Introduction

Torrens title
is a system of land title in which a register of land holdings
maintained by the state guarantees an indefeasible title to those included in the
register. Land ownership is transferred through registration of title instead of using
deeds. Its main purpose is to simplify land transactions and to certify to the
ownership of an absolute title to realty.
Possession A person who has direct physical control of something on or around his
person is then in actual possession of it. A person who is not in actual possession,
but who has both the power and the intention to later take control over something
either alone or together with someone else, is in constructive possession of it.
Certificate of title
is a state or municipal-issued document that identifies the
owner or owners of personal or real property. A certificate of title provides
documentary evidence of the right of ownership. When issued for real property
(such as land or a house) by a title insurance company, the certificate of title is a
statement of opinion on the status of the title, based on a thorough examination of
specified public records.
The methods for acquiring land titles are: Public grant, Prescription, Accretion,
Reclamation, Voluntary Transfer, Involuntary alienation, Descent or devise,
Emancipation or grant.
Prescription If possession is in good faith and with a just title, 10 years
uninterrupted possession is sufficient. 30 years if in bad faith without a
just title.
Accretion
is the gradual increase in land through natural processes; for
example, the creation of land caused by the deposit of sediment on a
shoreline of a river or ocean.
New land acquired by accretion is not automatically registered and
needs a new title.
Reclamation the filling of submerged land by deliberate act and reclaiming
title thereto.
Only the government can assert title to reclaimed lands.
Registration
the entry made in the registry which record solemnly and
permanently the right of ownership and other real rights.
Original registration
takes place when the title to land is made of
public record for the first time in the name of its lawful owner

Subsequent registration
when any deed affecting the land is made of
public record after the date of its original registration. Ex. sale,
transfer, encumbrance
Present laws in the Philippines on land registration: P.D. 1529(Property
Registration Decree) Executive Order No. 649 (Reorganizing the Land Registration
Commission into the National Land Textiles and Deeds Registration Administration
and Regionalizing the Offices of the Registrars Therein)

The Torrens System in the Philippines

Nature
is judicial in character and not merely administrative in nature.
Judicial proceedings for the registration of land throughout the Philippines shall be
in rem and shall be based on the generally accepted principles underlying the
Torrens system (Sec. 2, P.D. 1529).
Concept
The Torrens system does not create or vest title. It only confirms and
records title already existing and vested. It does not protect an usurper from the
true owner. It cannot be a shield for the commission of fraud. It does not permit one
to enrich himself at the expense of another.
Lands Subject to Initial Registration in the Philippines:

Private lands(lands segregated from the general mass of the public domain
by form of grant by the State, and which are in the possession of the original
grantees or their successors-in-interest.)
Public agricultural land to which claimants have acquired imperfect or
incomplete title within the contemplation of Section 48 of Commonwealth Act
No. 141
Disposable public lands to which no one has acquired imperfect title

Lands not Subject to Registration in the Philippines:

Those devoted to general public use such as public roads, plazas, canals,
streets, rivers, banks, and shores
Those devoted to public service such as towns, walls, and fortresses
Public forests
Mineral lands
Those reserved by the government for public or quasi-public purposes

Constitutionally approved such by Article XIV The National Economy and the
Patrimony of the Nation

Who may apply for Registration?

Section 14, PD 1529 ; the following persons may file in the proper Regional Trial
Court an application for the registration of title to land, whether personally or
through their duly authorized representatives:

Those who by themselves or thru 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;
Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under
the provisions of existing laws;
Those who have acquired ownership of private or abandoned river beds by
right lands of accession or accretion under the existing laws;
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 (Par. 5, Sec. 14, P.D. 1529)
The word persons, as contemplated in paragraph 1, Section 14 P.D. 1529 refers
to natural persons only, who are citizens of the Philippines and do not include
juridical or artificial persons because the subject matter of the registration
proceeding under this paragraph are alienable and disposable lands of the public
domain
Private corporations or associations may not hold lands of the public
domain except by lease for a period not exceeding 25 years; renewable for not
more than 25 years, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area (Section 3,
Article XII 1987 Constitution)

the constitutional prohibitions in the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions do

not apply to public lands already converted into private ownership by
natural person under the provisions of the Public Land Act, was
subsequently reiterated in Director of Lands vs. Manila Electric Co.,
153 SCRA 686 and other cases.
Until the certificate of title is issued, a piece of land, over which an imperfect title is
sought to be confirmed, remains public land (Uy Un vs. Perez, 71 Phil. 508)
The owner of a building constructed on land belonging to another cannot file an
application for registration of his house independent of the land on which it stand.
Exceptions to the rule; that an alien cannot acquire private lands.

When the acquisition is through hereditary succession.

By an alien who was a former natural born citizen of the Philippines, subject
to the limitations provided by law which in this particular case is Batas
Pambansa 185, which limits the acquisition of said alien to one thousand
(1,000) square meters in case of urban land or one (1) hectare in case of rural
land to be used by them as their residence.

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 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.