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Entire procedure in land registration

HOW DOES AN APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION PROCEED? 1. Application shall be filed with the RTC of
the province or city where the land is situated 2. Court shall issue an order setting the date and time of
the initial hearing and the public shall be given notice thereof by means of publication, mailing, and
posting 3. Any person claiming interest may appear and file an opposition, stating all his objections to
the application 4. The case shall be heard and all conflicting claims of ownership shall be determined by
the court 5. Once judgment has become final, the court shall issue an order for the issuance of the
decree and corresponding certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged as entitled to registration

The application for land registration shall be in writing, signed by the applicant or the person duly
authorized in his behalf, and sworn before any offi cer authorized to administer oath for the province or
city where the application was actually signed. If there is more than one applicant, the application shall
be signed and sworn to by and in behalf of each. The application shall contain a description of the land
and shall state the citizenship and civil status of the applicant, whether single or married, and, if
married, the name of the wife or husband, and, if the marriage has been legally dissolved, when and
how the marriage relation terminated. It shall also state the full names and addresses of all occupants of
the land and those of the adjoining owners, if known, and, if not known, it shall state the extent of the
search to find them. It shall further state whether the property is conjugal, paraphernal or exclusively
owned by the applicant.

The court that should take cognizance of a registration case is that which has territorial jurisdiction over
the property. Thus, the application for registration may be fi led with the clerk of the Regional Trial
Court of the province or city where the land is situated. The Clerk of Court may not accept any
application unless it is shown thereon that the applicant has furnished the Director of Lands with a copy
thereof, including all annexes.

By “muniments,’’ we refer to instruments or written evidences which the applicant holds or possesses to
enable him to substantiate and prove title to his estate.

When the registration is to be made subject to such mortgage or lease executed after the time of the
application and before the date of the transcription of the decree, the applicant shall, if required by the
court, fi le a certifi ed copy of such mortgage or lease and shall cause the original, or, in the discretion of
the court, a certifi ed copy thereof.

Under the provision of Section 23 of Presidential Decree No. 1529, the Administrator of Land
Registration Authority, upon receipt of the order of the court setting the date for initial hearing, shall
cause a notice of the hearing to be published in the Offi cial Gazette and once in a newspaper of general
circulation in the Philippines. The notice is to be addressed to all persons appearing to have an interest
in the land involved, including adjoining owners so far as known, and in general to all whom it may
concern. The notice requires all persons concerned to appear in court on the date and time indicated to
show cause why the application for registration should not be granted. The publication in the Offi cial
Gazette shall be suffi cient to confer jurisdiction upon the court.

Laches sets in if it would take 18 years for a person to fi le an action to annul the land registration
proceedings, especially so if the registrant has already subdivided the land and sold the same to
innocent third parties

The primary purpose and effects of publication of the notice of application are (1) to confer jurisdiction
over the land applied for upon the court, and (2) to charge the whole world with knowledge of the
application of the land involved, and invite them to take part in the case and assert and prove their
rights over the property subject thereof.

Citizenship requirement

A non-resident is not precluded from fi ling an application for registration provided he be represented by
an agent residing in the Philippines, presenting with the application the appointment or power of
attorney, showing the full name and postal address of the agent, and agreeing that the service of any
legal process upon such agent shall have the same legal effect as if served upon the applicant in the
Philippines. If the agent dies or becomes insane or leaves the country in the course of the proceeding,
the applicant is bound to appoint a new agent or representative, and, in case of failure to do so, the
application may be dismissed.

