OFFICIALS OF LRA

LRA ADMINISTRATOR AND DEPUTY ADMINISTRATORS

- Appointed by the President of the Phils upon recommendation of DOJ Sec
- Qualifications:
o Qualified member of the Phil bar
o 10 years of practice in the legal profession
- Duties of LRA Administrator
o Issuance of the decree of registration pursuant to final judgments of the courts, and
cause RD to issue CT
o Supervision and control over all RDs and other personnel of LRA
o Resolution of cases elevated en consulta
o Executive supervision of all clerks of court and personnel of RTC
o Implementation of all orders, decisions and decrees promulgated relative to land
registration
o Verification and approval of subdivision, consolidation and consolidation-subdivision of
survey plans
- General function of LRA
o Extend speedy and effective assistance to DAR, LBP, and other agencies
o Extend assistance to courts in ordinary and cadastral proceedings
o Central repository of records relative to original registration of lands under Torrens
system
REGISTER OF DEEDS
- There shall be at least one RD for each province and one for each city
- RD shall be appointed by President of the Phils upon recommendation of DOJ Sec
- Qualifications:
o 3 years practice of law / employed for like period in any branch of the govt the function
of which include the registration of property
o Member of the PH bar
- General functions:
o Pubic repository of records of instruments affecting registered or unregistered lands and
chattel mortgage
o Immediate register of instrument dealing with real or personal property
o If not registrable, deny registration thereof
- Instances where RD may validly deny registration of voluntary instruments
o When there is more than one copy of owner’s duplicate CT and not all copies are
presented to the RD
o When the voluntary instrument bears on its face an infirmity
o Where the validity of the instrument sough to be registered is in issue pending in court
suit
CHIEF GEODETIC ENGINEER
- Technical adviser on all matters involving surveys and who shall be responsible to LRA Admin for
all plats, plans and works requiring his service

ORIGINAL LAND REGISTRATION

- Who may apply

 o OPEN possession and occupation of A&D land s of the public domain under a bona fide
claim of ownership since 6/12/45 or earlier
o By prescription
o By right of accession or accretion
o Any manner provided by law

Filing by single applicant or multiple applicants

1. The filing of a single application by several applicants for a long as they are co-owners of the parcel of
land sough to be registered; and
2. The filing of a single application for registration of several parcels of land provided that the same are
located within the same province

REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND REGISTRATION (TRIPLICATE)

- Original plan on tracing cloth duly approved by the concerned officer of the DENR or lieu
thereof, a true copy of the same in a tracing cloth, together with print copies thereof
- 3 copies of technical description
- 3 copies of surveyor’s cert
- Cert of assessed value of the property

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION – written statement recognized by law as to the definite location of tract of
land by reference to a survey, recorded map or adjoining property.

LANDS SUBJECT TO INITIAL REGISTRATION

- Private lands
- Public agricultural lands

LANDS NOT SUBJECT TO REGISTRATION

1. those devoted to general public use
2. those devoted to public service
3. for public or quasi-public purposes
4. forest or timberlands
5. mineral lands
6. national parks
7. foreshore lands
8. mangrove
9. public reservations
10. reclaimed lands
11. rivers and creeks
12. seashore
13. swamplands
14. watersheds

LEGAL MODES OF DISPOSING OF PUBLIC LANDS

- Homestead settlement
- Sale of agricultural land
- Lease of residential, commercial and industrial land
- Confirmation of imperfect title or incomplete title
- Judicial legalization
 - Administrative legalization
- Townsite reservation
- Direct sales of residential lands under RA 730
- Residential free patent RA 10023

HOMESTEAD – is a mode of acquiring A&D lands of the public domain for agricultural purposes
conditioned upon actual cultivation and residence
- Qualifications
o Philippines citizen
o Over 18 or head of the family
o Does not own more than 24 hectares of land in PH OR has not had the benefit of any
gratuitous allotment
- Married Woman not allowed EXCEPT
o She is living separately from her husband and is not dependent upon him for her
support
o Her husband is insane or physically incapacitated to work
o Her husband is in prison, serving a term of such duration as would prevent him from
complying with this req.
- Procedure
o Filing of application
o Preliminary Investigation
o Approval of application
o Filing of final proof consists of
 Notice of intention posted for 30 days
 Testimony of homesteader
o Confirmatory final investigation
o Order of issuance of homestead patent
o Preparation of patent
o Transmittal of homestead patent to RD concerned
- Signing and approving authority
o PENRO – 5 hectares or less
o DENR regional director – more than 5 hectares but not exceeding 10 hectares
o DENR Sec- more than 10 hectares

