Republic Act No. 496
An Act to Provide For the Adjudication and
Registration of Titles to Lands in the Philippine Islands
Section 1
The short title of this Act shall be “The Land Registration Act.”
Section 2
A court is hereby established to be called the “Court of Land
Registration,” which shall have the exclusive jurisdiction of all applications
for the registration under this Act of title to land or buildings or an
interest therein within the Philippine Islands, with power to hear and determine
all questions arising upon such applications, and also have jurisdiction over
such other questions as may come before it under this Act, subject, however, to
the right of appeal, as hereinafter provided. The proceedings upon such
applications shall be proceedings in rem against the land and the buildings and
improvements thereon, and the decrees shall operate directly on the land and
the buildings and improvements thereon, and vest and establish title thereto.
The court shall hold its sittings in Manila but may adjourn from time
to time to such other places as the public convenience may require and may hold
sessions at any time in the capital of any province. In the city of Manila, the
Municipal Board, and in the provinces, the provincial boards, shall provide
suitable rooms for the sittings of the Court of Land Registration in the same
building with, or convenient to, the office of the registrar of deeds, and
shall provide all necessary books and such printed blanks and stationery for
use in registration proceedings as may be ordered by the court hereby created.
The court shall have jurisdiction throughout the Philippine
Archipelago, and shall always be open, except on Sundays and holidays
established by law. It shall be a court of record, and shall cause to be made a
seal, and to be sealed therewith all orders, process, and papers made by or
proceeding from the court and requiring a seal. All notices, orders, and
process of such court may run into any province and be returnable, as the court
may direct.
The court shall from time to time make general rules and forms for
procedure, conforming as near as may be to practice in special proceedings in
Courts of First Instance, but subject to the express provisions of this Act and
to general laws. Such rules and forms before taking effect shall be approved by
the judges of the Supreme Court or a majority thereof.
In this Act, except where the context requires a different
construction, the word “court” shall mean the Court of Land Registration.
Section 3
The Civil Governor, with the advice and consent of the Philippine
Commission, shall appoint two judges of the Court of Land Registration, one of
whom shall be appointed, commissioned, and qualified as judge of the Court of
Land Registration, and the other as associate judge thereof, each of whom may
be removed by the Civil Governor, with the advice and consent of the Philippine
Commission, and any vacancy shall be filled in the manner in this section
provided. Such further associate judges of the Court of Land Registration shall
be appointed in the manner in this section provided, as experience shall prove
to be necessary, but the necessity for such additional judges shall be
determined by act of the Philippine Commission.
Section 4
The authority and jurisdiction of the Court of Land Registration shall
begin and take effect as soon as the judges thereof are appointed and qualified
in the manner required by law for judicial officers. The court may be held by a
single judge, and when so held shall have all the authority and jurisdiction
committed to said court. Different sessions may be held at the same time,
either in the same province or in different provinces, as the judges may
decide, and they shall so arrange sessions as to insure a prompt discharge of
the business of the court.
Section 5
Citations, orders of notice, and all other process issuing from the
court shall be under the seal of the court and signed by the judge or clerk
thereof, and shall be served in the manner provided for the service of process
in the Code of Procedure in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings, and by the
officers therein designated as officers of the court, unless otherwise
specially ordered in this Act.
Section 6
In case of a vacancy in the office of judge of the Court of Land
Registration, or of his absence or inability to perform his duties, the
associate Judge shall perform them until the vacancy is filled or any
disability is removed.
Section 7
The Civil Governor, with the advice and consent of the Philippine
Commission, shall appoint a clerk, who may be removed in the manner provided
for the removal of a judge by virtue of section three, and vacancy in his
office may be filled in the manner in that section provided. He shall attend
the sessions of the court and keep a docket of all causes and shall affix the
seal of the court to all process or papers proceeding therefrom and requiring a
seal.
Section 8
The clerk shall be under the direction of the court, shall have the
custody and control of all papers and documents filed with him under the
provisions of this Act, and shall carefully number and index the same. Said
papers and documents shall be kept in the city of Manila, in an office to be
called the “Land Registration Office,” which shall be in the same building as
the Court of Land Registration or near to it. Clerks shall have authority,
subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law, to employ such deputies,
assistants, translators, stenographers, typewriters, and messengers as may be
necessary, the number and salaries of such employees to be fixed with the
approval of the Attorney General.
Section 9
The clerk may act in the city of Manila and in any province, and after
land has been registered under this Act he may make all memoranda affecting the
title, and enter and issue certificates of title as provided herein.
Section 10
There shall be a register of deeds in the city of Manila and one in
each province, who shall be appointed and removed in the manner provided for
the appointment and removal of judges by section three, and who, after any land
within their respective districts has been registered under this Act, shall
have the same authority as the clerk of the Court of Land Registration to make
all memoranda affecting the title of such land, and to enter and issue new
certificates of title as provided herein, and to affix the seal of the court to
such certificates and duplicate certificates of title; but in executing the
provisions of this Act the register of deeds shall be subject to the general
direction of the clerk of the Court of Land Registration, in order to secure
uniformity throughout the Archipelago, and their official designation shall be
registers of deeds for the province or for the city of Manila, in which their
duties are to be performed, as the case may be. In case of the death or
disability of the clerk of the Court of Land Registration, the register of
deeds for the city of Manila shall perform the duties of the clerk until the
vacancy is filled or the disability is removed.
Section 11
The clerk of the Court of Land Registration and all registers of deeds
shall be sworn before any official authorized to administer oaths, and a record
thereof shall be made in the records of the court. They shall each give a bond
to the Government of the Philippine Islands for the benefit of whom it may
concern in a sum to be fixed by the court for the faithful performance of their
official duties, before entering upon the same. The judge and the associate
judges, and the clerk of the Court of Land Registration and all registers of
deeds, will have power to administer oaths in all matters and cases in which an
oath is required, whether pertaining to the registration of lands or otherwise.
