The Torrens System

- (Around) 1858, the Torrens System for registering titles was developed by Robert Torrens, an
Australian land reformer and was Australia’s Registrar General. This system was adopted
worldwide.
-
-Torrens System was introduced to the Philippines in 1903 through Act. 496, Sec. 112
- Grants of public land to private individuals were brought under the operation of a Torrens
system
- Creation of first Court of Land Registration and Register of Deeds

*Key features and what it seeks to ensure:

-One of the principal features of the Torrens System of registration is that all incumbrances on
the land or special estates therein shall be shown, or, at least, intimated upon the certificate of
title and a person dealing with the owner of the registered land is not bound to go behind the
certificate and inquire into transactions, the existence of which is not there intimated.
(QUIMSON vs. SUAREZ, G.R. No. L-21381, April 5, 1924)

-The Torrens system seeks to insure the efficacy and conclusiveness of the certificate of title. To
enhance this aim we thus have the provision that every person receiving a certificate of title in
pursuance of a decree of registration, and every subsequent purchaser of registered land who
takes certificate of title for value in good faith shall hold the same free of all incumbrances
except those noted on said certificate (Section 39, Act 496). (REVILLA vs. GALINDEZ, G.R. No. L-
9940 March 30, 1960)

-The Torrens System is intended to guarantee the integrity and conclusiveness of the certificate
of registration, but it cannot be used for the perpetration of fraud against the real owner of the
registered land. The system merely confirms ownership and does not create it. Certainly, it
cannot be used to divest the lawful owner of his title for the purpose of transferring it to
another who has not acquired it by any of the modes allowed or recognized by law. It cannot be
used to protect a usurper from the true owner, nor can it be used as a shield for the
commission of fraud; neither does it permit one to enrich himself at the expense of another.
Where such an illegal transfer is made, as in the case at bar, the law presumes that no
registration has been made and so retains title in the real owner of the land. (THE HEIRS OF
MARCELINO DORONIO vs DORONIO, G.R. No. 169454, December 27, 2007)

PD 1529

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. Title of Decree. This Decree shall be known as the PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE.
Section 2. Nature of registration proceedings; jurisdiction of courts. Judicial proceedings for the
registration of lands throughout the Philippines shall be in rem and shall be based on the
generally accepted principles underlying the Torrens system.

Courts of First Instance shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for original
registration of title to lands, including improvements and interests therein, and over all
petitions filed after original registration of title, with power to hear and determine all questions
arising upon such applications or petitions. The court through its clerk of court shall furnish the
Land Registration Commission with two certified copies of all pleadings, exhibits, orders, and
decisions filed or issued in applications or petitions for land registration, with the exception of
stenographic notes, within five days from the filing or issuance thereof.

Section 3. Status of other pre-existing land registration system. The system of registration
under the Spanish Mortgage Law is hereby discontinued and all lands recorded under said
system which are not yet covered by Torrens title shall be considered as unregistered lands.

Hereafter, all instruments affecting lands originally registered under the Spanish Mortgage Law
may be recorded under Section 113 of this Decree, until the land shall have been brought under
the operation of the Torrens system.

The books of registration for unregistered lands provided under Section 194 of the Revised
Administrative Code, as amended by Act No. 3344, shall continue to remain in force; provided,
that all instruments dealing with unregistered lands shall henceforth be registered under
Section 113 of this Decree.

CHAPTER III
ORIGINAL REGISTRATION

I
ORDINARY REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS

A. APPLICATIONS

Section 14. Who may apply. The following persons may file in the proper Court of First Instance
an application for registration of title to land, whether personally or through their duly
authorized representatives:

(1) Those who by themselves or through 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.

(2) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision of
existing laws.
(3) Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned riverbeds by right of
accession or accretion under the existing laws.

(4) 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.

Where the land has been sold under pacto de retro, the vendor a retro may file an application
for the original registration of the land, provided, however, that should the period for
redemption expire during the pendency of the registration proceedings and ownership to the
property consolidated in the vendee a retro, the latter shall be substituted for the applicant and
may continue the proceedings.

A trustee on behalf of his principal may apply for original registration of any land held in trust
by him, unless prohibited by the instrument creating the trust.

