(T.lk of EA, 14 JulY 1993) The Torrens System was conceived ln Australia and adopted in the PhlllPPines.

Its purPoEes are: to rnake a titl,e indefeasible, lnpftcriPtible, and imnune from collateral attacks ' Modes of Acqulsitlon of PloParty: possesslon, ga1e, and successlon, donation, accrotlon, j.e., yars ln good 10 acgulsj,tlve prescriPtlon, faith and 30 y.ars 1n bad falth. As a gcncrrl rula, once land l't raglrtered under the Torlens syst6n and a certlfica!. of title 13 issued, it cannot be taken excePt If taken by the
Depaitment of, Agrarian Reform'

by

NOTES ON LAND TITLES DEAN EDUARDO A. DE LOS ANGEIES

accesslon or accretion under tho existing

taws

4.

Those who have acquj-red ownership of any other nanner provided for by l.aw.

land in

- under PD 1529 llho Can Rogtet.rt (sec' 14) 1. Those who by themsel.ves or through theh predecessors-in-lnterest havc bcen ln oPen, contLnuous, excluslve, and notorious possession and occupation of allcnable and disposable lands ot the Publlc dgrnaln under a bona fida clalm of ovrnershlP since ',une L2, L945 or earlieri 2, Those who have acquired owncrshlp of Private lands by PrescriPtion undsr th provisions of exlsting laws i 3. ?ho.a who hlv. acqutrcd ounorrhlp of Prlvat' landr or .bandonsd rlvGr badr by rtght of
REGISTMTION

A corporation crnnot register pubLic land. They But a corporation can seek the can only Lease it. registration of ! private land. EXCEPT lf Publlc Iand ls held by an lndividual from June L2, L945 or earlier, lpso lure, the land becomes Private. Note, however, that registration onty confirms title so the tltl6 must be valid. Reqistration ls NOT a mode of, acgulrlng title to property. (8.9. If .Land is ratarvGd as townsite. I't cannot be acqulred even lf registered already because a townsLte is ougside the conmerce of man, therefore, VOtD. Registration cannot validate a claim if ther6 1! no valid title' Possesslon, to rlpan tnto ownershiP, must be open, actual, and contlnuous since ,lune 12, 1945 o! earlier and nust be physical and material and not casual (e.g., going to the proPerty once a year. ) A Forelt land lt a non-registrable land. OnIy the executive branch of lhe governnent can declassify a forest land into alienable agrlcultural lands. Mere pa!,nent of lrnd taxes ls not sufficient, it must be coupled with possession in the concePt of
an owner.
PROCESS

OF REGTSTB,ATION OF LAND

1. surv.y - ratullr ln survey Plan to be slgned by a g.odatlc englneer and aPPloved by the dlrector of lands.

t T S g lt ll I I * ffir
.ccident, mlstak and excusable nogligence or e nrwlY discoveled rvldancc. It mult b. lllad withln 15
days
.

-r 5 3 ir a .
whc buys th6 property without knowledge of any defect ln thc ttils AND pays just Price for the
tand.

c. Th6 loslng party may appeal. on the ground that the dooltion is contrary to law/evidence. It nay be filed ilttrtn t5 aay". As a general rule, th Patty nust file either a notion for r.contlderatlon or a motj,on for new trlal (onnlbu! Botion rule, put .lI grounds). If th.r ls newly dlscov.rd evldence aftar ftIiRg a t0otl'on for aconslderatlon and tha Ptrty is not aware of lt at the time of haarlng, and j'f it was denied, the party cln ftle a notion If t.he motlon for a new for a new trlal, trlal is denied, the Party ruay stlll aPPeaI. 3, From e Final Judgimen! - daclrion becomes flnal aftcr the laPse of 15 dayt. [.rhere a decree has not yet ben igtuGd, the loslng party nay fiIE a Potltion for telle! under rule 38 Lt tue Rulcg of court on th. groundE of fraud, accldent, 'srlstake and excu3rblc ngllgence. It must ba verlf,led and flled 60 dsyt- frotn notice but no mgre than 6 mont.hs flom entry of daclslon.
tlhere a Decroe hag already been lssued, the losing party may flle a Petitlon for lovlew under Sec' 32, PD 1529 on the ground of dlprlvation of

i.f nore than one year has elaPsd, the loslng party nay file an action for reconveyance on the ground that the pelson lost dominlcal rights ov6r the property because of xtrinsic fraud or brach of trust, provided there ls no IPv. The actlon nust be filed within { yoars flom discovery if th. fraud is thru docunent /contract and wlthin 10 years lf there is breach of imPlied trust lt,a, t created by contractl EXCEPT !vocation oC ttust which .has a plBgcriptive period of 10 yatrr, But if already lold to IPv, the only remedy for the losing party ls to file an action for damages against the petpetrator of fraud within 4 years. He will not gat the land back, only the value of
However,

the land plua

darnages.

and dominlcrl riEhtt over the lsnd thru actu.l ya! .xtrin.lc fr.ud. It ault b. fll.d lrlthin 1 lron llluanca o! thb decrco provldcd thcr. is no lnnoccnt purchrser for value (IPV). An IPv 19 one

If the perPltrttor ot fraud is insolveht the Ioslng party nay file an action for damages agatnst tho Inturance Fund within 5 yearr Provided there ls no nagllgonce and breach of trust' As a general rule, a fina] decislon with publicat.ion blnd8 all Parties ln rem, therefor, blnds th whol. world. Persons (oPpoeltors and squatterg) can b evicted,/ousted by a nerc writ of pgsgession flofir court. If a Person enters before the issuancs of the decree, the owner can evict the person thru a writ of possession. But if a prson ntara rtter the lssuance of thc decree, tha oxna! tnuat ttlc an ejectment sult.

rT{*ffiIITIII
An Orlginal Crtlficate of tttl.

