Philippine Land Registration Act

Court, officers, and appointment powers

Section 2 establishes the Court of Land Registration with exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for registration under the Act of title to land or buildings or an interest therein within the Philippine Islands.
Section 2 gives the Court of Land Registration authority to hear and determine all questions arising upon applications for registration, and also jurisdiction over other questions that come under the Act.
Section 3 provides that the Civil Governor, with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission, appoints two judges: one judge and one associate judge; vacancies are filled in the manner stated in Section 3.
Section 4 provides that the court’s authority begins as soon as the judges are appointed and qualified; the court may be held by a single judge, and multiple sessions may be held simultaneously to ensure prompt discharge of business.
Section 5 requires citations, orders of notice, and all other process to be under the court’s seal and signed by the judge or clerk; service follows the rules for service in the Code of Procedure in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings, unless otherwise ordered in the Act.
Section 6 provides that when a judge is absent, the associate judge performs the duties until the vacancy is filled or disability removed.
Section 7 directs the Civil Governor, with the advice and approval of the Philippine Commission, to appoint a clerk, who is removed in the manner provided for removal of judges; the clerk keeps a docket and affixes the court seal to sealed process.
Section 8 makes the clerk responsible for custody and control of all papers and documents filed, including numbering and indexing; papers are kept in an office called the “Land Registration Office” located in the same building with or near the court.
Section 8 authorizes the clerk, subject to Civil Service Law constraints, to employ necessary personnel; the number and salaries are fixed with approval of the Attorney-General.
Section 9 permits the clerk to act in Manila and any province, and after registration to make memoranda affecting title and issue certificates as provided.
Section 10 establishes registers of deeds—one in Manila and one in each province—appointed and removed like judges; they act with authority to make memoranda affecting title and enter and issue new certificates, under the general direction of the clerk to secure uniformity.
Section 11 requires the clerk and registers of deeds to be sworn and to give bonds to the Government of the Philippine Islands for faithful performance; they administer oaths as required, keep accounts of moneys received as fees, and pay over funds monthly to the Treasurer, except funds disposed under Section 13.
Section 12 authorizes the Civil Governor, with advice and approval of the Philippine Commission, to appoint one or more examiners of titles in each of the fifteen judicial districts; they are lawyers and removable as provided for judges.

Procedure and appeal structure

Section 14 provides that every order, decision, and decree of the Court of Land Registration is appealable to the Court of First Instance of the city or province where the land lies, but the case does not pass to the Court of First Instance for review until final determination by the Court of Land Registration of the whole proceeding.
Section 14 mandates that the appeal be made and entered within thirty days from the date of the final order, decision, or decree.
Section 14 requires the appellant, at the time of entering the appeal, to file in the Court of First Instance certified copies of all material papers by the clerk.
Section 14 requires appearances and answers in the Court of First Instance within thirty days after the appeal is entered, unless extended for good cause; upon motion, the case must be advanced for speedy hearing.
Section 14 provides that testimony taken in writing before the Court of Land Registration may be used in the trial in the Court of First Instance.
Section 14 allows questions of law arising in the Court of First Instance to be taken to the Supreme Court for revision in the same manner as ordinary actions in the Court of First Instance.
Section 14 also authorizes the Court of Land Registration, when facts are not in dispute and only a pure question of law is determinative, to report the decision or decree directly to the Supreme Court, but not when any party desires an appeal to the Court of First Instance.
Section 15 provides that once appeal final decision is made, the appellate clerk certifies the final decision to the Court of Land Registration, which enters the final decree in accordance with the certification.
Section 16 provides that if the appealing party does not prosecute the appeal within the time limited, the original order, decision, or decree stands as though no appeal had been taken.
Section 17 permits the Court of Land Registration to enforce its orders, judgments, or decrees as Courts of First Instance enforce similar orders; upon request, the governor or sheriff must assign a deputy to attend sittings.
Section 18 provides that costs in contested cases in the Court of Land Registration are taxed in the same manner and for the same items as in Courts of First Instance when no different provision is made.

