Order of sources for reconstitution
- Section 2 requires that original certificates of title be reconstituted from available sources in the following order:
- the owner’s duplicate certificate of title;
- the co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate certificate of title;
- a certified copy previously issued by the register of deeds or a legal custodian;
- an authenticated copy of the decree of registration or patent, as applicable;
- a document on file in the registry of deeds showing the property is mortgaged, leased, or encumbered (or an authenticated copy showing its original had been registered); and
- any other document the court finds sufficient and proper.
- Section 3 requires that transfer certificates of title be reconstituted from available sources in the following order:
- the owner’s duplicate;
- the co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate;
- a certified copy previously issued by the register of deeds or a legal custodian;
- the deed of transfer or other document on file in the registry of deeds containing the property description (or an authenticated copy showing its original had been registered), pursuant to which the lost or destroyed transfer certificate of title was issued;
- a document on file in the registry of deeds showing the property is mortgaged, leased, or encumbered (or an authenticated copy showing its original had been registered); and
- any other document the court finds sufficient and proper.
- Section 4 requires that liens and other encumbrances affecting a destroyed or lost certificate be reconstituted from available sources in the following order:
- annotations or memoranda on the owner’s, co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate;
- registered documents on file in the registry of deeds (or authenticated copies showing originals had been registered); and
- any other document the court finds sufficient and proper.
- Sections 2–4 use the phrase “may be available,” requiring the use of the enumerated sources that are in fact obtainable.
Reconstitution without court petition
- Section 5 allows petitions for reconstitution (from the sources covered in Sections 2(a), 2(b), 3(a), 3(b), and/or 4(a)) to be filed with the register of deeds concerned by:
- the registered owner;
- the owner’s assigns; or
- other persons having an interest in the property.
- Section 5 requires the petition to be accompanied by:
- the necessary sources for reconstitution; and
- an affidavit of the registered owner stating:
- that no deed or other instrument affecting the property had been presented for registration, or if any had been presented, the nature, the date of presentation, and the names of the parties, and whether registration is still pending; and
- if reconstitution is based on Section 2(b) or Section 3(b) sources, that the owner’s duplicate has been lost or destroyed and the circumstances of the loss or destruction.
- Section 5 directs that once the petition and affidavit are submitted, the register of deeds must reconstitute the certificate of title unless a valid reason to the contrary exists.
- Section 6 authorizes the register of deeds to reconstitute motu proprio from the corresponding owner’s duplicate, and to compel the registered owner (or a person holding the owner’s duplicate) to surrender it to the registry of deeds; after reconstitution, the duplicate must be returned to the person concerned.
- Section 7 grants reconstituted certificates the same validity and legal effect as originals, while reserving a specific protection described in Section 7 for certain administrative reconstitutions.
Validity, reservation, and court annotations
- Section 7 provides that reconstituted certificates have the same validity and legal effect as the originals.
- Section 7 provides a protection: certificates of title reconstituted extra-judicially under Sections 5 and 6 are without prejudice to any party whose right or interest was duly noted in the original at the time it was lost or destroyed, but whose entry or notation has not been made on the reconstituted certificate.
- Section 7 requires that the reservation be noted as an encumbrance on the reconstituted certificate of title.
- Section 8 allows a party whose right or interest was duly noted in the original but does not appear on the reconstituted certificate (where the Section 7 reservation subsists) to file a petition with the proper Court of First Instance for annotation of that right or interest.
- Section 8 requires that the court, after notice and hearing, determine the merits and render judgment as justice and equity require; the petition must state:
- the number of the reconstituted certificate of title; and
- the nature and a description of the right or interest claimed.
Court petitions: publication, notice, and hearings
- Section 9 allows a registered owner to petition the proper Court of First Instance to free the reconstituted certificate from the Section 7 encumbrance/reservation by stating reasons.
- Section 9 similarly allows a mortgagee, lessee, or other lien holder whose interest is annotated to file the same type of petition.
- Section 9 requires that the court cause notice of the petition to be:
- published twice in successive issues of the Official Gazette at the petitioner’s expense; and
- posted on the main entrance of the provincial building and the municipal building of the municipality or city where the land lies,
- at least thirty days prior to the hearing.
- Section 9 requires the notice to specify, among other things:
- the certificate of title number;
- the registered owner’s name;
- the names of interested parties appearing in the reconstituted certificate;
- the property location; and
- the date by which persons with an interest must appear and file claims.
