LAND REGISTRATION

By:
Atty. Francis R. Doble
 Land Registration in general

Definition and Purpose

Generally, it means any entry made in the books of the

Registry, including registration in its ordinary and strict
sense, including cancellation, annotation, and even
marginal notes.

Strictly speaking, it is the entry made in the Registry

which records solemnly and permanently the right of
ownership and other real rights. (Po Sun Tun vs. Price,
GR No. 31346, December 28, 1929)
 Land Registration in general

What is land Registration?

- Process for recording information about the ownership

of land.

- Judicial or administrative proceeding where a persons

claim of ownership (title) over a particular land is
determined and confirmed or recognized so that such
land and the ownership thereof may be recorded in a
public registry.
Importance and Function of Land Registration

- Provide order and stability in society by creating

security in property ownership not only for
landowners but also for investors, bankers,
government, etc.
- Protect the interests of individual landowners but
they are also instruments of national land policy and
mechanisms to support economic development.
Three Major Functions
1. Publicity
2. Priority
3. Security
Registration vs. Recording Evidence of Title

-Both acts assert ownership over a parcel of land.

However what distinguishes them is that in
registration, the state steps in to provide a guarantee of
title which the whole world may rely upon.

-Registration reduces the risk on the part of the

landowner and encouraged businesses on transferring
titles to lands with the security in the system which is
guaranteed by the title which in turn is backed up by
the government.
General principles of law as applied to land
registration
1.Identity of Object (Real Property) and Subject (Owners
and Land Holders) must be unambiguous and clearly
identified.
2.Consent-The Real Party in interest who is booked as
such must give his consent for a change of the
inscription in the registry
3.Booking or Registration-change in the real rights of
lands will not go into effect until it is registered
4.Publicity-Registration of rights must be made known to
the whole world
Deed Registration vs. Title Registration

1. Deed Registration-Deed executed between parties describing an

isolated transaction on land is registered. It is an evidence of the
transaction but is not in itself proof of the legal right s of the
transacting parties to deal with the land.

2. Title Registration- What is recorded is the legal consequence

(transfer of ownership) of the transaction or the right itself which is
recorded.

Difference:

In deed registration what is recorded is the fact that there was a

transaction affecting land between the parties. On the other hand,
Title registration what is recorded is the effect of such transaction and
thus issues modification on the certificate of title.
Kinds of Title Registration

Original- Initial compilation of land titles through the

determination of tenurial rights of the holder to
lands.

Subsequent Registration-Registration of
transactions over lands done after original
registration.
Kinds of Subsequent Registration:

1. Simple Transfer of Rights- A person takes the

interest of the registered owner of a parcel of land
as the same well-defined parcel.

2. Transfer of Rights with changes in the property

unit- The transaction caused the formation of new
parcels of land.
ex. Consolidation,Subdivision (Sec. 50 PD 1529)
 Land Registration in the Philippines

Torrens System of Registration-Developed by Sir Robert Torrens

and introduced in the Philippines under Act 496 and
Presidential Decree No. 1529.

Purposes:
Provide Security of Ownership
Provide Facility of Transfer
To Quiet Land
To put a stop forever to any questions regarding the legality of
the title
To relieve the land from known or unknown claims
 Land Registration in the Philippines (cont.)

Administration of the Torrens System

Two main Actors (in Land Registration):

1. Land Registration Authority- created by virtue of Sec. 4 PD 1529, it was

originally called Land Registration Commission, it which is created in order
to have a more efficient execution of the land registration laws. It is now
named Land Registration Authority (LRA) pursuant to E.O. 292, and is under
the executive supervision of the Department of Justice.

2. Registry of Deeds- created under Sec. 10 PD 1529, whose main function

is to keep records the instrument affecting registered or unregistered lands
and chattel mortgages.
 Principles underlying the Torrens system

1. Mirror Principle- simply stated “The registry is

supposed to correctly mirror the property’s title”

- it should reflect as accurately as possible the true state

of title to land so that persons who propose to deal with
land can discover all the facts relative to the title.

Effect: Persons dealing with property covered by a

Torrens certificate of title are not required to go beyond
what appears on the face of the title.
2. Booking Principle as enshrined in Secs. 51 to 54, 56 PD
1529
-The act of registration from the time of such registering, filing or
entering before the register of deeds is the constructive notice
and operative act to affect land that affects third persons. (Sec.
51, 52)
-production of the owner's duplicate certificate, whenever any
voluntary instrument is presented for registration, shall be
conclusive authority from the registered owner to the Register of
Deeds to enter a new certificate or to make a memorandum of
registration in accordance with such instrument. (Sec. 53)
-All transactions voluntary or involuntary shall be considered
registered from the time so noted, and the memorandum of each
instrument, when made on the certificate of title to which it
refers, shall bear the same date (Sec. 56)
3. Insurance Principle (Sec. 93 to 102 PD 1529)
-as exemplified in the Assurance fund- Compensation for
those persons who sustains loss or damage, or is
deprived of land or any interest therein in consequence
of the bringing of the land under the operation of the
Torrens system or arising after original registration of
the land, through fraud or in consequence of any error,
omission, mistake or misdescription in any certificate of
title or in any entry or memorandum in the registration
book.
4. Curtain Principle- Section 44 PD 1529
-Its main purpose is the Creation of an Indefeasible Title

-Simply put it states that no further historical

investigation on the title beyond what is stated in the
certificate of title is necessary such that a purchaser
should not go behind the certificate of title to investigate
the “root” of the title.
Exceptions to indefeasibility: (sec. 44 and 46 PD 1529)
1. Liens Claims or Rights under the law which are not required to
appear
2.Unpaid real estate taxes levied and assessed within 2 years.
3.Public high ways/canals or private way if the title does not state that the
boundaries of such highway have been determined.
4.Disposition pursuant to the Agrarian Reform Laws.
5.Burdens and Incident which arise by operation of law.
6.Rights incident to marital relation.
7.Landlord and tenant relationship.
8.Liability to attachment or levy on execution.
9.Liability to any lien of any description established by law on the land and the
buildings.
10.Change in the laws of descent.
11.Rights of partition between co-owners.
12.Right to take the same by eminent domain.
13.Liability to be recovered by an assignee in insolvency or trustee in bankruptcy
under the laws relative to preferences.
14. Rights and Liabilities applicable to unregistered lands.
Deferred Indefeasibility: Sec. 32 PD 1529

In Decree - the case cannot be reopened except if such

decree was obtained by actual fraud, the action should be
filed within 1 year after the issuance of decree. (Section
32, PD No. 1529)

In Patents - the date of the issuance of patents

corresponds to the date of the issue of the decree in
ordinary registration cases, because the decree finally
awards the land applied for registration to the party
entitled to it and the patent issued by the Director of
Lands equally and finally grants, awards and conveys the
land applied for to the applicant. The purpose and effect
of both the decree and the patent is the same.
 Land Registration in the Philippines (cont.)

Rights granted under the Torrens System

Free from prior liens encumberances except those
noted on the title
Indefeasibility
Exceptions
Imprescriptible
Cannot be Collaterally Attacked
 Land Registration in the Philippines

Actions after Original Registration

 Remedies

Reconveyance
Concept
Grounds
Prescription
Cases

Other Remedies in Land Registration Cases

New Trial
Appeal
Relief from Judgment
Petition for Review of a Decree of Registration
Action against the Assurance Fund
Damages
 Remedies cont.
Cancellation of Title
Criminal Action
Quieting of Title
Annulment of Judgment