Costs, fees, and salaries

Section 13 sets the judge’s salary at five thousand dollars per annum, the associate judge’s salary at four thousand dollars per annum, and the clerk’s salary at two thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
Section 13 provides that the salaries of registers of deeds and examiners of titles are fixed by act of the Philippine Commission proportionate to business and responsibility.
Section 13 directs that court salaries and expenses, including interpreters, translators, stenographers, typewriters, other employees, and deputy/assistant clerks duly authorized and examiners of titles, are paid from the Treasury of the Philippine Archipelago.
Section 13 provides that registers of deeds and their deputies, assistants, or clerks’ salaries and expenses of the register of deeds office (including books and stationery) are paid from provincial treasuries or from the Insular Treasury from funds belonging to the city of Manila, as applicable.
Section 13 requires all fees payable for services of the clerk of the Court of Land Registration and the examiner of titles—including the fee for the original application, filing plans, indexing/recording during pending application, examining title, notices by mail, notices by publication, entry of order dismissing application, decree of registration, sending memoranda to registers of deeds, copy of decree, filing petitions in court, and certified copies—to be paid into the Treasury of the Philippine Archipelago.
Section 13 requires fees payable for services of registers of deeds (and deputies or clerks) including entry of original certificate of title, issuing duplicates, registering instruments, adverse claims, residence/post-office statement changes, notes on registration books, registration of bankruptcy/insolvency notices and suggestion of death, registration of discharge/lease/mortgage/incumbrance instruments, registration of levy and notices of pending action/judgments/decrees, mortgage lien endorsements, memorandum of partition, and certified copies of registered instruments to be paid into the appropriate provincial treasury or into the Treasury of the Philippine Archipelago for Manila.
Section 13 provides that sheriff or other officer fees are paid to the officer entitled thereto.
Section 13 requires registers of deeds to pay over end-of-month funds received to the provincial treasury or to the Treasury of the Philippine Archipelago, as applicable.