The clerk and his deputy and all registers of deeds shall keep an accurate
account of all moneys received, as fees or otherwise, which shall be subject to
examination by the Auditor for the Philippine Archipelago in the city of
Manila, and by the provincial treasurers in the several provinces, and to revision
thereof by the Auditor for the Philippine Archipelago, and they shall pay over
such moneys at the end of each calendar month to the Treasurer of the
Philippine Archipelago, except such moneys as are otherwise disposed of by the
provisions of section thirteen of this Act. In the case of the death, absence,
or disability of any register of deeds, the assistant register, or if there is
no assistant register, the person acting as clerk in the office of register of
deeds, shall perform the duties of the register, and the register, if living,
shall be held responsible for him. The clerk of the Court of Land Registration
and all registers of deeds may require bonds of indemnity from all deputies,
assistants, and employees in their respective offices. Each register of deeds
may appoint such deputies, assistants, clerks, stenographers, typewriters, and
translators and at such salaries as the provincial board or the Municipal Board
of the city of Manila, as the case may be, authorize with the approval of the
Treasurer of the Philippine Archipelago.
Section 12
The Civil Governor, with the advice and approval of the Philippine
Commission, may appoint one or more examiners of titles in each of the fifteen
judicial districts of the Philippine Archipelago, who shall be lawyers, and who
shall be subject to removal in the manner provided in section three, and
vacancies therein may be filled in the manner in that section provided.
Section 13
The salary of the judge of the Court of Land Registration shall be five
thousand dollars per annum, that of associate judge, and of any associate judge
subsequently appointed under this Act, shall be four thousand dollars per
annum, and that of the clerk of the court shall be two thousand five hundred
dollars per annum. The salaries of registers of deeds and examiners of titles
shall be fixed by act of the Philippine Commission in proportion to the amount
of business and responsibility of their several offices to which appointments
may be made. All salaries and expenses of the court, including those for
necessary interpreters, translators, stenographers, typewriters, and other
employees, as well as those deputy or assistant clerks duly authorized and
examiners of titles, shall be paid from the Treasury of the Philippine
Archipelago, but the salaries of the registers of deeds and of all deputies,
assistants, or clerks duly authorized and by them appointed, and all the
expenses of every kind incident to the office of register of deeds, including
necessary books and stationery, shall be paid out of the respective provincial
treasuries or out of the Insular Treasury from funds belonging to the city of
Manila, as the case may be. All fees payable under this Act for the services of
the clerk of the Court of Land Registration and those of the examiner of
titles, including the fee for the original application, for filing plans, for
indexing and recording an instrument while application for registration is
pending, for examining title, for notices by mail, for notices by publication,
for entry of order dismissing application, or decree of registration, and
sending memorandum thereof to register of deeds, copy of decree of
registration, filing petitions in court, and making certified copies of
decrees, shall be paid into the Treasury of the Philippine Archipelago. All
fees payable under this Act for the services of the register of deeds or his
deputy or clerks, including those for entry of original certificate of title,
issuing all duplicates thereof, making and entering new certificates of title and
all duplicates thereof, for the registration of instruments, making and
attesting copies of memorandum on instruments, for filing and registering
adverse claims, for entering statement of change of residence or post office,
for entering any note on registration book, for registration of a suggestion of
death or notice of proceedings in bankruptcy, insolvency or the like, for the
registration of a discharge of a lease or a mortgage or instrument creating an
encumbrance, for the registration of any levy or any discharge or dissolution
of attachment or levy or of any certificate of or receipt for payment of taxes
or a notice of any pending action, of a judgment or decree, for indorsing of
any mortgage lien or other instrument, memorandum of partition, certified
copies of registered instruments, shall be paid into the appropriate provincial
treasury or into the Treasury of the Philippine Archipelago for the city of
Manila, as the case may be. All fees payable under this Act for services by
sheriff or other officer shall be paid to the officer entitled thereto.
Registers of deeds shall pay over to the provincial treasury or to the Treasury
of the Philippine Archipelago, as the case may be, at the end of each calendar
month all funds received by them in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Section 14
Every order, decision, and decree of the Court of Land Registration
shall be subject to appeal to the Court of First Instance of the city or
province where the land lies, concerning which the order, decision, or decree
appealed from was made; but the proceeding shall not pass to the Court of First
Instance for review upon the appeal until final determination by the Court of
Land Registration of the whole proceeding in which the order, decision, or
decree appealed from was made. The appeal shall be made and entered within
thirty days from the date of the final order, decision, or decree, and the
party appealing shall, at the time of entering his appeal, file in the Court of
First Instance copies of all material papers in the case certified by the
clerk. Appearances and answers shall be filed in the Court of First Instance
within thirty days after the appeal is entered, unless for good cause further
time is allowed, and upon motion of either party the case shall be advanced for
speedy hearing and shall be tried by the Court of First Instance as other
actions are tried in that court. All competent testimony which has been taken
in writing before the Court of Land Registration may be used on the trial in
the Court of First Instance. Questions of law arising in the Court of First
Instance on trial of the appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court for revisions
by any party aggrieved, in the same manner as in ordinary actions in the Court
of First Instance.
Whenever the facts before the Court of Land Registration shall not be
in dispute, but a pure question of law only is determinative of the decision or
decree to be made, that court may, after its decision or decree therein, report
such decision or decree directly for the consideration of the Supreme Court
with so much of the case as may be necessary for the understanding of such
questions of law, without transmitting the same to the Court of First Instance.
But the procedure last provided shall not be made in any case where any party
desires to appeal to the Court of First Instance.