- Section 9 requires the petitioner, at hearing, to submit proof of publication and posting.
- Section 9 provides a time-based effect: after two years from the reconstitution date, if no petition was filed within that period under Section 8, the court shall, on a motion ex parte by the registered owner or other registered person with interest, order the register of deeds to cancel the Section 7 encumbrance.
- Section 10 allows a registered owner or interested person to file the Section 5 petition directly with the proper Court of First Instance based on sources in Sections 2(a), 2(b), 3(a), 3(b), and/or 4(a); the court must cause notice to be published in the manner stated in Section 9 before hearing and granting.
- Section 10 provides that certificates reconstituted under Section 10 are not subject to the Section 7 encumbrance reservation.
- Section 11 requires that petitions for reconstitution of registered interests, liens, and other encumbrances based on sources in Section 4(b) and/or Section 4(c) must be filed with the proper Court of First Instance by the interested party, accompanied by necessary documents and stating the certificate number and the nature and description of the interest, lien, or encumbrance.
- Section 11 requires publication and hearing in the manner stated in Section 9, and the court must render judgment as justice and equity require.
- Section 12 requires petitions for reconstitution based on sources in Sections 2(c), 2(d), 2(e), 2(f), 3(c), 3(d), 3(e), and/or 3(f) to be filed with the proper Court of First Instance by:
- the registered owner;
- the owner’s assigns; or
- any person having an interest.
- Section 12 requires the petition to state or contain the following:
- (a) that the owner’s duplicate had been lost or destroyed;
- (b) that no co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate had been issued, or if issued, it had been lost or destroyed;
- (c) the location, area, and boundaries of the property;
- (d) the nature and description of any buildings or improvements not belonging to the owner of the land, including names and addresses of their owners;
- (e) names and addresses of occupants or persons in possession, owners of adjoining properties, and all persons who may have any interest;
- (f) a detailed description of encumbrances affecting the property, if any;
- (g) a statement that no deeds or other instruments affecting the property have been presented for registration, or if any, registration has not been accomplished yet.
- Section 12 requires attaching all documents or authenticated copies intended to be introduced as evidence to support the petition.
- Section 12 provides a special document requirement if reconstitution is exclusively from Section 2(f) or Section 3(f) sources: the petition must include a plan and technical description of the property duly approved by the Chief of the General Land Registration Office, or a certified copy of the description from a prior certificate of title covering the same property.
- Section 13 requires the court, for petitions filed under Section 12, to cause notice to be:
- published twice in successive issues of the Official Gazette at the petitioner’s expense; and
- posted on the main entrance of the provincial building and the municipal building of the place where the land is situated,
- at least thirty days prior to the hearing.
- Section 13 requires the court to send a copy of the notice by registered mail or otherwise (at the petitioner’s expense) to every person named whose address is known, at least thirty days prior to the hearing.
- Section 13 requires the notice to state, among other things:
- the number of the lost or destroyed certificate of title (if known);
- the registered owner’s name;
- the names of occupants or persons in possession;
- owners of adjoining properties;
- all other interested parties;
- property location, area, and boundaries; and
- the date when persons with an interest must appear and file claims or objections.
- Section 13 requires the petitioner, at hearing, to submit proof of publication, posting, and service.
Enforcement for withholding documents
- Section 14 authorizes the court to order a person who withholds, refuses, or fails to produce documents necessary for full reconstitution to produce and/or surrender them at a time and place stated in the order.
- Section 14 authorizes the court to enforce the order by suitable process after motion and notice and hearing.
Court determination and order of reconstitution
- Section 15 requires the court, after hearing, to order reconstitution if it finds:
- the presented documents, supported by parole evidence or otherwise, are sufficient and proper;
- the petitioner is the registered owner or has an interest;
- the certificate of title was in force when it was lost or destroyed; and
- the property description, area, and boundaries are substantially the same as in the lost or destroyed certificate.
- Section 15 requires that the clerk of court forward to the register of deeds:
- a certified copy of the reconstitution order; and
- all documents to be used as basis for reconstitution.
- Section 15 requires dismissal if there is no sufficient evidence or basis to justify reconstitution.
- Section 15 preserves a remedy after dismissal: dismissal does not preclude the right to apply for confirmation of title under the Land Registration Act.