Original registration application system

Section 19 allows applications for registration of title by claimants of the legal estate in fee simple, persons claiming power to appoint or dispose of the legal estate in fee simple, guardians for infants or other persons under disability (naming the person for whom the application is made), and corporations via an authorized corporate officer by directors’ vote.
Section 19 restricts applications by tenants for a term of years so they may not apply except jointly with those claiming the reversionary interest in the fee simple.
Section 19 bars a mortgagor from making application without the mortgagee’s written consent.
Section 19 restricts a married woman from making application without her husband’s written consent unless she holds land as her separate property or has power to appoint it in fee simple or has obtained a decree authorizing dealings as though sole and unmarried.
Section 19 restricts tenants claiming undivided shares less than a fee simple in the whole land described so they must apply jointly with the other tenant owning the other undivided shares to represent the whole fee.
Section 19 provides that if the holder of the mortgage does not consent, the application may still proceed and the title registers subject to the mortgage, and the decree must state that registration is subject to the mortgage; no subsequent certificate is to be issued and no further papers registered relating to the land after foreclosure.
Section 20 allows filing the application with the clerk of the Court of Land Registration or with the register of deeds of the province or city where the land (or portion) lies.
Section 20 requires immediate filing of a memorandum with the register of deeds stating that an application has been filed, the date and place of filing, and a copy of the land description; it must be recorded and indexed, and the register of deeds must transmit the application and plans to the clerk when the register receives the application.
Section 21 requires the application to be in writing, signed and sworn to by the applicant or authorized representative; if multiple applicants exist, each must sign and swear on behalf of himself/herself.
Section 21 requires the application to include: land description; marital status and spouse names if married, and termination details if unmarried; full names and addresses of the applicant; and full names and addresses of adjoining owners and occupants if known, or the search made to find them if not known.
Section 22 requires non-residents to file an instrument appointing an agent residing in the Philippine Islands with the agent’s full name and address and agreeing that service of legal process upon the agent has the same effect as service on the applicant if within the Philippines; if the agent dies, becomes insane, or removes, the applicant must promptly appoint another agent or the court may dismiss the application.
Section 23 allows amendments (including joinder, substitution, or discontinuing as to parties) by court allowance at any time on just and reasonable terms; all amendments must be in writing, signed, and sworn like the original.
Section 24 allows inclusion of two or more contiguous parcels or two or more parcels constituting one holding under one title if within the same province or city; it bars joinder of persons claiming different interests in the same parcels that together make up the fee simple unless their interests are alike in each parcel.
Section 24 authorizes the court to order amendment by striking out parcels or severing the application.
Section 25 requires if land is bounded by a public or private way or road, the application must state whether the applicant claims any land within the limits of the way or road and whether the applicant desires the line determined.
Section 26 requires filing with the application a plan and all original muniments of title within control mentioned in the schedule of documents, producible before examiner or court at hearing if required; if dismissed or discontinued, withdrawal requires court consent.
Section 27 requires that where registration is to be subject to an existing recorded mortgage with consent or a recorded lease, or to a mortgage or lease executed after application time but before transcription of the decree, and if required by the court, the applicant must file a certified copy of the mortgage or lease and present the original (or certified copy in court’s discretion) for registration before the decree is entered; no registration fee is charged for registering the original mortgage or lease or such certified copy.
Section 28 authorizes the court by general rule to require additional facts or additional papers not inconsistent with the Act.
Section 29 provides that between filing and registration, the land may be dealt with and instruments recorded as if no application had been made, but all instruments left for record must be indexed both in the usual registry index and in the index of applications; when disposed, the clerk must send a memorandum of disposition to the register of deeds for recording and indexing; upon decree transcription under Section 41, the land becomes registered land and thereafter instruments relating solely to such land must be registered in the registered land registration book system rather than in the unregistered records.
Section 30 requires immediate referral of the filed application to an examiner of titles for record search and investigation, with a report concluding in a certificate of opinion; the clerk notifies the applicant of filing of the report.
Section 30 provides that if the examiner’s opinion is adverse, the applicant has a reasonable time to elect to proceed further or withdraw; election must be in writing filed with the clerk.
Section 31 provides that if the examiner finds the applicant has a good title proper for registration, or if the applicant elects to proceed after adverse opinion, the clerk causes publication of notice once in two newspapers—one English and one Spanish—of general circulation in the province or city of the land; if Spanish or English newspapers of general circulation do not exist in that province or city, publication satisfies the requirement by using daily English and daily Spanish newspapers in the city of Manila with general circulation.
Section 31 requires the notice to be issued by court order, attested by the clerk, substantially in the required form, citing all persons appearing to have an interest and adjoining owners and warning that failure to appear will be recorded as default and the application will be taken as confessed with a bar to contesting the application or any decree entered thereon.
Section 32 requires the notice return to be not less than twenty nor more than sixty days from date of issue.
Section 32 requires mailing a copy of the Spanish publication by the clerk within seven days after publication to every person named whose address is known.
Section 32 requires posting a duly attested copy of the Spanish notice conspicuously on each parcel of land and on the chief municipal building of the pueblo where the land is situated, at least fourteen days before the return day, with the governor or sheriff or deputy providing the posting; return is conclusive proof.
Section 32 provides that if the applicant requests determination of the line of a public way, the court orders notice by mailing a registered letter to the president of the municipal council or Municipal Board.
Section 32 requires notice to the Attorney-General when the land borders a river, navigable stream, shore, arm of the sea with an established river or harbor line, a lake, or when the proceedings show the Insular Government may have a claim adverse to the applicant.
Section 32 requires the court, so far as possible, to require proof of actual notice to adjoining owners and persons appearing to have interest or claim; mailed notices are by registered letter if practicable.
Section 32 makes the clerk’s certificate of service conclusive proof filed before the return day.
Section 33 authorizes appointment of a guardian ad litem by the court upon return day for minors and persons not in being, unascertained, unknown, or out of the Philippines; compensation is determined by the court and paid as part of court expenses.
Section 34 allows any person claiming an interest, named or not, to appear and file an answer on or before return day or within further time allowed by the court; the answer must state objections and the interest claimed and be signed and sworn to.
Section 35 provides that if no one appears and answers within the allowed time, the court may on motion of the applicant order a general default recorded and the application taken as confessed; the court may then confirm title and order registration; persons are concluded by the description “To all whom it may concern.”
Section 35 provides that after default and order, the court may enter a decree confirming the title and ordering registration; the court is not bound by the examiner’s report and may require further proof.
Section 36 provides that upon appearance and answer, the case is set for hearing on motion; default and order apply against those who do not appear and answer; the court may hear parties and evidence directly or refer all or part to an examiner of titles as referee.
Section 36 allows the referee to conduct trial in a convenient place within the province or city with reasonable notice; the court renders judgment as though facts were found by the judge unless for cause the court sets the report aside or recommits for further finding, and the court may accept in part or set aside in part at discretion.
Section 36 authorizes the court, before decree, to require a survey to determine boundaries, order durable bounds set, and amend the application to include referred bounds; survey and bounds costs are taxed in case costs and may be apportioned by justice; if no opposing persons appear, the applicant bears the expense.
Section 36 allows consolidation of hearings where two or more applications claim the same land or part of the same land, if consolidation is in the interest of economy of time and expense.
Section 37 provides that if the court finds applicant has not proper title for registration, it enters a decree dismissing the application, possibly without prejudice.
Section 37 allows the applicant to withdraw before final decree upon terms fixed by the court.
Section 38 provides that when the court finds applicant’s title as stated and proper, it enters a decree of confirmation and registration; the decree binds the land and quiets title subject only to the exceptions in Section 38.
Section 38 provides that the decree is conclusive upon and against all persons, including the Insular Government and all branches, whether mentioned by name, included by notice/citation, or included under “To all whom it may concern.”
Section 38 provides that the decree shall not be opened due to absence, infancy, or other disability, nor by proceedings for reversing judgments or decrees.
Section 38 provides that the decree may be opened by petition for review within one year when decree was obtained by fraud by a person deprived of land or estate/interest, provided no innocent purchaser for value has acquired an interest.
Section 38 provides that if an innocent purchaser for value has acquired an interest, the decree remains in full force forever, subject only to the appeal right already provided in the Act; a person aggrieved may pursue damages for fraud against the applicant or other persons.
Section 38 defines “innocent purchaser for value” (and equivalents) to include an innocent lessee, mortgagee, or other encumbrancer for value.

