ORDINARY REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS

Who may apply?; Registration under the Property Registration Decree

The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance (now RTC) an application for registration of
title to land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:

1. Those who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open, continuous,
exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public
domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.

2. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of existing
laws.

2 Kinds of Prescription:

a. Ordinary Acquisitive Prescription – a person acquires ownership of a patrimonial property

3. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of accession or
accretion under the existing laws.

4. Those who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by law.

Where the land is owned in common, all the co-owners shall file the application jointly.

Where the land has been sold under pacto de retro, the vendor a retro may file an application for the
original registration of the land, provided, however, that should the period for redemption expire during the
pendency of the registration proceedings and ownership to the property consolidated in the vendee a retro, the
latter shall be substituted for the applicant and may continue the proceedings.

A trustee on behalf of his principal may apply for original registration of any land held in trust by him,
unless prohibited by the instrument creating the trust.

Although tax declarations and realty tax payment of property are not conclusive evidence of ownership,
nevertheless, they are good indicia of the possession in the concept of owner for no one in his right mind would be
paying taxes for a property that is not in his actual or at least constructive possession. They constitute at least
proof that the holder has a claim of title over the property.

Alluvion must be the exclusive work of nature.

A riparian owner then does not acquire the additions to his land caused by special works expressly
intended or designed to bring about accretion.

NOTES:

1) Where the land is owned in common, all the co-owners shall file the application jointly.
 2) If the applicant is not a resident of the Philippines, he shall file with his application an instrument in due
form appointing an agent upon whom service shall be made.

3) Applications for judicial confirmation of imperfect through possession shall not extend beyond
December 31, 2020.

Judicial Confirmation of Imperfect or Incomplete Titles

The following-described citizens of the Philippines, occupying lands of the public domain or claiming to own any
such lands or an interest therein, but whose titles have not been perfected or completed, may apply to the Court
of First Instance of the province where the land is located for confirmation of their claims and the issuance of a
certificate of title therefore, under the Land Registration Act, to wit:

a) Those who prior to the transfer of sovereignty from Spain to the prior United States have applied for
the purchase, composition or other form of grant of lands of the public domain under the laws and royal
decrees then in force and have instituted and prosecuted the proceedings in connection therewith, but
have with or without default upon their part, or for any other cause, not received title therefore, if such
applicants or grantees and their heirs have occupied and cultivated said lands continuously since the filing
of their applications.

b) Those who by themselves or through their predecessors in interest have been in open, continuous,
exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of agricultural lands of the public domain, under a
bona fide claim of acquisition or ownership, for at least thirty years immediately preceding the filing of
the application for confirmation of title except when prevented by war or force majeure. These shall be
conclusively presumed to have performed all the conditions essential to a Government grant and shall be
entitled to a certificate of title under the provisions of this chapter.

c) Members of the national cultural minorities who by themselves or through their predecessors-in-
interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of lands of the
public domain suitable to agriculture, whether disposable or not, under a bona fide claim of ownership for
at least 30 years shall be entitled to the rights granted in sub-section (b) hereof.

Title is void where land is inalienable and may be cancelled even in the hands of an innocent purchaser for
value:

i. A certificate of title is void when it covers property of public domain classified as forest or timber and
mineral lands.

ii. Any title issued on non-disposable lots even in the hands of an alleged innocent purchaser for value,
shall be cancelled.

Laws governing land registration:

a. Public Land Act (CA No. 141)

i. Approved on November 7, 1936, but which became effective on December 1, 1936;

ii. Voluntary;

iii. The Public Land Act governs the judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete titles on the
basis of possession and occupation o alienable portions of the public domain in the manner and
for the length of time required by law;
 iv. The relevant provisions are Sections 47 to 57, Chapter VIII of the Act.

b. Property Registration Decree (PD No. 1529)

i. Issued on June 11, 1978;

ii. Voluntary;

iii. The Property Registration Decree is a codification of all laws relative to registration of
property, and “supersedes all other laws relative to registration of property”;

iv. It has substantially incorporated the provisions of Act No. 496, or the Land Registration Act.

c. Cadastral Act (Act No. 2259)

i. Enacted on February 11, 1913;

ii. Compulsory as it is the government itself which initiates the petition;

iii. Cadastral Act is an offspring of the system of registration under the Land Registration Act.

iv. It aims to serve public interests by requiring that “the title to any lands be titled and
adjudicated”;

v. It may be noted, however, that salient provisions in the Cadastral Act have now been carried
over in the present Property Registration Decree, particularly in Sections 35 to 38 of the Decree.

d. Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (RA No. 8371)

i. Approved on October 29, 1997;

ii. Voluntary;

iii. IPRA recognizes the rights of ownership and possession of indigenous cultural communities or
indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) to their ancestral domains and ancestral land on the basis of native
title, and defines the extent of these lands and domains.

iv. For purposes of registration, the IPRA expressly converts ancestral lands into public
agricultural lands, and individual members of cultural communities, with respect to their
individually-owned ancestral lands, shall have the option to secure title to their ancestral lands
under the provisions of the Public Land Act of the Property Registration Decree.

v. This option is limited to ancestral lands only, not domains, and such lands must be individually,
not communally, owned.
 Forms and Contents Dealing With Land

Form and Contents.

The application for land registration shall be in writing, signed by the application or the person duly
authorized in his behalf, and sworn to before any officer authorized to administer oaths 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 made to find them.

1) Requisite steps in bringing land under the Torrens System – Subject to the conditions provided for in
Section 15 of the PRD, application for land registration shall provide information on the following:

a. Survey of land by the Lands Management Bureau or a duly licensed private surveyor;

b. Filing of application for registration by the applicant;

c. Setting of the date for the initial hearing of the application by the court;

d. 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;

e. 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;

f. Service by mailing of notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those known to have
interests in the property;

g. Posting by the sheriff of the notice in a conspicuous place on the land and in the bulletin board
of the municipal building or city where the land is situated;

h. Filing of answer to the application by any person whether named in the notice or not;

i. Hearing of the case by the court;

j. Promulgation of judgment by the court;

k. Issuance of an order for the issuance of a decree declaring the decision final and instructing
the Land Registration Authority to issue the decree of confirmation and registration;

l. Entry of the decree of registration in the Land Registration Authority;

m. Sending of copy of the decree of registration to the corresponding Register of Deeds; and

n. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration book and the issuance of the
owner’s duplicate original certificate of title to the applicant by the Register of Deeds, upon
payment of the prescribed fees.
 2) Form and contents of the application for registration:

a. Full description of the land as evidenced by a survey plan duly approved by the Director of
Lands, surveyor’s certificate, and technical description;

b. 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;

c. 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 made to find them;

d. Assessed value of the land and the buildings and improvements thereon;

e. Whether or not there are mortgages or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever affecting the
land, or any other person having any interest therein, legal or equitable, or in possession,
thereof;

f. The manner by which the applicant has acquired the land (refer to Section14, PD No. 1529);

g. Whether or not the property is conjugal, paraphernal or exclusive property of the applicant;

h. Names of all occupants of the land, if any;

i. Original muniments of title and other related documents supporting applicants claim of
ownership; and

i. Muniments of Title – are instruments or written evidence which applicant holds or possesses to
enable him to substantiate and prove title to his estate.

j. If the land is bounded by a public or private way or road, whether or not the applicant claims
any and what portion of the land within the limits of the way or road, and whether the applicant
desires to have the line of the way or road determined.

Non-resident applicant.

If the applicant is not a resident of the Philippines, he shall file with his application an instrument in due
form appointing an agent or representative residing in the Philippines, giving his full name and postal address, and
shall therein agree that the service of any legal process in the proceedings under or growing out of the application
made upon his agent or representative shall be of the same legal effect as if made upon the applicant within the
Philippines. If the agent or representative dies, or leaves the Philippines, the applicant shall forthwith make
another appointment for the substitute, and, if he fails to do so the court may dismiss the application.

NOTES:
Non-resident applicant may be represented by an attorney-in-fact:

A special power of attorney executed before a notary public or other competent official in a
foreign country cannot be admitted in evidence unless it is duly certified in accordance with Section 24,
Rule 132 of the Rules of Court, i.e., by the secretary of embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice
consul or consular agent or by any officer in the foreign service of the Philippines stationed in the foreign
country in which the record is kept, and authenticated by the seal of his office.
What and where to file?

The application for land registration shall be filed with the Court of First Instance of the province or city
where the land is situated. The applicant shall file together with the application all original muniments of titles or
copies thereof and a survey plan of the land approved by the Bureau of Lands. The clerk of court shall not accept
any application unless it is shown that the applicant has furnished the Director of Lands with a copy of the
application and all annexes.

NOTES:

1) The application for registration must be accompanied by a survey plan of the land duly approved by the
Director of Lands, together with the claimant’s muniments of title to prove ownership.

