The development of the law and jurisprudence on property registration has been fast-paced. The Court has held that Section 2 of PD No. 1529, or the Property Registration Decree, has now eliminated the distinction between the general jurisdiction vested in the regional trial court and the limited jurisdiction conferred upon it by the former law when acting merely as a land registration court. In other words, the court is no longer fettered by its former limited jurisdiction but is now authorized to hear and decide not only non-controversial cases but even contentious and substantial issues which before were beyond its competence. Aimed at avoiding multiplicity of suits, the change has simplified registration proceedings by conferring upon regional trial courts the authority to act not only on applications for original registration but also over all petitions filed after original registration of title, with power to hear and determine all questions arising upon such applications or petitions.
On the matter of land registration under Section 14(1) of PD No. 1529, the Court has clarified that the law does not require that the land subject of registration should have been alienable and disposable during the entire period of possession, or since June 12, 1945. It is sufficient that the land is already declared as alienable and disposable at the time the application for registration is filed. The reason for this is that if the State, at the time of application is made, has not yet deemed it proper to release the property for alienation or disposition, the presumption is that the government is still reserving the right to utilize it; hence, the need to preserve its ownership in the State irrespective of the length of adverse possession even in good faith.
To prove the classification of the land as A and D, it is now required that, in addition to the PENRO or CENRO certification that the land is alienable and disposable, the applicant must also present a copy of the original classification approved by the DENR Secretary and certified as a true copy by the legal custodian thereof.
It used to be a mandatory requirement for the applicant to submit the tracing cloth plan of the land to show its location and identity, by the rule now is that a certified blueprint or whiteprint plan of the land suffices for registration purposes.
And while the law requires that the notice of initial hearing shall be published once in the Official Gazette and once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, with the caveat, however, that “publication in the Official Gazette shall be sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon the court,” jurisprudence holds that publication in a newspaper of general circulation remains an indispensable procedural requirement of due process.
The evolution of the law and jurisprudence has made it imperative to update this work in cadence with the times. Relevant new cases have been cited, and pertinent administrative issuances, included. The same format –– question and answer methodology –– has been retained to make the subject easier to understand, comprehend, and assimilate.