Section 15
At the end of the proceedings on appeal, the clerk of the appellate
court in which the final decision was made shall certify to the Court of Land
Registration the final decision on the appeal, and the Court of Land
Registration shall enter the final decree in the case, in accordance with the
certificate of the clerk of the appellate court in which final decision was
made.
Section 16
If the party appealing does not prosecute his appeal within the time
limited, the original order, decision, or decree shall stand as if no appeal
had been taken.
Section 17
The Court of Land Registration, in all matters over which it has
jurisdiction, may enforce its orders, judgments, or decrees in the same manner
as orders, judgments, and decrees are enforced in the Courts of First Instance,
and, upon the request of the judge of the Court of Land Registration, the
governor or sheriff of any province or of the city of Manila, as the case may
be, shall assign a deputy to attend the sittings of the court in that province
or city.
Section 18
Costs shall be taxed in contested cases in the Court of Land
Registration in the same manner and for the same items of cost as in Court of
First Instance where no different provisions is made.
Section 19
Application for registration of title may be made by the following
persons, namely:
First
The person or persons
claiming, singly or collectively, to own the legal estate in fee simple
Second
The person or persons
claiming, singly or collectively, to have the power of appointing or disposing
of the legal estate in fee simple
Third
Infants or other persons
under disability may make application by their legally appointed guardians, but
the person in whose behalf the application is made shall be named as applicant
by the guardian.
Fourth
Corporations may make
application by any officer duly authorized by vote of the directors.
But the authority given to the foregoing four classes of persons is
subject to the following provisos:
(a) That one or more tenants for a term of years shall
not be allowed to make application except jointly with those claiming the
reversionary interest in the property which makes up the fee simple at common
law.
(b) That a mortgagor shall not make application without the
consent in writing of the mortgagee.
(c) That a married woman shall not make application
without the consent in writing of her husband unless she holds the land as her
separate property or has a power to appoint the same in fee simple or has
obtained a decree of the court authorizing her to deal with her real estate as
though she were sole and unmarried.
(d) That one or more tenants claiming undivided shares
less than a fee simple in the whole land described in the application shall not
make application except jointly with the other tenant owing undivided shares,
so that the whole fee shall be represented in the action.
But, notwithstanding the foregoing provisos if the holder of a mortgage
upon the land described in the application does not consent to the making of
the application, it may be entered nevertheless and the title registered
subject to such mortgage, which may be dealt with or foreclosed as if the land
subject to such mortgage, describing it, and shall provide that no subsequent
certificate shall be issued and not further papers registered relating to such
land after a foreclosure of such mortgage.
Section 20
The application may be filed with the clerk of the Court of Land
Registration, or with the register of deeds of the province a memorandum
stating that application for registration has been filed, and the date and
place of filing, and a copy of the description of the land contained in the
application. This memorandum shall be recorded and indexed by the register with
the records of deeds. Each register of deeds shall also keep an index of all
applications in his province or city, and, in every case where the application
is filed with him, shall transmit the same, with the papers and plans filed
therewith and such memorandum when recorded, to the clerk of the Court of Land
Registration.
Section 21
The application shall be in writing, signed and sworn to by applicant,
or by some person duly authorized in his behalf. All oaths required by this Act
may be administered by any officer authorized to administer oaths in the
Philippine Islands. If there is more than one applicant, the application shall
be signed and sworn to by and in behalf of each. It shall contain a description
of the land and shall state whether the applicant, the applicant is married;
and if married, the name of the wife or husband; and if married, whether he or
she has been married, and if so, when and how the married relation terminated.
If by divorce, when, where, and by what court the divorce was granted. It shall
also state the name in full and the address of the applicant, and also the
names and addresses of all adjoining owners and occupants, if known; and, if
not known, it shall state what search has been made to find them. It may be in
form as follows:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
To the Honorable Judge of
the Court of Land Registration:
I (or we), the undersigned,
hereby apply to have the land hereinafter described brought under the
operations of the Land Registration Act, and to have under the operations of
the Land Registration Act, and I have my (or our) title herein registered and
confirmed. And I (or we) declare:
(1) That I am (or we are) the owner (or owners) in fee
simple of a certain parcel of land with the buildings (if any; if not, strike
out the words “with the buildings”), situated in (here insert accurate
description).
(2) That said land at the last assessment for taxation
was assessed at _________________ dollars; and the buildings (if any) at
______________ dollars.
(3) That I (or we) do not know of any mortgage or
encumbrance affecting said land, or that any other person has any estate or
interest therein, legal or equitable, in possession, remainder, reversion, or
expectancy (if any, add “other than as follows,” and set forth each clearly).
If in any other way, state it).
(4) That said land is ______________ occupied (if
occupied, state name in full and place of residence and post-office address of
occupant and nature of his occupancy. If unoccupied, insert “not”).
(5) That the names in full and addresses as far as known
to me (or us) of the occupants of all lands adjoining said land are as follows
(give street and number wherever possible. If names not known, state whether
inquiry has been made, and what inquiry has been made, and inquiry).
(6) That the names and addresses so far as known to me
(or us) of the owners of all lands adjoining the above land are as follows
(same directions as above).
(7) That I am (or we are) married. (Follow literally the
directions given in the prior portions of this section).
(8) That my (or our) full name (or names), residence,
and post-office address is (or are) as follows:
Dated this ______ day of
________ in the year nineteen hundred and ______________
(Signature)
_________________
(Schedule of documents.)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
PROVINCE OF (or city of)
______________ ( date )
Then personally appeared the
above-named _____________________, known to me to be the signer (or signers) of
the foregoing application, and made oath that the statements therein, so far as
made of his (or their) own knowledge are true, and so far, as made upon
information and belief, that he (or they) believe them to be true, before me.
