CHAPTER VII CERTIFICATE OF TITLE give the owner any better title than what he

actually has.
Torrens title – certificate of ownership
declaring the owner in fee simple of the A Torrens certificate is the best evidence of
property described therein, free from liens ownership of registered land, not of the civil
and encumbrances EXC such that may be status of the owner.
expressly noted thereon or reserved by law.
The right of an owner to keep in his
Certificate of title – transcript of the decree possession the owner’s duplicate certificate
of registration made by the RD, conclusive cannot be questioned, but may be waived if
with respect to all matters contained therein. he voluntarily surrenders the same to a
creditor as a token of good faith.
An OCT issued on the strength of a
homestead patent partakes of the nature of
a certificate of title issued in a judicial
LAND REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF TWO
proceeding, and becomes indefeasible and
DIFFERENT PERSONS
incontrovertible upon the expiration of one
year. EXC: if the land is not a part of the Two OCTs: the one earlier issued shall prevail.
disposable land of the public domain.
Two TCTs, one OCT: earlier TCT prevails.
This, however, does not bar the State from
Two TCTs, two OCTs: that which is traceable
filing an action for reversion, in case of fraud
to the earlier OCT shall prevail.
or misrepresentation in the title.

Every person dealing with registered land

PROCESS OF ENTRY OF INITIAL CERTIFICATE
OF TITLE
Final judgment directing registration of title
to land -> within 15 days from its entry, court
order directing Administrator of the LRA to
issue the decree of registration and
certificate of title. Clerk of court sends within
15 days from entry of judgment certified
copies of the judgment and the order of the
court to the Administrator to issue the decree
and certificate. The Administrator shall then
cause to be prepared a decree and the
certificate.
may safely rely on the correctness of the
certificate of title issued and the law will in no
way oblige him to go behind the certificate
to determine the condition of the property.
EXC: presence of circumstances sufficient to
incite suspicion, or when the property
covered is part of the public domain
classified as forest or timber or mineral lands
(non-disposable lands).
“Innocent purchaser for value” includes an
innocent lessee, mortgagee or
encumbrancer for value.