Effect of registration, certificates, and evidentiary rules

Section 39 provides that an applicant receiving a certificate of title after a decree, and any subsequent purchaser of registered land who takes a certificate for value in good faith, holds free of incumbrance except those noted on the certificate and the following subsisting incumbrances:
- Liens, claims, or rights arising under the laws or Constitution of the United States or of the Philippine Islands that Philippine statutes cannot require to appear of record;
- Taxes within two years after due and payable; and
- Public highway, way, or private way established by law where certificate does not state that boundaries of such highway or way have been determined, with appurtenant casements or rights remaining appurtenant notwithstanding failure to register until cut off or extinguished by registration of the servient estate or other manner.
Section 40 provides that each decree of registration bears the day of year, hour, and minute of entry, is signed by the clerk, states owner marital status and spouse names, and—if under disability—states nature of disability and if minor, states age.
Section 40 requires that the decree include a description of land as determined by court and set out estate, mortgages, casements, liens, attachments, and other incumbrances and rights of husband or wife if any, showing relative priority.
Section 41 requires immediate transmittal of a certified copy of the decree, under the court seal, to the register of deeds where the land lies; the register of deeds must transcribe it into a “Registration Book” allocating exclusive leaf/leafes for each title.
Section 41 provides that the registration book entry in each case is the original certificate of title signed and sealed by the register of deeds; certificates of title are consecutively numbered starting with number one.
Section 41 requires an exact duplicate, stamped “Owner’s duplicate certificate”, delivered to the owner or authorized attorney; in case of variance, the original certificate prevails.
Section 41 requires each certified copy of the decree to be filed and numbered by the register of deeds with reference to original certificate record location.
Section 41 provides that when an application includes land in more than one province or one province and Manila, the court must separately describe each portion in the decree, and registers of deeds for each jurisdiction issue owner’s duplicates treating each portion as a separate parcel for registration matters.
Section 42 provides that the original certificate’s form includes “Original certificate of title, entered pursuant to decree of the Court of Land Registration” with date/time/place and case number; it takes effect upon transcription of the decree.
Section 42 provides that subsequent certificates are entitled “Transfer from number” with the next previous certificate number and include “Originally registered” with the original registration date/volume/page.
Section 43 allows, where there are multiple registered owners, one owner’s duplicate may be issued for the whole land or separate duplicates may be issued to each co-owner for undivided shares.
Section 44 authorizes surrender and replacement of duplicate certificates for portions or the whole land with court approval; subdivision requires filing a plan and court verification that boundaries, streets, and passageways are distinctly and accurately delineated.
Section 45 provides that obtaining a decree and entry of certificate of title is an agreement running with the land binding applicant and successors that land will remain registered land and subject to the Act and amendments.
Section 46 provides that no title to registered land in derogation to the registered owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession.
Section 47 provides that the original certificate in the registration book, duly certified copies, the owner’s duplicate certificate, and the court seal are received as evidence in all courts of the Philippines and are conclusive as to matters contained, except as otherwise provided in the Act.
Section 48 requires certificates to set forth names of persons interested in the estate in fee simple in the whole land and notes duplicate issuance in the registration book and on each certificate.