Classification of public lands

CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS UNDER THE PUBLIC LAND ACT— SECTION 6 OF CA 141 ONLY ALIENABLE AND
DISPOSABLE LANDS MAY BE THE SUBJECT OF DISPOSITION  A and D: State properties available for
private ownership subject to exceptions with regard appropriation provided for in the Constitution
CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLIC LANDS OPEN TO DISPOSITION  Classification is an executive function 
Lands of the public domain which are alienable or open to disposition may be further classified as
agricultural, residential, commercial, or industrial, or for similar productive purposes, educational,
charitable, or other similar purpose, and reservations for townsites and for public and quasi-public uses

Non-registrable properties

Properties of public dominion have been described as those which, under existing
legislation, are not the subject of private ownership and are reserved for public
purposes, as held by the SC in Republic vs. Court of Appeals, 131 SCRA 532,
537 (1984).
The following things are property of public dominion, according to the Civil
Code Art. 420, to wit:
 1. Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrent, ports and
bridges constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads, and others of
similar character;

2. Those which belong to the State, without being for public use, and are
intended for some public service or for the development of the national wealth.”

It has been held that such properties of the public dominion are held by the
State by Regalian Right. They are things res publicae in nature, incapable of private
appropriation, as held in Republic vs. Alagad, 169 SCRA 466, 461 (1989).
Accordingly, the 1987 Constitution provides that “with the exception of agricultural
lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated”, Art. XI, Sec. 2.

Art. 502 of the Civil Code, deals with the special properties, like waters,
likewise enumerated the following to be of public dominion, to wit:
1. Rivers and their natural beds;

2. Continuous or intermittent waters of springs and brooks running in their

natural beds and beds themselves;

3. Waters rising continuously or intermittently on lands, and their beds;

4. Lakes and lagoons formed by Nature on public lands and their beds;

5. Rain water running through ravines or sand beds, which are also of public
dominion;

6. Subterranean waters on public lands;

7. Waters found within the zone of operation of public works, even if

constructed by a contractor;

8. Waters rising continuously or intermittently on lands belonging to private

persons, to the State, to a province, or to a city or municipality from the
moment they leave such lands;

9. The waste waters of fountains, sewers and public establishments.

Sample of property of public domain

The following are examples of property intended for use and thus classified as
one of public dominion under par. 1 of At. 420 of the Civil Code, to wit:
 - Public Market, which is outside of the commerce of man and could no longer
be subject of private registration;

- Public plaza;

- Municipal street;

- Public buildings;

- Roppongi property in Tokyo Japan, as held in the case of Laurel vs.

Garcia, 187 SCRA 787 (1990);

Specific kinds of non-registrable properties of lands

1. Forest or timberland, public forest, forest reserves

They are incapable of private appropriation and possession,
however long, cannot convert them into private properties. It has
also been held that whatever possession of the lad prior to the date
of release of forested land as alienable and disposable cannot be
credited to the 30-year requirement (now, since June 12, 1945)
under Section 48(b) of the Public Land Act. It is only from that date
that the period of occupancy for purposes of confirmation of
imperfect or incomplete title may be counted, Director of Lands
vs. Court of Appeals and Jose Salazar, et al., 133 SCRA 701
(1984); Republic vs. CA, 148 SCRA 480 (1987). And the
inclusion of forest land in a title, “whether title be issued during the
Spanish regime or under the Torrens system, nullifies the title”,
Republic vs. Sps. Maximo, et al, 135 SCRA 156, 165 (1985).

o Power to classify or reclassify public lands into alienable or disposable

lands
The classification of public lands is an exclusive prerogative of the
Executive Department of the Government and not of the courts. In the
absence of such classification, the land remains as unclassified until it
is released therefrom and rendered open to disposition, as held in
Director of Lands and Director of Forest Development vs. CA,
129 SCRA 689 (1984), citing Rep. vs. CA, 99 SCRA 742 (1980);
Director of Lands vs. CA, 178 SCRA (1989).