___________________________
Justice of the Peace (or
other officer authorized to administer oaths)
Section 22
If the applicant is not a resident of the Philippine Islands, he shall
file with his application a paper appointing an agent residing in the
Philippine Islands, giving his name in full, and his post-office address, and
shall therein agree that the service of any legal process in proceedings under
or growing out of the application shall be of the same legal effect if served
upon the agent as if upon the applicant if within the Philippine Islands. If
the agent dies or becomes insane, or removes from the Philippine Islands, the
applicant shall at once make another appointment; and if he fails to do so, the
court may dismiss the application
Section 23
Amendments to the application, including joinder, substitution, or
discontinuing as to parties, shall be allowed by the court at any time upon
terms that are just and reasonable. But all amendments shall be in writing,
signed and sworn to like the original.
Section 24
The application may include two or more contiguous parcels of land, or
two or more parcels constituting one holding under one and the same title, if
within the same province or city. But two or more persons claiming in the same
parcels different interests, which, collectively, making up the legal estate in
fee simple in each parcel, shall not join in one application for more than one
parcel, unless their interests are alike in each and every parcel. The court
may at any time order an application to be amended by striking out one or more
parcels, or by severance of the application.
Section 25
If the application described the land as bounded on a public or private
way or road, it shall state whether or not the applicant claims any and what
land within the limits of the way or road, and whether the applicant desires to
have the line of the way or road determined.
Section 26
The applicant shall file with the application a plan of the land, and
all original muniments of title within his control mentioned in the schedule of
documents, such original muniments to be produced before the examiner or the
court at the hearing when required. When an application is dismissed or
discontinued, the applicant may, with the consent of the court, withdraw such
original muniments of title.
Section 27
When an application is made subject to an existing recorded mortgage,
the holder of which has consented thereto, or to a recorded lease, or 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, file a certified copy of such
mortgage or lease, and shall cause the original, or, in the discretion of the
court, a certified copy thereof to be presented for registration before the
decree of registration is entered, and no registration fee shall be charged for
registering such original mortgage or lease or such certified copy.
Section 28
The court may by general rule require facts to be stated in the
application in addition to those prescribed by this Act, and not inconsistent
therewith, and may require the filing of any additional papers.
Section 29
After the filing of the application and before registration the land
therein described may be dealt with and instruments relating thereto shall be
recorded, in the same manner as if no application has been made, but all
instruments left for record relating to such land shall be indexed in the usual
manner in the registry index and also in the index of applications. As soon as
an application is disposed of, the clerk of the Court of Land Registration
shall make a memorandum stating the disposition of the case and shall send the
same to the register of deeds for the proper province or city, who shall record
and index it with the records of deeds and in the index of applications. If the
proceedings upon the application end in a decree of registration of title, the
land included therein shall, as soon as said decree is transcribed, as
hereinafter provided in section forty-one, become registered land, and
thereafter no deeds or other instruments relating solely to such land shall be
recorded with the records of deeds, but shall be registered in the registration
book and filed and indexed with records and documents relating to registered
lands.
Section 30
Immediately after the filing of the application the court shall enter
an order referring it to one of the examiners of titles, who shall search the
records and investigate all the facts in the application, or otherwise brought
to his attention, and file in the case a report thereon, concluding with a
certificate of his opinion upon the title. The clerk shall give notice to the
applicant of the filing of such report. If the opinion of the examiner is
adverse to the applicant, he shall be allowed by the court a reasonable time in
which to elect to proceed further, or withdraw his application. The election
shall be made in writing and filed with the clerk.
Section 31
If, in the opinion of the examiner, the applicant has a good title, as
alleged, and proper for registration, or if the applicant, after an adverse
opinion of the examiner, elects to proceed further, the clerk of court shall,
immediately upon the filing of the examiner’s opinion or the applicant’s
election, as the case may be, cause notice of the filing of the application to
be published once in two newspapers, one of which newspapers shall be printed
in the English language and one in Spanish, of general circulation in the
province or city where any portion of the land lies, or if there be no Spanish
or English newspaper of general circulation in the province or city where any
portion of the land lies, then it shall be a sufficient compliance with this
section if the notice of the filing of the application be published in a daily
English newspaper and a daily Spanish newspaper of the city of Manila having a
general circulation. The notice shall be issued by order of the court, attested
by the clerk, and shall be in form substantially as follows:
REGISTRATION OF TITLE
Province (or city) of
_____________
COURT OF LAND REGISTRATION
To (here insert the names of
all persons appearing to have an interest and the adjoining owners so far as
known), and to all whom it may concern:
Whereas an application has
been presented to said court by (name or names, and addresses in full) to
register and confirm his (or their) title in the following-described lands
(insert description), you are hereby cited to appear at the Court of Land
Registration, to be held at, ______________ in said Province (or city) of ___________,
on the _______ day of _________________, A.D. nineteen hundred and,
_______________ at _____ o’clock in the forenoon, to show cause, if any you
have, why the prayer of said application shall not be granted. And unless you
appear at such court, at the time and place aforesaid, your default will be recorded,
and the said application will be taken as confessed, and you will be forever
barred from contesting said application or any decree entered thereon.
Witness: ____________, judge
of said court, this ______ day of _______, in the year nineteen hundred and
___________.
Attest:
___________________
Clerk of Said Court
Section 32
The return of said notice shall not be less than twenty nor more than
sixty days from date of issue. The court shall also, within seven days after
the publication of said notice in the newspapers, as hereinbefore provided,
cause a copy of the publication in Spanish to be mailed by the clerk to every
person named therein whose address is known. The court shall also cause a
duly-attested copy of the notice to be posted, in the Spanish language, in a
conspicuous place on each parcel of land included in the application, and also
in a conspicuous place upon the chief municipal building of the pueblo in which
the land or a portion thereof is situated, by the governor or sheriff of the
province or city, as the case may be, or by his deputy, fourteen days at least
before the return day thereof, and his return shall be conclusive proof of such
service. If the applicant requests to have the line of a public way determined,
the court shall order a notice to be given by the clerk by mailing a registered
letter to the president of the municipal council, or to the Municipal Board, as
the case may be, of the municipality or city in which the land lies. If the
land borders on a river, navigable stream, or shore, or on an arm of the sea
where a river or harbor line has been established, or on a lake, or if it
otherwise appears from the application or the proceedings that the Insular
Government may have a claim adverse to that of the applicant, notice shall be given
in the same manner to the Attorney-General. The court may also cause other or
further notice of the application to be given in such manner and to such
persons as it may deem proper. The court shall, so far as it deems it possible,
require proof of actual notice to all adjoining owners and to all persons who
appear to have interest in or claim to the land included in the application.