Voluntary dealings after original registration

Section 50 provides that an owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge, or otherwise deal with it as fully as if it had not been registered and may use usual legal forms for such voluntary instruments.
Section 50 provides that no deed, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument (except a will) purporting to convey or affect registered land takes effect as a conveyance or binds the land; it operates only as a contract between parties and as authority to the register of deeds to make registration.
Section 50 provides that registration is the operative act to convey and affect the land, and registration must be made in the office of the register of deeds for the province or provinces or city where the land lies.
Section 51 provides that every instrument affecting registered land that would, if recorded elsewhere, affect real estate, becomes notice to all persons from the time of registering, filing, or entering in the register of deeds office of the land’s province/city.
Section 52 provides that no new certificate is entered or issued upon transfer that does not divest fee simple from the owner or one of the registered owners; interests less than fee simple must be registered by filing the instrument and a brief memorandum by register of deeds on the certificate.
Section 53 provides that if the register of deeds is in doubt as to a legal question or the parties disagree on the proper memorandum, the question must be referred to the court by certificate or written suggestion; after notice and hearing, the court orders the memorandum form.
Section 54 requires each deed or voluntary instrument presented for registration to contain the full name, place of residence, and post-office address of the grantee or acquiring claimant, and marital status and spouse names; changes must be indorsed upon sworn statement to register of deeds.
Section 54 provides that notices and process may be served by mailing to the address so given and are binding even if the person resides outside the Philippines, subject to the court’s discretion to require further notice for justice.
Section 55 provides that no new certificate or memorandum is made upon any certificate by clerk or register of deeds upon voluntary instruments unless the owner’s duplicate certificate is presented, except in expressly provided cases or by court order for cause shown.
Section 55 provides that presentation of the owner’s duplicate certificate is conclusive authority for the clerk or register of deeds to enter a new certificate or memorandum in accordance with the instrument; the resulting new certificate or memorandum binds the registered owner and persons claiming under him in favor of every purchaser for value and in good faith.
Section 55 provides remedies for fraud: where registration is procured by fraud, the owner may pursue legal and equitable remedies against parties to fraud without prejudice to rights of innocent holders for value of a certificate.
Section 55 provides that after transcription of the decree on original application, any subsequent registration procured by presentation of a forged duplicate certificate, or forged deed or other instrument, is null and void.
Section 55 requires that upon loss or theft of an owner’s duplicate, notice is sent to the register of deeds as soon as discovered.
Section 56 requires each register of deeds to keep an entry book recording deeds and other voluntary instruments, copies of process, and to note the exact year, month, day, hour, and minute of receipt; instruments are regarded as registered from that noted time.
Section 56 provides that each instrument must be numbered and indexed and endorsed with a reference to the proper certificate of title; records and papers for registered land are open to the public subject to reasonable regulations by clerk under court direction.
Section 56 permits duplicates of deeds/instruments filed and registered to be presented with originals for attestation and sealing and allows removal by the person presenting duplicates.
Section 56 authorizes certified copies of all instruments filed and registered to be obtained at any time upon payment of fees to the register of deeds.

Conveyances in fee, mortgages, and leases rules

Section 57 provides that to convey registered land in fee, the owner must execute a deed of conveyance presented to the register of deeds where the land lies with production of the grantor’s duplicate certificate; the register of deeds then makes out a new certificate and delivers an owner’s duplicate