EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S.B. No. 1903
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
FILED
November
Tlf.iE
RIJFX
AN ACT RATIONALIZING LAND REGISTRATION, BROADENING FOR THE 
PURPOSE THE POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE LAND REGISTRATION 
AUTHORITY AND REORGANIZING AND RENAMING IT AS THE PROPERTY 
REGISTRATION AND ADJUDICATION COMMISSION, AMENDING FOR THE 
PURPOSE PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1529 AND OTHER RELATED LAWS, 
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Article XII, Section 6 of the Constitution provides that"//7e use of property bears 
a social function, and all economic agents shall contribute to the common good." The 
System of land registration, particuiarly the torrens system, provides enormous 
benefits, not only to the registered owner, but also to all persons dealing with the 
registered property and to the society as a whole. The title of the property once 
registered and brought under the system cannot be impugned, altered, changed, 
modified, enlarged, or diminished except in some direct proceeding permitted by law. 
It is said that a secure property rights is a key determinant of economic development. 
In fact, land distribution and registration have long been part of the major strategies 
of the government for poverty alleviation.
However, a study noted that "land administration infrastructure, including the 
land information system in the country remain poor and inadequate. Information about 
land ownership, location, boundaries, actual land uses and land yalues cannot be 
provided systematically in many local governments. One result is fraud in land titling 
that yields land ownership conflicts, which takes years to resolve." This issue is 
compounded by the fact that numerous agencies are involved in land administration 
but their operations are not coordinated and information integration is poor. There is 
considerable overlapping and fragmentation of institutional responsibilities among land 
agencies such as the Land Registration Authority (LRA) under the Department of Justice


and the Bureau of Land Management (LMB) under the Department of Environment and 
Natural Resources (DENR). There also seems no institutional mechanism in place to 
resolve conflicting issues.
This bill seeks to introduce major structural reforms in land administration and 
registration, as well as in the mechanism of resolving land related controversies and 
disputes. For this purpose, the Land Registration Authority is proposed to be 
transformed into a collegial body with quasi-judicial power to decide expeditiously land 
related controversies and disputes and to be renamed as the Property Registration and 
Adjudication Commission (PRAC). Thus, the jurisdictions to resolve disputes involving 
title to or possession of real properties, including ordinary and cadastral proceedings 
shall be transferred from the regular courts to the Commission, through the creation of 
its Offices of the Provincial or City Land Adjudicator. It also seeks to consolidate the 
functions of issuing patents, surveys, mapping and related works, to ensure coherent 
policies in land administration, by transferring these functions from the Department of 
Agrarian Reform (DAR) and from the Land Management Bureau of the Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-LMB) to the Commission.
These reforms, including the updating of the provisions of Presidential Decree 
1529, will greatly boost our effort to attain efficiency in land administration and to bring 
all registrable lands under the torrens system of registration in order to realize the 
maximum potential of the attributes of ownership of real properties.
For the abovementioned reasons, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.
IMEE R. MARCOS


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S.B. No. 1903
FILED
November 9
¥NOEX
BILLS
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
AN ACT RATIONALIZING LAND REGISTRATION, BROADENING FOR THE 
PURPOSE THE POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE LAND REGISTRATION 
AUTHORITY AND REORGANIZING AND RENAMING IT AS THE PROPERTY 
REGISTRATION AND ADJUDICATION COMMISSION, AMENDING FOR THE 
PURPOSE PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1529 AND OTHER RELATED LAWS, 
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled:
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CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the x'Land Registration 
Rationalization Act".
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to ensure 
the optimum use of property as a way of improving the lives of the people. Towards 
this end, the State shall accelerate the titling of all alienable and disposable land, 
through centralized registration proceedings, simplify and streamline the procedure in 
the resolution of land dispute and other related concerns. The State shall also ensure 
the integrity of land titles, the accuracy of land information and the preservation of land 
records.
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the foilowing terms are 
defined as foilows:
a) 
Commission - refers to the Property Registration and Adjudication Commission.
b) 
Annotation - refers to a note, memorandum, encumbrance or lien or any other 
inscription inscribed on a certificate of title.


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c) 
Certification - refers to a process by which the existence or non-existence 
(negative certification) of a particular fact or information is affirmed by the records 
of the Office of the Register of Deeds and its database.
d) 
Certified True Copy of Document- refers to a facsimiie or image a document on 
file with the Office of the Register of Deeds the contents of which are attested to 
be an accurate and complete reproduction of the original document.
e) 
Certified True Copy of Certificate of Titie - refers to a facsimile or image of a 
certificate of title in the records of the Office of the Register of Deeds, the contents 
of which are attested to be an accurate and complete reproduction of the original 
document.
f) 
Chattei- refers to any person, group of persons or agency (government or private) 
who shali requests for any of the services provided by the Commission and its 
Registry of Deeds.
g) 
Condominium-refers to an interest in real property consisting of separate interest 
in a unit in a residential, industrial or commercial building and an undivided interest 
in common, directly or indirectly in the land in which it is located and other 
common areas in the building.
h) 
Consuita - is a remedy afforded to a party-in-interest when questions are raised 
whether an instrument may be registered or not, as provided for under Section 
117 of Presidential Decree No. 1259.
i) 
Eiectronic Document- refers to information or the representation of information, 
data, figures, symbols or other modes of written expression, described or however 
represented, by which a right is established or an obligation is extinguished, or by 
which a fact may be proved and affirmed, which is received, recorded, transmitted, 
stored, processed, retrieved or produced electronically. It includes digitally-signed 
documents and any print-out, readable by sight or other means, which accurately 
reflects the electronic data message or electronic document.
j) 
Eiectronic Primary Entry Book for Chattei Mortgage (EPEB-CM) - refers to the 
electronic book wherein the chattel mortgages including assignment, or discharge 
thereof, and any other instruments related thereto are recorded and assigned 
sequential entry numbers in the order of presentation indicating therein the date, 
hour, and minute when the same was received.
k) 
Eiectronic Primary Entry Book for Other Personai Properties (EPEB-PP) - refers to 
the electronic book wherein all instruments involving other personal properties are


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recorded and assigned sequential entry numbers in the order of presentation 
indicating therein the date, hour, and minute when the same was received.
l) 
Elecb'onic Primary Entry Book for Registered Land (EBPEB-RL) - refers to the 
electronic book wherein registered lands, including all transaction and/or 
instruments registered related thereto, are recorded and assigned sequential entry 
numbers in the order of presentation Indicating therein the date, hour, and minute 
when the same was received.
m) Electronic Primary Entry Book for Unregistered Land (EPEB-UL) - refers to the 
electronic book wherein all instruments involving transaction on unregistered land 
are recorded and assigned sequential entry numbers in the order of presentation 
indicating therein the date, hour, and minute when the same was received.
n) 
Electronic Book for Unregistered Land (EB-UL) - refers to the electronic database 
wherein the details of transactions involving unregistered land entered in the 
Electronic Primary Entry Book for Unregistered Land (EPEB-UL) are recorded.
o) 
Electronic Receipt- refers to the receipt of payment generated by the Point-of- 
Sale (POS) system.
\
p) 
Electronic Signature - refers to any distinctive mark, characteristic and/or sound 
in electronic form, representing the identity of a person and attached to or logically 
associated with the electronic data message or electronic document or any 
methodology or procedure employed or adopted by a person and executed or 
adopted by such person with the intention of authenticating, signing or approving 
an electronic data message or electronic document. An electronic signature 
includes digital signatures.
q) 
Electronic Wotkfiow System - refers to the automation of procedures on 
transactions where documents, information or tasks are processed by the Office 
of the Register of Deeds personnel under PHILARIS.
r) 
Geographic Information System (CIS) - refers to the information system used in 
the LTCP that Integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares and displays geographic 
information within the Philippines archipelago.
s) 
Information Management Center (IMC) - refers to the data center where the 
central database are located.
t) 
Inscription - refers to the recording in the certificate of title of a memorandum, 
note, lien, encumbrance or an abstract of the instrument sought to be registered 
using the PHILARIS formats and templates.


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u) 
IT Service Fee/s - refers to the fee/s collected from clients for the use of the 
PHILARIS In processing transactions.
v) 
Original Registration - is the act of bringing property rights to a parcel of land 
under the coverage of the Torrens system of registration.
w) 
Original Certificate of Title - refers to the certificate of title Issued pursuant to a 
decree of registration, patent, award or grant registered and filed in the Registry.
x) 
Original Copy of the Certificate of Title - refers to the copy of the certificate of title 
filed in the Registry, which under PHILARIS is electronically stored in the database 
of the Registry.
y) 
Owner's Duplicate Certificate of Title - refers to the duplicate copy of the original 
copy of the certificate of title Issued to the grantee or registered owner. If two or 
more persons are registered owners, one owner's duplicate certificate may be 
issued for the whole land, or If the co-owners so desired, a separate duplicate may 
be issued to each of them in like form, but all outstanding certificate of title shall 
be surrendered whenever the Register of Deeds shall register any subsequent 
voluntary transaction affecting the whole land or part thereof or any interest 
therein. The Register of Deeds shall note on each certificate of titles as to whom 
a copy thereof was issued.
z) 
Personal Properties- refer to properties as defined under Articles 416 and 417 of 
the New Civil Code of the Philippines.
aa) PHILARIS- refers to the Philippines Land Registration and Information System, 
which is a computer program designated and developed to automate the processes 
of the Commission and its Registries.
bb) Provisional Registration - refers to the entry of an instrument in the EPEB-RL 
pending reconstitution of the original copy of a certificate of title pursuant to the 
provisions of LRA Circular No. 3, dated December 6, 1988.
cc) Reconstituted Title - refers to the restored certificates of title 
(judicial/administrative) that have been lost or destroyed In the Registries, to 
include all liens and encumbrances affecting the lands covered by such titles.
dd) Register of Deeds - refer to the person charged with the registration and/or 
recording of instruments affecting registered or unregistered lands and chattel 
mortgage in the province or city wherein such office is situated.


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ee) Registration - refers to the process by which instruments in the order in which 
they are received are noted in the EEB-RL of the Registry pursuant to law. They 
shall be regarded as registered from the time so noted in the EPEB-RL. There shall 
be two kinds of registration: (1) the registration resulting in the issuance of title 
(transcription); and (2) the registration of deeds and other Instruments evidencing 
rights, interests and claims over the land (inscription).
ff) Reinstatement of Tltie - refers to an involuntary transaction which involves the 
cancellation of an active title and issuance of a new title to restore the ownership 
of the previous registered owner pursuant to a final and executor decision of a 
Court or other quasi-judicial body.
gg) Secondary Database - refers to the Duplicate of the primary database and is used 
for backup purposes located offsite.
hh) Subsequent Registration - refers to a registration that occurs after property rights 
have been brought under the Torrens System after the date of original registration.
ii) Technicai Description - refers to the lot number, plan number, location, bearings, 
distances, comer description, metes and bounds, and area of a certain parcel of 
land.
jj) Text-based database - refers to the encoded data stored in the database.
kk) Transcription — refers to the entry in the EPEB-RL by the Register of Deeds of the 
original certificate of title duly numbered, dated, signed and sealed, and issued 
pursuant to a decree of registration, patent, award or grant.
II) Unregistered Lands- all lands which are not yet covered by Torrens System.
CHAPTER II
CREATION OF THE COMMISSION AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE
SEC. 4. Renaming of the LRA. -The Land Registration Authority is hereby 
renamed as the Property Registration and Adjudication Commission (PRAC). The PRAC 
shall be attached to the Department of Justice solely for program and policy 
coordination.
SEC. 5. Creation of the Commission; its composition. -There is hereby 
created a Commission to be composed of a chairman and Four (4) commissioners, who 
shall be appointed by the President. The Chairman and the Commissioners shall hold


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office during good behavior until they reach the age of sixty-five (65) years, unless 
sooner removed for cause as provided by law or become incapacitated to discharge the 
duties of their office.
The Chairman and the Commissioners shall be member of the Philippine Bar and 
must have been engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least fifteen 
(15) years. They shall have the same rank, salary, privileges and benefits as that of the 
presiding justice of the Court of Appeals.
The organizational structure and staffing pattern of the Commission, the Office 
of the Provincial/City Land Adjudicator and the Office of the Register of Deeds shall be 
formulated by the Commission, subject to the approval of the Department of Budget 
and Management (DBM) in accordance with Executive Order No. 292, otherwise known 
as the "Administrative Code of 1987".
SEC. 6. Powers and Functions of the Commission. - The Commission shall 
have the following powers and functions:
a) To serve as the policy-making body to effectuate the provisions of this Act;
b) To conduct, integrate and regulate the functions of geodetic and geophysical 
surveys, land classification surveys, mapping, aerial photography, remote 
sensing, management of resource information needed by both public and 
private sectors, and research development thereof in accordance with 
existing laws and Internationally accepted norms, procedures, and 
standards;
c) To survey, map and maintain data base to support the determination of 
specific limits of forest lands and national parks by Congress as provided 
under Section 4, Article XII of the Constitution;
d) To survey, map maintain database on, administer, manage and/or dispose 
of all alienable and disposable lands of the public domain and other lands, 
including foreshore and marsh lands, under the provisions of 
Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, otherwise known as the Public 
Land Act, and in accordance with existing laws;
e) To manage, sell, and/or dispose the remaining Friar Lands under the 
provisions of Act No. 1120, as amended, and in accordance with existing 
laws;
f) To manage and dispose lands of patrimonial property of the National 
Government under the provisions of Act No. 3038, or such other 
Government lands as have not been placed under the administration, 
management, control or exclusive use of any other government agency by 
legislative or executive issuance;
g) To register original titles to land issued pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 
141 and subsequent dealings of registered lands under the provisions of Act


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No. 496 and Presidential Decree No. 1529,. otherwise known as the Land 
Registration Act and the Property Registration Decree, respectively;
h) To conduct, regulate and approve all types of land surveys. Including 
surveys Intended for the implementation of Commonwealth Act. No. 141, 
Republic Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), 
Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) 
and Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act 
(UDHA);
i) To prepare, issue, and register all titles to land issued pursuant to 
Commonwealth Act No. 141 and subsequent dealings of registered lands, 
including all types of tenure Instrument intended for the implementation of 
the CARL, UDHA and IPRA;
j) To determine, fix, and collect reasonable amounts to be charged as 
administrative fees, fines and penalties relative to the implementation of this 
Act;
k) To extend speedy and effective assistance to all stakeholders (private and 
public entities) in the implementation of the provisions of this law;
l) To be the central repository of records relative to original and subsequent 
registration of lands titled under the Torrens system, including all kinds of 
plans previously approved by the DENR-LMB, NCIP, Land Registration 
Authority, and their corresponding Technical Descriptions, and as such, be 
the sole administrator of the central database thereof;
m) To promulgate rules and regulations governing the hearing and disposition 
of cases before it and its adjudicators, as well as those necessary to carry 
out Its functions;
n) To exercise appellate jurisdiction on resolutions Issued by its adjudicators;
o) To hold any person in contempt, directly or indirectly, and impose 
appropriate penalties therefore in accordance with law.
Any person committing any act of misbehavior in the presence of or so near 
any member of the Commission or any adjudicator as to obstruct or interrupt 
the proceedings before the same, including disrespect toward said officials, 
offensive acts toward others, or refusal to be sworn or to answer as a 
witness or to subscribe an affidavit or deposition when lawfully required to 
do so, may summarily adjudged guilty of direct contempt by said officials 
and shall be punished by a fine riot exceeding Ten (10) thousand pesos or 
imprisonment not exceeding five (5) days or both if it be committed against 
the Commission or any member thereof. If the offense is committed against 
an adjudicator, it shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding Five (5) 
thousand pesos or Imprisonment not exceeding three (3) days or both.
The person adjudged In direct contempt by the adjudicator may appeal to 
the Commission and the execution of the judgment shall be suspended


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pending the resolution of the appeal upon the filing by. such person of a 
bond on condition that he/she will abide by and perform the judgment of 
the Commission should the appeal be decided against him/her. Judgment of 
the Commission on direct contempt is immediately executory and 
unappealable. Indirect contempt shali be dealt with by the Commission or 
adjudicator in the manner prescribed under Rule 71 of the Revised Rules of 
Court.
p) To enjoin or restrain, after due notice and hearing, any actual or threatened 
commission of any or all prohibited or unlawful acts or to require the 
performance of a particular act in any dispute within its jurisdiction which, 
if not restrained or performed forthwith, may cause grave or irreparable 
damage to any party or render ineffectual any decision in favor of such 
party. In no case shali a temporary or permanent injunction be issued except 
after a finding of fact by the Commission to the effect that;
1) Prohibited or unlawful acts have been threatened and will be committed 
and wili be continued unless restrained. But no injunction or temporary 
restraining order shall be issued on account of any threat, prohibited or 
unlawful act, except against the person or persons, association or 
organization making the threat or committing the prohibited or unlawful 
act or actually authorizing or ratifying the same after actual knowledge 
thereof;
2) Substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will follow;
3) As to each item of relief to be granted, greater injury wiil be inflicted 
upon complainant by the denial of relief that will be inflicted upon 
defendants by the granting of relief;
4) Complainant has no adequate remedy at law, and
5) Public officers charged with the duty to protect complainant's property 
are unable or unwilling to furnish adequate protection.
q) To exercise such other powers as are implied, necessary, or incidental to 
carry out the express powers granted to the Commission.
SEC. 7. Creation of the Office of the Provincial or City Land Adjudicator.
-There is hereby created in each locality where there is the Office of the Register of 
Deeds, the Office of the Provincial or City Land Adjudicator.
The Land Adjudicator shall be a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines 
and engaged in the practice of law for at least ten (10) years. He shall have the same 
rank, salary and privileges and benefits as that of the judges of Regional Trial Court.


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SEC. 8. Jurisdiction of the Land Adjudicator. - The Office of the Provincial 
or City Land Adjudicator shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over the following:
a Petitions for correction, amendment, alteration, and revision of entries in 
certificates of title on any of the grounds provided under section 108 of P.D no. 
