of appropriation or
ownership; NOT registrable lands
6) Registered lands registered under the Torrens
System of Land Registration; already governed by
certificates of title
Unregistered land that is not registered under the
Torrens System of Land Registration; no certificate
no title issued
7) Registrable susceptible of private ownership
Non-Registrable cannot be appropriated by private
persons
11 Non-Registrable Lands According to the
Supreme Court:
1.

Those devoted to General Public Use

public roads, streets, plazas, rivers, public
parks, canals, streams, shores, foreshores
2. Those devoted to Public Service
-city town halls, fortresses essential to public
defense, national safety
3. Public Forest/Timberlands and Forest Reserves
4. Mineral Lands
5. Mangrove Swamps
6. Navigable rivers, streams, and creeks
7. Lakes
8. Military Reservations
9. Water Shed
10. Grazing Lands
11. Alluvial deposits when mandated

Torrens System of Land Registration

a. PD 1529 (Property Registration Decree)
i. Land Registration Law Act
No.496
ii. Cadastral Act no. 2259
b. Commonwealth Act 141 public land
act basis for registration of land

2.

System of Recording for Unregistered Lands

a. PD 1529, Sec 113
b. 194 of Revised Administrative Code as
amended by Act No. 3344
*Spanish Mortgage Law was abolished
Registration
- The operative act to bind 3rd persons and affect the land
7 Purposes/Effects of Registration:
(1) To quiet title to lands
(2) To relive land unknown liens, burdens, or claims,
just of unjust
(3) To prevent fraudulent claims
(4) To establish priority in right
(5) To create indefeasible and imprescriptible title
(6) To provide means of publication or constructive
notice to third persons
(7) To provide stability to land titles
1.

To quiet title to land (Sec.31)

a.
b.
c.
d.

e.
f.

Systems of Transferring Title to Lands:

1. Registration of Recording of the Deed of
Conveyance
e.g. deed of sale, donation, assignment
What is the purpose of registration or recording
in a permanent public record? For the transaction
to be binding upon third persons.

g.

Legarda vs Prieto
Act No. 496 -1978
Primary and fundamental purpose: To
finally settle the title to lands
When land is once registered under the Torrens
System of Land Registration (BEST EVIDENCE
OF OWNERSHIP), the title thereto is settled and
unimpeachable after the expiration of 1year
It is not subject again to be bought under
another action for the registration
to put a stop forever on the legality of
the title except claims that were duly
noted at the time of registration in the
certificate for which they arise
subsequent thereto (to the registration
of the land)
The owner has security or may rest secure;
any case filed against him will not defeat his
ownership

LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 4

2.

To relieve land of unknown liens, burdens or

claims whether just or unjust (Sec.44)
a.

b.
c.

d.
e.

Free from any lien, claims or burdens except

those that are duly noted in the certificate and
the statutory liens (roads, streets, canals, lateral,
real estate taxes)
Claims or burdens would not affect the
registered land if these liens, burdens or
claims are noted in the title
Voluntary Mode of Registration (Ordinary
Mode) file a petition or an application for
registration in court; in the beginning of the
land registration proceedings, under the law,
there is a requirement that any person having
claim, right, interest, lien or encumbrance on
the land must file his answer or opposition for
the application for land registry.
What is the effect if opposition is not flied? He
will be barred FOREVER from asserting his
claim.
If it does not contain, then you can rely on the
title

*no note= clean title

*must be noted in the certificate of title. If not, will
not bind the property
3.

To prevent fraudulent claims (Sec.51

and 53)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

4.

To prevent concealment *no more

fraudulent transactions
Registration is the specie of notice; a kind of
notice because there is a permanent public
need
Transactions can no longer be held secret; it
becomes public since it has been registered
Purpose of the law: Provide some means of
publicity; may be able to search the records;
acquire security against transactions
Purchaser in good faith/innocent
purchaser is protected
No person will later on claim that he
is in possession of an earlier
document covering the same land
Under Sec 53., the registration of forged
conveyance is null and void

To establish priority in rights (Sec.56)

a.
b.
c.
d.
c.