Notice to such persons by mail shall be by registered letter if practicable.
The certificate of the clerk that he has served the notice as directed by the
court, by publishing or mailing, shall be filed in the case before the return
day, and shall be conclusive proof of such service.
Section 33
Upon the return day of the notice, and proof of service of all orders
of notice issued, the court may appoint a disinterested person to act as
guardian ad litem for minors and persons not in being, unascertained, unknown,
or out of the Philippine Islands, who may have an interest. The compensation of
the guardian or agent shall be determined by the court and paid as part of the
expenses of the Court.
Section 34
Any person claiming interest, whether named in the notice or not, may
appear and file an answer on or before the return day, or within such further
time as may be allowed by the court. The answer shall state all the objections
to the application, and shall set forth the interest claimed by the party
filing the same, and shall be signed and sworn to by him or by some person in
his behalf
Section 35
If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court may
at once upon motion of the applicant, no reason to the contrary appearing,
order a general default to be recorded and the application to be taken for
confessed. By the description in the notice, “To all whom it may concern,” all
the world is made parties defendant and shall be concluded by the default and
order. After such default and order the court may enter a decree confirming the
title of the applicant and ordering registration of the same. The court shall
not be bound by the report of the examiner of titles but may require other and
further proof.
Section 36
If in any case an appearance is entered, and answer filed, the case shall
be set down for hearing on motion of either party, but a default and order
shall be entered against all persons who do not appear and answer, in the
manner provided in the preceding section. The court may hear the parties and
their evidence or may refer the case or any part thereof to one of the
examiners of title, as referee, to hear the parties and their evidence, and
make report thereon to the court. The trial before the referee may occur at any
convenient place within the province or city, and the time and place of trial
shall be fixed by the referee and reasonable notice thereof shall be given by
him to the parties. The court shall render judgment in accordance with the
report as though the facts had been found by the judge himself, unless the court
shall for cause shown set the report aside or order it to be recommitted to the
referee for further finding: Provided, nevertheless, That the court may in its
discretion accept the report in part or set it aside in part. The court may in
any case before decree require a survey to be made for the purpose of
determining boundaries, and may order durable bounds to be set, and referred to
in the application, by amendment. The expense of survey and bounds shall be
taxed in the costs of the case and may be apportioned among the parties as
justice may require. If no persons appear to oppose the application, such
expense shall be borne by the applicant. If two or more applications claim the
same land, or part of the same land, the court may order the hearing upon all
such applications to be consolidated, if such consolidation is in the interest
of economy of time and expense.
Section 37
If in any case the court finds that the applicant has not proper title
for registration, a decree shall be entered dismissing the application, and
such decree may be ordered to be without prejudice. The applicant may withdraw
his application at any time before final decree, upon terms to be fixed by the
court.
Section 38
If the court after hearing finds that the applicant has title as stated
in his application, and proper for registration, a decree of confirmation and
registration shall be entered. Every decree of registration shall bind the
land, and quiet title thereto, subject only to the exceptions stated in the
following section. It shall be conclusive upon and against all persons,
including the Insular Government and all the branches thereof, whether
mentioned by name in the application, notice, or citation, or included in the
general description “To all whom it may concern.” Such decree shall not be
opened by reason of the absence, infancy, or other disability of any person
affected thereby, nor by any proceeding in any court for reversing judgments or
decrees; subject, however, to the right of any person deprived of land or of
any estate or interest therein by decree of registration obtained by fraud to
file in the Court of Land Registration a petition for review within one year
after the entry of the decree, provided no innocent purchaser for value has
acquired an interest. If there is any such purchaser, the decree of
registration shall not be opened, but shall remain in full force and effect
forever, subject only to the right of appeal hereinbefore provided. But any
person aggrieved by such decree in any case may pursue his remedy by action for
damages against the applicant or any other person for fraud in procuring the
decree. Whenever the phrase “innocent purchaser for value” or an equivalent
phrase occurs in this Act, it shall be deemed to include an innocent lessee, mortgagee,
or other encumbrancer for value.
Section 39
Every applicant receiving a certificate of title in pursuance of a
decree of registration, and every subsequent purchaser of registered land who
takes a certificate of title for value in good faith, shall hold the same free
of all encumbrance except those noted on said certificate, and any of the
following incumbrances which may be subsisting, namely:
First
Liens, claims, or rights
arising or existing under the laws or Constitution of the United States or of
the Philippine Islands which the statutes of the Philippine Islands cannot
require to appear of record in the registry.
Second
Taxes within two years after
the same have become due and payable.
Third
Any public highway, way, or
private way established by law, where the certificate of title does not state
that the boundaries of such highway or way have been determined. But if there
are easements or other rights appurtenant to a parcel of registered land which
for any reason have failed to be registered, such easements or rights shall
remain so appurtenant notwithstanding such failure and shall be held to pass
with the land until cut off or extinguished by the registration of the servient
estate, or in any other manner.