1529;
b Petitions questioning the validity of subdivision and consolidation plans approved 
by the PRAC pursuant to Section 6 (f) of PD No. 1529, as well as similar plans 
approved by the Director of Land Management Bureau;
c Petitions for replacement of lost or destroyed owner's duplicate certificate of title 
under Section 109 of PD No. 1529;
d Petitions for reconstitution of lost or destroyed original or registry copies of 
certificate of title.
e Disputes involving title to or possession of real properties, whose jurisdiction is 
hereby transferred from the regular courts to the Office of the Provincial or City 
Land Adjudicator where the subject real property is located. Provided, That 
disputes involving ancestral land or ancestral domain shall remain within the 
jurisdiction of the NCIP pursuant to Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous 
Peoples' Rights Act of 1997;
f Ordinary registration proceedings and cadastral registration proceedings under 
Presidential Decree No. 1529, whose jurisdiction is hereby transferred from the 
regular courts to the Office of the Provincial or City Land Adjudicator where the 
subject real property is located.
SEC. 9. Subpoena and Contempt Powers. - The Office of the Provincial or 
City Land Adjudicator shall have the power to issue subpoena duces tecum and 
subpoena ad testificandum in the conduct of its proceedings. Failure to comply with 
the subpoena shall constitute a direct contempt and shall be dealt with in accordance 
with Section 5, Par. d of this Act.
SEC. 10. Appeais. - Decisions, awards or orders of the Provincial or City Land 
Adjudicator shall be final and executory unless appealed to the Commission within 
fifteen (15) days from receipt of such decisions, awards or orders.
The decision of the Commission on appeals from the Provincial or City Land 
Adjudicator may be brought upon to the Court of Appeals in accordance with Rule 65 
of the Rules of Court.
SEC. 11. Execution ofDecisions/ Orders or Awards. - The Commission or 
any Provincial or City Land Adjudicator may, motu proprio, or on motion of any 
interested party and under such rules as may be duly promulgated. Issue a writ of 
execution on an order, award or judgment within five (5) years from the date It 
becomes final and executory, and by Independent action for the enforcement of the


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order, award or decision filed with the branch .of the Provincial or City Land Adjudicator 
who issued the order, award or decision.
The Commission shall appoint a Sheriff or such number of Sheriffs, in accordance 
with the provisions of the civil service laws, rules and regulations, who shall be 
responsible for the service and execution of all writs, summonses, and orders and other 
processes of the Commission.
The Commission may designate special sheriffs and take any measure under 
existing laws to ensure compliance with their decisions, orders or awards.
SEC. 12. Transfer of Functions, Records and Assets. - The functions of 
the LMB-DENR and DAR on surveying, mapping, issuance of patents and related works 
are hereby transferred and consolidated under the Property Registration and 
Adjudication Commission. The DENR and DAR shall reconstitute the staffing patterns 
of the affected functions and maintain personnel only as may be necessary to carry out 
its other functions;
SEC. 13. Assistance to NCIP. - In coordination with the NCIP, the 
Commission shall formulate a special program to assist the NCIP in attaining its targets 
for the issuance of certificate of ancestral land/domain title and its subsequent 
registration to the Register of Deeds.
SEC. 14. Transition Period. - All transfer of functions, assets, funds, 
equipment, properties, transactions and personnel in the affected national government 
agencies and the formulation and implementation of the internal organic structures, 
staffing patterns, operations systems of the Commission, shall be completed within six 
(6) months from the effectivity of this Act, during which existing personnel shall 
continue to assume their posts in holdover capacities until new appointments are 
issued. Accordingly, all related transactions of the effected agencies pending upon the 
effectivity of this Act and filed during the transition period shall continue to be acted 
upon by the incumbents until the rules and regulations as provided under this Act shall 
have been in force.
SEC. 15. Absorption or Separation from Service of Affected Empioyees.
-The existing employees of DENR and DAR who will be affected by the reorganization 
shall enjoy security of tenure and shall be absorbed by the PRAC in accordance with its 
staffing patterns and the selection process as prescribed under Republic Act No. 6656, 
otherwise known as the "Government Reorganization Law".
Employees opting to be separated from the. service as a consequence of the 
consolidation and reconstitution under the provisions of this Act shali, within one (1) 
month from their separation benefits in accordance with existing laws. In addition.
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those who are qualified to retire shall be allowed to retire and be entitled to all benefits 
provided under any of the existing retirement laws.
SEC. 16. Development of State-of-the-Art Computer System. - The
Commission is hereby authorized, for a period of five (5) years from the effectivity of 
this Act, to automatically retain 50% of all revenues derived from collection of 
registration fees, charges and other sources for capital outlay for Infrastructure, 
procurement of equipment and services related to the development, updating and 
maintenance of State-of-the-art computer land Information and data base system;
SEC. 17. Office of the Registers of Deeds and Deputy Registers of 
Deeds and their qualifications. - There shall be at least one Registrar of Deeds and 
one Deputy Registrar of Deeds for each province and city. An additional Deputy 
Registrar of Deeds shall be provided depending upon the volume of transactions in the 
Registry. For Medium Demand Registry one (1) Deputy Register of Deeds, for High 
Demand Registry two (2) Deputy Register of Deeds and for Very High Demand Registry 
three (3) Deputy Register of Deeds, shall be provided.
The Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial jurisdiction 
of each Registry upon the recommendation of the Commission, with the end in view of 
making every Registry easily accessible to the people of the neighboring municipalities.
The province or city shall furnish a suitable space or building for the office of the 
Register of Deeds until such time as the same could be furnished out of national funds.
Registers of Deeds shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon 
recommendation of the Secretary of Justice. Deputy Registers of Deeds and all other 
subordinate personnel of the Registries of Deeds shall be appointed by the Chairman 
of the Commission.
No person shall be appointed Register of Deeds unless he has been admitted to 
the practice of law In the Philippines and shall have been actually engaged In such 
practice for at least three (3) years or has been employed for a like period in any branch 
of government the functions of which include the registration of property. He shall have 
the same rank, salary and privileges and benefits as that of the judges of Metropolitan 
Trial Court.
The Deputy Register of Deeds shall be a member of the Philippine Bar. He shall 
have the same rank, salary and privileges and benefits as that of the judges of Municipal 
Trial Court. Provided, however, that no Register of Deeds or Deputy Register of Deeds 
holding office as such upon the passage of this Act shall, by reason hereof, be removed 
from office or be demoted to a lower category or scale of salary except for cause and 
upon compliance with due process as provided for by law.
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SEC. 18. Genera! Functions of Registers of Deeds. - The office of the 
Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of records of instruments affecting 
registered or unregistered lands and chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein 
such office is situated.
It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to immediately register an 
instrument presented for registration dealing with real or personal property that 
complies with all the formal and legal requisites for registration. If the instrument is 
not registrable, he shall forthwith deny registration thereof and inform the presenter of 
such denial in writing, stating the ground or reason therefor, and advising him of his 
right to appeal by consulta in accordance with Section 134 of this Act.
In case a registrable instrument cannot be registered for some other reasons, 
he shall likewise forthwith inform the presenter in writing stating the reasons therefor. 
Nonetheless, it shall be the duty of the Registrar of Deeds concerned to undertake the 
necessary steps to resolve the matter/issue the soonest.
Unless ordered by the court for cause shown, certificates of titles, survey plans, 
deeds, instruments, orders, and other papers in connection with, or relative to, any 
title, interest, or right in real or personal property; primary entry books, registration 
books, and other books where records and annotations are made shall not be removed 
from the register of deeds. (10a)
SEC. 19. Discharge of Duties of Register of Deeds in case of vacancy,
etc. -
(1) Until a regular Register of Deeds shall have been appointed for a province or 
city, or in case of vacancy in the office, or upon the occasion of the absence, illness, 
suspension, or inability of the Register of Deeds to discharge his duties, said duties 
shall be performed by any of the following:
(a) For the province or city where there is a Deputy Register of Deeds, by said 
Deputy Register of Deeds, or by the second Deputy Register of Deeds, 
should there be one;
(b) For the province or city where there is no Deputy or second Deputy Register 
of Deeds, the Administrator shall designate an officer-in-charge from among 
the qualified personnel of the Registry concerned as may be determined by 
him;
(2) In case of absence, disability or suspension of the Register of Deeds without 
pay, or in case of vacancy in the position. Administrator may, in his discretion, authorize 
the payment of an additional compensation to the official acting as Officer-In-Charge, 
such additional compensation together with his actual salary not to exceed the salary 
authorized for the position thus filled by him.
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(3) In case of a newly-created province or city and pending establishment of a 
Registry of Deeds and the appointment of a regular Register of Deeds for the new 
province or city, the Register of Deeds of the mother province or city shall be the ex- 
officio Register of Deeds for said new province or city.
SEC. 20. Owner's Index; Reports. - There shall be prepared in every 
Registry a computerized index system providing for a list of the names of all registered 
owners alphabetically arranged and all lands registered in their names, the title 
numbers and all other co-owners, if any.
CHAPTER III
ORIGINAL REGISTRATION 
I. ORDINARY REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS 
A. APPLICATIONS
SEC. 21. Who may apply. - The following persons may file in the Office of 
the Provincial or City Land Adjudicator where the property is located 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 at the time the application for 
registration of title Is filed, under a bona fide claim of ownership for at least thirty 
(30) years immediately preceding the filing of the application for registration of title 
of lands of the public domain which has been declared alienable and disposable at 
the time the application for registration of title is filed.
(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 river 
beds 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 expires during the pendency of the registration proceedings
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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.
SEC. 22. Form and contents. - The application for land registration shall be 
in writing, signed by the applicant or the person duly authorized in his behalf, and 
sworn to before any officer authorized to administer oaths for the province or city where 
the application was actually signed. If there is more than one applicant, the application 
shall be signed and sworn to by and in behalf of each. The application shall contain a 
description of the land and shall state the citizenship and civil status of the applicant, 
whether single or married, and, if married, the name of the wife or husband, and, if 
the marriage has been legally dissolved, when and how the marriage relation 
terminated. It shall also state the full names and addresses of all occupants of the land 
and those of the adjoining owners, if known, and, if not known, it shall state the extent 
of the search made to find them.
The application, shall, in form, be substantially as follows:
Republic of the Philippines 
Office of the Provincial/City Land Adjudicator of.
The undersigned.
hereby applies (or apply) to have the land hereinafter described brought 
under the operation of the Property Registration Act, and to have the title 
thereto registered and confirmed:
AND DECLARE
1. That the applicant/s is/are the owners of the land (by virtue of 
inheritance or deed of sale or conveyance and/or possession in 
accordance with Section 21 of said Act, together with the building and 
improvements thereon, with the exception of the
following:__________________ l__________________________
which is/are the 
property of
_______________________ residing 
at
The said land, consisting of
__________________ parcel/s is/are situated, bounded and described
as shown on the plan and technical descriptions attached hereto and 
made a part hereof, with the following 
exception:__________:_________ ________________________ _—
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2. That said land at the last assessment for taxation was assessed
at P___ , Philippine currency, and the buildings and other improvements
at P__________ , Philippine currency.
3. That to the best of my/our knowledge and belief, there is no
mortgage or encumbrance of any kind whatsoever affecting said land, 
nor any other person having any interest therein, legal or equitable, or in 
possession, 
other 
than 
as 
follows:
4. That the applicant/s has/have acquired said iand in the foiiowing
manner:__________________________
(Note: Refer to Sec. 17 of said Act. State aiso whether the property 
is conjugal, paraphernal or exclusive property of the applicant/s)
5. That said land is occupied by the foiiowing person:
6. That the names in full and addresses, as far as known to the 
undersigned, of the owners of all adjoining properties, of the persons 
mentioned in paragraphs 3 and 5, and of the persons shown on the plan 
as claimants, are as follows:
7. That the
applicant/s is/are single or married to 
(Note: if marriage has been legally dissolved.
state when and how the marriage relation terminated.)
8. That the applicant's/s' full name, age, citizenship, residence, and 
postal address/es is/are as follows:
9. That (Note: If the land included in the application is bounded by 
a public or private way or road, there should be rtated in this paragraph 
whether or not the applicant claims any and what land within the limits 
of the way or road and whether the applicant desires to have the line of
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the
way
or
road
determined.)
10. That the following documents are attached hereto and made a 
part hereof:____________________ __________________ ■
Signed at.
this.
day of.
j in
the year twenty hundred and
Applicant
(Post Office Address)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
PROVINCE (OR CITY) OF_________
On this ___  day of
appeared before me
20
personally
named
the above-
_____________________________ known to me to be the person/s
who executed the foregoing application and made oath that the 
statements therein are true of his/their knowledge, information and 
belief.
The Community Tax Certificate/s_________________ of
the applicant/s_____________was/were exhibited to me being No.
_______________  issued at __________________ dated
.20____ .
(Notary Public, or other Officer 
Authorized to Administer oaths} 
PTR No.______
SEC. 23. Non-resident applicant. - If the applicant is not a resident of the 
Philippines, he shall file with his application an instrument in due form appointing an 
agent or representative residing in the Philippines, giving his full name and postal 
address, and shall therein agree that the service of any legal process in the proceedings 
under or growing out of the application made upon his agent or representative shall be 
of the same legal effect as if made upon the applicant within the Philippines. If the 
agent or representative dies, or leaves the Philippines, the applicant shall forthwith 
make another appointment for the substitute, and, if he fails to do so the court may 
dismiss the application.
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SEC. 24. What and where to /7/e.-The application for land registration shall 
be filed with the Office of the Provinciai or City Land Adjudicator of the province or city 
where the land is situated. The appiication shail be accompanied by the following:
a. The original plan in tracing doth or sepia copy duly approved by the chief, 
surveys division, department of registration, PRAC;
b. The original copy of the technical descriptions certified by the chief, surveys 
division, PRAC or the official so authorized;
c. The original copy of the geodetic engineer's certificate or, in lieu thereof, a 
certification from the chief, surveys division, PRAC as to its non-availability;
d. The official certification from the Community Environment and Natural 
Resources Office (CENRO) or Provincial Environment and Natural Resources 
Office (PENRO) certifying that the land has already been declared as alienable 
and disposable;
e. Copy of the latest tax declaration duly certified by the provincial, city or municipal 
assessor;
f. All original muniments of title of the applicant which prove his ownership of the 
land. This requirement is not mandatory as long as the documents can be 
produced before the court during the hearing whenever required or necessary.
The clerk of the Office of Provincial or City Land Adjudicator shall not accept any 
application unless it is shown that the applicant has furnished the Commission with a 
copy of the application and all annexes.
SEC. 25. Application covering two or more parcels. - An application may 
include two or more parcels of land belonging to the applicant/s provided they are 
situated within the same province or city. The land adjudicator may at any time order 
an application to be amended by striking out one or more of the parcels or by a 
severance of the application.
SEC. 26. Amendments. - Amendments to the application including joinder, 
substitution, or discontinuance as to parties may be allowed by the land adjudicator at 
any stage of the proceedings upon just and reasonable terms.
Amendments which shall consist in a substantial change in the boundaries or an 
increase in area of the land applied for or which involve the inclusion of an additional 
land shall be subject to the same requirements of publication and notice as in an original 
application.
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SEC. 27. When land applied for borders on road. - If the application 
describes the land as bounded by a public or private way or road, it shall state whether 
or not the applicant claims any and what portion of the land within the limits of the 
way or road, and whether the applicant desires to have the line of the way or road 
determined.
SEC. 28. Requirement of additional facts and papers; ocular inspection.
- The land adjudicator may require facts to be stated in the application in addition to 
those prescribed by this Act not inconsistent therewith and may require the fiiing of 
any additional paper. It may also conduct an ocular inspection, if necessary.
SEC. 29. Dealings with land pending original registration. - After the 
filing of the application and before the issuance of the decree of registration, the land 
therein described may still be the subject of dealings in whole or in part, in which case 
the interested party shall present to the land adjudicator the pertinent instruments 
together with a subdivision plan approved by the Director of Registration, PRAC in case 
of transfer of portions thereof and the land adjudicator, after notice to the parties, shall 
order such land registered subject to the conveyance or encumbrance created by said 
instruments, or order that the Act of registration be issued in the name of the person 
to whom the property has been conveyed by said instruments.
B. PUBLICATION, OPPOSITION AND DEFAULT
SEC. 30. Notice of initial hearing, publication, etc. - The land adjudicator 
shall, within five days from filing of the application, issue an order setting the date and 
hour of the initial hearing which shall not be earlier than thirty (30) days nor later than 
forty-five (45) days from the date of the order.
The public shall be given notice of the initial hearing of the application for land 
registration by means of (1) publication; (2) mailing; and (3) posting.
1. By publication. -
The land adjudicator shall cause a notice of initial hearing to be published once 
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines: Provided, however, that the 
publication in the newspaper shall be preserved by the office of the provincial/city land 
adjudicator through digital form. Said notice shall be addressed to all persons appearing 
to have an interest in the land involved including the adjoining owners so far as known, 
and "to all whom it may concern". Said notice shall also require all persons concerried 
to appear at a certain date and time to show cause why the prayer of said application 
shall not be granted.
2. By mailing. -
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(a) Mailing of notice to persons named in the application. - The land adjudicator 
shall also, within seven-days after publication of said notice, as hereinbefore provided, 
cause a copy of the notice of initial hearing to be mailed to every person named in the 
notice whose address is known or through any other means authorized by law.
(b) Mailing of notice to the Secretary of Public Highways, the Provincial Governor 
and the Mayor. - If the applicant requests to have the line of a public way or road 
determined, the land adjudicator shall cause a copy of said notice of initial hearing to 
be mailed to the Secretary of Public Highways, to the Provincial Governor, and to the 
Mayor of the municipality or city, as the case may be, in which the land lies.
(c) Mailing of notice to the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, the Solicitor General, 
the Director of Public Works, the Director of Forest Development, the Director of Mines 
and the Director of Rsheries and Aquatic Resources. - If the land borders on a river, 
navigable stream or shore, or on an arm of the sea where a river or harbor line has 
been established, or on a lake, or if it otherwise appears from the application or the 
proceedings that a tenant-farmer or the national government may have a claim adverse 
to that of the applicant, notice of the initial hearing shall be given in the same manner 
to the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, the Solicitor General, the Director of Mines and/or 
the Director of Rsheries and Aquatic Resources, as may be appropriate.