Determined by date and time of

registration (seniority in rights)
Register the documents evidencing the
transaction
Preferential Right consist in being paid
ahead of the other creditor
Registration in good faith
Documents that are registered create priority in
rights because the registration of documents are
done in order of reception; entered in a

particular book that determines which

documents are registered ahead; date and time
of registration
d. Secure judgments in their favor
e. Depends on who registers ahead
f. Determined by the DATE AND TIME OF
REGISTRATION
g. Primus tempore forcio injure -First
in time, stronger in right
5.

To create indefeasible and imprescriptible

title binding on the whole world
a. Not capable of being voided
b. Indefeasible from the issuance or entry,
the title becomes INCONTROVERTIBLE
and CONCLUSIVE, that means the title is
already INCONTESTABLE in any court of
law, after 1 year period
c. Title cannot be defeated by any other
document/claim of ownership of any third
person
d. Best proof of title
e. Indefeasible title (Sec.32)
f. Floydd Mayweather and Pacman undefeated but
not indefeasible cannot be beaten or defeated
g. A person who has a certificate of title, cannot be
defeated by any other document, saying that
another owner is the cover of the property
h. Serrano v. Spouses Anselmo Gutierrez: The
certificate of title is the best proof of ownership
over a piece of land
i. Sps. Camara v. Sps Malabao: A partys
declaration of real property, his payment of realty
taxes, and his designation as owner of the subject
property in the cadastral survey, or even in the
records of an agency such as the former Ministry
of Agrarian Reform Office cannot defeat a
certificate title.
j. Registration also creates imprescriptible title
(Sec. 47)
k. Imprescriptible-land can no longer be acquired
by adverse or acquisitive (when you acquire a
right) prescription
l. Extinctive prescription-extinguishes the right or
obligation
m. How does a person acquire ownership of
land by prescription? This means, that the
person has been in possession of the land
continuously, in the concept of an owner, for the
period of time prescribed by law. The lapse of
time prescribe by law, renders the possession of
the person to ripen into ownership. (Acquisitive
Prescription)

6. To provide a means of publication or

notice(constructive notice)
a.
b.
c.

Info=knowledge
Open to the public
Permanent public record of registry of deeds

LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 5

d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.

Tanada vs Tuvera
Doctrine: notice and publication in the Official
Gazette or newspaper of general circulation in the
Philippines
To be effective and binding: must be published
Purpose: notice to the public
Purpose of notice: to inform the public
Purpose of information: in order that persons may
acquire knowledge; you must have knowledge of
the law
Once the law is published then it binds everyone
because everyone is considered to have knowledge
of the law for they are notified
Ignorance of the law excuses no one from
compliance therewith
Doctrine of Constructive Notice as long as
the law is published in the Official Gazette or
newspaper of general circulation, then you are
charged to the knowledge of the law as published
therefore you are notified (same applies to land
registration)
Section 52. Constructive notice upon registration.
Every conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment,
order, judgment, instrument or entry affecting
registered land shall, if registered, filed or entered in
the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or
city where the land to which it relates lies, be
constructive notice to all persons from the time of such
registering, filing or entering.

m. it is open to the public for verification; you can

search the record to determine the status (owner of
the property) and condition (liens, claims, burdens)
of the property
Section 56. (Judge cited this portion only)
All records and papers relative to registered land in
the office of the Register of Deeds shall be open to the
public in the same manner as court records, subject to
such reasonable regulations as the Register of Deeds,
under the direction of the Commissioner of Land
Registration, may prescribe

Permanent book of registry - compilation of

original Certificate of Titles of lands registered. The
book serves as the source of information regarding
the status and condition of property.
Conditions include:
(a) description
(b) claims, liens, encumbrances inscribed in COT
n. Since there is a public record (book for
public properties), you are presumed to be
investigated
o. Buy a registered land, you are presumed by law to
have examined every document/instrument
affecting title of land in the registry of deedsIRREFUTABLE
p. Mere proof of innocence is not a defense

Supposing you did not go to the register of deeds to

determine the status and condition of the property, Would
you be bound by the mortgage noted in COT? Yes, because
registration provides constructive notice.
SC Decision (case not mentioned)
Registration provides a specie of publication.
There is a permanent public record in the custody of the
registry covering lands which provide the source of
information regarding the status and condition of the land.
Thus, it is presumed that a purchaser examined every
instrument of record affecting title to the land in the
register of deeds and the presumption is irrefutable.
Therefore, proof of innocence or good faith is not a
defense.
7.