Section 40
Every decree of registration shall bear the day of the year, hour, and
minute of its entry, and shall be signed by the clerk. It shall state whether
the owner is married or unmarried, and if married, the name of the husband or
wife. If the owner is under disability, it shall state the nature of the
disability, and if a minor, shall state his age. It shall contain a description
of the land as finally determined by the court, and shall set forth the estate
of the owner, and also, in such manner as to show their relative priority, all
particular estates, mortgages, easements, liens, attachments, and other
incumbrances, including rights of husband or wife, if any, to which the land or
owner’s estate is subject, and may contain any other matter properly to be determined
in pursuance of this Act. The decree shall be stated in a convenient form for
transcription upon the certificates of title hereinafter mentioned.
Section 41
Immediately upon the entry of the decree of registration the clerk
shall send a certified copy thereof, under the seal of the court to the
register of deeds for the province, or provinces or city in which the land
lies, and the register of deeds shall transcribe the decree in a book to be
called the “Registration Book,” in which a leaf, or leaves, in consecutive
order, shall be devoted exclusively to each title. The entry made by the
register of deeds in this book in each case shall be the original certificate
of title and shall be signed by him and sealed with the seal of the court. All
certificates of title shall be numbered consecutively, beginning with number
one. The register of deeds in each case make an exact duplicate of the original
certificate, including the seal, but putting on it the words “owner’s duplicate
certificate,” and deliver the same to the owner or to his attorney duly
authorized. In case of a variance between the owner’s duplicate certificate and
the original certificate the original shall prevail. The certified copy of the
decree of registration shall be filed and numbered by the register of deeds
with a reference noted on it to the place of record of the original certificate
of title: Provided, however, That when an application includes land lying in
more than one province or one province and the city of Manila, the court shall
cause the part lying in each province or in the city of Manila to be described
separately by metes and bounds in the decree of registration, and the clerk
shall send to the register of deeds for each province, or the city of Manila,
as the case may be, a copy of the decree containing a description of the land
within that province or city, and the register of deeds shall register the same
and issue an owner’s duplicate therefor, and thereafter for all matters
pertaining to registration under this Act the portion in each province or city
shall be treated as a separate parcel of land.
Section 42
The certificate first registered in pursuance of the decree of
registration in regard to any parcel of land shall be entitled in the
registration book, “original certificate of title, entered pursuant to decree
of the Court of Land Registration, dated at” (stating the time and place of
entry of decree and the number of case). This certificate shall take effect
upon the date of the transcription of the decree. Subsequent certificates
relating to the same land shall be in like form but shall be entitled “Transfer
from number” (the number of the next previous certificate relating to the same
land), and also the words “Originally registered” (date, volume, and page of
registration).
Section 43
Where two or more persons are registered owners, as tenants in common,
or otherwise, one owner’s duplicate certificate may be issued for the whole
land, or a separate duplicate may be issued to each for his undivided share.
Section 44
A registered owner holding one duplicate certificate for several
distinct parcels of land may surrender it, with the approval of the court, and
take out several certificates for portions thereof. So a registered owner
holding separate certificates for several distinct parcels may surrender them,
and, with like approval, take out a single duplicate certificate for the whole
land, or several certificates for the different portions thereof. Any owner
subdividing a tract of registered land into lots shall file with the clerk a
plan of such land, when applying for a new certificate or certificates, and the
court, before issuing the same, shall cause the plan to be verified and require
that all boundaries, streets, and passageways shall be distinctly and
accurately delineated thereon.
Section 45
The obtaining of a decree of registration and the entry of a
certificate of title shall be regarded as an agreement running with the land,
and binding upon the applicant and all successors in title that the land shall
be and always remain registered land, and subject to the provisions of this Act
and all Acts amendatory thereof.
Section 46
No title to registered land in derogation to that of the registered
owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession.
Section 47
The original certificate in the registration book, any copy thereof
duly certified under the signature of the clerk, or of the register of deeds of
the province or city where the land is situated, and the seal of the court, and
also the owner’s duplicate certificate, shall be received as evidence in all
the courts of the Philippine Islands and shall be conclusive as to all matters
contained therein except as far as otherwise provided in this Act.
Section 48
Every certificate of title shall set forth the names of all the persons
interested in the estate in fee simple in the whole land and duplicate
certificates may be issued to each person, but the clerk or register of deeds,
as the case may be, shall note in the registration book, and upon such certificate,
to whom such duplicate was issued.
Section 49
The clerk, under the direction of the court, shall make and keep
indexes of all applications, of all decrees of registration, and shall also
index and classify all papers and instruments filed in his office relating to
applications and to registered titles. He shall also, under direction of the
court, cause forms of index and registration and entry books to be prepared for
use of the registers of deeds. The court shall prepare and adopt convenient
forms of certificates of title and shall also adopt general forms of memoranda
to be used by registers of deeds in registering common forms of deeds of
conveyance and other instruments, and to express briefly their effect.
Section 50
An owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge, or
otherwise deal with the same as fully as if it had not been registered. He may
use forms of deeds, mortgages leases, or other voluntary instruments like those
now in use and sufficient in law for the purpose intended. But no deed,
mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument, except a will, purporting to
convey or affect registered land, shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the
land, but shall operate only as a contract between the parties and as evidence
of authority to the clerk or register of deeds to make registration. The act of
registration shall be the operative act to convey and affect the land, and in
all cases under this Act the registration shall be made in the office of register
of deeds for the province or provinces or city where the land lies.
Section 51
Every conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment, order, decree,
instrument, or entry affecting registered land which would under existing laws,
or recorded, filed, or entered in the office of the register of deeds, affect
the real estate to which it relates shall, if registered, filed, or entered in
the office of the register of deeds in the province or city where the real
estate to which such instrument relates lies, be notice to all persons from the
time of such registering, filing, or entering.