Specifically, Sec. 6 of Commonwealth Act 141 reads:

“:Sec. 6. The President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary

of Agriculture and Natural Resources (formerly Commerce), shall from
time to time classify the lands of the public domain, into:
 a. Alienable or disposable;

b. Timber; and

c. Mineral lands;

and may at any time and in a like manner transfer such lands from one
class to another, for the purpose of their administration and
disposition.”

o Term “forest land” explained

The case of Heirs of Jose Amunategui vs. Director of Forestry,

supra, makes classical discourse on the legal signification of land
classified as forest land, to wit:

“ A forested area classified as forest land of the public domain does

not lose such classification simply because loggers or settlers may
have stripped it of its forest cover. Parcels of land classified as forest
land may actually be covered with grass or planted to crops by Kaingin
cultivators or other farmers. Forest lands do not have to be on
mountains or in out of the way places. Swampy areas covered by
mangrove trees, nipa palms and other trees growing in brackish or sea
water may also be classified as forest land. The classification is
descriptive of its legal nature or status and does not have to be
descriptive of what the land actually looks like. Unless and until the
land classified as forest is released in an official proclamation to that
effect so that it may form part of the disposable agricultural lands of
the public domain, the rules on confirmation of imperfect title do not
apply.”

2. Mangrove swamps
In the case of Director of Forestry vs. Villareal 170 SCRA
598, 608-610 (1980), the Supreme Court en banc ruled as
follows:

“Mangrove swamps or mangroves should be understood as

comprised within the public forests of the Philippines as defined in
the aforecited Section 1820 of the Administrative Code of 1917.
Xxx The statutory definition remains unchanged to date.

Xxx

“Our previous description of the term in question as

pertaining to our agricultural lands should be understood as
covering only those lands over which the ownership had already
vested before the Administrative Code of 1917 became effective.”
 Xxx

“It is reiterated for emphasis that, conformably to the

legislative definition embodied in Section 1820 of the Revised
Administrative Code of 1917, which remains unamended up to
now, mangrove swamps or manglaves form part of the public
forests of the Philippines. As such they are not alienable under the
Constitution and may not be subject of private ownership until and
unless they are first released as forest land and classified as
alienable agricultural land.”

Lands that are within the reservation for park purposes form
part of the forest zone and therefore not susceptible of private
appropriation, Paloma vs. CA, 266 SCRA 392, 401 (1997).

3. Mineral lands
Both under the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and Section 2
of the Public Land Act, mineral lands are not alienable and
disposable, Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. vs Dumyung,
89 SCRA 537 (1979). Possession of a mineral land, however
long, does not therefore confer upon the possessory any
possessory right, Atok-Big Wedge Mining Co. Inc vs. CA, 193
SCRA 71, 77 (1991).

4. Foreshore land and seashore

It has been defined as:

“x x x that part of (the land) which is between high and low

water and left dry by the flux and reflux of the tides x x x.”

“ The strip of land that lies between the high and low water
marks and that is alternatively wet and dry according to the flow of
the tide.”

Xxx

“If the submergence, however, of the land is due to

precipitation (rainfall), it does not become foresgore despite its
proximity to the waters.” Republic vs. Alagad, 169 SCRA 455,
462, 464 (1989), citing Rep. vs CA 131 SCRA 532 (1984).

It has also been held that when the land is covered by the
sea water at high tide and there is no showing that the tides are
due to abnormal conditions, the land is clearly part of the shore
and therefore public land belonging to the State.”Caganpang vs.
Morano, 22 SCRA 1040 (1986).
 Seashore, foreshoreland, and/or portions of the territorial
waters and beaches, cannot be registered. Even alluvial formation
along the seashore is part of the public domain and, therefore, not
open to acquisition by adverse possession by private persons. Such
accretion is outside the commerce of man, unless declared by
either the executive or legislative branch of the government as
disposable. Their inclusion in a certificate of title does not convert
the same into properties of private ownership or confer title upon
the registrant.” Dizon vs. Rodriguez, 13 SCRA 704 (1965);
Rep. vs. Ayala Y Cia, 14 SCRA 260 (1965); Bruna Aranas de
Buyser vs. Dir. of Lands, 121 SCRA 13 (1983); Rep. vs. Vda.
De Castillo, 163 SCRA (1988).