3. By posting. -
The land adjudicator shall also cause a duly attested copy of the notice of Initial 
hearing to be posted by the sheriff of the province or city, as the case may be, or by 
his deputy, in a conspicuous place on each parcel of land Included in the application 
and also in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the municipal building of the 
municipality or city in which the land or portion thereof is situated, fourteen days at 
least before the date of initial hearing.
The land adjudicator may also cause notice to be served to such other persons 
and in such manner as it may deem proper.(23a)
The notice of initial hearing shall, in form, be substantially as follows:
(Caption and Title)
NOTICE OF INITIAL HEARING
To (here Insert the names of all persons appearing to have an 
interest and the adjoining owners so far as known, and to all whom it 
may concern):
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An application (or petition) having been filed In the above-entitled 
case by (full name and address) praying for the registration and 
confirmation (or for the settlement and adjudication, in case of petition 
in cadastral proceedings) of title to the following described lands:
(Insert description)
You are hereby served this notice to appear before this Office at
its session to be held at_______________ on the_____________
day of.
. 19
at,
o'clock In the
___  
. then and there to present such claims as you may have to
said lands or any portion thereof, and to submit evidence in support of 
such claim; and unless you appear at said Office at the time and place 
aforesaid, your default will be recorded and the title to the lands will be 
adjudicated and determined in accordance with law and the evidence 
before the Office, and thereafter you will forever be barred from 
contesting said application (or petition) or any decree entered thereon.
Witness, the Hon.
Land Adjudicator of____
in the year 20___ .
Provincial/City
this
day of.
Attested:
PROV./Cnr LAND ADJUDICATOR
SEC. 31. Proof of publication and notice. - The certification of the sheriff 
concerned to the effect that the notice of initial hearing, as required by law, has been 
complied with shall be filed In the case before the date of Initial hearing, and shall be 
conclusive proof of such fact.
SEC. 32. Opposition to application in ordinary proceedings. - Any person 
claiming an interest, whether named in the notice or not, may appear and file an 
opposition on or before the date of initial hearing, or within such further time as may 
be allowed by the land adjudicator. The opposition shall state all the objections to the 
application and shall set forth the Interert claimed by the party filing the same and 
apply for the remedy desired, and shall be signed and sworn to by him or by some 
other duly authorized person.
If the opposition or the adverse claim of any person covers only a portion of the 
lot and said portion is not properly delimited on the plan attached to the application, 
or in case of undivided co-ownership, conflicting claims of ownership or possession, or 
overlapping of boundaries, the office may require the parties to submit a subdivision 
plan duly approved by the Chief, Surveys Division, PRAC.
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SEC. 33. Order of default; effect. - If no person appears and answers within 
the time allowed, the land adjudicator shall, upon motion of the applicant, no reason 
to the contrary appearing, order a default to be recorded and require the applicant to 
present evidence. By the description In the notice 'To all Whom It May Concern", all 
the world are made parties defendant and shall be concluded by the default order.
Where an appearance has been entered and an answer filed, a default order 
shall be entered against persons who did not appear and answer.
C. HEARING, JUDGMENT AND ISSUANCE OF 
ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE
SEC. 34. Speedy hearing; reference to a referee. - The land adjudicator 
shall see to it that all registration proceedings are disposed of within ninety days from 
the date the case is submitted for decision.
SEC. 35. Partial judgment. - In a case where only a portion of the land 
subject of registration is contested, the land adjudicator may render partial judgment 
provided that a duly approved subdivision plan showing the contested and uncontested 
portions is previously submitted to said office.
SEC. 36. Judgment confirming title. - All conflicting claims of ownership and 
interest in the land subject of the application shall be determined by the land 
adjudicator. If the land adjudicator, after considering the evidence, finds that the 
applicant or the oppositor has sufficient title proper for registration, judgment shall be 
rendered confirming the title of the applicant, or the oppositor, to the land or portions 
thereof.
SEC. 37. When judgment becomes final; duty to cause issuance of OCT. 
- The judgment rendered in a land registration proceedings becomes final upon the 
expiration of fifteen (15) days to be counted from the date of receipt of notice of the 
judgment by all the parties.
After judgment confirming title has become final and executory, the Land 
Adjudicator shall, motu propio, and without need of filing of a motion, issue an order 
in accordance with Section 47 of this Act directing the issuance of the corresponding 
certificate of title in favor of the person adjudged and entitied to registration.
SEC. 38. Original Certificate of Title. - Every OCT issued by the Commission 
shall bear the date, hour and minute of its entry, and shall be signed by Chairman. It 
shall state whether the owner is married or unmarried, and if married, the name and 
citizenship of the spouse. If the owner is under disability, it shall state the nature of
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disability, and if a minor, his age. It shall contain a complete technical description of 
the land as finally determined by the land adjudicator, and shall set forth the estate of 
the owner, and also, in such manner as to show their relative priorities, all particular 
estates, mortgages, easements, liens, attachments, and other encumbrances, including 
rights of tenant-farmers, if any, to which the land or owner's estate is subject, as well 
as any other matters properly to be determined in pursuance of this Act.
The OCT shall bind the land and quiet title thereto, subject only to such 
exceptions or liens as may be provided by law. It shall be conclusive upon and against 
all persons, including the National Government and all branches thereof, whether, 
mentioned by name in the application or notice, the same being included in the general 
description 'To all whom it may concern".
SEC. 39. Review of Order for issuance of OCT; Innocent purchaser for 
vaiue. -The OI-OCT shail not be reopened or revised by reason of absence, minority, 
or other disability of any person adversely affected thereby, nor by any proceeding for 
reversing judgments, subject, however, to the right of any person, including the 
government and the branches thereof, deprived of land or of any estate or interest 
therein by such adjudication or confirmation of title obtained by actual fraud, to file a 
petition for reopening and review of the OI-OCT not later than one year from and after 
the date of the entry of such OCT, but in no case shall such petition be entertained by 
the land adjudicator where an innocent purchaser for value has acquired the land or 
an interest therein, whose rights may be prejudiced. Whenever the phrase "innocent 
purchaser for value" or an equivalent phrase occurs in this Act, it shall be deemed to 
include an innocent lessee, mortgagee, or other encumbrances for value.
Once registered, the OCT and the certificate of title issued shall become 
incontrovertible. Any person aggrieved by such OCT in any case may pursue his remedy 
by action for damages against the applicant or any other persons responsible for the 
fraud.
SEC. 40. Appeai from judgment^ etc. -The judgment and orders of the land 
adjudicator hearing the land registration case are appealable to the Commission within 
fifteen (15) days from receipt of the said judgment or order.
SEC. 41. Ruies of procedure. - The Rules of Court shall, insofar as not 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be applicable to land registration and 
cadastral cases by analogy or in a suppletory character and whenever practicable and 
convenient.
I. CADASTRAL REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS
A. ORDER FOR SPEEDY SETTLEMENT AND ADJUDICATION; SURVEY;
NOTICES
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SEC. 42. Cadastral Survey preparatory to Wing of petition. - (a) The 
Commission is hereby mandated to conduct a comprehensive and continuing cadastral 
survey of the entire country, upon notice to the LGU concerned. To this end, it shall 
direct and order the Register of Deeds to cause to be made cadastral survey of the 
lands Involved and the plans and technical descriptions thereof prepared in due form.
(b) Thereupon, the Register of Deeds shall give notice to persons claiming any interest 
in the lands as well as to the general public, of the day on which such survey will begin, 
giving as fully and accurately as possible the description of the lands to be surveyed. 
Such notice shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation, and a copy 
of the notice in English or the national language shall be posted In a conspicuous place 
on the bulletin board of the municipal building of the municipality and in the Barangay 
where the lands or any portion thereof is situated. A copy of the notice shall also be 
sent to the mayor of such municipality as well as to the Barangay captain and likewise 
to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the Sangguniang Bayan concerned.
(c) The Geodetic Engineers or other employees of the PRAC in charge of the survey 
shall give notice reasonably in advance of the date on which the survey of any portion 
of such lands is to begin, which notice shall be posted In the bulletin board of the 
municipal building of the municipality or barrio in which the lands are situated, and 
shall mark the boundaries of the lands by monuments set up in proper places thereon. 
It shall be lawful for such Geodetic Engineers and other employees to enter upon the 
lands whenever necessary for the purposes of such survey or the placing of 
monuments. Relative thereto, the PRAC may call upon the assistance of the Philippine 
National Police or the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or of other law enforcement 
agencies to ensure the safety and security of PRAC Personnel and the parties concerned 
in the conduct of such survey.
(d) It shall be the duty of every person claiming an interest in the lands to be surveyed, 
or In any parcel thereof, to provide the Geodetic Engineer, upon the latter's request, 
all information possessed by such person concerning the boundary lines of any lands 
to which he claims title or in which he claims any interest, otherwise said persons shall 
be bound by the findings of the Geodetic Engineers.
(e) Any person who shall willfully obstruct the making of any survey undertaken by the 
PRAC or by a licensed Geodetic Engineer duly authorized to conduct the survey under 
this Section, or shall maliciously interfere with the placing of any monument or remove 
such monument, or shall destroy or remove any notice of survey posted on the land 
pursuant to law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred thousand 
pesos (P100,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) years, or both.
(f) The Register of Deeds, within thirty (30) days from the approval of the cadastral 
survey shall transmit to the Commission all the necessary documents needed for the
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filing of the appropriate cadastral proceedings as enumerated under Section 42 of this 
Act.
B. PETITION; LOT NUMBERS
SEC. 43. Petition for registration. - When the lands have been surveyed or 
plotted, the Commission, represented by the Solicitor General, shall institute the 
necessary petition within thirty (30) days after the approval of the survey by the 
concerned Register of Deeds in the Office of the Land/City Adjudicator of the place 
where the land is situated against the holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of 
such lands or any part thereof, stating in substance that public interest requires that 
the title to such lands be settled and adjudicated and praying that such titles be so 
settled and adjudicated. The application shall be accompanied by the following:
a. 
Boundary and Index Map in tracing cloth or sepia copy;
b. 
Technical Description of exterior boundaries;
c. 
Cadastral map in tracing cloth or sepia copy;
d. 
Lot descriptions in tracing cloth or sepia copy;
e. 
Numerical lists of survey lots;
f. 
Numerical and alphabetical lists of survey claimants;
g. 
Surveyor's / Geodetic Engineer's certificate.
The petition shall contain a description of the lands and shall be accompanied 
by a plan thereof, and may contain such other data as may serve to furnish full notice 
to the occupants of the lands and to all persons who may claim any right or interest 
therein.
Where the land consists of two or more parcels held or occupied by different 
persons, the plan shall indicate the boundaries or limits of the various parcels as 
accurately as possible. The parcels shall be known as "lots" and shall on the plan filed 
in the case be given separate numbers by the PRAC, which numbers shall be known as 
"PRAC lot numbers". The lots situated within each municipality shall, as far as 
practicable, be numbered consecutively beginning with number "one", and only one 
series of numbers shall be used for that purpose in each municipality. However in cities 
or town sites, a designation of the landholdings by blocks and lot numbers may be 
employed instead of the designation by cadastral lot numbers.
The cadastral number of a lot shall not be changed after final decision has been 
entered decreasing the registration thereof, except by order of the land adjudicator. 
Future subdivisions of any lot shall be designated by a letter or letters of the alphabet 
added to the cadastral number of the lot to which the respective subdivisions pertain. 
The letter with which a subdivision is designated shall be known as its "cadastral letter":
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Provided, however, that the subdivisions of cities or town sites may be designated by 
blocks and lot numbers.
C. ANSWER
SEC. 44. Answer to petition in cadastraiproceedings. - Any claimant in 
cadastral proceedings, whether named in the notice or not, shall appear before the 
land adjudicator by himself or by some other authorized person in his behalf, and shall 
file an answer on or before the date of initial hearing or within such further time as 
may be allowed by the said office. The answer shall be signed and sworn to by the 
claimant or by some other authorized person in his behalf, and shall state whether the 
claimant is married or unmarried, and if married, the name of the spouse and the date 
of marriage, his nationality, residence and postal address, and shall also contain:
(a) 
The age of the claimant;
(b) 
The cadastral number of the lot or lots claimed, as appearing on the plan 
prepared by the Register of Deeds, or the block and lot numbers, as the 
case may be;
(c) 
The name of the Barangay and municipality where the lots are situated;
(d) 
The names and addresses of the owners of the adjoining lots so far as 
known to the claimant;
(e) 
If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no express 
grant of the land by the government to him or to his predecessors-in- 
interest, the answer shall state the length of time he has held such 
possession and the manner in which it has been acquired, and shall also 
state the length of time, as far as known, during which the predecessors, 
if any, heid possession;
(f) 
If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the land, the answer 
shall fully set forth the interest claimed by him and the time and manner 
of his acquisition;
(g) 
If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value; and
(h) 
The encumbrances, if any, affecting the lots and the names of adverse 
claimants, as far as known.
SEC. 45. Ciaimant support mechanism. - The Commission shall hereby 
establish an appropriate claimant support mechanism, which shall assist the claimants 
in the preparation, and fiiing of their answers.
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D. HEARING; JUDGMENT; OCT
SEC. 46. Hearingf Judgment^ OCT. - The trial of the case may occur at any 
convenient place within the province in which the lands are situated and shall be 
conducted, and orders for default and confessions entered, in the same manner as in 
ordinary land registration proceedings and shall be governed by the same rules. Ali 
conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the land adjudicator and judgment rendered 
in favor of the persons entitled to the lands or to parts thereof and such judgment shall 
be the basis for issuance of original certificates of title in favor of said persons and shall 
have the same effect as certificates of title granted on application for registration of 
land under ordinary land registration proceedings.
Sec. 47. Previously Issued Decrees Not Registered and Lost or 
Destroyed Decrees. - If a decree was issued under either Act No. 496 or PD 1529, 
but was not registered in the Registration Book, there being sufficient proof of the 
issuance of said decree, the decreed owner, his heirs, and successors-in-interest, can 
file a Petition in the Office of the Provincial/City Land Adjudicator where the property 
is located, for an Order directing the registration of said decree in the Registration Book 
and for the issuance of the corresponding certificate of title.
In the event that a decree issued under Act No. 496 or PD 1529, is totally lost 
or destroyed, the person claiming to be the decreed owner or claiming rights from said 
decreed owner, shall file a petition before the said office, for an Order directing the re­
issuance of the lost or destroyed decree. If there is/are already valid and subsisting 
certificate(s) of title issued for portions of the land covered by the lost/destroyed 
decree, there arises a presumption that the lost/destroyed decree was validly issued 
and registered.
CHAPTER IV 
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE
SEC. 48. Preparation of Certificate ofTitie. - After the judgment directing 
the registration of title to land has become final, the land adjudicator shall, within fifteen 
days from entry of judgment, motu proprio, issue an order directing the Commission 
to issue the corresponding certificate of title. The clerk of the land adjudicator shall 
send, within fifteen days from entry of judgment, to the Commission certified copies of 
the judgment and of the order directing the issuance of the corresponding certificate 
of title, and a certificate stating that the decision has not been amended, reconsidered, 
nor appealed, and has become final. Thereupon, the Commission shall cause to be 
generated, the original and duplicate of the corresponding Original Certificate of Title 
which shall, in form, be faithful to the contents of the Judgment or Decision. For this 
purpose, one electronic copy of the OCT shall be stored in the archives of the PRAC
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Database, while the Original of the OCT shall be transmitted to the Register of Deeds 
concerned for registration and printing of the Owners Duplicate Copy in accordance 
with the Implementing Rules and Regulations to be issued by the PRAC. The approval 
by the Commission of the electronic image of the OCT shall carry with it the signature 
of the chairman of the Commission.
SEC. 49. Entry of Original Certificate of Title. - Upon receipt by the 
Register of Deeds of the original image of the Original Certificate of Title the same shall 
be entered in his record book and shall be numbered, dated, signed and sealed by the 
Register of Deeds with the seal of his office. Said certificate of title shall take effect 
upon the date of entry thereof.
SEC. 50. Owner's Duplicate Certificate of Title. - The owner's duplicate 
certificate of title shall be delivered to the registered owner or to his duly authorized 
representative. If two or more persons are registered owners, one owner's duplicate 
certificate may be issued for the whole land, or if the co-owners so desire, a separate 
duplicate may be issued to each of them in like form, but all outstanding certificates of 
title so issued shall be surrendered whenever the Register of Deeds shall register any 
subsequent voluntary transaction affecting the whole land or part thereof or any 
interest therein. The Register of Deeds shall note on each certificate of title a statement 
as to whom a copy thereof was issued.
SEC. 51. Electronic Registration Books. - The electronic image of the 
Original Certificate of Title shall be stored in the Database of the Registry of Deeds and 
this shall constitute the electronic registration book for titled properties.
SEC. 52. Transfer Certificate of Title. - The subsequent certificate of title 
that may be issued by the Register of Deeds pursuant to any voluntary or involuntary 
instrument relating to the same land shall be in like form, entitled 'Transfer Certificate 
of Title". The certificate shall show the number of the next previous certificate covering 
the same land and also the fact that it was originally registered, giving the record 
number, the number of the original certificate of title, and the volume and page of the 
registration book in which the latter is found.
SEC. 53. Statutory Hens affecting title. - Every registered owner receiving 
a certificate of title, and every subsequent purchaser of registered land taking a 
certificate of title for value and in good faith, shall hold the same free from all 
encumbrances except those noted in said certificate and any of the following 
encumbrances which may be subsisting, namely:
First. Liens, claims or rights arising or existing under the laws and Constitution 
of the Philippines which are not by law required to appear of record in the Registry of 
Deeds in order to be valid against subsequent purchasers or encumbrancers of record.
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Second. Unpaid real estate taxes levied and assessed within two years 
immediately preceding the acquisition of any right over the land by an innocent 
purchaser for value, without prejudice to the right of the government to collect taxes 
payable before that period from the delinquent taxpayer alone.
Third. Any public highway or private way established or recognized by law, or 
any government Irrigation canal or lateral thereof, if the certificate of title does not 
state that the boundaries of such highway or irrigation canal or lateral thereof have 
been determined.