Section 52
No new certificate shall be entered or issued upon any transfer of
registered land which does not divest the land in fee simple from the owner or
from some one of the registered owners. All interests in registered land less
than an estate in fee simple shall be registered by filing with the register of
deeds the instrument creating or transferring or claiming such interest and by
a brief memorandum thereof made by the register of deeds upon the certificate
of title, signed by him. A similar memorandum shall also be made on the owner’s
duplicate. The cancellation or extinguishment of such interests shall be
registered in the same manner.
Section 53
Where the register of deeds is in doubt upon any question of law, or
where any party in interest does not agree as to the proper memorandum to be
made in pursuance of any deed, mortgage, or other voluntary instrument
presented for registration, the question shall be referred to the court for
decision, either on the certificate of the register of deeds stating the
question upon which he is in doubt or upon the suggestion in writing of any
party in interest; and the court, after notice to all parties and hearing, shall
enter an order prescribing the form of memorandum to the register of deeds to
make registration in accordance therewith.
Section 54
Every deed or other voluntary instrument presented for registration
shall contain or have indorsed upon it the full name, place of residence, and
post-office address of the grantee or other person acquiring or claiming such
interest under such instrument, and every such instrument shall also state
whether the grantee is married or unmarried, and, if married, give the name in
full of the husband or wife. Any change in the residence or post-office address
of such person shall be indorsed by the register of deeds on the original
instrument, on receiving a sworn statement of such change. All names and
addresses shall also be entered upon all certificates. Notices and process in
relation to registered land in pursuance of this Act may be served upon any
person in interest by mailing the same to the address so given and shall be
binding whether such person resides within or without the Philippine Islands,
but the court may, in its discretion, require further or other notice to be
given in any case, if in its opinion the interests of justice so require.
Section 55
No new certificate of title shall be entered, no memorandum shall be
made upon any certificate of title by the clerk, or by any register of deeds,
in pursuance of any deed or other voluntary instrument, unless the owner’s
duplicate certificate is presented for such indorsement, except in cases
expressly provided for in this Act, or upon the order of the court, for cause
shown; and whenever such order is made, a memorandum thereof shall be entered
upon the new certificate of title and upon the owner’s duplicate.
The 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 clerk or register of deeds to enter
a new certificate or to make a memorandum of registration in accordance with
such instrument, and the new certificate or memorandum shall be binding upon
the registered owner and upon all persons claiming under him, in favor of every
purchaser for value and in good faith: Provided, however, That in all cases of
registration procured by fraud the owner may pursue all his legal and equitable
remedies against the parties to such fraud, without prejudice, however, to the
rights of any innocent holder for value of a certificate of title: And provided
further, That after the transcription of the decree of registration on the
original application, any subsequent registration under this Act procured by
the presentation of a forged duplicate certificate, or of a forged deed or
other instrument, shall be null and void. In case of the loss or theft of an
owner’s duplicate certificate, notice shall be sent by the owner or by someone
in his behalf to the register of deeds of the province in which the land, lies
as soon as the loss or theft is discovered.
Section 56
Each register of deeds shall keep an entry book in which he shall enter
in the order of their reception all deeds and other voluntary instruments, and
all copies of writs and other process filed with him relating to registered
land. He shall note in such book the year month, day, hour, and minute of reception
of all instruments, in the order in which they are received. They shall be
regarded as 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.
Every deed or other instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, so
filed with the clerk or register of deeds shall be numbered and indexed and
indorsed with a reference to the proper certificate of title. All records and
papers relating to registered land in the office of the clerk or of any
register of deeds shall be open to the public, subject to such reasonable
regulations as the clerk, under the direction of the court, may make.
Duplicates of all deeds and voluntary instruments filed and registered
may be presented with the originals and shall be attested and sealed by the
clerk of the register of deeds, and indorsed with the file number and other
memoranda on the originals, and may be taken away by the person presenting the
same.
Certified copies of all instruments filed and registered may also be
obtained at any time, upon the payment of the fees of the register of deeds.
Section 57
An owner desiring to convey in fee his registered land or any portion
thereof shall execute a deed of conveyance, in which the grantor or grantee may
present to the register of deeds in the province where the land lies. The
grantor’s duplicate certificate shall be produced and presented at the same
time. The register of deeds shall thereupon, in accordance with the rules and instructions
of the court, make out in the registration book a new certificate of title to
the grantee, and shall prepare and deliver to him an owner’s duplicate
certificate. The register of deeds shall note upon the original and duplicate
certificates the date of transfer, the volume and page of the registration book
where the new certificate is registered, and a reference by number to the last
prior certificate. The grantor’s duplicate certificate shall be surrendered,
and the word “canceled” stamped upon it. The original certificate shall also be
stamped “canceled.” The deed of conveyance shall be filed and indorsed with the
number and place of registration of the certificate of title of the land
conveyed.
Section 58
When a deed in fee is for a part only of the land described in a
certificate of title, the register of deeds shall also enter a new certificate
and issue an owner’s duplicate to the grantor for the part of the land not
included in the deed. In every case of transfer the new certificate or certificates
shall include all the land described in the original and surrendered
certificates: Provided, however, That no new certificate to a grantee of a part
only of the land shall be invalid by reason of the failure of the register of
deeds to enter a new certificate to the grantor for the remaining unconveyed
portion: And provided further, That in case the land described in a certificate
of title is divided into lots, designated by numbers or letters, with
measurements of all the bounds, and a plan of said land has been filed with the
clerk and verified pursuant to section forty-four of this Act, and a certified
copy thereof is recorded in the registration book with the original
certificate, when the original owner makes a deed of transfer, enter on the original
certificate and on the owner’s duplicate certificate a memorandum of such deed
of transfer, with a reference to the lot or lots thereby conveyed as designated
on such plan, and that the certificate is canceled as to such lot or lots; and
every certificate with such memorandum shall be effectual for the purpose of
showing the grantor’s title to the remainder of the land not conveyed as if the
old certificate had been canceled and a new certificate of such land had been
entered; and such process may be repeated so long as there is convenient space
upon the original certificate and the owner’s duplicate certificate for making
such memorandum of sale of lots.
