MVP notes on Land Titles. Copyrights reserved.

Presidential Decree No. 1529

Torrens System
- this decree is issued to update the Land Registration Act and to
codify the various laws related to the registration of a property and
to facilitate effective implementation of said laws
- Prior to the enactment of PD 1529 the laws on land registration
were scattered. PD 1529 aimed to codify all land registration laws
into one law, among such laws were:

The Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act 141)

Land Registration Act (Act No. 496)

Cadastral Act (Act No. 2259)

Administrative Code amendment (Act No. 3344)

The Chattel Mortgage Law (Act No. 1508)

Reconstitution of Lost or Destroyed Tittles (RA No. 26)

Emancipation of Tenants (PD No. 27)

The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (RA No. 8371)

Transferring Indigenous People from DAR to DENR
(Executive Order 726)
- consolidated all laws so that we only have to look at one law

Regalian doctrine
General Rule: All public lands belong to the state
**Note: In the absence of proof of private ownership of a piece of
land, as a general rule, that land shall be owned by the state;
Except when:
(a) there is a proof of private ownership, which has 2 requisites:
(1) Applicant is in open, continuous, exclusive, notoriously
in possession over the land within a time prescribed by law
or since June 12, 1945 or earlier
(2) There must be a positive act of the government
declaring the land as alienable and disposable
Positive Acts - acts done by Legislative or Executive department
declaring such agricultural land as alienable and disposable

Presidential proclamations

Executive orders

Administrative acts

Investigative reports from the bureau of lands

Certification from the DENR

Legislative acts
(Sec. DENR v. Yap)

(2) Protect ownership over the land - making the title indefeasible,
making you the absolute owner of the land free from any challenges
in court, thus, giving you peace of mind
(3) Facilitate land transaction - using the land as collateral for a loan
(Chattel Mortgage Law)
Application for Land Registration - PD 1529 grants the land
registration court or RTC the power to settle all issues regarding land
registration including the survey plan
Steps in brining land under the Torrens System:
1. Survey of land by the Land Management Bureau or a duly licensed
private surveyor
2. Filing of application for registration
3. Setting of the date for initial hearing
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 Authority
5. Publication of the notice of the filing of the application and date
and place of the hearing in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper of
general circulation
6. Services by mailing of notice upon contiguous owners occupants
and those known to have interests in the property
7. Posting by the sheriff of the notice in a conspicuous place in the
land and in the bulletin board of the municipal building or city where
the land is situated
8. Filing of answer to the application by any person whether named
in the notice or not
9. Hearing of the case by the court
10. Promulgation of judgment
11. Issuance of an order for the issuance of a decree declaring the
decision final and instructing the LRA to issue the decree of
confirmation and registration
12. Entry of the decree of registration in the LRA

Types of Lands:
(1) Agricultural Land (can be alienable an disposable)
(2) Forest Lands
(3) Timber Lands
(4) National Parks
**Note: only agricultural lands can be classified as alienable and
disposable
Importance of Land Registration:
(1) Protect the rights over the land - property ownership rights (i.e.
the right to enjoy or dispose of a thing)

13. Sending of copy of the decree of registration to the

corresponding RD
14. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration
book and the issuance of the owners duplicate original certificate of
title to the applicant by the RD, upon payment of the prescribed fees
In rem proceeding vs. In personam - The object of an action in an in
rem proceedings will bind the whole world while in an in personam
proceedings it binds only particular persons involved.

MVP notes on Land Titles. Copyrights reserved.

Cadastral Proceeding v. Ordinary Proceeding

Ordinary Proceeding

Cadastral Proceeding

Ordinary registration is slow for

lack of initiative on part of
landowners

Cadastral Proceeding is an
innovation conceived to hasten
and accelerate registration;

Ordinary Proceeding, individuals

initiates the registration process

It is the government who

initiates registration on a stated
region are up for registration
whether or not owners are
interested to settle their titles

Cadastral Registration proceedings - is another way to bring lands

under operation of Torrens System
(a) nature of proceedings - in rem, no defendant and no
plaintiff, compulsory
(b) procedure of cadastral survey - in the opinion of the
1. Cadastral survey preparatory to filing a petition
2. Filing of petition for registration
3. Notice of survey
4. Publication
**Note: Though there is no express
mention of any publication requirement
following PD1529, there has to be mailing,
posting and publication following the Cadastral
Registration Law, publication in the OG twice
under said law
5. Filing of answer
6. Hearing of petition
7. Judgment

Jurisdiction
General Rule: RTC has exclusive jurisdiction over land registration
cases
Exception: BP 129, as amended by RA 7691
"Sec. 34. Delegated Jurisdiction in Cadastral and Land Registration
Cases. Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts may be assigned by the Supreme Court
to hear and determine cadastral or land registration cases covering
lots where there is no controversy or opposition, or contested lots
where the value of which does not exceed One hundred thousand
pesos (P100,000.00), such value to be ascertained by the affidavit of
the claimant or by agreement of the respective claimants if there are
more than one, or from the corresponding tax declaration of the real
property. Their decisions in these cases shall be appealable in the
same manner as decisions of the Regional Trial Courts."
**Note: lower courts now may take cognizance of land registration
cases provided the case is:
(1) uncontested; and
(2) less than Php 100,000.00 in value

Functions of LRA
(1) Extend assistance to the DAR, Land Bank or any government
agency in charge of implementation of land reforms
(2) extend assistance to the court in relation to land registration
cases
(3) act as a central repository of records
(4) issue decree of registration
**Note:
GR: RD or LRA is purely ministerial
Exception: RD/LRA may deny registration when:
(1) requirements are not met; and
(2) there is a lis pendens.

Ordinary Registration Proceedings

Who may apply? Sec. 14 PD 1529
Those who:
(1) are in OCEANP of an A&D land under a bona fide claim of
ownership since June 12, 1945 or earlier;
(2) have acquired through prescription (30 years in OCEANP land in
the concept of an owner);
(3) have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river
beds by right of accession or accretion under the existing laws

Elements

Rights belong to

Accession
Dried up portion due
to the
(1) change of the
course of the river
such that
(2) the new course
would affect
someone elses
land

Accretion
Increase of
(1) adjoined land
caused by the
(2) gradual deposits
of the rivers due to
its
(3)current

(1) Owner of the

traversed land; or
(2) Adjoining lands
by paying its value

Riparian Owner

Accession
- The dried up land, kung kinsa tong na
affected sa pag change sa course sa river
iyaha natong land, of course there is the
right of the adjoining owner to buy that
property.
(4) acquire ownership of land in any other manner provided by law
**Note: OCEANP - Open, Continuous, Exclusive and Notorious
Possession and Occupation
**Note: Relevance of June 12, 1945 dates back to the end of Spanish
colonial period; The law acknowledges that some lands were not
conquered by the Spaniards, hence, the Regalian doctrine cannot
apply.