Fourth. Any disposition of the property or limitation on the use thereof by virtue 
of, or pursuant to, RA 6657, or any other law or regulations on agrarian reform.
SEC. 54. Statement of Persona! Circumstances in the Certificate. -
Every certificate of title shall set forth the full names of all persons whose interests 
make up the full ownership in the whole land, including their civil status, and the names 
of their respective spouses, if married, as well as their citizenship, residence and postal 
address.
SEC. 55. Genera! Incidents of Registered Land. - Registered land shall be 
subject to such burdens and incidents as may arise by operation of law. Nothing 
contained in this Act shall in any way be construed to relieve registered land or the 
owners thereof from any rights incident to the relation of husband and wife, landlord 
and tenant, or from liability to attachment or levy on execution, or from liability to any 
lien of any description established by law on the land and the buildings thereon, or on 
the interest of the owner in such land or buildings, or to change the laws of descent, 
or the rights of partition between co-owners, or the right to take the same by eminent 
domain, or to relieve such land from liability to be recovered by an assignee in 
insolvency or trustee in bankruptcy under the laws relative to preferences, or to change 
or affect in any way other rights or liabilities created by law and applicable to 
unregistered land, except as otherwise provided in this Act.
SEC. 56. Registered Land not Subject to Prescriptions. - No title to 
registered land in derogation of the title of the registered owner shall be acquired by 
prescription or adverse possession.
SEC. 57. Certificate not Subject to Coitatera! Attack. - A certificate of title 
shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified, or canceled 
except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law.
SEC. 58. Spatting oftities. - A registered owner of several distinct parcels of 
land embraced in and covered by a certificate of title desiring in lieu thereof separate 
certificates, each containing one or more parcels, may file a written request for that 
purpose with the Register of Deeds concerned, and the latter, upon the surrender of
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the owner's duplicate, shall cancel it together with its original and issue in lieu thereof 
separate certificates as desired.
SEC. 59. Subdivision and Consoiidation Plans. - Any owner subdividing a 
tract of registered land whether or not it constitutes a subdivision project as defined 
and provided for under P.D. No. 957, shall file with the Commission a subdivision plan 
of such land on which the boundaries, streets, passageways or open spaces and 
waterways, if any, shall be distinctly and accurately delineated.
If a duly approved subdivision plan together with the approved technical 
descriptions and the corresponding owner's duplicate certificate of title Is presented for 
registration, the Register of Deeds shall, without requiring further court approval of 
said plan, register the same in accordance with the provisions of this Act: Provided, 
however, that the Register of Deeds shall annotate on the new certificate of title 
covering the street, passageway or open space, a memorandum to the effect that 
except by way of donation in favor of the national government, province, city or 
municipality, no portion of any street, passageway, waterway or open space so 
delineated on the plan shall be closed or altered by the registered owner without the 
approval of the land adjudicator of the province or city in which the land is situated.
A registered owner desiring to consolidate several lots, into one or more, 
requiring new technical descriptions, shall file with the Commission, a consolidation 
plan on which shall be shown the lots to be affected, as they were before, and as they 
will appear after the consolidation. Upon the surrender of the owner's duplicate 
certificates and the receipt of the duly approved consolidation plan, the Register of 
Deeds concerned shall cancel the corresponding certificates of title and issue a new 
one for the consolidated lots.
No changes, modifications, or amendments in the contents of any certificate of 
title, or of any plan, including the technical description therein, covering any real 
property registered under the Torrens system, nor order the cancellation of the said 
certificate of title and the issuance of a new one which would result in the enlargement 
of the area covered by the certificate of title.
CHAPTERV
SUBSEQUENT REGISTRATION 
I. VOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH REGISTERED LANDS 
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 60. 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 exiting laws. He may use such forms of deeds, 
mortgages, leases or other voluntary instruments as are sufficient in law. But no deed.
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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 Act, the registration 
shall be made In the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the 
land lies.
SEC. 61. 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 
ail persons from the time of such registering, fiiing or entering. (52)
SEC. 62. Presentation of Owner’s Duplicate upon Entry of New 
Certificate. - No voluntary instrument shall be registered by the Register of Deeds, 
unless the owner's duplicate certificate is presented with such instrument, except in 
cases expressly provided for in this Act, or upon order of the court, for cause shown.
The production of the owner's duplicate certificate, whenever any voluntary 
Instrument is presented for registration, shall be conclusive authority from the 
registered owner to the Register of Deeds to enter a new certificate or to make a 
memorandum of registration in accordance with such instrument, and the new 
certificate or memorandum shali be binding upon the registered owner and upon all 
persons claiming under him, in favor of every purchaser for value and in good faith.
In aii cases of registration procured by fraud, the owner may pursue all his legal 
and equitable remedies against the parties to such fraud without prejudice, however, 
to the rights of any innocent holder for value of a certificate of title. After the 
registration of the Original Certificate of Title, any subsequent registration procured by 
the presentation of a forged duplicate certificate of title, or a forged deed or other 
instrument, shall be null and void.
For this purpose, it shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to confiscate 
patently fake certificate of titles for proper disposition through the Commission.
SEC. 63. Dealings Less Than Ownership, How Registered. - No new 
certificate shall be entered or issued pursuant to any instrument which does not divest 
the ownership or title from the owner or from the transferee of the registered owners. 
All interests in registered land less than ownership shall be registered by filing with the 
Register of Deeds the instrument together with the owner's duplicate which creates or 
transfers or claims such interests and by a brief memorandum thereof made by the
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Register of Deeds upon the certificate of title, and signed by him. A similar 
memorandum shall also be made on the , owner's duplicate. The cancellation or 
extinguishment of such interests shall be registered in the same manner.
SEC. 64. Grantee's Name, Nationality, etc., to be Stated. - Every deed or 
other voluntary instrument presented for registration shall contain or have endorsed 
upon it the full name, nationality, residence and postal address of the grantee or other 
person acquiring or claiming an interest under such instrument, and every deed shall 
also state whether the grantee is married or unmarried, and if married, the name in 
full of the husband or wife, any change in civil status appearing in the title may be done 
administratively by filing a verified petition before the office of the register of deeds, 
subject to the rules and regulations to be promulgated hereunder. If the grantee is a 
corporation or association, the instrument must contain a recital to show that such 
corporation or association is legally qualified to acquire private lands. Any change in 
the name of the corporation or association shall be done by filing with the Register of 
Deeds a verified petition together with the amended Articles of Incorporation duly 
approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, subject to the rules and 
regulations to be promulgated hereunder.
Any change in the residence or postal address of such person shall be annotated 
by the Register of Deeds on the original copy of the corresponding certificate of title, 
upon receiving a sworn statement of such change. All names and addresses shall also 
be entered on all certificates.
Notices and processes issued in relation to registered land in pursuance of this 
Act may be served upon any person in interest by mailing the same to the addresses 
given, and shall be binding, whether such person resides within or without the 
Philippines, but the court may, in its discretion, require further or other notice to be 
given in any case, if in its opinion the interest of justice so requires.
SEC. 65. Primary Entry Book or Electronic Data Entry; Entry and 
Registration Fees and AH Other Fees Mandated by this Act; Certified Copies. 
- Each Register of Deeds shall keep an electronic primary entry book in which, upon 
payment of the entry fee, he shall enter, in the order of their reception, all instruments 
including copies of writs and processes filed with him relating to registered land. 
However, before actual entry can be made, the documents shall be pre-examined by a 
registration information officer, to determine if the same could be entered in the 
Primary Entry Book. He shall, as a preliminary process in registration, note in such book 
the date, hour and minute of reception of all instruments, in the order in which they 
were received. They shall be regarded as registered from the time so noted, and the 
memorandum of each instrument, when made on the certificate of title to which it 
refers, shall bear the same date: Provided, that the national government as well as the 
provincial and city governments shall be exempt from the payment of such fees in 
advance in order to be entitled to entry and registration.
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Every deed or other instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, so filed with 
the Register of Deeds shall be electronically numbered and indexed and endorsed with 
a reference to the proper certificate of title. All records and papers relative to registered 
land in the office of the Register of Deeds shall be open to the public in the same 
manner as court records, subject to such reasonable regulations as the Register of 
Deeds, under the direction of the Commission may prescribe.
All deeds and voluntary instruments shall be presented with their respective 
copies and shall be attested and sealed by the Register of Deeds, endorsed with the 
file number, and copies thereof may be provided the person presenting them OR his 
duly authorized representative, if the latter presents a letter of authority executed by 
the former, and a copy of their respective valid Identification cards.
Certified copies of all instruments filed and registered may also be obtained from 
the Register of Deeds upon payment of the prescribed fees.
(A) CONVEYANCES AND TRANSFERS
SEC. 66. Procedure in Registration of Conveyances. - An owner desiring 
to convey his registered land in fee simple shall execute in triplicate copies and register 
a deed of conveyance in a form provided herein. The Register of Deeds shall thereafter 
make out in the registration book a new certificate of title to the grantee and shall 
prepare and deliver to him an owner's duplicate certificate. The Register of Deeds shall 
note upon the original and duplicate certificate the date of transfer, the volume and 
page of the registration book in which the new certificate is registered and a reference 
by number to the last preceding certificate. The original and the owner's duplicate of 
the grantor's certificate shall be stamped "cancelled". The deed of conveyance shall be 
filed and indorsed with the number and the place of registration of the certificate of 
title of the land conveyed.
The owner's duplicate certificate of title issued pursuant to a voluntary or 
involuntary instrument shall be released only to the registered owner or his duly 
authorized representative.
SEC. 67. Procedure Where Conveyance Invoives Portion of Land. - If a 
deed or conveyance is for a part only of the land described in a certificate of title, the 
Register of Deeds shall not enter any new Transfer certificate to the grantee over the 
portion conveyed until a subdivision or segregation plan of such land, the portion 
conveyed and all the portions or lots into which it has been subdivided and the 
corresponding technical descriptions shall have been verified and approved pursuant 
to Section 58 of this Act. Such deed may only be annotated by way of memorandum 
upon the grantor's certificate of title, to serve as a notice to third persons of the fact 
that certain unsegregated portion of the land described therein has been conveyed, 
and every certificate with such memorandum shall be effectual for the purpose of
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showing the grantee's title to the portion conveyed to him, pending the actual issuance 
of the corresponding certificate in his name, over the portion conveyed.
It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to issue a new certificate of title for 
each lot indicated in the plan when the same is presented for registration, upon the 
payment of the prescribed fees. Holders of such titles are hereby required to surrender 
their titles to the proper Register of Deeds for issuance of individual certificates of title.
SEC. 68. Carry Over of Encumbrances. - If, at the time of any transfer, 
subsisting encumbrances or annotations appear in the title, they shall be carried over 
and stated in the new certificate or certificates; except so far as they may be 
simultaneously released or discharged.
(B) MORTGAGES AND LEASES
SEC. 69. Mortgage or Lease of Registered Land. - Mortgage and leases 
shall be registered in the manner provided in Section 62 of this Act. The owner of 
registered land may mortgage or lease It by executing the deed in a form sufficient in 
law. Such deed of mortgage or lease and all instruments which assign, extend, 
discharge or otherwise deal with the mortgage or lease shall be registered, and shall 
take effect upon the title only from time of registration.
SEC. 70. Registration. - Upon presentation for registration of the deed of 
mortgage or lease together with the owner's duplicate, the Register of Deeds shaii 
enter upon the original of the certificate of title and also upon the owner's duplicate 
certificate a memorandum thereof, the date and time of fiiing and the file number 
assigned to the deed, and shall sign the said memorandum. He shall also note on the 
deed the date and time of filing and a reference to the volume and page of the 
registration book in which it is registered.
SEC. 71. Discharge or Canceiiation. - A mortgage or lease on registered 
land which by the memorandum appearing in the certificate of titie, have elapsed or 
have become ineffective, upon surrender of the owner's duplicate may be discharged 
or canceied by means of an instrument executed by the party-in-interest in a form 
sufficient in law, which shall be filed with the Register of Deeds who shall make the 
appropriate memorandum upon the certificate of title.
SEC. 72. Foreclosure of Mortgage. - (a) If the mortgage was foreclosed 
judicially, a certified copy of the final order of the court confirming the sale shall be 
registered with the Register of Deeds. If no right of redemption exists, the certificate 
of title of the mortgagor shall be canceled, and a new certificate issued in the name of 
the purchaser.
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Where the right of redemption exists, the certificate of title of the mortgagor 
shall not be canceled, but the certificate of sale and the order confirming the sale shall 
be registered by a brief memorandum thereof made by the Register of Deeds upon the 
certificate of title. In the event the property is redeemed, the certificate or deed of 
redemption shall be filed with the Register of Deeds, and a brief memorandum thereof 
shall be made by the Register of Deeds on the certificate of title of the mortgagor.
If the property is not redeemed, the final deed of sale executed by the sheriff in 
favor of the purchaser at a foreclosure sale shall be registered with the Register of 
Deeds; whereupon the title of the mortgagor shall be canceled, and a new certificate 
issued in the name of the purchaser.
(b) If the mortgage was foreclosed extrajudicially, a certificate of sale, which 
shall specify the period of redemption therefore executed by the officer who conducted 
the sale shall be filed with the Register of Deeds who shali make a brief memorandum 
thereof on the certificate of title.
In the event of redemption by the mortgagor, the same rule provided for in 
the second paragraph of this section shall apply.
In case of non-redemption, the purchaser at foreclosure sale shall file with 
the Register of Deeds, either a final deed of sale executed by the person authorized by 
virtue of the power of attorney embodied in the deed of mortgage, or his sworn 
statement attesting to the fact of non-redemption; whereupon, the Register of Deeds 
shall issue a new certificate in favor of the purchaser after the owner's duplicate of the 
certificate has been previously delivered and canceled.
(C) POWERS OF ATTORNEY; TRUSTS
SEC. 73. Power of Attorney. - Any person may, by power of attorney, convey 
or otherwise deal with registered land and the same shall be registered with the 
Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies. Any instrument revoking 
such power of attorney shall be registered in like manner.
SEC. 74. Trusts in Registered Land. - If a deed or other instrument is filed 
in order to transfer registered land in trust, or upon any equitable condition or limitation 
expressed therein, or to create or declare a trust or other equitable interests in such 
land without transfer, the particulars of the trust, condition, limitation or other equitable 
interest shall not be entered on the certificate; but only a memorandum thereof shall 
be entered by the words "in trust", or "upon condition", or other apt words, and by a 
reference by number to the instrument authorizing or creating the same. A similar 
memorandum shall be made upon the original instrument creating or declaring the 
trust or other equitable interest with a reference by number to the certificate of title to
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which it relates and to the volume and page in the registration book in which it is 
registered.
SEC. 75. Trust with Power of Sale, etc.. How Expressed. - If the 
instrument creating or declaring a trust or other equitable interest contains an express 
power to sell, mortgage or deal with the land in any manner, such power shall be stated 
in the certificate of title by the words "with power to sell", or "power to mortgage", or 
by apt words of description in case of other powers. No instrument which transfers, 
mortgages or in any way deals with registered land in trust shall be registered, unless 
the enabling power thereto is expressly conferred in the trust instrument, or unless a 
final judgment or order of a land adjudicator of competent jurisdiction has construed 
the instrument in favor of the power, in which case a certified copy of such judgment 
or order may be registered.
SEC. 76. Judicial Appointment of New Trustee. - If a new trustee of 
registered land is appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction, a new certificate may 
be issued to him upon presentation to the Register of Deeds of a certified copy of the 
order or judicial appointment and the surrender for cancellation of the duplicate 
certificate.
SEC. 77. Implied Trusts, How Established. - When the registered owner 
acknowledges another person's right or interest in registered land by reason of any 
implied or constructive trust he shall file for annotation with the Register of Deeds a 
sworn statement thereof containing a description of the land, the nature and extent of 
interest being acknowledged. Such repudiation shali not affect the title of a purchaser 
for value and in good faith before its registration.
II. INVOLUNTARY DEALINGS
SEC. 78. Attachments. - An attachment, or a copy of any writ, order or 
process issued by a court of record, intended to create or preserve any lien, status, 
right, or attachment upon registered land, shall be filed and registered in the Registry 
of Deeds for the province or city in which the land lies, and, in addition to the particulars 
required in such papers for registration, shall contain a reference to the number of the 
certificate of title to be affected and the registered owner or owners thereof, and also, 
if the attachment, order, process or lien is not claimed on all the land in any certificate 
of title a description sufficiency accurate for identification of the land or interest 
intended to be affected. A restraining order, injunction or mandamus issued by the 
court shali be entered and registered on the certificate of title affected, free of charge.
SEC. 79. 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 Act for registering the same, 
make a statement in writing setting forth fully his aileged right or interest, and how or
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under whom acquired, a reference to the number of the certificate of titie 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 only for a period of thirty days from the date 
of registration.
a) Before the lapse of thirty days:
a.l) the claimant may withdraw his adverse claim by filing with the Register of 
Deeds a verified petition to that effect;
a.2) any party in interest may file a petition before the Office of the Provincial 
or City Land Adjudicator where the land is situated for the cancellation of 
the adverse claim, and the said office shall, after hearing, render judgment 
on the question of the validity of such adverse claim. If the adverse claim 
is adjudged to be invalid, the registration thereof shall be ordered canceled.
b) After the lapse of thirty days, the annotation of adverse claim may be 
administratively canceled by the party in interest by filing a verified petition with 
the Register of Deeds.
c) In any case, no subsequent adverse claim based on the same ground shall be 
registered by the same claimant after its cancellation.
The land adjudicator, after notice and hearing, may fine the claimant in an 
amount not less than fifty thousand pesos when it shall find that the adverse claim thus 
registered was frivolous.
SEC. 80. Surrender of Certificate in Invoiuntary Deaiings. - If an 
attachment or other lien in the nature of involuntary dealing in registered land is 
registered, and the duplicate certificate is not presented at the time of registration, the 
Register of Deeds shall, within five (5) days thereafter, send notice by mail to the 
registered owner, stating that such paper has been registered, and requesting him to 
send or produce his duplicate certificate so that a memorandum of the attachment or 
other lien may be made thereon.