2) No plan or survey may be admitted in land registration proceedings until approved by the Director of
Lands.

Application covering two or more parcels.

An application may include two or more parcels of land belonging to the applicant/s provided they are
situated within the same province or city. The court may at any time order an application to be amended by
striking out one or more of the parcels or by a severance of the application.

Amendments.

Amendments to the application including joinder, substitution, or discontinuance as to parties may be allowed by
the court at any stage of the proceedings upon just and reasonable terms. Amendments which shall consist in a
substantial change in the boundaries or an increase in area of the land applied for or which involve the inclusion of
an additional land shall be subject to the same requirements of publication and notice
as in an original application.

NOTES:
1) A single application may be filed for two or more parcels:

Where during the pendency of an application for registration, the applicant sold the property to
another under pacto de retro, but owing to the lapse of the redemption period, ownership
became consolidated in the vendee, the latter as the new and lawful owner is entitled to be
subrogated in place of the applicant and may continue the proceedings in the case and finally
obtain title as owner.

2) Substantial amendment of boundaries or area requires publication and notice:

a. It is not permissible to make amendments or alterations in the description of the land after its
publication in the newspapers and after the registration of the property has been decreed,
without the publication of new notifications and advertisements making known to everyone the
said alterations and amendments.

Otherwise, the law would be infringed with respect to the publicity which characterizes the
procedure, and third parties who have not had an opportunity to present their claims, might be
seriously affected in their rights, through failure of opportune notice.

b. Publication is one of the essential bases of the jurisdiction of the court in land registration and
cadastral cases, and additional territory cannot be included by amendment of the plan without
new publication.
 c. If new survey plans do not conform to the plans earlier presented and affect the rights of third
persons, notice shall be given them and an opportunity to present whatever opposition they may
have to the registration of the land included in the new plans.

d. If the amendment does not involve an addition, but on the contrary, a reduction of the original
area that was published, no new publication is required.

When land applied for borders on road.

If the application describes the land as bounded by a public or private way or road, it shall state whether
or not the applicant claims any and what portion of the land within the limits of the way or road, and whether the
applicant desires to have the line of the way or road determined.

Requirement of additional facts and papers; ocular inspection.

The court may require facts to be stated in the application in addition to those prescribed by this Decree
not inconsistent therewith and may require the filing of any additional paper. It may also conduct an ocular
inspection, if necessary.

Dealings with land pending original registration.

After the filing of the application and before the issuance of the decree of registration, the land therein described
may still be the subject of dealings in whole or in part, in which case the interested party shall present to the court
the pertinent instruments together with a subdivision plan approved by the Director of Lands in case of transfer of
portions thereof and the court, after notice to the parties, shall order such land registered subject to the
conveyance or encumbrance created by said instruments, or order that the decree of registration be issued in the
name of the person to whom the property has been conveyed by said instruments.

NOTES:

1) Dealings with the land while its registration is pending:

a. Whatever may be the nature of the transaction, the interested party should submit to the
court the pertinent instruments evidencing the transaction to be considered in the final
adjudication of the case.

b. The applicant or the parties to the transaction may file the corresponding motion or
manifestation, indicating the relief desired.

c. In case of transfer of a portion of the land, the corresponding subdivision plan should also be
presented.

d. Upon notice to the parties, the court shall:

i. Order the land registered subject to the conveyance or encumbrance created by such
instruments, or

ii. Order that the decree of registration be issued in the name of the person to whom
the property has been conveyed.
 e. It should be noted that the adjudication of land in a land registration or cadastral proceeding
does not become final, in the sense of incontrovertibility, until after one year from the entry of
the final decree prepared by the LRA.

f. As long as the final decree has not been entered, and the one-year period has not elapsed from
such entry, the title is not deemed finally adjudicated and the decision in the registration
proceeding continues to be under the control of the court.

g. Hence, transactions affecting the property pending registration should be made known to the
court for appropriate consideration.

2) Dealings or transactions entered into pending registration do not require amendment of application:

a. The law does not require that the application for registration be amended by substituting the
“buyer” or the “person to whom the property has been conveyed” for the applicant.

i. Neither does it require that the “buyer” or the “person to whom the
property has been conveyed” be a party to the case.

ii. He may thus be a total stranger to the land registration proceedings.

iii. The only requirements of the law are:

1. That the instrument be presented to the court by the interested party

2. That prior notice be given to the parties to the case.

b. A motion to lift order of general default and motion under Section 22 may not be filed after
the finality of the judgment in the registration case.