CHAPTER VIII
REGISTRATION OF PATENTS

Section 103. Certificates of title pursuant to patents. Whenever public land is by the
Government alienated, granted or conveyed to any person, the same shall be brought forthwith
under the operation of this Decree. It shall be the duty of the official issuing the instrument of
alienation, grant, patent or conveyance in behalf of the Government to cause such instrument
to be filed with the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies, and to be there
registered like other deeds and conveyance, whereupon a certificate of title shall be entered as
in other cases of registered land, and an owner's duplicate issued to the grantee. The deed,
grant, patent or instrument of conveyance from the Government to the grantee shall not take
effect as a conveyance or bind the land but shall operate only as a contract between the
Government and the grantee and as evidence of authority to the Register of Deeds to make
registration. It is the act of registration that shall be the operative act to affect and convey the
land, and in all cases under this Decree, registration shall be made in the office of the Register
of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies. The fees for registration shall be paid by
the grantee. After due registration and issuance of the certificate of title, such land shall be
deemed to be registered land to all intents and purposes under this Decree.
Notes:

ORIGINAL REGISTRATION

Lands subject to initial registration:

1. Private lands - patrimonial lands, which have been previously segregated from the general
mass of the public domain by any form of grant by the State.

2. Public lands (agricultural lands only)

a. Those over which claimants have imperfect title - Secs. 47 & 48 of CA 141; Sec. 14, PD
1529
b. Those over which no one has acquired imperfect title - declared A and D by the
President

Lands NOT subject to registration:

a. Devoted to public use such as public roads, plazas, canals, etc.

b. Devoted to public service such as towns, fortresses, etc.
c. Public forests
d. Mineral lands
e. Reserved by the gov’t for public purpose
f. All other public lands that are inalienable under Art. XII, Sec. 2 of the 1987 Constitution

*Who may apply?

See Sec. 14, PD 1529 (MEMORIZE)

*Who may apply with special conditions?

1. Pacto de retro sale or sale with right to repurchase (asked in the Bar)
Consent of the vendee-a-retro is not needed to register the property. However, the fact that
the property is subject to pacto de retro must be mentioned in the application, otherwise it is
constitutive of “actual fraud” (Estiva vs. Alvero, G.R. No. L-11887, January 28, 1918)

2. Mortgagor cannot apply for registration without written consent of mortgagee. If consent is
not given, specify in the application that the property is subject to mortgage.

3. Married person if registering a conjugal or community property, without written consent of

the spouse.

4. Co-owner registering his undivided share, unless all co-owners shall file joint application.

5. Reserver of a reservable property (reserve troncal) unless the reservable character of the
property is annotated on the title.
*Owner of building only cannot apply.
Remedy: In the hearing for the application, present proof of ownership of building so that it
may be included in the decree of registration.

*Prescriptive claims
Prescription does not run against:
1. Properties with Torrens title;
2. Properties of the State, unless expressly permitted by law.

*Possession must be adverse, public, uninterrupted. There must be manifestations of acts of

dominion over the property in the concept of an owner.

*Collateral attack on the Decree of Registration and Title is not allowed. (2015 Bar)
Collateral attack - indirect attack; an action to obtain a different relief, while at the same
attacking the validity of a title as an incident in the same action
Direct attack - an action the object of which is to annul or set aside the proceeding.
A direct attack on a title is one where the action filed is precisely for the purpose of voiding the
title.

SUBSEQUENT REGISTRATIONS

I- VOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH REGISTERED LAND

*Voluntary dealings are those dealings and conveyances made by the registered owner.

*Under the Torrens System, registration is the operative act that creates a lien upon the land.

*A person dealing with registered land is not required to go behind the register to determine
the condition of the property.

PD 1529
Section 51. Conveyance and other dealings by registered owner. An owner of
registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise deal with the
same in accordance with existing laws. He may use such forms of deeds, mortgages,
leases or other voluntary instruments as are sufficient in law. But no deed,
mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument, except a will purporting to convey
or affect registered land shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the land, but shall
operate only as a contract between the parties and as evidence of authority to the
Register of Deeds to make registration.

The act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land insofar
as third persons are concerned, and in all cases under this Decree, the registration
shall be made in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where
the land lies.
 Section 52. Constructive notice upon registration. Every conveyance, mortgage,
lease, lien, attachment, order, judgment, instrument or entry affecting registered
land shall, if registered, filed or entered in the office of the Register of Deeds for the
province or city where the land to which it relates lies, be constructive notice to all
persons from the time of such registering, filing or entering.

*Registration is a mere ministerial act by which a deed, contract or instrument is sought to be

inscribed in the records of the Office of the Register of Deeds and annotated at the back of the
certificate of title covering the land subject of the deed, contract or instrument. When a court
orders the registration and annotation of a mortgage on the certificate of title covering the land
mortgaged, said court does not pass upon the effect or validity of the mortgage. These can only
be determined in an ordinary case before the courts, not before a court acting merely as a
registration court, which does not have jurisdiction to pass upon these questions.
(AGRICULTURAL CREDIT COOPERATIVE v. YULO YUSAY, ET AL. G.R. No. L-13313, April 28, 1960)

*Effects of registration: Some established principles

-Only the registered transactions will affect the land and bind third parties.