SEC. 81. Discharge of Attachments and Liens. - Attachments and liens of 
every description upon registered land shall be continued, reduced, discharged and 
dissolved by any method sufficient in law, and to give effect to the continuance.
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reduction, discharge or dissolution thereof the certificate or other instrument for that 
purpose shali be registered with the Register of Deeds.
SEC. 82. Registration of Orders of Court - If an attachment is continued, 
reduced, dissolved, or otherwise affected by an order, decision or judgment of the court 
where the action or proceedings in which said attachment was made is pending or by 
an order of a court having jurisdiction thereof, a certificate of the entry of such order, 
decision or judgment from the clerk of court or the judge by which such decision, order 
or judgment has been rendered and under the seal of the court, shall be entitled to be 
registered upon presentation to the Register of Deeds.
SEC. 83. Interlocutory Decision^ Judgment or Order. - If, however, such 
order of the court is interlocutory in character, or does not dispose of the case 
completely, it may be registered without the necessity of requiring a certificate of 
finality or an entry of judgment.
SEC. 84. Enforcement of Liens on Registered Land. - Whenever registered 
land is sold on execution, or taken, or sold for taxes or for any assessment or to enforce 
a lien of any character, or for any costs and charges incident to such liens, any 
execution or copy of execution, any officer's return, or any deed, demand, certificate, 
or affidavit, or other instrument made in the course of the proceedings to enforce such 
liens and required by law to be recorded, shall be filed with the Register of Deeds of 
the province or city where the land lies and registered in the registration book, and a 
memorandum made upon the proper certificate of title in each case as lien or 
encumbrance.
SEC. 85. Application for New Certificate Upon Expiration of 
Redemption Period. - Upon the expiration of the time, if any, allowed by law for 
redemption after registered land has been sold on execution, or taken or sold for the 
enforcement of a lien of any description, except a mortgage lien, the purchaser at such 
sale or anyone claiming under him may consolidate title in his name by registration 
with the Register of Deeds of the sheriff's final deed of sale together with the 
presentation of the owner's duplicate certificate of title.
If the owner's duplicate certificate of title cannot be presented, an order of the 
land adjudicator of the city or province where the land is located confirming the sale 
and declaring the unsurrendered owner's duplicate certificate of title as null and void 
must first be secured.
SEC. 86. 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 the office of the provincial/city land 
adjudicator 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
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judgment, shall have any effect upon regi^ered land as again^ persons other than the 
parties thereto, unless a memorandum or notice stating the institution of such action 
or proceeding and the land adjudicator 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 titie, and an adequate description of the land affected and the registered owner 
thereof, shall have been filed and registered.
The notice of lis pendens shaii only be registered in the following cases:
a. 
Action to recover possession of a real estate;
b. 
To quiet title or to remove clouds upon the title;
c. 
To partition or to dissolve a co-ownership;
d. 
Suits which are brought to establish an equitabie estate, interest, or right, 
in specific real property or to enforce any lien, charge, or encumbrance 
against it;
e. 
Other proceedings of any kind before the land adjudicator directly 
affecting titie to iand or the use or occupation thereof, or the buildings 
therein. And the judgment, or the reversal or cancellation of judgments 
wiii not affect registered iands other than the parties thereto, unless, a 
memorandum or notice stating the institution of such action or proceeding 
and the land adjudicator wherein the same is pending as well as the date 
of the institution thereof, together with reference to the number of the 
certificate of title, and an adequate description of the land affected and 
the registered owner thereof, is filed and registered.
The notice of lis pendens cannot be registered in the following cases:
a. 
Where the claim is purely a money claim;
b. 
In cases of attachments, levies on execution or to proceedings of probate 
of wills, or the administration of the estate of a deceased person;
c. 
Appeals under rule 45 of the rules of court, where the title to the property 
is not the very lis mota of the appeal;
d. 
Proceedings for the dissolution of corporations;
e. 
In criminal cases except upon order of the court.
SEC. 87. Cancellation of Lis Pendens. - Before final judgment, a notice of 
lispendens may be canceled upon order of the land adjudicator, 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
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and/or buildings involved, in any case in which a memorandum or notice of lispendens 
has been registered as provided in the preceding section, the notice of lispendens shall 
be deemed canceled upon the registration of a certificate of the clerk of the land 
adjudicator in which the action or proceeding was pending stating the manner of 
disposal thereof.
Only the land adjudicator where the case is pending shall have jurisdiction to 
order its cancellation prior to final judgment.
CHAPTER VI
REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS; ORDERS; PARTmONS
SEC. 88. Judgment for Plaintiff. - Whenever in any action to recover 
possession or ownership of real estate or any interest therein affecting registered land 
judgment Is entered for the plaintiff, such judgment shall be entitled to registration on 
presentation of a certificate of the entry thereof from the clerk of the land adjudicator 
where the action is pending to the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the 
land lies, who shall enter a memorandum upon the certificate of title of the land to 
which such judgment relates. If the judgment does not apply to all the land described 
in the certificate of title, the certificate of the said clerk and the memorandum entered 
by the Register of Deeds shall contain a description of the land affected by the 
judgment.
SEC. 89. Judgment Adjudicating Ownership. - Notwithstanding Section 
116 of this Act, when In any action to recover the ownership of real estate or an interest 
therein, execution has been issued in favor of the plaintiff, the latter shall be entitled 
to the entry of a new certificate of title and to the cancellation of the original certificate 
and owner's duplicate of the former registered owner.
SEC. 90. Execution of Deed by Virtue of Judgment. - Every land 
adjudicator or court, in proper cases, rendering judgment in favor of the plaintiff 
affecting registered land shall, upon petition of said plaintiff, order the parties before it 
to execute for registration any deed or instrument necessary to give effect to the 
judgment, and shall require the registered owner to deliver his duplicate certificate to 
the plaintiff or to the land adjudicator or to the court. In case the person required to 
execute any deed or other instrument necessary to give effect to the judgment is absent 
from the Philippines, or is a minor, or insane, or for any reason not amenable to the 
process of the land adjudicator or court rendering the judgment, said land adjudicator 
or court may appoint a suitable person as trustee to execute such instrument which, 
when executed, shall be entitled to registration. However, the land adjudicator or Court 
may vest ownership in favor of the party without the necessity of requiring the parties 
to execute a deed for the purpose.
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SEC. 91. Judgment of Partition. - In proceedings for partition of registered 
land, after the entry of the final judgment of partition, a copy of such final judgment, 
certified by the clerk of the court rendering the same, shall be filed and registered; 
thereupon, if the land is set of to the owners in severalty, each owner shall be entitled 
to have his certificate entered showing the share set off to him in severalty, and to 
receive an owner's duplicate thereof.
If the land Is ordered by the land adjudicator to be sold, the purchaser or his 
assigns shall be entitled to certificate of title entered in his or their favor upon 
presentation of a certified copy of the judgment confirming the sale.
In case the land Is ordered by the land adjudicator to be assigned to one of the 
parties upon payment to the others of the sum ordered by the land adjudicator, the 
party to whom the land is thus assigned shall be entitled to have a certificate of title 
entered in his favor upon presenting a certified copy of the judgment: Provided, 
however, that any new certificate entered in pursuance of partition proceedings, 
whether by way of set-off or of assignment or of sale, shall contain a reference 
memorandum to the final judgment of partition, and shall be conclusive as to the title 
to the same extent and against the same persons as such judgment is made conclusive 
by the laws applicable thereto: and provided, further, that any person holding such 
certificate of title or a transfer thereof shall have the right to petition the land 
adjudicator at any time to cancel the memorandum relating to such judgment or order 
and the land adjudicator, after notice and hearing, may grant the petition. Such 
certificate shall thereafter be conclusive in the same manner and to the same extent 
as other certificates of title.
SEC. 92. Registration of Prior Registered Mortgaged or Lease on 
Partitioned Property. - If a certified copy of a final judgment or decree of partition 
is presented and it appears that a mortgage or lease affecting a specific portion or an 
undivided share of the premises had previously been registered, the Register of Deeds 
shall carry over such encumbrance on the certificate of title that may be issued.
SEC. 93. Notice of Insoivency. - Whenever proceeding in bankruptcy or 
insolvency, or analogous proceedings, are instituted against a debtor who owns 
registered land, it shall be the duty of the officer serving the notice of the institution of 
such proceedings on the debtor to file a copy thereof with the office of the Register of 
Deeds for the province or city where the land of the debtor lies. The assignee or trustee 
appointed by the court in such proceedings shall be entitled to the entry of a new 
certificate of the registered land of the debtor or bankrupt, upon presenting and filing 
a certified copy of the assignment in insolvency or order or adjudication in bankruptcy 
with the insolvent's or bankrupt's duplicate certificate of title; but the new certificate 
shali state that it is entered to him as assignee in insolvency or trustee in bankruptcy 
or other proceedings, as the case may be.
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SEC. 94. Judgment or Order Vacating Insolvency Proceedings. -
Whenever any of the proceedings of the character named in the preceding section 
against a registered owner, of which notice has been registered, is vacated by 
judgment, a certified copy of the judgment or order may be registered. Where a new 
certificate has been entered in the name of the assignee or trustee, such certificate 
shall be surrendered for cancellation and forthwith the debtor shall be entitled to the 
entry of a new certificate to him.
SEC. 95. Land Taken by Eminent Domain. - Whenever any registered land, 
or interest therein, is expropriated or taken by eminent domain, the National 
Government, province, city, municipality, or any other agency or instrumentality 
exercising such right shall file for registration in the proper Registry a certified copy of 
the judgment which shall state definitely, by an adequate description, the particular 
property or interest expropriated, the number of the certificate of title, and the nature 
of the public use. A memorandum of the right or interest taken shall be made on each 
certificate of title by the Register of Deeds, and where the fee simple title is taken, a 
new certificate shall be Issued in favor of the National Government, province, city, 
municipality, or any other agency or instrumentality exercising such right for the land 
so taken. The legal expenses incident to the memorandum of registration or issuances 
incident to the memorandum of registration or issuance of a new certificate shall be for 
the account of the authority taking the land or interest therein.
SEC. 96. Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate. - When a deed of extrajudicial 
settlement has been duly registered, the Register of Deeds shall annotate on the proper 
title the two-year lien mentioned in Section 4 of Rule 74 of the Rules of Court. Upon 
the expiration of the two-year period counted from the date of registration and after 
presentation of a verified petition by the registered heirs, devisees or legatees or any 
other party in interest that no claim or claims of any creditor, heir or other person exist, 
the Register of Deeds shall cancel the two-year lien noted on the title without the 
necessity of an order from the land adjudicator. The verified petition shall be entered 
in the Electronic Primary Entry Book and a memorandum thereof made on the title.
No deed of extrajudicial settlement or affidavit of adjudication shall be 
registered unless the fact of extrajudicial settlement or adjudication is published once 
a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the 
province and proof thereof is filed with the Register of Deeds. The proof may consist 
of the certification of the publisher, printer, his foreman or principal clerk, or of the 
editor, business or advertising manager of the newspaper concerned, or a copy of each 
week's issue of the newspaper wherein the publication appeared.
SEC. 97. Filing of Letters of Administration and Will. - Before the executor 
or administrator of the estate of a deceased owner of registered land may deal with 
the same, he shall file with the office of the Register of Deeds a certified copy of his 
letters of administration or if there is a will, a certified copy thereof and the order
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allowing the same, together with the letters testamentary or of administration with the 
wiil annexed, as the case may be, and shall produce the duplicate certificate of title, 
and thereupon the Register of Deeds shall enter upon the certificate a memorandum 
thereof, making reference to the letters and/or will by their file number, and the date 
of filing the same.
SEC. 98. Dealings by Will Subject to Court Approval. - After a 
memorandum of the wiil. If any, and order allowing the same, and letters testamentary 
or letters of administration have been entered upon the certificate of titie as 
hereinabove provided, the executor or administrator may alienate or encumber 
registered land belonging to the estate, or any interest therein, upon approval of the 
court obtained as provided by the Rules of Court.
SEC. 99. Land Devised to Executor. - When It appears by will, a certified 
copy of which with letters testamentary had already been filed as provided in this Act, 
that registered land Is devised to the executor to his own use, or upon some trust, the 
executor may have the land transferred to himself upon the register in like manner and 
subject to like terms and conditions and to like rights as in the case of a transfer 
pursuant to a deed filed in the office of the Register of Deeds.
SEC. 100. When Executor Empowered by Will to Sell, etc. - When the 
wiil of a deceased owner of registered lands, or an interest therein, empowers the 
executor to seii, convey, encumber, charge or otherwise deal with the land, a certified 
copy of the will and letters testamentary being filed as provided in this Act, such 
executor may seil, convey, encumber, charge or otherwise deal with the land pursuant 
to the power in like manner as if he were registered owner, subject to the terms and 
conditions and limitations expressed in the will.
SEC. 101. Transfer in Anticipation of Final Distribution. - Whenever the 
court having jurisdiction of the testate or intestate proceedings directs the executor or 
administrator to take over and transfer to the devisees or heirs, or any of them, in 
anticipation of final distribution a portion or the whole of the registered land to which 
they might be entitled on final distribution, upon the filing of a certified copy of such 
order in the office of the Register of Deeds, the executor or administrator may cause 
such transfer to be made upon the register in like manner as in the case of a sale, and 
upon the presentation of the owner's duplicate certificate to the Register of Deeds, the 
devisees or heirs concerned shall be entitled to the issuance of the corresponding 
certificates of title.
SEC. 102. Registration of Final Distribution of Estate. - A certified copy 
of the partition and distribution, together with the final judgment or order of the court 
approving the same or otherwise making final distribution, supported by evidence of 
payment of estate tax or exemption therefrom, as the case may be, shall be filed with 
the Register of Deeds, and upon the presentation of the owner's duplicate certificate
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of title, new certificates of title shall be issued to the parties severally entitled thereto
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in accordance with the approved partition and distribution.
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CHAPTER VII 
ASSURANCE FUND
SEC. 103. Contribution to Assurance Fund.-\^por\ the entry of a certificate 
of title in the name of the registered owner, and also upon the original registration on 
the certificate of title of a building or other improvements on the land covered by said 
certificate and upon the registration of the enabling or master deed in a condominium 
project, there shall be paid to the Register of Deeds one-half of one percent of the 
zonal value or market value, whichever is higher, of the real estate on the basis of the 
last assessment for taxation purposes, as contribution to the Assurance Fund. Where 
the land involved has not yet been assessed for taxation, its value for purposes of this 
act shall be determined by the assessor of the province or city where the property is 
located, as to the fair valuation.
Nothing in this section shall in any way preclude the land adjudicator from 
increasing the valuation of the property should it appear during the hearing that the 
value stated is too small.
SEC. 104. Custody andlnvestment of Fund. - N\ money received by the 
Register of Deeds under the preceding section shall be paid to the National Treasurer. 
He/she shall keep this money in an Assurance Fund which may be invested in the 
manner and form authorized by law, and shall report annually to the Commission of 
the condition and income thereof.
The income of the Assurance Fund shall be added to the principal until said fund 
amounts to Rfty Million (P50,000,000.00) pesos, in which event the excess income 
from investments as well as from the collections of such fund shall be paid into the 
National Treasury to the account of the Assurance Fund.
SEC. 105. Action for Compensation from Funds. - A person who, without 
negligence on his part, sustains loss or damage, or is deprived of land or any estate or 
interest therein in consequence of the bringing of the land under the operation of the 
Torrens system arising after original registration of land, through fraud or in 
consequence of any error, omission, mistake or misdescription in any certificate of title 
or in any entry or memorandum in the registration book, and who by the provisions of 
this Act is barred or otherwise precluded under the provision of any law from bringing 
an action for the recovery of such land or the estate or interest therein, may bring an 
action before the land adjudicator of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of 
damages to be paid out of the Assurance Fund.
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SEC. 106. Against Whom Action Fiied. - If such action is brought to recover 
for loss or damage or for deprivation of land or of any estate or interest therein arising 
wholly through fraud, negligence, omission, mistake or misfeasance of the personnel 
of the land adjudicator. Register of Deeds, his deputy, or other employees of the 
Registry in the performance of their respective duties, the action shall be brought 
against the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land is situated and the 
Commission as defendants. But if such action is brought to recover for loss or damage 
or for deprivation of land or of any interest therein arising through fraud, negligence, 
omission, mistake or misfeasance of person other than personnel of the land 
adjudicator, the Register of Deeds, his deputy or other employees of the Registry, such 
action shall be brought against the Register of Deeds, the Commission and other person 
or persons, as co-defendants. It shall be the duty of the Solicitor General in person or 
by representative to appear and to defend all such suits with the aid of the Public 
Prosecutor of the province or city where the land lies; Provided, however, that nothing 
in this Act shall be construed to deprive the plaintiff of any right of action which he may 
have against any person for such loss or damage or deprivation without joining the 
Commission as party defendant.
SEC. 107. Judgment, How Satisfied. - If there are defendants other than 
the Commission and the Register of Deeds and judgment is entered for the plaintiff, 
and against the Commission, the Register of Deeds and any of the other defendants, 
execution shall first issue against such defendants other than the Commission and the 
Register of Deeds. If the execution is returned unsatisfied in whole or in part, and the 
officer returning the same certifies that the amount due cannot be collected from the 
land or personal property of such other defendants, only then shall the land adjudicator, 
upon proper showing, order the amount of the execution and costs, or so much thereof 
as remains unpaid, to be paid by the Commission out of the Assurance Fund. In an 
action under this Act, the plaintiff cannot recover as compensation more than the fair 
market value of the land at the time he suffered the loss, damage, or deprivation 
thereof.
SEC. 108. Generai Fund When Liabie. - If at any time the Assurance Fund 
is not sufficient to satisfy such judgment, the Commission shall make up for the 
deficiency from any funds available in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
SEC. 109. Subrogation of Government to Piaintiffs Rights. - In every 
case where payment has been made by the Commission in accordance with the 
provisions of this Act, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines shall be 
subrogated to the rights of the plaintiff against any other parties or securities. The 
Commission shall enforce said rights and the amount recovered shall be paid to the 
account of the Assurance Fund.