Administrative post-reconstitution steps
- Section 16 requires the register of deeds, after reconstitution, to issue:
- the corresponding owner’s duplicate; and
- additional copies of the certificate if previously issued but destroyed or lost.
- Section 16 requires noting on the reconstituted certificate that the owner’s duplicate/additional copies were issued because they had been destroyed or lost.
- Section 17 requires the register of deeds to certify on each reconstituted certificate:
- the date of reconstitution;
- the source or sources used; and
- whether reconstitution was administrative or judicial.
If the lost title is later recovered
- Section 18 provides that if the lost or destroyed certificate is found or recovered, it prevails over the reconstituted certificate.
- Section 18 requires transfer of memoranda of new liens or encumbrances made on the later reconstituted certificate (except the Section 7 reservation memorandum) to the recovered certificate if both titles are in the name of the same registered owner.
- Section 18 requires that upon transfer, the register of deeds cancel the reconstituted certificate and spread subsisting liens or encumbrances appearing on the recovered certificate onto the owner’s duplicate and the co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate (if any), while canceling the Section 7 reservation memorandum.
- Section 18 further provides that if the reconstituted certificate was canceled by deed or court order and a new certificate was issued, the recovered certificate must also be canceled; subsisting liens or encumbrances appearing on the recovered certificate must be transferred to the new certificate and its duplicates, and the Section 7 reservation memorandum is thereby ipso facto canceled.
- Section 19 requires that if the recovered certificate is not in the name of the same person in whose favor the reconstituted certificate was issued, the register of deeds brings the matter to the proper Court of First Instance.
- Section 19 requires the court, after notice and hearing, to order cancellation of the reconstituted certificate and determine judgment as justice and equity require regarding memoranda of new liens or encumbrances made after reconstitution.
- Section 19 provides that if the reconstituted certificate was canceled and a new certificate issued, the court procedure regarding memoranda of new liens or encumbrances must apply to the new certificate and liens made after its issuance.
- Section 20 authorizes the register of deeds to report to the proper Court of First Instance if a registered owner or other person withholds, refuses, or fails (within a reasonable time after request) to produce duplicates needed for cancellation or annotation under Sections 18 and 19.
- Section 20 requires the court, after notice and hearing, to order production of the duplicate at a time and place stated and to enforce by suitable process.
Technical land descriptions after reconstitution
- Section 21 requires the registered owner to file a plan of the land with the Chief of the General Land Registration Office within two years from the date of reconstitution if the reconstituted certificate does not contain the full technical description and such technical description is not contained in an available prior certificate.
- Section 21 requires the Chief of the General Land Registration Office, after approving the plan, to furnish the register of deeds with a copy of the technical description for annotation and to file it.
- Section 21 forbids issuance of a transfer certificate of title pursuant to any voluntary instrument after the two-year period unless the plan and technical description have been filed and noted as required.
Petition form, swearing, and case filing
- Section 22 requires every petition filed with the court under Republic Act No. 26 to be sworn to by the petitioner or person acting on the petitioner’s behalf.
- Section 22 requires the petition to be filed and entitled in the land registration or cadastral case in which the decree of registration was entered.
- Section 22 provides that if the property was included in a cadastral survey, the petition must be filed in the corresponding cadastral case.
- Section 22 requires that if the property has not been included in a cadastral survey, or if the land registration or cadastral case has been lost or destroyed and/or the number cannot be identified, the petition must be filed as a special case entitled “Special proceedings for reconstitution of lost certificate of title.”
Fees, administrative rulemaking, and inoperative provisions
- Section 23 prohibits charging fees for filing any petition under the Act or for any service rendered in connection with it, by:
- the Chief of the General Land Registration Office;
- clerks of Court of First Instance;
- sheriffs; and/or
- register of deeds.
- Section 23 requires that certified copies of documents or papers necessary for reconstitution be furnished free of charge, upon request of the court, register of deeds, or the Chief of the General Land Registration Office, by any government office or branch including government-controlled corporations, institutions, or instrumentalities.
- Section 24 directs that the Chief of the General Land Registration Office, with the approval of the Secretary of Justice, shall issue rules, regulations, circulars, and instructions and prescribe books and blank forms needed to carry out the Act.
Repeal and effect on prior reconstitution rules
- Section 25 declares Sections seventy-six, seventy-seven and eighty-nine of Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and ten inoperative insofar as they provide for the reconstitution of certificates of title.