Title
Republic vs. Lamaclamac
Case
G.R. No. 240331
Decision Date
Mar 16, 2022
The Republic sought cancellation of Decree No. 756523, claiming laches, but courts ruled the decree final, vesting ownership in Lamaclamac; SC upheld CA, affirming ministerial duty of LRA to issue title.
land decree
title of ownership
original owner

Case Summary (G.R. No. 240331)

Factual Background

The dispute concerned a parcel described as Lot No. 12446, Cadastral No. 27, with an area of 9,386 square meters, located in Alubijid, Misamis Oriental (the subject lot). The cadastral court issued Decree No. 756523 in favor of private respondent on August 26, 1941. The LRA later recorded the decree in its book according to the records. Private respondent died in 1947 and her heirs eventually sold the subject lot to the government, which currently used the property for the Laguindingan Airport Development Project. In 2006 the DOTr secured an LRA Certification stating that Decree No. 756523 was not among the salvaged decrees on file and was presumed lost or destroyed as a consequence of the last World War. In 2007 the Registrar of Deeds of Misamis Oriental issued a similar Certification indicating that the listed decrees could not be located in its registry and that original certificates, if issued, may have been lost or destroyed during the Second World War.

Trial Court Proceedings

The Republic, through the DOTr, filed a Complaint for Cancellation of Decree before the RTC of Initao, alleging that private respondent had effectively abandoned any right to the subject lot by failing to secure a certificate of title more than six decades after the decree, and invoking laches. Private respondent did not file a responsive pleading and the RTC declared her in default. The LRA filed a Manifestation in lieu of an Answer contending that the RD Certification did not categorically state that no original certificate of title was ever issued and that the original could have been lost or destroyed. After trial, the RTC dismissed the Complaint for Cancellation of Decree on June 26, 2015 for insufficiency of evidence, reasoning that the DOTr failed to prove that private respondent did not secure an original certificate of title where a decree in her favor had been issued, and that issuance of the corresponding title was a ministerial duty of the LRA. The RTC denied the Republic’s motion for reconsideration in its July 12, 2016 Order.

Court of Appeals Disposition

The Republic appealed to the Court of Appeals. In its Decision dated June 21, 2018 the CA affirmed the RTC. The CA relied on the Registrar of Deeds Certification which acknowledged that an original certificate of title may have been issued pursuant to the decree but was lost or destroyed during World War II. The CA reiterated that once a decree is issued in a cadastral proceeding, no further step was required of the adjudicatee because the issuance of the decree of registration and certificate of title was a ministerial duty of the land registration court and the LRA. The CA concluded that private respondent could not be held guilty of laches for failing to secure a certificate of title that she was not obliged to procure.

Issue Presented

Whether the Court of Appeals gravely erred in affirming the RTC decision dismissing the Complaint for Cancellation of Decree on the ground that the petitioner failed to prove that Decree No. 756523 had been transcribed in the registration books of the Register of Deeds and that a corresponding certificate of title had been issued.

Parties’ Contentions

The Petitioner contended that the CA erroneously relied on an assumed grant of Decree No. 756523 despite the absence of any document establishing that the decree had been transcribed in the Register of Deeds’ registration book or that a certificate of title had issued therefor; the petitioner argued that the absence of the decree and title indicated that title had not been finally adjudicated and that cancellation of the decree was therefore justified. The LRA countered that the RD Certification did not categorically state that no original certificate of title had ever been issued, but rather allowed the inference that originals might have been issued and subsequently lost or destroyed in the war, and that the Registry even recommended reconstitution rather than cancellation.

Ruling of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court denied the Petition for Review on Certiorari and affirmed the Court of Appeals Decision dated June 21, 2018. The Court dismissed the Complaint for Cancellation of Decree filed by the Republic through the DOTr against private respondent in MC Case No. 2008-736.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court grounded its decision on the nature and operation of the cadastral system under Act No. 2259 and on established jurisprudence concerning finality of decrees in cadastral proceedings. The Court explained that under the cadastral or Torrens System the government initiates adjudication of titles within a surveyed area, publishes notice, and the cadastral court adjudicates conflicting interests and issues decrees which, when final, become the bases of original certificates of title. Citing Alberto v. Spouses Flores (G.R. No. 237514, February 10, 2021), the Court reiterated the tripartite sequence in cadastral cases: judicial adjudication of ownership, the declaration of finality and order for issuance of certificates, and the ministerial function of the land registration office to prepare and issue the decree of registration and certificates. The Court held that title vests in the adjudicatee upon finality of the cadastral decision and that the issuance of the certificate is a ministerial act that does not impose any obligation on the prevailing party to secure the title by further action. The Court relied on Republic v. Yap (825 Phil. 778 (2018)) to state that the issuance of a decree creates a strong presumption that the decision had become final and executory and that the oppositor bears the burden of proving otherwise, a burden the Republic did not meet in this case. The Court further observed that cadastral proceedings are proceedings in rem and that any decision rendered therein binds the world, including the government, citing Alberto and Nieto v. Quines. The Court examined P.D. No. 1529, particularly Sections 30 and 39, and explained that those provisions impose ministerial duties on the court clerk, the land registration court, and the Commissioner to prepare and transmit the decree of registration and certificate of title; they do not condition issuance on any action by the adjudicatee. From this statutory scheme the Court drew two corollaries: first, the adjudicatee need not seek execution of the judgment to obtain the title; second, rules on laches and prescription do not apply to land registration decisions. The Court recited the long-standing doctrine that laches and prescription are inapplicable to land registration proceedings because such proceedings are special and seek to establish status by judicial fiat, citing Sta. Ana v. Menla (G.R. No. L-15564, April 29, 1961) and subsequent cases including Republic v. Nillas (541 Phil. 277 (2007)) and other authorities. The Court found no factual basis to hold private respondent guilty of laches because she had no ministerial duty to perform after the decree bec

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