SEC. 110. Register of Deeds as Party in Interest. - When it appears that 
the Assurance Fund may be liable for damages that may be incurred due to the unlawful
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or erroneous issuance of a certificate of title, the Register of Deeds concerned shall be 
deemed a proper party in Interest who shall, upon authority of the Commission, file the 
necessary action In the Office of the Land Adjudicator of competent jurisdiction to annul 
or amend the title.
The land adjudicator may order the Register of Deeds to amend or cancel a 
certificate of title or to do any other act as may be just and equitable.
SEC. 111. Losses When Not Recoverable. - The Assurance Fund shall not 
be liable for any loss, damage or deprivation caused or occasioned by a breach of trust, 
whether express, implied or constructive or by any mistake in the resurveyed or 
subdivision of registered land resulting in the expansion of area in the certificate of 
title.
SEC. 112. Limitation of Action. - Any action for compensation against the 
Assurance Fund by reason of any loss, damage or deprivation of land or any interest 
therein shall be instituted within a period of six years from the time the right to bring 
such action first occurred: Provided, That the right of action herein provided shall 
survive to the legal representative of the person sustaining loss or damage, unless 
barred In his lifetime; and Provided, further. That if at the time such right of action first 
accrued the person entitled to bring such action was a minor or insane or imprisoned, 
or otherwise under legal disability, such person or anyone claiming from, by or under 
him may bring the proper action at any time within two years after such disability has 
been removed, notwithstanding the expiration of the original period of six years first 
above provided.
CHAPTER VIII
REGISTRATION OF PATENTS
SEC. 113. Certificates of Title Pursuant to Patents. - Whenever public 
land is alienated, granted or conveyed by the government to any person, the same 
shall be brought forthwith under the operation of this Act. The patent shall be 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 Act, 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 Act.
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CHAPTER IX
CERTIFICATE OF TITLES ISSUED PURSUANT TO AGRARIAN LAWS
SEC. 114. Provisional Register of Documents. - The Department of 
Agrarian Reform shall prepare by automated data processing a special registry book to 
be known as the "Provisional Register of Documents issued under PD-27" which shall 
be kept and maintained in every Registry of Deeds throughout the country. Said 
Registry Book shall be a register of:
a. All Certificates of Land Transfer (CLT) issued pursuant to P.D. No. 27; and
b. All subsequent transactions affecting Certificates of Land Transfer such as 
adjustments, transfer, duplication and cancellations of erroneous Certificates 
of Land Transfer.
SEC. 115. Certificates of Land Transfer Emancipation Patents. - The 
Department of Agrarian reform shall pursuant to P.D. No. 27 issue in duplicate, a 
Certificate of Land Transfer for every land brought under "Operation Land Transfer", 
the original of which shall be kept by the tenant-farmer and the duplicate, in the 
Registry of Deeds.
After the tenant-farmer shall have fully complied with the requirements for a 
grant of title under P.D. No. 27, an Emancipation Patent which may cover previously 
titled or untitled property shall be issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform.
The Register of Deeds shall complete the entries on the aforementioned 
Emancipation Patent and shall assign an original certificate of title number in case of 
unregistered land, and in case of registered property, shall issue the corresponding 
transfer certificate of title without requiring the surrender of the owner's duplicate of 
the title to be canceled.
In case of death of the grantee, the Department of Agrarian Reform shall 
determine his heirs or successors-in-interest and shall notify the Register of Deeds 
accordingly.
In case of subsequent transfer of property covered by an Emancipation Patent 
or a Certificate of Title emanating from an Emancipation Patent, the Register of Deeds 
shall affect the transfer only upon receipt of the supporting papers from the Department 
of Agrarian Reform.
No fee, premium, of tax of any kind shall be charged or imposed in connection 
with the issuance of an original Emancipation Patent and for the registration or related 
documents.
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SEC. 116. Sale of Agricultural Land; Affidavit. - No voluntary deed or 
instrument purporting to be a subdivision, mortgage, lease, sale or any other mode of 
encumbrance or conveyance of private agricultural land principally devoted to rice or 
corn or any portion thereof shall be registered unless accompanied by an affidavit of 
the vendor or executor stating that the land involved is not tenanted, or if tenanted, 
the same is not primarily devoted to the production of rice and/or corn.
If oniy a portion of the land is primarily devoted to the production of rice and/or 
corn, and such area so devoted is tenanted, no such deed or instrument shali be 
registered unless accompanied by an affidavit stating the area (size) of the portion 
which is tenanted and primarily devoted to rice and/or corn, and stating further that 
the deed or instrument covers only the untenanted portion or that which is not primarily 
devoted to the production of rice and/or corn. A memorandum of said affidavit shall be 
annotated on the certificate of title. The Register of Deeds shall cause a copy of the 
registered deed or instrument, together with the affidavit, to be furnished the 
Department of Agrarian Reform Regional Office where the land Is located. The affidavit 
provided in this section shall not be required in the case of a tenant-farmer who deals 
with his Certificate of Land Transfer or Emancipation Patent in accordance with law.
CHAPTERX
PETITIONS AND ACTIONS AFTER ORIGINAL REGISTRATION
SEC. 117. Surrender of Withheld Duplicate Certificates. - Where It Is 
necessary to Issue a new certificate of title pursuant to any involuntary Instrument 
which divests the title of the registered owner against his consent, or where a voluntary 
Instrument cannot be registered by reason of the refusal or failure of the holder to 
surrender the owner's duplicate certificate of title, the party In interest may file a 
petition before the office of the provincial/city land adjudicator to compel surrender of 
the same to the Register of Deeds. The land adjudicator, after hearing, may order the 
registered owner or any person withholding the duplicate certificate to surrender the 
same, and direct the entry of a new certificate or memorandum upon such surrender. 
If the person withholding the duplicate certificate is not amenable to the process of the 
land adjudicator, or if for any reason, the outstanding owner's duplicate certificate 
cannot be delivered, the land adjudicator may order the annulment of the same as well 
as the Issuance of a new certificate of title In lieu thereof. Such new certificate and ali 
duplicates thereof shali contain a memorandum of the annulment of the outstanding 
duplicate.
The surrender of the owner's certificate of titie shall not be required when the 
following circumstances concur:
a. When the action involves the title (recovery of ownership or possession of 
real property or any Interest thereon) to the property;
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d.
e.
One of the parties in the case is the registered owner or the person in 
possession of the title;
The decision must contain a categorical declaration that the prevailing party 
is the absolute owner of the property; and /or the title in Issue shall be 
reverted back to the prevailing party;
The decision declares the owner's duplicate title null and void;
The decision must be final and executory.
SEC. 118. Correction, Amendment and Alternation of Certificates. - No 
erasure, alteration, or amendment, shall be made upon the registration book after the 
entry of a certificate of title or of a memorandum thereon and the attestation of the 
same by the Register of Deeds, except by order of the land adjudicator. A registered 
owner or other person having an interest in registered property, or, in proper cases, 
the Register of Deeds with the approval of the Commission, may apply by petition to 
the Office of the Provincial/City Land Adjudicator upon the ground that the registered 
interests of any description, whether vested, contingent, expectant or Inchoate 
appearing on the certificate, have terminated and ceased; or that new interest not 
appearing upon the certificate have arisen or been created; or that an omission or error 
was made in entering a certificate or any memorandum thereon, or on any duplicate 
certificate; or that the same or any person on the certificate has been changed; or that 
the registered owner has married, or, if registered as married, that the marriage has 
been terminated and no right or interests of heirs or creditors will thereby be affected; 
or that a corporation which owned registered land and has been dissolved has not 
conveyed the same within three years after its dissolution; or upon any other 
reasonable ground; and the land adjudicator may hear and determine the petition after 
notice to all parties in interest, and may order the entry or cancellation of a new 
certificate, the entry or cancellation of a memorandum upon a certificate, or grant any 
other relief upon such terms and conditions, requiring security or bond if necessary, as 
it may consider proper; Provided, however. That this section shall not be construed to 
give the land adjudicator authority to reopen the judgment or decree of registration, 
and that nothing shall be done or ordered by the land adjudicator which shall impair 
the title or other interest of a purchaser holding a certificate for value and in good faith, 
or his heirs and assigns, without his or their written consent. Where the owner's 
duplicate certificate is not presented, a similar petition may be filed as provided in the 
preceding section.
SEC. 119. Notice and Replacement of Lost Duplicate Certificate. - In 
case of loss, total and partial destruction, or theft of an owner's duplicate certificate of 
title, an affidavit of loss shall be filed and registered by the registered owner, or by an 
attorney-in-fact, assigns, successors-in-interest, or any person having an interest in the 
property with the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon 
as the loss or theft is discovered in order for the land adjudicator or the Register of 
Deeds to acquire jurisdiction.
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Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the land 
adjudicator, after notice and hearing, where such petition is uncontested, may issue a 
new owner's duplicate certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that 
it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in all respects be entitled 
to like faith and credit as the original on file with the register of deeds and shali 
thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this Act. Upon the issuance of the 
new owner's copy by virtue hereof, the owner's copy of the title claimed to be lost or 
destroyed is deemed cancelled. However, if the lost owner's duplicate certificate is 
located and presented to the Register of Deeds, it is immediately reinstated, without 
prejudice, however, to the rights of innocent holder for value, and other rights acquired 
by virtue of the reissued owner's duplicate, and the new owner's duplicate shall be 
deemed null and void. Such rights, liens, and encumbrances appearing in the reissued 
owner's copy shall then be copied to the original owner's duplicate.
SEC. 120. Recxtnstitution of Lost or Destroyed [original of] Torrens 
Title. - Original copies of certificates of title lost or destroyed In the offices of Register 
of Deeds as well as liens and encumbrances affecting the lands covered by such titles 
shall be reconstituted in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Republic Act No. 
26 insofar as not Inconsistent with this Act. Provided, that the jurisdiction of the 
Regional Trial Court shall be transferred to the Office of the Provincial/City Land 
Adjudicator. Provided further, that the procedure relative to administrative 
reconstitution of lost or destroyed certificate prescribed in said Act is hereby abrogated;
Mere entry in the Electronic primary entry book is considered as a complete act 
of registration where all requirements are complied with. LRA Circular No. 3 dated Dec. 
6, 1988, providing for provisional registration of transactions pending reconstitution of 
the Original certificate of title is hereby adopted under this chapter.
Notice of all hearings of the petition for reconstitution shall be given to the 
Register of Deeds of the place where the land is situated and to the Commission. No 
order or judgment ordering the reconstitution of a certificate of title shall become final 
until the lapse of fifteen (15) days from receipt by the Register of Deeds and by the 
Commission of a notice of such order or judgment without any appeal having been filed 
by any of such officials.
The two-year lien provided under Section 7, RA 26 may be canceled after the 
lapse of two years where no claim whatsoever is made upon the filing of a verified 
petition by the registered owner or any interested party with the Register of Deeds 
without need of an order from the land adjudicator. However, the said lien may be 
canceled before the lapse of two years by a land adjudicator of competent jurisdiction 
pursuant to section 9 of said Act.
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CHAPTER XI
SCHEDULE OF FEES: SPECIAL FUND
SEC. 121. Fees payable. - The fees payable to the Clerk of the land 
adjudicator, the Sheriff, the Register of Deeds and the Commission shall be as follows:
A. Fees payable to the Clerk of the Land Adjudicator. - The fees payable to the clerk 
of the land adjudicator or his deputies shall be as follows:
1. For filing an application for the registration of land, the fees shall be based on 
the assessed value of the property for the current year, In accordance with the following 
schedule:
(a) When the value of the property does not exceed two thousand pesos, forty- 
five pesos for the first five hundred pesos, or fractional part thereof, and 
fifteen pesos for each additional five hundred pesos, or fractional part 
thereof.
(b) When the value of the property Is more than two thousand pesos but does 
not exceed ten thousand pesos, one hundred and five pesos for the first 
three thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof, and fifteen pesos for each 
additional one thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof.
(c) When the value of the property is more than ten thousand pesos but does 
not exceed one hundred thousand pesos, two hundred and forty pesos for 
the first twenty thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof, and thirty pesos 
for each additional ten thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof.
(d) When the value of the property is more than one hundred thousand pesos 
but does not exceed five hundred thousand pesos, five hundred and forty 
pesos for the first one hundred twenty-five thousand pesos, or fractional part 
thereof, and sixty pesos for each additional twenty-five thousand pesos, or 
fractional part thereof.
(e) When the value of the property Is more than five hundred thousand pesos, 
one thousand five hundred and sixty pesos for the first five hundred fifty 
thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof, and one hundred and twenty 
pesos for each additional fifty thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof.
If the property has not been assessed for taxation, the fees above prescribed 
shall be based on the current market value; and the applicant shall file with his 
application a sworn declaration of three disinterested persons that the value fixed by 
him is to their knowledge a fair valuation.
2. For filing a petition for review of judgment and decree, or other claim adverse to 
the registered owner, for each petition, one hundred and twenty pesos.
3. For filing a petition after the decision has become final, one hundred and twenty 
pesos. If It affects land decrees in more than one case, for each additional case, six
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pesos. If it affects several lots or parcels of land in which the petitioners have no 
common interest, each of such petitioners shall pay the corresponding fees as If 
separate petitions had been filed by him.
B. Fees payable to the Sheriff. - The sheriff shall collect fees for his services rendered 
in connection with land registration and cadastral proceedings as follows:
1. For posting notices of Initial hearing of land registration cases in conspicuous 
places on the lands described in the notice, for each parcel of land on which a copy of 
such notice is posted, besides travel fees, eighteen pesos.
2. For posting notices of initial hearing of cadastral cases in conspicuous places on 
the lands included in the survey, for each group of one hundred lots on which a copy 
of the notice is posted, besides travel fees, eighteen pesos.
3. For posting one copy of a notice of initial hearing in a conspicuous place upon 
the municipal building of the city, municipality, or municipal district in which the land 
or portion thereof lies, besides travel fees, eighteen pesos.
4. For serving notices upon cadastral claimants to appear before the land 
adjudicator, travel fees only as provided in the Rules of Court.
5. For all other services not mentioned above, the same fees including travel fees 
as provided in the Rules of Court for similar services.
C. Fees payable to the Register of Deeds..- The Register of Deeds shall collect fees for 
all services rendered by him under this Art in accordance with the following schedule:
1. Original certificate of title..- For the entry of one original certificate of title and 
issuance of one owner's duplicate certificate, sixty pesos for the first parcel of land 
described thereon and thirty pesos for each additional parcel.
2. Entry fee. - For each entry fee in the primary entry book, thirty pesos.
3. Attachment, levy, etc. - For the annotation of an attachment, levy, writ of 
execution, adverse claim, thirty pesos for each parcel of land affected thereby.
4. Lis Pendens, etc. - For the annotation of a notice of lis pendens, or of any 
document or order in connection therewith, for each of land affected thereby, thirty 
pesos.
5. Release of encumbrance. - For the annotation of a release of any encumbrance, 
except mortgage, lease, or other lien for the cancellation of which a specific fee is 
prescribed herein, for each parcel of land so released, thirty pesos; but the total amount
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of fees to be collected shall not exceed the amount of fees paid for the registration of 
such encumbrance.
6. Land Adjudicator Order. - For the annotation of an order of the land adjudicator 
for the amendment of, or the making of a memorandum on, a certificate of title, except 
Inclusion of buildings or improvements, or any order directing the registration of a 
document, or of any right or interest referred to in said order, or the cancellation of a 
certificate of title and/or the issuance of a new one, sixty pesos for each certificate of 
title on which the annotation is made, in addition to the fees prescribed under 
paragraphs sixteen or seventeen, as the case may be, of this subsection, in the same 
are also due for the registration of such document, right or interest.
7. Building..- For the annotation of an order of the land adjudicator for the inclusion 
of building and/or improvement in a certificate of title, sixty pesos for each certificate 
of title.
8. Powers of attorney, letters of administration, appointment of guardian, resolution 
or revocation thereof. - For registering and filing a power of attorney, letters of 
administration or letters testamentary whether or not accompanied by a copy of the 
testament, certificate of allowance of a will with attested copy of the will annexed, 
appointment of guardian for a minor dr incompetent person, appointment of receiver, 
trustee, or administrator, articles of Incorporation of any corporation, association or 
partnership, or resolution of its board of directors empowering an officer or member 
thereof to act in behalf of the same, one hundred and twenty pesos; and for the 
annotation of such papers on certificates of title when required by existing laws or 
regulations, thirty pesos for each certificate of title so annotated: Provided, however, 
that when the certificate of allowance of a will and the letters testamentary or letters 
of administration are filed together, only one fee shall be collected. For registering an 
instrument of revocation of any of the paper mentioned above, thirty pesos, and if 
annotated on the corresponding certificate of title, eighteen pesos for each certificate 
of title.
9. Notice of tax lien, loss, etc. - For the annotation of a notice of tax lien of any 
description notice of lost duplicate or copy of a certificate of title, order of the land 
adjudicator declaring such duplicate or copy null and void, notice of change of address, 
or the cancellation of any such annotation, for each certificate of title, thirty pesos.
10. Carry over of annotation. - For transferring the memorandum of an 
encumbrance of any kind from one certificate of title which Is canceled to a new one in 
lieu thereof, for each memorandum thus transferred, thirty pesos.
11. Annotation on additional copy of title. - For any memorandum made in a 
standing co-owner's copy of a certificate of title after a similar memorandum has been 
made In the original thereof, of each certificate of title, thirty pesos.
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12. No specific fee. - For any memorandum made in a certificate of title for which 
no specific fee is prescribe above, for each certificate of title, thirty pesos.
13. Transfer to trustee, executor, administrator receiver. - For the issuance of a 
transfer certificate of title, including its duplicate, to a trustee, executor, administrator, 
or receiver, or for the cancellation of such certificate of title and Issuance of a new one. 
Including its duplicate, to the cestui que trust in case of trusteeship, sixty pesos. If the 
certificate covers more than one parcel or lot, an additional fee of thirty pesos shall be 
collected for each additional parcel or lot.