SALES OF AGRICULTURAL LAND VIA SALES PATENT

- Requisites
o Citizen of PH of lawful age
o Any such citizen not of lawful age who is a head of the family
- Cultivation is also required in the patenting of agricultural lands

LEASE OF RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LAND

- Private corp or assoc may only lease public lands for a period not exceeding 25 years and not to
exceed 1000 hectares
- Filipino citizen may also lease or acquire public lands – not more than 500 hectares by purchase,
homestead or grant

CONFIRMATION OF IMPERFECT TITLE

 - Judicial legalization
- Administrative legalization

What constitutes positive act of the government

- Presidential Proclamation or an executive order
- Administrative action
- Investigation or reports of BOL / LMB/DENR
- Legislative act or statute

POSSESSION
- Involves committing acts of dominion over a parcel of land in such a way that an owner would
perform over his / her property.
- Broader than occupation
- Includes constructive possession

OCCUPATION
- Delimit the all the encompassing effect of constructive possession
- Possession must not be a mere fiction

FREE PATENT – a mode of acquiring a parcel of A&D land of the public domain found to be suitable for
agricultural purposes through the admin cfm of imperfect and incomplete title
- Qualification of an applicant of free patent
o Legal age
o Natural born citizen of PH
o Not owner of more than 12 hectares
o 30 years prior to effectivity of RA 6940
o Paid real estate tad while has not been occupied by any person

NATURAL-BORN – person of a particular country who at the time of his birth is a citizen thereof without
having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their PH citizenship, including those who elect PH
citizenship in accordance with law

MUNIMENT OF TITLE – legal term for a document, title, deed or other evidence that indicates ownership
of an asset. Derived from munimentum meaning a fortification, bulwark, defense or protection.
Muniments of title means the written evidence which a land owner can use to defend title to his estate.

SURVEY PLAN – one that shows the area and dimensions of a property. They include the observations
that the surveyor made or calculated to define the property boundaries

METES AND BOUNDS – methodical description made by geodetic engineer or surveyor of a parcel of land
utilizing carefully measured distances, angles and directions which produces the technical description of
the land.

Amendments to the application

- A substantial change in the boundaries
- An increase in the area of the land applied for which involve the inclusion of an additional parcel
of land.
When land applied for borders on road – bounded by a public or private way or road, it shall state
- w/n the applicant claims any portion of the land within the limits of the way or road
- w/n the applicant desires to have the lines or the way or road determined

NOTICE OF INITIAL HEARING

- Publication – once in OG, once in NGC in PH; addressed to all persons appearing to have interest
and “to all whom it may concern”
- Mailing
o mailing of notice to all person named in the notice; within 7 days
o mail to Prov Gov and Mayor if the applicant request to have the line of public way or
road
o mail to DAR, SocGen, DENR, DPWH, DMG, DFAR if the land borders on a river, navigable
stream or shore or in any arm of the sea
- Posting – LRA Admin cause notice of initial hearing to be posted by the sheriff in a conspicuous
place on each parcel of land and also in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the city or
municipal building
- Purpose
o To requires all persons concerned who may have any rights or interest in the property
applied for to appear in court at a certain date and time to show cause why the
application should not be granted.

OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION IN ORDINARY PROCEEDING

The opposition shall:
- State all the objections to the application
- Set forth the interest claimed
- Remedy desired
- Sighed and sworn to by a party filing the same or by some other duly authorized person

DEFAULT
- Effect: A party in default loses his right to present his defense, control the proceedings, and
examine or cross-examine witnesses.
- Remedies available to a party who has been declared in default
o AFTER DISCOVERY, BEFORE JUDGMENT / File a motion to set aside the order of default
on the ground that his failure to answer was due to FAME and that he has meritorious
defenses, Rule 18
o AFTER DISCOVERY, AFTER JUDGMENT, BEFORE FINALITY AND EXECUTORY / file motion
for new trial under Rule 37
o AFTER JUDGMENT, AFTER FINALITY AND EXECUTORY / file a petition for relief, Rule 38
o He may also appeal from the judgment rendered against him as contrary to the evidence
or to the law, even if no petition to set aside the order of default
o Petition for Certiorari, Rule 65 to have the judgment by default set aside as a nullity
- Grounds for Appeal by a party declared in default
o Failure to prove material allegations of the complaint
o Decision contrary to law
o Amount of judgment is excessive or different in kind from that prayed for
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
- Grounds
o Damages awarded are excessive
o Evidence is insufficient to justify the decision or final order
o Decision or final order id contrary to law
- Effect of denial of MR: the movant has FRESH PERIOD of 15 days from receipt of notice of the
order denying or dismissing the motion within which to file a notice of appeal.
- FRESH PERIOD OR NEYPES RULE
o applies to Rule 40, 41, 42, 43, 45
o new 15 day period may be availed of only if either motion (MR or MNT) is filed;
otherwise, the decision becomes final and executory
o run from the notice of judgment
- Effect of grant of MR: court may amend such judgment or final order accordingly. The amended
judgment is in the nature of the new judgment which supersedes the original judgment.
- Remedy from order of denying MR or MNT: appeal from the judgment or final order

MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL

- Grounds
o FAME which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against and by reason of which
such aggrieved party has probably been impaired in his rights
o Newly discovered evidence which the movant could not, with reasonable diligence, have
covered and produced at the trail, and which if presented would probably alter the
result.
o Award of excessive damages or insufficiency of evidence to justify the decision; or that
the decision is against the law
- RQ of newly discovered evidence
o Evidence was discovered after the trial
o Such evidence could not have been discovered and produced at the trail even with the
exercise of reasonable diligence
o It is material, not merely cumulative, corroborative or impeaching, and is such weight
that, if admitted, will probably change the judgement
- When to file: within period for taking an appeal / before finality of judgment
- Effect of denial of MNT: aggrieved party can no longer avail petition for relief from judgment
- Effect of grant of MNT: the original judgment shall be vacated and the action shall stand for trial
de novo; but the recorded evidence taken upon former trial, so far as material and competent,
shall be used at NT without retaking the same

MODES OF APPEAL
o Ordinary Appeal, Rule 41
o Petition for Review, Rule 42
o Appeal by certiorari, Rule 45
- Period for filing an appeal :
o NOTICE ON APPEAL: 15 days after notice to the appellant of the judgment or final order
appealed from
o RECORD ON APPEAL: file a notice of appeal within 0 days from notice of judgment or
final order/ required only in special proceeding and other cases of multiple separate
appeals
 - Grounds:
o Lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter
o Exercise of power in excess thereof
o Grace abuse of discretion in the findings of facts or of law set out in the decision

WHEN DOES JUDGMENT BECOMES FINAL

- The judgment rendered in the land registration proceedings becomes final upon the expiration
of 30 days to be counted from the date of receipt of notice of the judgment.

RES JUDICATA
– “matter adjudged” forbids the reopening of a matter which has once been judicially determined
by a competent authority
– RQ for res judicata
o There must be a final judgment or order
o The court must have jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties
o It must be judgment or order on the merits
o There must be, between the 2 cases, identity of parties, subject matter and causes of
action

REMEDIES AFTER JUDGMENT BECOMES FINAL

- After the judgment rendered in land registration proceeding becomes final, the person aggrieved
thereby may pursue
o Petition for relief, Rule 38
o Action to annul a judgment, Rule 47
o Certiorari, Rule 65
o Petition for reopening and review of the decree of registration, Sec 32, PD 1529

PETITION FOR RELIEF

- Allowed only in exceptional cases when there is no other available remedy.
- Grounds
o Fraud
o Accident
o Mistake
o Excusable negligence
- Time to file petition: WITHIN 60 days after the petitioner learns of the judgment, final order or
other proceeding to be set aside, and NOT MORE THAN 6 months after such judgment was
entered