As long as the property is still in the name of

the person who caused the wrongful
The registration under Torrens system and
registration and has not passed to an
the issuance of a certificate of title do not
innocent purchaser for value, an action may
compel the third person to reconvey the
property to the real owner (Castillo v Heirs of
Madrigal).
Can a purchaser rely upon what appears on
the owner’s duplicate certificate of title? Yes,
but only when it comes to the condition of
the fee title and all voluntary encumbrances
affecting the property. As to involuntary
encumbrances, the purchaser must inquire as
to the original copy in the Registrar of Land
Titles and Deeds.
Good faith can be ascertained by outward
acts and conduct; it implies freedom from
knowledge and circumstances which ought
to put a person on inquiry.
Purchaser in good faith – one who buys
property of another without notice that some
other person has a right to or interest on the
property and pays a full and fair price for the
same at the time of the purchase or before
he has notice of another’s claim or interest.
Registration, in order to be effective, must be
made in good faith.
Bad faith, effect: only acquires whatever
rights the vendor then had.
The Torrens system of land registration must
not be used as a means to perpetrate fraud.
Good faith must concur with registration.
Holders/transferees in bad faith are not
entitled to the protection of the law.
If a purchaser buys a registered land from a
person who is not the registered owner
thereof, the legal presumption is that he is
bound to know that which he has failed to
find out due to his inaction.
A sold land to B and then C. C is a purchaser
in good faith, who registered the land and
sold the land to D, who relied on C’s good
title. Before acquiring the land, D knew of the
litigation between A and B.
D is still a purchaser in good faith, stepping
into the shoes of C who was a purchaser in
good faith, acquiring all interests and rights
of the latter.
C acquired valid title to the land and so did
D. Free from all encumbrances except those
noted in the certificate. The judgment in the
case between A and B cannot operate to
divest D of his rights as he is not a party to
the litigation.
A co-owner cannot validly refuse to
surrender his co-owner’s certificate in cases
of registration or annotation or transaction.
Proper remedy: surrender and annotate, then
litigate.
If a sale is subject to right of pre-emption or
redemption, NCC states it shall not be
recorded. EXC: accompanied by an affidavit
of the vendor that he has given written notice
to all possible redemptioners.
Splitting or consolidation of titles need not
be through court order; it may now be done
by direct application with the Register of
Deeds.
Subdivision could be registered
administratively, but there needs to be a
memorandum that no street, passageway or
open space shall be disposed of without
proper court order. EXC: by donation in favor
of the government.
Partition of a parcel of land may be made
administratively by submitting to the LRA a
plan for its approval and requesting the RD
to issue new certificates of title for the same.
EXC: no unanimity in the will of the co-
owners with regard to partition.
Obtaining decree of registration and entry of
certificate of title shall operate as a contract
that the land shall always remain to be
registered land, subject to the provisions of
Act 496 and all acts amendatory thereof. In
case of new system of registration, no
shifting shall be made without consent of the
owner.
No title to registered land against the
registered owner shall be acquired by
prescription or adverse possession, not even
by the government.
Right to recover possession of registered
land is imprescriptible because possession is
merely a consequence of ownership.
A certificate of title is conclusive evidence
with respect to the ownership of the land
described therein and other matters which
can be litigated and decided in land
registration proceedings. But only to matters
indicated therein principally. Annotations
and memoranda are not included.
An OCT issued by the RD under an
administrative proceeding is as indefeasible
as an OCT issued under judicial proceedings.
Torrens title cannot be attacked collaterally,
only directly. Reinvindicatory action is
improper to recover erroneously registered
land.
CHAPER VIII VOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH
REGISTERED LANDS
It is the act of registration that operates to
covey registered land or affect title thereto,
but unregistered deeds, mortgages, leases or
other involuntary instruments operate as
contract between the parties and evidence of
authority to the RD to make registration (PNB
v Camus).
A bona fide purchaser for value at an auction
sale acquires good title against a prior
transferee if such transfer was unrecorded at
the time of the auction sale (William
Anderson Co. v Garcia).
All interests less than estate in fee simple are
registered by filing with the RD the
instrument and the latter makes a brief
memorandum thereof upon the certificate of
title. A new CT issues only upon transactions
which divest the land in fee simple from the
owners.
An innocent purchaser for value becomes the
registered owner of the property and in
contemplation of the law the holder of the CT
from the moment he:
 presents and files a notarized deed
 same is entered in the day book; and
 surrenders the owner’s duplicate
certificate of title
 pays in full the registration fees
This is because what remains to be done
does not lie within his power to perform
(Levin v Bass).
Later surrender of the owner’s duplicate shall
not retroact to the initial day of registration
of a voluntary transfer.
Actual registration retroacts as of the date of
entry in the day book only when the
voluntary document sought to be registered
is in order or otherwise complete with the
legal requirements when presented.
Duty of the RD to record in proper form all
instruments relative to the land is ministerial
and mandatory. The question of fraud is
proper before the court.
Law does not say that only valid instruments
may be registered. The purpose of
registration is to give notice. Invalidity of the
instruments then must be decided after and
not before registration. EXC: submission of
the parties by mutual consent.
Power of the RD is only to declare whether or
not the formal requisites of the law had been
complied with.
Natural persons:
 full name
 nationality
 place of residence
 evidence of civil status
Corporation:
 proof of compliance with requisites
of law to acquire public land
 at least 60% of capital belonging to
Filipino citizens
Requirements for deeds or other voluntary
transfers:
 owner’s duplicate CT if voluntary
 payment of registration fees and
required documentary stamps
 full payment of real estate tax
 extra copy of document of transfer or
alienation of the property to be
furnished the city/provincial assessor
Only the legislature may amend or add
requirements.
Aliens are not allowed to acquire ownership
of urban or residential lands in the PH, as the
latter are agricultural lands, which may only
be alienated to qualified persons. EXC:
hereditary succession.
EXC: during Japanese occupation when the
Constitution was not in force (sales made on
or before September 4, 1943 are void).
Right of repurchase is available to an alien
who validly owns agricultural land.
Pari delicto exceptions:
 one party is literate or intelligent and
the other is not
 where an agreement is not illegal but
prohibited, and the prohibition is for
the protection of the plaintiff, he may
recover what he has paid or delivered
RA 8179: Natural-born citizens who have lost
their Filipino citizenship may validly acquire
private land up to 5000 sq m in urban land or
3 hectares in case of rural land; if married,
only one of them could avail. Acquiring rural
land disqualifies the person from acquiring
urban land and vice versa.
Simultaneous registration of sales coursed
through an alien buyer is allowed, because
the evil sought to be avoided (prevention of
any portion of our land to fall into the hands
of aliens) is not present.
If an alien invalidly acquires land while still an What is the rule when it comes to forged
alien, and he thereafter becomes naturalized, deeds? Can it become the root of a valid
the State is deemed to have waived its right title?
to escheat the property and the title
becomes lawful.
The mirror doctrine: A purchaser is not
Purchase of land by an alien through a
required to explore beyond what the record
Filipino citizen, invalid: what the alien cannot
in the registry indicates on its face, in quest
do directly, he cannot do indirectly. EXC: the
for any hidden defect or inchoate right which
money was given or donated by the alien,
may subsequently defeat his right thereto.
and the transaction was performed in good
faith. A purchaser cannot close his eyes to facts
which would put a reasonable man upon his
No corporation shall be allowed to engage in
guard, and then claim that he acted in good
the buying or selling of real estate or
faith under the belief that there was no
permitted to hold land more than that
defect in the title of the vendor.
necessary to carry out the purpose for which
it was formed (only up to 1024 hectares of A purchaser in good faith is one who buys
land if engaged in agriculture). the property without notice that some other
person has a right to or interest in the
Corporations may hold private lands.
property; he is under the belief that the
Confirmation proceedings may be instituted
person from whom he receives the thing was
if the predecessor of the corporation had
the owner and could convey title of the
been in OCEN occupation and possession of
property.
the land for 30 years, as this had ipso jure
converted the land into private land.
Persons dealing with power of attorney not
Corporation sole not covered in the
protected; every person dealing with an
prohibition; an alien can acquire land as corp
agent or attorney-in-fact is put upon inquiry,
sole because he does not hold the same as
and must discover at his own peril the
owner but as administrator, held in trust for
authority of the agent (because he buys from
the benefit of the faithful residing in the area.
a person who is not the registered owner of
Register of Deeds has no authority to register the property).
a conveyance in fee simple without the
When a non-owner sells a property and
presentation of the vendor’s duplicate
thereafter acquires ownership thereof, such
certificate. EXC: court order by a court of
title passes by operation of law to the
competent jurisdiction.
vendee.
Entry of memorandum of conveyance in the
OCT without subsequent issuance of TCT is
not sufficient registration. EXC: unsegregated Double sale: requirement of the law to the
portion of a parcel of land. second buyer is acquisition in good faith and
registration in good faith.
 Preliminary attachment: issued at institution
or during progress of action; may be
Direct attack: object is to annul or set aside
dissolved at any time; judgment may or may
the judgment or enjoin enforcement.
not affect the property seized.
Collateral attack: an action is filed to obtain a
Garnishment: property of defendant in the
different relief and an attack on the judgment
hands of a third person subjected to the
is nevertheless made as an incident of the
claim of the plaintiff; usually directed towards
former.
personal property.
Order of entries in the day book determines
Levy on execution: attachment issued after
priority in registration. Two steps: entry in
final judgment in satisfaction thereof.
day book and annotation of memorandum
or issuance of new CT. The latter step, when
accomplished, retroacts as of the date of
Attachment may be filed and registered in
entry in the day book.
the RD where the land lies with the certificate
Minimum requirement for one to be a buyer number of the land and description and
in good faith is that he at least sees the identification of the land.
owner’s duplicate CT and relies on the same.
Owner’s duplicate not immediately required
for annotation of attachment. RD shall then
send within 36hrs notice by mail to the
CHAPTER XV INVOLUNTARY DEALINGS
registered owner for the latter to send the
Involuntary dealings: kind of transactions duplicate CT. Neglect or refusal: RD reports
affecting the lands which the cooperation the matter to court and the latter orders that
and consent of the owner is not needed, and the owner surrender his duplicate.
might even be against his will.
Entry in the day book not sufficient because
 Descent it is an encumbrance.
 Judicial proceedings
 Statutory liens or charges
 Eminent domain Not priority of execution sale, but priority of
 Lien on delinquent taxes and levies attachment, in case of two attachments, since
the sale is only a necessary sequel to the levy.
Auction sale retroacts to the date of the levy.
Attachment: writ issued at the institution or
The purchaser in an execution sale acquires
during the progress of an action,
only the identical interest of the judgment
commanding the sheriff or other public
debtor in the property subject of the sale.
officer to attach the property, rights or
credits of the defendant to satisfy the
demand of the plaintiff.
If the purchaser has knowledge of the levy
prior to or at the time of the sale, he is not
protected by the law and such knowledge
operates as registration, and taints his
purchase with bad faith. Immaterial if he
knows of levy after sale.

Knowledge of counsel is not knowledge of

the client.

Only the property of a judgment debtor may

be attached; otherwise, the act of the sheriff
is void. A court order to that effect is also
void. Injunction is the proper remedy.

Family home is exempt from execution,

forced sale or attachment, EXC:

 Non-payment of taxes
 Debts incurred prior to constitution
as family home
 Debst decured by mortgages on the
permises before constitution
 Debts due to laborers, mechanics,
architects and others who rendered
service or furnished materials

Test won a property may be attached:

whether the judgment debtor holds such a
beneficial interest in the property that he can
sell or dispose the same for value.

Rule of caveat emptor applies in auction

sales. The rights of the judgment debtor is
what is transferred to the buyer.