14. Transfer certificate of title. - For the issuance of a transfer certificate of title. 
Including its duplicate, to a person other than those named in the next preceding 
paragraph, sixty pesos. In addition to the fees hereinafter prescribed in paragraph 
sixteen or seventeen, as the case may be, of this subsection, if the same are also due. 
If the certificate covers more than one parcel or lot, an additional fee of thirty pesos 
shall be collected for each additional parcel or lot.
15. Additional copy of title. - For the Issuance of a new owner's duplicate or a co­
owner's copy of a certificate of title, or any additional duplicate or copy thereof, sixty 
pesos for the first page and thirty pesos for each subsequent page, or fraction thereof.
16. Registration fee. - For the registration of a deed of sale, conveyance, transfer, 
exchange, partition, or donation; a deed of sale with pacto de retro, conditional sale, 
sheriffs sale at public auction, sale for non-payment of taxes, or any sale subject to 
redemption, or the repurchase or redemption of the property so sold; any Instrument, 
order, judgment or decree divesting the title of the registered owner, except In favor 
of a trustee, executor, administrator or receiver; option to purchase or promise to sell; 
any mortgage, surety, bond, lease, easement, right-of-way, or other real right or lien 
created or constituted by virtue of a distinct contract or agreement, and not as an 
incidental condition of sale, transfer or conveyance; the assignment, enlargement, 
extension or novation of a mortgage or of any other real right, or a release of mortgage, 
termination of lease, or consolidation of ownership over a property sold with pacto de 
retro; where no specific fee is prescribed therefor in the preceding paragraphs, the fees 
shall be based on the value of the consideration in accordance with the following 
schedule:
(a) Six thousand pesos maximum. When the value of the consideration does not 
exceed six thousand pesos, seven pesos for the first five hundred pesos, or 
fractional part thereof, and three pesos for each additional five hundred pesos, 
or fractional part thereof.
(b) Thirty thousand pesos maximum. When the value of the consideration is more 
than six thousand pesos but does not exceed thirty thousand pesos, or fractional
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part thereof, and eight pesos for each additional two thousand pesos, or 
fractional part thereof.
(c) One hundred thousand pesos maximum. When the value of the consideration is 
itiore than thirty thousand pesos but does not exceed one hundred thousand 
pesos, one hundred fifty pesos for the first thirty-five thousand pesos, or 
fractional part thereof, and fourteen pesos or each additional five thousand 
pesos, or fractional part thereof.
(d) Five hundred thousand pesos maximum. When the value of the consideration is 
more than one hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed five hundred 
thousand pesos, three hundred fifty-two pesos for the first one hundred ten 
thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof, and twenty pesos for each additional 
ten thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof.
(e) More than five hundred thousand pesos. When the value of the consideration is 
more than five hundred thousand pesos, one thousand one hundred sixty-two 
pesos for the first five hundred twenty thousand pesos, or fractional part thereof, 
and thirty pesos for each additional twenty thousand pesos, or fractional part 
thereof.
17. Fees for specific transactions. - In the following transactions, however, the basis 
of the fees collectible under paragraph sixteen of this subsection, whether or not the 
value of the consideration is stated in the instrument, shall be as hereunder set forth:
(a) Exchange. - In the exchange of real property, the basis of the fees to be paid 
by each party shall be the current assessed value of the properties acquired by 
one party from the other, in addition to the value of any other consideration, if 
any, stated in the contract.
(b) Hereditary transfer. - In the transmission of a hereditary estate without partition 
or subdivision of the property among the heirs, devisees or legatees, although 
with specification of the share of each in the value of the estate, the basis shall 
be the total current assessed value of the property thus transmitted.
(c) Partition of hereditary estate; Conjugal property. - In the partition of a 
hereditary estate which is still in the name of the deceased, in which determinate 
properties are adjudicated to each heir devisee or legatee, or to each group of 
heirs, devisees or legatees, the basis of the fees to be paid by each person or 
group, as the case may be, shall be the total current assessed value of the 
properties thus adjudicated to each person or group. In the case, however, of 
conjugal property, the basis of the fees for the registration of one-half thereof 
in the name of the surviving spouse shall be the total current assessed value of 
the properties adjudicated to said spouse.
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(d) Subdivision or partition. - In the partition of real property held in common by 
several registered co-owner's the basis of the fees to be paid by each co-owner 
or group of co-owners shall be the total assessed value of the property taken by 
each co-owner or group.
(e) Conveyance: several lots and parties. - In the sale, conveyance or transfer of 
two or more parcels of land in favor of two or more separate parties but executed 
in one single instrument, the basis shall be the total selling price paid by each 
party-buyer, or, in the case of lump sum consideration, such portion thereof as 
apportioned in accordance with the assessed value of the respective land 
acquired by each party-buyer.
(f) Conveyance of properties in different places. - In the sale, conveyance, or 
transfer of properties situated In different cities or provinces, the basis of the 
fees in each Registry of Deeds where the instrument is to be registered shall be 
the total selling price of the properties situated In the respective city or province, 
or, in the case of lump sum consideration, such portion thereof as obtained for 
those properties lying within the jurisdiction of the respective registry after 
apportioning the total consideration of the sale, conveyance or transfer in 
accordance with the current assessed value of such properties.
(g) Conveyance of mortgaged properties. - In the sale, conveyance, or transfer of 
a mortgaged property, the basis shall be the selling price of the property proper 
plus the full amount of the mortgage, or the unpaid balance thereof if the latter 
is stated In the instrument. If the properties are situated in different cities or 
provinces, the basis of the fees in each Registry of Deeds where the Instrument 
is to be registered shall be such sum as obtained for the properties situated in 
the respective city or province after apportioning in accordance with the current 
assessed values of said properties the total amount of consideration as above 
computed, unless the selling price of the properties in each city or province and 
the proportionate share thereof in the amount of unpaid balance of the 
mortgage are stated in the instrument, in which case, the aggregate of such 
selling price and share shall be the basis. In any case, however, where the 
aggregate value of the consideration as above computed shall be less than the 
current assessed value of the properties in the city or province concerned, such 
assessed value shall be the basis of the fees in the respective Registry.
(h) Mortgage of properties in different places. - In a mortgage affecting properties 
situated in different cities or provinces, the basis of the fees in each Registry of 
Deeds where the document Is to be registered shall be such amount as obtained 
for the properties lying within the jurisdiction of said Registry after apportioning 
the total amount of the mortgage in accordance with the current assessed value 
of such properties.
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(i) Release of mortgage. - In the release of a mortgage the basis of the fees shall 
be an amount equal to ten per centum of the total amount of obligation secured 
by the mortgage. If the properties are situated in different cities or provinces, 
the basis of the fees in each Registry shall be ten per centum of such sum as 
obtained for the properties in the respective city or province after apportioning 
the amount of the mortgage in accordance with the current assessed values of 
such properties. In the case of a partial release, the fees shall be based on ten 
per centum of the current assessed value of the property so released in the 
respective city or province; Provided, however. That where several partial 
releases had been registered, the fees corresponding to the final release shall 
be computed on the basis of ten per centum of the difference between the 
amount of the mortgage and the aggregate of the consideration used as basis 
for the collection of the fees paid for the registration of all previous partial 
releases.
(j) Certificate of sale. - In a certificate of sale at public auction by virtue of an order 
of execution or sale for delinquency in the payment of taxes, or repurchase of 
the property so sold, the basis of the fees in each Registry shall be ten per 
centum of the selling or repurchase price of the property lying within the 
jurisdiction of the Registry.
(k) Affidavit of consolidation of ownership. - In an affidavit for the consolidation of 
ownership over a property sold with pacto de retro or pursuant to an extra judicial 
foreclosure under the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-oiie hundred and thirty- 
five, as amended, the basis of the fees in each Registry shall be an amount 
equivalent to ten per centum of the consideration of the sale in the respective 
city or province.
(l) Contract of lease. - In contracts of lease, the basis of the fees in each Registry 
shall be the sum total to be paid by the lessee for the properties situated in the 
respective city or province during the entire period specified in the contract, 
including the extension contemplated by the parties which may be given effect 
without the necessity of further registration. If the period is from year to year, 
or otherwise not fixed, the basis shall be the total amount of rentals due for 
thirty months. If the rentals are not distributed, the total amount thereof as 
above computed shall be apportioned to said properties in accordance with their 
assessed values, and the proportionate sum thus obtained for each city or 
province shall be the basis of the fees to be collected In the Registry concerned.
(m) Termination of lease. - In the termination of lease, the basis of the fees in each 
registry shall be ten per centum of the amount used as basis for the collection 
of the fees paid for the registration of said lease.
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(n) Option to purchase or promise to sell. - In contracts of option to purchase or 
promise to sell, the basis of the fees In each Registry shall be ten per centum of 
the current assessed value of the property subject of such contract In the 
respective city or province.
(o) Consideration not stated or fixed or less than assessed value. - In other 
transactions where the actual value of the consideration is not fixed in the 
contract or cannot be determined from the terms thereof, or, in case of a sale, 
conveyance, or transfer, the consideration stated is less than the current 
assessed value of the property, the basis of the fees shall be the current 
assessed value of the property involved in the transaction. If the properties are 
situated in different cities or provinces, the basis of the fees in each Registry 
shall be the current assessed value of the properties lying within the jurisdiction 
of the Registry concerned.
18. Issuance of copy of document. - For furnishing copies of any entry, decree, 
document, or other papers on file, fifty centavos for each hundred words of fraction 
thereof contained in the copies thus furnished.
19. Certified copy. - For certifying a copy furnished under the next preceding 
paragraph, for each certification, five pesos for one page and one peso for each 
additional page certified.
20. Certification. - For issuing a certificate relative to, or showing the existence or 
non-existence of, an entry in the registration books or a document on file, for each 
such certificate containing not more than two hundred words, five pesos; if it exceeds 
that number an additional fee of one peso shall be collected for every hundred words, 
or fraction thereof, in excess of the first two hundred words.
21. Research fee. - For services rendered in attending to request for reference or 
researches on any records or documents on file in the Registry, there shall be collected 
two pesos per document or record.
D. Fees payable to the Commission. - The fees payable to the Commission shall be as 
follows:
1. For ver fication and approval of subdivision plans, the fee shall be:
(a)
For each lot....................................................
P2.00
(b)
For each comer of a lot, irrespective of whether such 
corner is common to two or more lots..............
0.20
(c)
For each traverse station.....................................
0.10
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(d)
For each observation.........................................
0.50
(e)
In case the plan is a resurveyed or relocation plan an 
additional 40 per cent of the rates prescribed above 
shall be collected.
Provided, however, that the total fee as computed above, whether for 
subdivision and^r consolidation-subdivision survey, resurveyed or relocation plan, shall 
In no case be less than P8.00 per plan.
2. For changing or correcting the name of any person appearing on the subdivision 
plan or other plan In order to have it conform to that stated In the certificate of title 
covering the land, and for the cancellation of an approved plan when so requested by 
the interested party, there shall be a fee of P5.00 per plan.
3. The rates of fees prescribed in paragraph 1 and 2, inclusive, shall apply to similar 
services rendered in connection with the examination, verification, and approval of 
consolidation, consolidation-subdivision, resubdivision, and reconsolidation plans, 
special work order plans on the basis of certified copies of technical descriptions of 
plans approved by the Commission, private surveys, and other plans of similar nature.
In the computation of fees relative to lots subject of consolidation and 
consolidation-subdivision plans, a fee of two pesos shall be collected per lot as 
appearing in the old survey in addition to the fee collectible in paragraph 1 hereof for 
the new lots.
4. For the preparation of a plan in a tracing cloth of any survey, the data of which 
are available in the Commission, except when the same is merely traced from an 
existing plan, the fees shall be computed as follows:
(a) When the plan to be so prepared contains only one lot:
(1.)
For the first ten comers or fraction thereof
P40.00
(2.)
For the next ten corners or fraction thereof
6.00
(3.)
For each corner in excess of the first twenty corners
0.40
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For the first lot, which must be the biggest of the 
group, irrespective of the number of its comer
P40.00
(2.)
For each additional lot, irrespective of the number of 
its comers, said lot being adjacent to the first lot or 
any other lot.......................
P15.00
(3.)
For each non-adjacent lot (other than the first 
charged lot), irrespective of the number of its comers
P20.00
(4.) If any lot contains more than twenty corners for each 
comer of such lot in the first twenty corners
P0.40
5. For the preparation of a plan in tracing cloth, to be traced from an existing plan, 
complete with bearings and distances of corners and tie lines, the fee shall be 30 per 
centum of the fees prescribed in paragraph 4 above.
6. For the preparation of a plan in tracing cloth, to be copied from an existing plan, 
complete with bearings and distances of sides and tie-lines, but using a different scale, 
the fee shall be 50 per centum of the fees prescribed under paragraph 4 above, if made 
on a reduced scale; or 60 per centum of the same fees, if made on an enlarged scale.
7. For the preparation of a simple plan or sketch of any available survey or plan on 
any paper other than a tracing cloth, the fee on the basis of each lot, shall be as follows:
(a)
For the first ten comers or fraction thereof
P20.00
(b)
For the second ten corners or fraction thereof
5.00
(c)
For the third ten comers or fraction thereof
2.00
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(d)
For each comer In excess of the first thirty comers
0.20
(e)
If the sketch Is prepared in tracing cloth, add to the 
total fees as above computed ...
5.00
(f)
If the plan or sketch so prepared contains the bearing 
and distances of the sides and tie-lines, add to the 
total fees as above computed 10 per centum thereof.
8. For furnishing a plan copy (blue-print, or white print) of any plan on file in the 
Authority, the fee shall be as follows:
(a)
For the copy of any size not exceeding forty square 
decimeters....................
P3.00
(b)
For one copy of more than forty square decimeters 
but not exceeding eighty square decimeters in size
6.00
(c)
For one copy of more than eighty square decimeters 
but not exceeding one hundred twenty square 
decimeter in size.....................
9.00
(d)
For one copy In excess of one hundred twenty square 
decimeters in size, the basis rate of nine pesos plus 
for every twenty square decimeters or fraction 
thereof in excess............................................
0.50
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existing copy, there shall be collected the following fees:
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(a)
For technical descriptions of lots or parcels, typewritten in 
triplicate and double-spaced, including certification:
1.
For each lot..........
P3.00
2.
For each comer of a lot..........
0.20
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3.
For each extra carbon copy, extra charge ....
0.20
4.
Minimum total charge.............
3.00
(b)
For lot description prepared In tracing cloth (on tabulated form) 
including certification:
1.
For each sheet........
P1.50
2.
For each lot.........
0.20
3.
For each comer in excess of ten for a lot....
0.10
(c)
Any common comer shall be counted as many items as there 
are lots to which it pertains.
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per plan or print copy P3.00 and for the issuance of all other certification P5.00 plus
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one 30-centavo documentary stamp to be affixed thereto.
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plans, or consolidation, consolidation-subdivision, resubdivision, or reconsolidation
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plans, special work orders, and other plans of similar nature for the purpose of
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verification and/or approval:
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(a)
For each plan with an aggregate area of 1,000 sq. m. 
or less........
PIOO.OO
(b)
For each subdivision with an aggregate area of more than
1,000 sq. m.:
1.
For the first 1,000 s.m...............
PIOO.OO
2.
For every succeeding 1,000 sq. m. or fraction thereof
10.00
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12. For actual field work of subdivision survey, relocation survey and resurveyed of 
land, the fees shall be as follows:
(a) Subdivision survey:
1. Rural (Agricultural)_________
Area
Survey Fee
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For the first hectare..........
P 350.00
For the 2nd ha. to 10th ha.
An additional 60.00 per ha.
For the 11th ha. to 20th ha.
An additional P30.00 per ha.
For the 21st ha. to 30th ha.
An additional P20.00 per ha.
For the 31st ha. to 200th ha.
An additional PIO.OO per ha.
For the 201st ha. or over
An additional P8.00 per ha.
A fraction of a hectare shall be considered one hectare.
First 200 sq. m. or less........
P350.00
Succeeding 201 sq. m. or more..........
P20.00 100 sq. m.
(b) Relocation Survey or Resurveyed:
The fee for relocation survey or resurveyed shall be one hundred fifty per cent (150%) 
of the amount of survey fee collectible on the basis of the schedule of fees for 
subdivision survey as provided in the preceding paragraph plus one per cent (1%) of 
the assessed value of the land.
Special Account. - Twenty per centum of all the collections of the Registers of Deeds 
and of the Commission under this Section and Section 126 of this Act shall be 
appropriated and upon approval of a budget for It by the Department of Budget, such 
amounts shall be disbursed and all offices under the Commission, for the purchase of 
necessary equipment, for payment of allowances of officials and employees of the 
Commission, including those of the Registries of Deeds, as authorized by the 
Commission, for contracts regarding security printing of Land title forms, for survey 
contracts, and for the maintenance and other operating expenses of the Commission.
SEC. 122. Lien. - When it is determined by the Commission after audit and 
investigation that there has been an underpayment or non-payment of registration fees 
due to oversight, negiigence, errors, or by deliberate art of Registry of Deeds 
personnel, the same shall constitute as a lien which shall be annotated in the 
corresponding certificate of title free of charge.
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The said lien, upon payment, or upon proper disposition, of the discrepancy, as
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noted, the same shall forthwith be cancelled or discharged upon order of the
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Commission.
