LAND TITLES AND DEEDS It consists of one original copy filed in the
I. TORRENS SYSTEM Register of Deeds, and the owners duplicate
A. CONCEPT AND BACKGROUND
Q: What is Torrens System?
A: It is a system for registration of land under which,
upon the landowners application, the court may, after
appropriate proceedings, direct the register of deeds
for the issuance of a certificate of title.
Q: What are the purposes in adopting the
Torrens System of land registration?
A: To:
1. avoid possible conflicts of title regarding real
property; and
2. facilitate transactions relative thereto by giving the
public the right to rely on the face of the Torrens
certificate of title and to dispense with the need of
inquiring further.
Q: What is the nature of the proceeding for land
registration under the Torrens System?
A: The Torrens system is judicial in character and not
merely administrative. Under the Torrens system, the
proceeding is in rem, which means that it is binding
upon the whole world.
Note: In a registration proceeding instituted for the
registration of a private land, with or without
opposition, the judgment of the court confirming
the title of the applicant or oppositor, as the case
may be, and ordering its registration in his name,
constitutes, when final, res judicata against the
whole world.
Q: What bodies implement land registration
under the Torrens system?
A:
1. Courts
2. Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR)
3. Department of Justice (DOJ) through the Land
Registration Authority (LRA) and its Register of
Deeds
4. Department of Land Reform (DLR)
5. Department of Agriculture (DAR)
B. CERTIFICATE OF TITLE
Q: What is a Certificate of Title?
A: Certificate of title is the transcript of the decree of
registration made by the Register of Deeds in the
registry. It accumulates in one document a precise and
correct statement of the exact status of the fee simple
title which an owner possesses. (Agcaoili Reviewer, p.
245, 2008 ed)
Q: What are the two types of certificates of title?
A:
1. Original Certificate of Title (OCT) 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 under the Torrens system by
virtue of a judicial or administrative proceeding.
certificate delivered to the owner.
1. Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) 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 (e.g.
sale, donation).
It also consists of an original and an owners
duplicate certificate.
Q: Differentiate title over land, land title,
certificate of title, and deed.
A: Title is a juridical act or a deed which is not
sufficient by itself to transfer ownership but provides
only for a juridical justification for the effectuation of a
mode to acquire or transfer ownership.
Land title is 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.
Certificate of title is the transcript of the decree of
registration made by the Register of Deeds in the
registry. It accumulates in one document a precise and
correct statement of the exact status of the fee simple
title which an owner possesses. (Agcaoili Reviewer, p.
245, 2008 ed)
A 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.
Q: Is title over land synonymous with ownership?
A: No. Title is a juridical act or a deed which is not
sufficient by itself to transfer ownership but provides
only for a juridical justification for the effectuation of a
mode to acquire or transfer ownership. It provides the
cause for the acquisition of ownership. (i.e. sale = title;
delivery = mode of acquisition of ownership) (Pineda,
Property, p. 485, 1999 ed)
Ownership, on the other hand, is an independent right
of exclusive enjoyment and control of the thing for the
purpose of deriving therefrom all advantages required
by the reasonable needs of the owner and the
promotion of the general welfare but subject to the
restrictions imposed by law and the rights of others.
(Art. 427, NCC)
ACQUISITION OF TITLE
Q: What are the modes of acquiring title over
land?
A: IASDO
1. By possession of land since time Immemorial
2. By possession of Alienable and disposable public
land
Note: Under the Public Land Act (CA No. 141), citizens
of the Philippines, who by themselves or through their
predecessorsininterest have been in open,
continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and
occupation of alienable and disposable agricultural
land of the public domain under a bona fide claim of
ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier, (except
when prevented by war or force majeure), shall be
conclusively presumed to have performed all the
conditions essential to a government grant and shall
be entitled to a certificate of title.
3. By Sale, Donation, and Other modes of acquiring
ownership
Q: What are the modes of acquiring ownership
over land?
A: OLD TIPS
1. Occupation
2. Law
3. Donation
4. Tradition
5. Intellectual creation
6. Prescription
7. Succession
Q: Differentiate possession from occupation.
A:
OCCUPATION POSSESSION
It applies only to property It applies to properties
without owner. whether with or without
owner.
It confers ownership. By itself does not confer
ownership.
There can be no There can be possession
occupation without without ownership.
ownership.

Q: How are land titles acquired?

A: PERA PAID
1. Public grant
2. Emancipation patent or grant
3. Reclamation
4. Adverse possession / acquisitive prescription
5. Private grant or voluntary transfer
6. Accretion
7. Involuntary alienation
8. Descent or devise
TORRENS TITLE
Q: What is Torrens title?
A: It is a certificate of ownership issued under the
Torrens system of registration by the government,
through the Register of Deeds (RD) naming and
declaring the owner in fee simple of the real property
described therein, free from all liens & encumbrances,
except as may be expressly noted there or otherwise
reserved by law.
Note: It is conclusive against the whole world (including
the government and to a holder in good faith), guaranteed
to be indefeasible, unassailable & imprescriptible.