-As between 2 transactions concerning the same land, the registered transaction prevails over
the earlier unregistered right.

-However, a party who has knowledge of a prior existing unregistered interest at the time he
acquired the property cannot claim good faith. His knowledge has the effect of registration as
to him. Knowledge of an unregistered sale is equivalent to registration. The Torrens system
cannot be used a shield to commit fraud.

-A forged Deed of Mortgage executed by the forger in favor of a third person without the
authority of the owner is not enforceable against said owner where there is no showing of any
connivance or negligence on the part of the owner. (De Lara vs. Ayroso, 1954)

-A void title may become the root of a valid title in the hands of an innocent holder for value.

INVOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH REGISTERED LANDS

*Transactions affecting registered lands in which the registered owner thereof has no choice,
same being against his will.
*Examples:
Lis pendens
Attachments
Adverse claims
Eminent Domain
LIS PENDENS

PD 1529
Section 76. Notice of lis pendens. No action to recover possession of real estate,
or to quiet title thereto, or to remove clouds upon the title thereof, or for
partition, or other proceedings of any kind in court directly affecting the title to
land or the use or occupation thereof or the buildings thereon, and no judgment,
and no proceeding to vacate or reverse any judgment, shall have any effect upon
registered land as against persons other than the parties thereto, unless a
memorandum or notice stating the institution of such action or proceeding and
the court wherein the same is pending, as well as the date of the institution
thereof, together with a reference to the number of the certificate of title, and
an adequate description of the land affected and the registered owner thereof,
shall have been filed and registered.

Section 77. Cancellation of lis pendens. Before final judgment, a notice of lis
pendens may be canceled upon order of the court, after proper showing that the
notice is for the purpose of molesting the adverse party, or that it is not
necessary to protect the rights of the party who caused it to be registered. It may
also be canceled by the Register of Deeds upon verified petition of the party who
caused the registration thereof.

At any time after final judgment in favor of the defendant, or other disposition
of the action such as to terminate finally all rights of the plaintiff in and to the
land and/or buildings involved, in any case in which a memorandum or notice of
lis pendens has been registered as provided in the preceding section, the notice
of lis pendens shall be deemed canceled upon the registration of a certificate of
the clerk of court in which the action or proceeding was pending stating the
manner of disposal thereof.

Lis pendens principles:

*A money claim in a pending court case is not a proper subject of lis pendens registration in the
registry of deeds.
*Notice of lis pendens is an announcement to the whole world that a particular real property is
in litigation, and serves as a warning that the one who acquires an interest over said property
does so at his own risk or that he gambles on the result of the litigation over said property.
*It binds a purchaser of the land subject of the litigation. He cannot invoke the right of a
purchaser in good faith.
*Notice of lis pendens keeps the subject matter of litigation within the power of the court.
*Until cancelled, an annotation of lis pendens is carried over to the new title in case the
property is sold or alienated.
ADVERSE CLAIM
PD 1529
Section 70. Adverse claim. Whoever claims any part or interest in registered land adverse to the
registered owner, arising subsequent to the date of the original registration, may, if no other
provision is made in this Decree for registering the same, make a statement in writing setting
forth fully his alleged right or interest, and how or under whom acquired, a reference to the
number of the certificate of title of the registered owner, the name of the registered owner,
and a description of the land in which the right or interest is claimed.

The statement shall be signed and sworn to, and shall state the adverse claimant's residence,
and a place at which all notices may be served upon him. This statement shall be entitled to
registration as an adverse claim on the certificate of title. The adverse claim shall be effective
for a period of thirty days from the date of registration. After the lapse of said period, the
annotation of adverse claim may be canceled upon filing of a verified petition therefor by the
party in interest: Provided, however, that after cancellation, no second adverse claim based on
the same ground shall be registered by the same claimant.

Before the lapse of thirty days aforesaid, any party in interest may file a petition in the Court of
First Instance where the land is situated for the cancellation of the adverse claim, and the court
shall grant a speedy hearing upon the question of the validity of such adverse claim, and shall
render judgment as may be just and equitable. If the adverse claim is adjudged to be invalid,
the registration thereof shall be ordered canceled. If, in any case, the court, after notice and
hearing, shall find that the adverse claim thus registered was frivolous, it may fine the claimant
in an amount not less than one thousand pesos nor more than five thousand pesos, in its
discretion. Before the lapse of thirty days, the claimant may withdraw his adverse claim by filing
with the Register of Deeds a sworn petition to that effect.

CADASTRAL SYSTEM
Sections 35-38, PD 1529
*Application for registration is filed by the Director of Lands represented by the Solicitor
General
*The filing of an answer by a claimant is equivalent to an application for registration