5. Navigable rivers, streams and creeks

It has been held that a river is a compound concept consisting of
three elements, namely:

1. The running waters;

2. The bed ;and

3. The Banks.

All these constitute the river. Since a river is but one compound
concept, it has only one nature, i.e., it has either to be totally
public or completely private. And since rivers are of public
ownership, it is implicit that all the three component elements be of
the same nature, Hilario vs. City of Manila, 19 SCRA 931, 939
(1976). Navigable rivers, including their beds, or foreshore, are
non-registrable properties, Rep. vs Sioson, 9 SCRA 533;
Martirez vs. CA, 56 SCRA 647 (1974); Reo. Vs. CA, 132
SCRA 514 (1984); Rep. vs. Lozada, 90 SCRA 502 (1979).

The ownership of a navigable stream or of the bed thereof is not

also subject to acquisitive prescription. That it is included in the
title does not change its public character, Mateo vs. Moreno, 28
SCRA (1969), citing Lovina vs. Moreno, 9 SCRA 557 (1963).

6. Lakes
Lakes, which are of public dominion, Civil Code, Art. 502 (4), are
incapable of registration. Thus, it has been held that areas which
form parts of the Laguna de Bay (which is in fact a lake) are
neither agricultural nor disposable. Hence, any title issued on these
areas, even in the hands of an alleged innocent purchaser for
 value, may be cancelled, Rep. vs. Reyes, 155 SCRA 313
(1987).

7. Military Reservations
A military reservation or part thereof, whether of the Philippine
Government or then of the United States, is not registrable. The
reservation made segregates it from the public domain and no
amount of time in whatever nature of possession could have ripen
such into private possession, Rep. vs. Marcos, 52 SCRA 238
(1973); Rep. vs. Intermediate Appelate Court, 155 SCRA
412 (1987); Dir. of Lands vs. CA, 179 SCRA 522 (1989).

8. Other kinds of Reservations

Reservation for specific purposes other than military reservation
made by Presidential or Executive proclamation for a specific
purpose, are not also subject of private ownership. In one case, a
Presidential Proclamation reserved an area for the medical center
site of the Mindanao Medical Center in Davao under the
administration of the Director of Hospitals. On the effected of such
reservation, the Supreme Court held as follow (Rep. vs CA, 73
SCRA 146, 156-157, [1976]):

“Land covered by reservation are not subject to entry, and

no lawful settlement on them can be acquired. The claims of
persons who have settled on, occupied, and improved a parcel of
public land which is later included in the reservation are considered
worthy of protection and are usually respected, but where the
President, as authorized by law, issues a proclamation reserving
certain lands, and warning all persons to depart thereform, this
terminates any rights previously acquired in such land by a person
who has settled thereon in prder to obtain a preferential right of
purchase. And patents for lands which have been previously
granted, reserved from sale, or appropriated, are void.”

Authority to make reservation

The President of the Philippines has the recognized
competence to reserve by executive proclamation alienable
lands of the public domain for a specific public use or
 service, Rep. vs. October, 16 SCRA 848 (1966). Under
Section 64(e) of the Revised Administrative Code, the
President may “reserve from sale or other disposition and for
specific public uses or service, any land belonging to the
public domain of the Government of the Philippines, the use
of which is not otherwise provided by law.” The
Administrative Code of 1987, in Section 14(1), Chapter 4,
Book III thereof, also provides that “The President shall
have the power to reserve for settlement or public use and
for specific public purposes, any of the lands of the public
domain, the use of which is not otherwise directed by law.
The reserved area shall thereafter remain subject to the
public purpose indicated until otherwise provided by law or
proclamation.” Similarly, the President is authorized by
Section 83 of the Public Act (Com. Act 141) to “designate by
proclamation any tracts of land of the public domain as
reservations for the use of the Commonwealth (now
Republic) of the Philippines or of any of its branches, or of
the inhabitants thereof, x x x or for quasi-public uses or
purposes when the public interest requires it, including
reservations for xxx other improvements for the public
benefit.”