To provide stability to land titles (Sec.93102)

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

Registration of owner can be secured

Those deprived of registration may be
compensated
Legality of title to the land
An assurance fund
Cannot recover land anymore because it has
been transferred to the innocent buyer
Source of compensation for persons
damaged by registration
Registration provides stability to
the Torrens system and is enhanced
by the Government guarantee in the
form of title insurance.

A person who may be the real owner of the property may

be deprived of his property through registration and the
title of the registrant is protected under the law but a
person who lost his property may, however, claim damages
or compensation from the assurance fund.
Effect: Stability to the land title
A registrant in good faith is an innocent purchaser for
value and is protected under the law.
Registration does not vest tittle but merely
confirms title to the land.
Registration is NOT a mode of acquiring ownership.
Real owner may still recover the land from someone
who registers the land but is not the owner thereof
because registration does not vest title but merely
confirms it.
Registration does not validate an invalid
document or cure its legal defect.
A deed of donation that is registered but does not
contain the acceptance of the donee is not valid.
Registration does not give a registrant a better right if
done in bad faith.

LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 6

Systems of Registration
1) System of registration under the Torrens system
(registered land)
2) System of registration of unregistered land
Effects of document evidencing transaction
registered in the wrong system:
1) Such registration is legally ineffective and cannot
bind the property
2) Not bound by the principle of constructive notice
What is the object/subject matter of registration
under property registration decree? Generally, it is
the immovable or real property and/or real rights.
Modes of Acquiring Ownership (Art. 712 of Civil
Code)
1. Occupation
2. Intellectual creation
3. Donation and Succession
4. In consequence of certain contracts by tradition
or delivery
5. Prescription
Modes of Acquiring Land Title
1. Government grant
2. Adverse possession or prescription
3. Accretion
4. Reclamation
5. Voluntary transfer
6. Involuntary alienation
7. Succession

When Spain invaded PH, the King of Spain proclaimed

full ownership of all land.
King is source of all title.
A person may acquire land title through:
1. Grant
2. Purchase
Modes/Forms of Acquiring Title to Land Under
Spain
1) Royal grant
2) Special grant
3) Adjustment title
4) Title by Purchase
5) Possessory Information Title
Sec. of DENR, et al. V. Mayor Jose S. Yap
Meaning of Regalian Doctrine:
1) All lands of the public domain belong to the State
2) The State is the source of any asserted right to
ownership of land and charged with the conservation
of such patrimony
3) All lands, not otherwise appearing to be clearly within
private ownership, are presumed to belong to the
State
4) All lands that have not been acquired from the govt,
either by purchase or grant, belong to the State as part
of the inalienable public domain

Government Grant
Whenever public land is conveyed to private individual,
there is some form of government grant.

Under the Regalian Doctrine, if the land has been

classified as forest or timber land and it remains to be
classified as forest or timber land, it cannot be the subject
of private appropriation. What is required is a positive act
on the part of the Government declaring the land as
alienable and disposable. Without positive declaration, it
cannot be acquired by private individuals.

Regalian Doctrine (Basis of Government Grant)

Public land cannot be acquired by private persons
without a form of grant, express or implied, from the
government.

2 Exceptions to the Rule that Title must Emanate

from the State (Regalian Doctrine)
(1) Possession of the land since time immemorial
(2) Church of Ecclesiastical property

How can a person acquire ownership of said land?

A person may acquire ownership of said land through the
law which is the Public Land Act that provides for
government grant.
Example of Grant
After compliance prescribed by law the land patent will be
issued to the grantee.
Examples of Land Patent
(3) Homestead Patent
(4) Special Patent for cultural minority
(5) Emancipation Patent (PD 37) - A form of government
grant which transfers property from one private
owner to another private individual.
(6) Sales Patent (?)
Regalian Doctrine (Historical Basis)
Source of Title: Land ownership or title emanates from the
State.

LANDS, TITLES, AND DEEDS 7