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CHAPTER XII
FORMS USED IN LAND REGISTRATION AND CONVEYANCING
SEC. 123. Forms in Conveyancing. - Deeds, conveyances, encumbrances, 
discharges, powers of attorney and other voluntary instruments, whether affecting 
registered or unregistered land, executed in accordance with law in the form of public 
instruments shall be registrable: Provided, that, every such instrument shall be signed 
by the person or persons executing the same in the presence of at least two witnesses 
who shall likewise sign thereon, and shall acknowledged to be the free act and deed of 
the person or persons executing the same before a notary public or other public officer 
authorized by law to take acknowledgment. Where the instrument so acknowledged 
consists of two or more pages including the page whereon acknowledgment is written, 
each page of the copy which is to be registered in the office of the Register of Deeds, 
or if registration is not contemplated, each page of the copy to be kept by the notary 
public, except the page where the signatures already appear at the foot of the 
instrument, shall be signed on the left margin thereof by the person or persons 
executing the instrument and their witnesses, and ail the ages sealed with the notarial 
seal, and this fact as well as the number of pages shall be stated in the 
acknowledgment. Where the instrument acknowledged relates to a sale, transfer, 
mortgage or encumbrance of two or more parcels of land, the number thereof shall 
likewise be set forth in said acknowledgment
The Commission shall cause to be prepared convenient blank forms as may be 
necessary to help facilitate the proceedings in land registration and shall cause to be 
printed forms for land titles exclusively by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
CHAPTER XIII
DEALINGS WITH UNREGISTERED LANDS
SEC. 124. Recording of instruments reiating to unregistered iands. - 
No deed, conveyance, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument affecting land 
not registered under the Torrens system shall be valid, except as between the parties 
thereto, unless such instrument shall have been recorded In the manner herein 
prescribed in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land 
lies, henceforth no transactions affecting unregistered land shall be sold, transferred, 
assigned, mortgaged, or leased, unless recorded under this section.
(a) The Register of Deeds for each province or city shall keep a Primary Entry 
Book and a Registration Book. The Primary Entry Book shaii contain, among
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other particulars, the entry number, the names of the parties, the nature 
of the document, the date, hour and minute it was presented and received. 
The recording of the deed and other instruments relating to unregistered 
lands shall be effected by any of annotation on the space provided therefor 
in the Registration Book, after the same shall have been entered in the 
Primary Entry Book.
(b) If, on the face of the instrument, it appears that it is sufficient in law, the 
Register of Deeds shall forthwith record the instrument in the manner 
provided herein. In case the Register of Deeds refuses its administration to 
record, said official shall advise the party in interest in writing of the ground 
or grounds for his refusal, and the latter may appeal the matter to the 
Commission in accordance with the provisions of Section 134 of this Act. It 
shall be understood that any recording made under this section shall be 
without prejudice to a third party with a better right.
(c) After recording on the Record Book, the Register of Deeds shall endorse 
among other things, upon the original of the recorded instruments, the file 
number and the date as well as the hour and minute when the document 
was received for recording as shown in the Primary Entry Book, returning 
to the registrant or person in interest the duplicate of the instrument, with 
appropriate annotation, certifying that he has recorded the instrument after 
reserving one copy thereof to be furnished the provincial or city assessor 
as required by existing law.
(d) Tax sale, attachment and levy, notice of lispendens, adverse claim and other
instruments in the nature of involuntary dealings with respect to 
unregistered lands, if made in the form sufficient in law, shall likewise be 
admissible to record under this section.
(e) For the services to be rendered by the Register of Deeds under this section,
he shall collect the same amount of fees prescribed for similar services for 
the registration of deeds or instruments concerning registered lands.
CHAPTER XIV
REGISTRATION OF CHATTEL MORTGAGES
SEC. 125. Recording of Chattel Mortgages. - A chattel mortgage shall be 
recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the 
mortgagor resides as well as where the property is situated or ordinarily kept.
SEC. 126. Manner of Recording Chattel Mortgages.-Every Register of Deeds 
shall keep a Primary Entry Book and a Registration Book for chattel mortgages; shall
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certify on each mortgage filed for record, as well as on its duplicate, the date, hour, 
and minute when the same was by him received; and shall record in such books any 
chattel mortgage, assignment or discharge thereof, and any other instrument relating 
to a recorded mortgage, and all such instruments shall be presented to him in duplicate, 
the original to be filed and the duplicate to be returned to the person concerned.
The recording of a mortgage shall be effected by making an entry, which shall 
be given a correlative number, setting forth the names of the mortgagee and the 
mortgagor, the sum or obligation guaranteed, date of the instrument, name of the 
notary before whom it was sworn to or acknowledged, and a note that the property 
mortgaged, as well as the terms and conditions of the mortgage, is mentioned in detail 
in the instrument filed, giving the proper file number thereof. The recording of other 
instruments relating to a recorded mortgage shall be effected by way of annotation on 
the space provided therefor in the Registration Book, after the same shall have been 
entered in the primary Entry Book.
The Register of Deeds shall also certify the officer's return of sale upon any 
mortgage, making reference upon the record of such officer's return to the volume and 
page of the record of the mortgage, and a reference of such return on the record of 
the mortgage itself, and give a certified copy thereof, when requested, upon payment 
of the legal fees for such copy thereof, when requested, upon payment of the legal 
fees for such copy and certify upon each mortgage officer's return of sale or discharge 
of mortgage, and upon any other instrument relating to such a recorded mortgage, 
both on the original and in the duplicate, the date, hour, and minute when the same is 
received for record and record such certificate index of mortgagors and mortgagees, 
which record and index shall be open to public inspection.
Duly certified copies of such records and of filed instruments shall be receivable 
as evidence in any court.
SEC. 127. Fees for Chattel Mortgages. - The register of Deeds shall collect 
the following fees for services rendered by him under this section:
1. Entry fee. - For entry or presentation of any document in the Primary Entry 
Book, five pesos. Supporting papers presented together with the principal 
document need not be charged any entry or presentation fee unless the party 
in interest desires that they be likewise entered.
2. Chattel Mortgage. - For filing and recording each chattel mortgage, including 
the necessary certificates and affidavits, the fees established in the following 
schedule shall be collected:
(a) Six thousand pesos maximum. - When the amount of the mortgage does 
not exceed six thousand pesos, seven pesos for the first five hundred
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pesos, or fractional part thereof, and three pesos for each additional five 
hundred pesos, or fractional part thereof.
(b) Thirty thousand pesos maximum. - When the amount of the mortgage is 
more than six thousand pesos but does not exceed thirty thousand pesos, 
forty-eight pesos for the initial amount not exceeding eight thousand pesos, 
and eight pesos for each additional two thousand pesos or fractional part 
thereof.
(c) One hundred thousand pesos maximum. - When the amount of the 
mortgage Is more than thirty thousand pesos but does not exceed one 
hundred thousand pesos, one hundred fifty pesos for the initial amount not 
exceeding thirty-five thousand pesos, and fourteen pesos for each 
additional five thousand pesos of fractional part thereof.
(d) Five hundred thousand pesos maximum. - When the amount of the 
mortgage is more than one hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed 
five hundred thousand pesos, three hundred fifty-two pesos for the initial 
amount not exceeding one hundred ten thousand pesos and twenty pesos 
for each additional ten thousand pesos or fractional part thereof.
(e) More than five hundred thousand pesos. - When the amount of the 
mortgage Is more than five hundred thousand pesos, one thousand one 
hundred sixty-two pesos for the initial amount not exceeding five hundred 
twenty thousand pesos, and thirty pesos for each additional twenty 
thousand pesos or fractional part thereof: Provided, however, that 
registration of the mortgage In the province where the property is situated 
shall be sufficient registration and provided, further, that if the mortgage 
is to be registered In more than one city or province, the Register of Deeds 
of the city or province where the instrument is first presented for 
registration shall collect the full amount of the fees due in accordance with 
the schedule prescribed above, and the Register of Deeds of the other city 
of province where the same inkrument Is also to be registered shall collect 
only a sum equivalent to twenty per centum of the amount of fees due and 
paid in the first city of province, but in no case shall the fees payable in any 
Registry be less than the minimum fixed in this schedule.
3. Conveyance of mortgaged property, etc. - For recording each instrument of 
sale, conveyance, or transfer of the property which is subject of a recorded 
mortgage, or of the assignment of mortgage credit, the fees established in the 
preceding schedule shall be collected on the bases of ten per centum of the 
amount of the mortgage or unpaid balance thereof, provided, that the latter Is 
stated in the instrument.
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4. Notice of attachment. - For recording each notice of attachment, including 
the necessary Index and annotations, eight pesos.
5. Release of mortgage. - For recording such release of mortgage, including the 
necessary index and references, the fees established in the schedule under 
paragraph (b) above shall be collected on the basis of five per centum of the 
amount of the mortgage.
6. Release of attachment. - For recording each release of attachment, including 
the proper annotations, five pesos.
7. Sheriffs return of sale. - For recording each sheriffs return of sale, including 
the index and references, seven pesos.
8. Power of attorney, appointment of guardian, administrator or trustee. - For 
recording a power of attorney, appointment of judicial guardian, administrator, 
or trustee, or any other instrument in which a person is given power to act in 
behalf of another in connection with a mortgage, ten pesos.
9. No specific fee. - For recording each instrument or order relating to a 
recorded mortgage, including the necessary index and references, for which no 
specific fee is provided above, five pesos.
10. Certified copy. - For certified copies of records, such fees as are allowed by 
law for copies kept by the Register of Deeds.
11. Certification. - For issuing a certificate relative to, or showing the existence 
or non-existence of an entry in the registration book, or a document on file, for 
each such certificate containing not more than two hundred words, five pesos; 
if It exceeds that number, an additional fee of one peso shall be collected for 
every one hundred words or fractional part thereof, in excess of the first two 
hundred words.
12. Research Fee. - For services rendered in attending to requests for references 
to, or researches on any document on file in the Registry, there shall be collected 
a fee of two pesos per document.
CHAPTER XV
REGISTRATION OF CONDOMINIUMS
SEC. 128. Registration of Master Deed. - Any property or properties divided 
or to be divided into Condominiums shall be recorded in the Register of Deeds of the 
province or city in which the property lies, and duly annotated in the corresponding 
certificate of title of the land. If the latter had been patented or registered under either
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the Land Registration or Cadastrai Acts, an enabiing or master deed which shall contain 
the following:
1. Description of the land on which the building or buildings and improvements are 
or are to be located;
2. Description of the building or buildings, stating the number of stories and 
basements, the number of units and their accessories, if any;
3. Description of the common areas and facilities;
4. A statement of the exact nature of the interest acquired or to be acquired by the 
purchaser in the separate units and in common areas of the condominium 
project. Where title to or the appurtenant interests in common areas are or is to 
be held by a condominium corporation, a statement to this effect shall be 
Included;
5. A certificate of the registered owner of the property. If he is other than those 
executing the master deed, as well as of all registered holders of any lien or 
encumbrance on the property, that they consent to the registration of the deed;
6. A survey plan of the land included In the project, unless a survey plan of the 
same property had previously been filed in said office and a diagrammatic floor 
plan of the building or buildings in the project, in sufficient detail to identify each 
unit, its relative location and approximate dimensions should be appended;
7. Any reasonable restriction not contrary to law, morals or public policy regarding 
the right of any condominium owner to alienate or dispose of his condominium.
SEC. 129. Procedure for Registration of the Master Deeds and 
Declaration of Restrictions and Amendments thereto. - The Register of Deeds 
shall enter the Master Deed with Declaration of Restrictions including the supporting 
documents and annotate upon the certificate of title covering the land Included within 
the project. A corresponding registration fee shall be collected based on the assessed 
value of the property/ies divided or to be divided into condominiums. There shall also 
be collected an assurance fund premium of one-fourth of one percent of the zonal value 
of the building or buildings divided or to be divided into condominiums, or constituting 
part of the condominium project.
The enabling or master deed may be amended or revoked upon registration of 
an instrument executed by the registered owner or owners of the property and 
consented to by all registered holders of any lien or encumbrance on the land or 
building or portion thereof.
SEC. 130. Procedure for the Issuance of Individual Condominium 
Certificates of Title. - The following procedures shall be observed in the Registry for 
the issuance of individual condominium certificate of title.
a) The client shall submit the owner's duplicate certificate of title and co-owner's 
duplicate certificate of title, as the case may be, together with the required
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documents. All Information from documents received supporting the transaction 
shall be entered into the EPEB-RL. The date, hour and minute of reception of all 
instruments in the order in which they were received shall likewise be noted. The 
document shall be automatically assigned with an entry number as its control or 
reference number.
b) 
The corresponding fees shall be automatically computed by the system and the 
corresponding electronic receipt generated upon payment. In default of payment, 
the entry made in the EPEB-RL, shall be rendered of no force and effect.
c) 
All pertinent data on the current title shall be encoded in the system and the 
corresponding annotations shall be made using the PHILARIS format and 
templates. If documents received are complete, the findings of the examination 
shall be transmitted to the approving authority.
d) 
If the transaction is approved, the titles and documents shall be stamped and 
signed by the approving authority. A Condominium Certificate of Title shall then 
be issued, and its issuance shall be annotated on the certificate of title covering 
the lot where the Master Deeds is annotated. The Condominium Certificate of Title 
shall contain the restrictions annotated in said certificate of title.
e) 
The owner's duplicate certificate of titles and all the documents submitted by the 
client shail be scanned, and the resulting images shall be stored In the database. 
After scanning, the documents shall be kept In the vault for safekeeping.
f) 
The resulting condominium owner's copy of title, owner's duplicate transfer 
certificate of title, and the duplicate of the documents shall then be delivered to 
the registered owner or his duly authorized representative who presents a Letter 
of Authority and the valid identification cards of the grantor and representative, 
who shall sign the acknowledgment slip generated by the system.
SEC. 131. Procedure for Initial Sale of Condominium Certificate of Title.
- The following procedures shall be observed In the Registry of Deeds for the initial
sale of a condominium certificate of title.
a) The client shall submit the condominium owner's copy of title, owner's duplicate 
certificate of title and co-owner's duplicate certificate of title, as the case may be, 
together with the required documents. All basic information from documents 
received supporting the transaction shall be entered Into the EPEB-RL. The date, 
hour and minute of reception of all instruments in the order in which they were 
received shall likewise be noted. The document shall be automatically assigned 
with an entry number as its control or reference number.
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b) 
The corresponding fees shall be automatically computed by the system and the 
corresponding electronic receipt generated upon payment. In default of payment, 
the entry made in the EPEB-RL shall be rendered of no force and effect.
c) 
All pertinent data on the current title shall be encoded In the system and the 
corresponding annotations shall be made using the PHILARIS format and 
templates. If documents received are complete, the findings of the examination 
shall be transmitted to the approving authority.
d) 
If the transaction is approved, the titles and documents shall be stamped and 
signed by the approving authority. The CCT shall then be issued, and the sale 
shall be annotated on the certificate of title covering the lot where the Master 
Deed is annotated and on the condominium owner's copy of title, which will be 
stamped cancelled. The new CCT shall contain the restrictions annotated in said 
certificate of title.
e) 
The owner's duplicate certificate of title, and all the documents submitted by the 
client shall be scanned, and the resulting images shall be stored In the database. 
After scanning the documents shall be kept In the vault for safekeeping.
f) 
The resulting owner's duplicate transfer certificate of title, condominium owner's 
copy of title and the duplicate of the documents shall then be delivered to the 
registered owner or his duly authorized representative who presents a Letter of 
Authority and the valid identification cards of the grantor and representative, who 
shall sign the acknowledgment slip generated, (n)
SEC. 132. Assessments and Liens. - Notice of assessment upon any 
condominium unit must be registered by management body with the Register of Deeds 
of the city or province where such condominium project is located. Upon payment of 
said assessment and charges or other satisfaction thereof, the management body shall 
cause to be registered a release of the lien.
Real property tax liens shall likewise be registered with the Register of Deeds of 
the city or province where such condominium project is located.
SEC. 133. Decree of Partitionf Dissolution or Reorganization. - Upon 
receipt of a copy of the decree of partition of a condominium project or a reorganization 
of the project or for the dissolution of condominium corporation, the Register of Deeds 
shall enter and annotate the same on the pertinent certificate of title.
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CHAPTER XVI 
CONSULTAS
SEC. 134. Procedure. - When the Register of Deeds is in doubt with regard 
to the proper step/s to be taken or memorandum to be made in pursuance of any deed, 
mortgage, or other instrument presented to him for registration, the question shall be 
submitted to the Commission, whose ruling thereon shall be conclusive and binding 
upon all Registers of Deeds.
Where the instrument is denied registration, the Register of Deeds shall notify 
the interested party in writing, setting forth the defects of the instrument or legal 
grounds relied upon, and advising him that if he is not agreeable to such ruling, he 
may, without withdrawing the documents from the Registry, elevate the matter by 
consulta within five days from receipt of notice of the denial of registration to the 
Commission thru the Register of Deeds.
The Register of Deeds shall make a memorandum of the pending consulta on 
the certificate of title which shall be canceled motu proprio by the Register of Deeds 
after final resolution or decision thereof, or before resolution, if withdrawn by petitioner.
The Commission, considering the consulta and the records certified to him after 
notice to the parties and hearing, shall enter an order prescribing the step to be taken 
or memorandum to be made. However, the party in interest who disagrees with the 
final resolution, ruling or order of the Commission relative to consulta, may appeal to 
the Court of Appeals within the period and in manner provided in Republic Act No. 
5434.
CHAPTER XVII 
FINAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 135. Postage Exemption. - No postage stamps or mailing charges shall 
be required in all matters transmitted by the Commission or any of its Registry of Deeds 
in the implementation of provisions of this Act.
SEC. 136. Applicability of the E-commerce Law. - The pertinent provisions 
of the E-Commerce Law as to the acceptability of electronic copies of documents as 
evidence, shall heretofore be acceptable as true copies of documents required under 
this Act.
SEC. 137. Congressional Oversight Committee. - There is hereby created 
a Congressional Oversight Committee to monitor progress of the implementation of the 
provisions of this Act. The Committee shall, among others, in aid of legislation monitor 
and ensure the implementation of this Act.
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The Committee shall be composed of six (6) members of the Senate and six (6) 
members of the House of Representatives with the Chairpersons of the Committees on 
National Defense and Security of both Houses as Joint Chairpersons. The five (5) 
members of from each Chamber shall be designated by the Senate President and the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. The Minority shall have one (1) 
representative from both Chambers.
SEC. 138. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to finance the initial 
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriation of 
the LRA, DENR and DAR. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for its continued 
implementation shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
SEC. 139. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days 
from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Justice and the Land Registration 
Authority, In coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 
(DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the National Commission of 
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for 
the effective implementation of this Act.
SEC. 140. Separabiiity Ciause. - Should any provision herein be declared 
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of other provisions of this Act.
SEC. 141. Repeaiing Ciause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and 
regulations or other issuances of parts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are 
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
SEC. 142. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or In any two (2) newspapers of general circulation 
in the Philippines.
Approved,
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