!s cvldence of titl, thaL the Iand ls r.giltar.d under the Torr6ng Syrtam. It ls lssusd ln two coples: one original which is xith the R.gl.t.r of Dads and one dupllcat. tor the raglsta!.d owner. Amendments can be done surN[allly und.r sec. 108 of PD 1529 tt thGre ls a typographlcll erlor and there ls no dlgpute as to atror or change of status. But lf thre ls a subttrntlal. chang6 tn the OCt or lhe change ls dlsputed, th party must go thru th6 ordlnaly reqlstratlon Procc.ding. 1. change tlom 16 degres to l8 degrees cannot be changed sunmarlly undGr sec. 108 bacau!6 thls 1s . substrntlal changa ' Eile
an ordlnary Proceedlng.

SUBSEoUENI REGISTBATIoN

titled l.

and you dcal

MortgaE!

(j.e., the land is already with it)

A mortgag !s deemed registered lf th nortgage is entr.d ln the day book even lf lt ls not Therefore, annotated rt the ack of the title. a buyer i! bound by the mortgage. Lrtest SC decision:

entry of Dortgage tn day book - reglgtraEion

2. Adverga Clllms or Lis

Pendens

2, typographlcal erlor - change from "wacks If vrife Bernls" to "wacks Barnas "' objcctr, Sec. 108 ls not .PPIlcabIe ' It rrust qo thtu a full-blown helrlng' 3, change from "Sed cande, trarlled to Ana s.ntos" to "sed cande." I! wlfe obJects, sac, I08 ls not applicable. It ltrust 9o thru
a full-blown hearlng.

An advcrs. claim has a life of 30. days, otherwlre, lt lapses. An affldavit o! adverse clalm must ba anlered at once lnto th day book so that, thl rubsequent buye! ls conltructlvely bound. tn cagc of doubLe sale, th6 person cannot lnvoka registration in good falth as mentloned ln Art. 1544 of the Civil' Code of the Philippin.r when there is a ]'ls pendens annotatld rt the back of the tj't}. El1lng of an actlon Bly take time.
CHAIN OT TITI.E

If a duplicata OCT ls lost, on. nay !11 an action for repl,aceDent, If th origlnal OCT ls lostr one may flle for, an action for raconstltutlon (wlth rigid publlcallon requllementg). If a title has be6n leconstituted, anyone doallng wlth the title muEt exelclso extraordinary dlllganc to be deened
an
I PV.

Thts 13 an excPtion to the civil law doctrine that the straaD cannot be higher than the source, Le,, even lt th seller has no title. the buyer can have titla,
Exanple #
1

TITLE

x-

raglttcred
VAI,I
D

owner

o!

TCT 123{5

ffiffitrrrrrrrr
go6e uo US, so gives

IT

friend

tltle to

get any tit.lo tn hts name, t.herefore, Z has tltle also.

Example

no

Y-

antrusted by
VOID

l}

L-

forgeg X's signatura ln daad of sale of land in Y's favor, Y getc TcT 12346 from R6glste! of o..dt (Y ls a forger, t.hGlafore, Y has a vold title) Y sells land to Z .r IPV
VAII

Z rglsters laad and gctc TcT z has a valid tltl.

12347

X rturn! and asks Y for tltlG snd Iearns the sate of land fo Z, X caruot rccover fron A becaure gs between two partont, tha one who cauJcd the loas and who 13 daaoad ngllgent mu6t tuffcr. Remedy of X It to tlle an action again3t Y for da&ages. But lf Z has not yet obtained tttle, X can rcovor lroa Z.
Exarnple

y forg.r th6 deed of sale but, does not reglster it to qat a new Eitle. Y shows to z. z buys. Y mrkar da.d of title in fbvor of Z. X can recover the propalty fron z because thcre ls no chaln of tltla, A! between 2 Persons, th one Hho shoul.d should.r the loss is th onc who Ls negligent, In thls example, z j.s neglig.nt. Note that X murt h.v. . valid title ln the llrtt plac6, Note othelwlsa, thlro can be NO chain of tittB, further thdt 1! there is no chain of tltle but land is lmortgagcd; x can recover froro Z but must
respct tho Bortqage. ***ii

mitrepresents to Z that he 1s x sells the land to z

xY-

ovrns TCT 12345

and

z - if Z, gets tltle, TCT L?341 ) title is voID, z ls . negligent becaur h ha9 the duty to flnd out thrt thB seller ic th. r.gtstred .owneri lharafor.. X can recovr tha proPrrty from z. Also t! tho prtco ot tht ProParty 1, tulplcloully low. Th.ra Ir no chaln of tltl. rtnc! Y dld not

'