9. Watershed
A watershed established as such by Executive Proclamation cannot
be registered. Watersheds serve as a defense against soil erosion
and guarantees the steady supply of water. The Constitution
expressly mandates the conservation and utilization of natural
resources, which includes the country’s watershed, Tan vs. Dir. of
Forestry, 125 SCRA 302, 318 (1983).

10.Grazing lands
Grazing lands are not alienable under Section 1, Article XIII of the
1935 Constitution and Section 8, 10, and 11 of Article XIV of the
1973 Constitution. While the 1987 Constitution does not specifically
provide that grazing lands are not disposable, yet if such lands are
part of a forest reserve, there can be no doubt that the same are
incapable of registration, Dir. of Lands vs. Rivas, 141 SCRA
329, 335 (1986).

11.Previously titled land

A land previously registered pursuant to a public patent, or already
decreed in the name of another in an earlier registration case, can
 no longer be subject of another registration proceeding, for further
registration would lead to an obviously undesirable result, even if
the certificates would be issued in the name of the same person. A
second decree for the same land would be null and void.

“And if the certificates were to be issued different persons, the

indefeasibility of the first title which is the most valued
characteristics of Torrens title, would be torn away”, Lahora vs.
Dayanghirang, 37 SCRA 346, 351 (1971); also Laburada vs.
LRA, 287 SCRA 333, 343, 344 (1998).

12.Alluvial deposit along river when man-made

Where the alluvial deposit were formed not because of the sole
effect of the current of the rivers but as result of special works
expressly intended or designed to bring about accretion, the
riparian owner does not acquire ownership thereof. Such deposit is
really an encroachment of a portion of the bed of the river,
classified as property of the public domain under Article 420, par.
1 and Article 502 (1) of the Civil Code, and hence not open to
registration, Rep. vs. CA, 132 SCRA 514 (1984).

Specific evidence of ownership

Specific evidences
1. Proofs that land has been declassified from the forest zone, is alienable or
disposable, and is registrable:
o Presidential proclamation, as held in Sunbeam Convenience
Foods, Inc. vs CA, 181 SCRA 443, 448 (1990), citing Dir.
of Lands vs. CA, 178 SCRA 708 (1989);

o Executive Oder;

o Administrative Order issued by the Secretary of Environment

and Natural Resources;

o BFD (Bureau of Forestry, now Bureau of Forest Development)

Land Classification Map;

o Certification by the Director of Forestry; and reports of District

Forester;

o Investigation reports of Bureau of Lands Investigator;

 o Legislative act, or by statute;

2. Proofs on identity of land:

o Survey plan

o Tracing cloth plan and blue print copies of plan

o Technical description of the land applied for, duly signed by a

Geodetic Engineer

o Tax declarations

o Boundaries and area

3. Proofs of private ownership

The usual proof to establish a registrable title is by means of document. But the
applicant for registration of land who relies on a document evidencing his title thereto
must prove not only the identity of the land referred to therein but also the
genuineness of said title, Republic Cement Corp. vs. CA

Remedies under Rules of court

AVAILABLE REMEDIES TO QUESTION THE VALIDITY OF JUDGMENT IN A REGISTRATION CASE 1. New trial
or reconsideration under Rule 37 2. Relief of judgment under Rule 38 3. Appeal to the CA or SC in the
manner as ordinary actions pursuant to Section 33 of PD 1529 4. Review of Decree, Section 32 5. Claim
under Assurance Fund, Section 95 6. Reversion under Section 101 of CA 141 7. Cancellation of title 8.
Annulment of judgment under Rule 37 9. Quieting of Title 10. Action for reconveyance 11. Criminal
prosecution under the Revised Penal Code

Property registration decree

Innocent purchaser for value

Innocent mortgagee for value

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