Section 59
If at the time of any transfer there appear upon the registration book encumbrances
or claims adverse to the title of the registered owner, they shall be stated in
the new certificate or certificates except so far as they may be simultaneously
released or discharged.
Section 60
The owner of registered land may mortgage the same by executing a
mortgage deed, and such deed may be assigned, extended -discharged, released,
in whole or in part, or otherwise dealt with by the mortgagee by any form of
deed or instrument sufficient in law for the purpose. But such mortgage deed, and
all instruments assigning extending, discharging, and otherwise dealing with
the mortgage, shall be registered, and shall take effect upon the title only
from the time of registration.
Section 61
Registration of a mortgage shall be made in the manner following, to
wit: The owner’s duplicate certificate shall be presented to the register of
deeds with the mortgage deed, and he shall enter upon the original certificate
of title and also upon the owner’s duplicate certificate a memorandum of the
purport of the mortgage deed, the time of filing and the file number of the deed
and shall sign the memorandum. He shall also note upon the mortgage deed the
time of filing and a reference to the volume and page of the registration book
where it is registered.
The register of deeds shall also, at the request of the mortgagee, make
out and deliver to him a duplicate of the certificate of title, like the
owner’s duplicate, except that the words “mortgagee’s duplicate” shall be
stamped upon it in large letters diagonally across its face. A memorandum of
the issue of the mortgagee’s duplicate shall be made upon the original
certificate of title.
Section 62
Whenever a mortgage upon which a mortgagee’s duplicate has been issued
is assigned, extended, or otherwise dealt with, the mortgagee’s duplicate shall
be presented with the instrument assigning, extending, or otherwise dealing
with the mortgage, and a memorandum of the instrument shall be made upon the
mortgagee’s duplicate certificate. When the mortgage is discharged or otherwise
extinguished the mortgagee’s duplicate certificate shall be surrendered and
stamped “canceled.” The production of the mortgagee s duplicate certificate
shall be conclusive authority to register the instrument therewith presented,
subject, however, to all the provisions and exceptions contained in section
fifty-five of this Act so far as the same are applicable.
A mortgage on registered land may also be discharged, by the mortgagee
in person, on the registration book, by indorsing upon the original certificate
of title and upon the owner’s duplicate certificate a memorandum stating that
the mortgage has been satisfied and is discharged, together with the date of
such entry, signed by the mortgagee, and such discharge shall be attested by the
register of deeds, the mortgagee’s duplicate certificate being at the same time
surrendered and stamped “canceled.”
Section 63
Mortgages of registered land may be foreclosed in the manner provided
in the Code of Procedure in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings. A certified
copy of the final decree of the court confirming the sale under foreclosure
proceedings may be filed with the register of deeds after the time for
appealing therefrom has expired, and the purchaser shall thereupon be entitled
to the entry of a new certificate and to the issuance of a new owner’s
duplicate certificate, a memorandum thereof being at the same time likewise
indorsed upon the mortgagor’s original certificate and the mortgagee’s
duplicate, if any, being first delivered up and canceled: Provided, however,
That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to prevent the mortgagor
or other person interested from directly impeaching by any proper legal
proceedings any foreclosure proceedings affecting registered land, prior to the
entry of a new certificate of title.
Section 64
Leases of registered land shall be registered in the manner provided in
section fifty-two of this Act, in lieu of recording. A lessee’s duplicate
certificate may be issued to the lessee upon his request, subject to the
provisions hereinbefore made in regard to a mortgagee’s duplicate certificate,
so far as the same are applicable.
Section 65
Whenever a deed or other instrument is filed for the purpose of
transferring registered land in trust, or upon any equitable condition or
limitation expressed therein, or for the purpose of creating or declaring a
trust or other equitable interest in such land without transfer, the
particulars of the trust, condition, limitation, or other equitable interest shall
not be entered on the certificate; but a memorandum thereof shall be by the
words “in trust,” or “upon condition,” or other apt words, and by a reference
by number to the instrument authorizing or creating the same. A similar
memorandum shall be made upon the duplicate certificate. The register of deeds
shall note upon the original instrument creating or declaring the trust or
other equitable interest a reference by number to the certificate of title to
which it relates, and to the volume and page in the registration book where it
is registered. If the instrument creating or declaring trust or other equitable
interest is already recorded in the land register of the Philippine Islands, a
certified copy may be filed by the register of deeds and registered.
Section 66
If the instrument creating or declaring a trust or other equitable
interest contains an express power to sell, mortgage, or deal with the land in
any manner, such power shall be stated in the certificate of title by the words
“with power to sell,” or “with power to mortgage,” and by apt words of
description in case of other powers. No instrument transferring, mortgaging, or
in any way dealing with registered land held in trust shall be registered,
unless the power thereto enabling is expressly conferred in the instrument of
trust, or unless the decree of a court of competent jurisdiction has construed
the instrument in favor of such power, in which case a certified copy of such
decree may be filed with the register of deeds, and he shall make registration
in accordance therewith.
Section 67
When a new trustee of registered land is appointed by a court of
competent jurisdiction, a new certificate shall be entered to him upon
presentation to the register of deeds of a certified copy of the decree and the
surrender and cancellation of the duplicate certificate.
Section 68
Whoever claims an interest in registered land by reason of any implied
or constructive trust shall file for registration a statement thereof with the
register of deeds. The statement shall contain a description of the land, and a
reference to the number of the certificate of title and the volume and page of
the registration book where it is entered. Such claim shall not affect the
title of a purchaser for value and in good faith before its registration.
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