REPUBLIC ACT NO.

1630
AN ACT AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1529 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE, AS AMENDED, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Adda Morena G. Canlas AUF-COL

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1630 AN ACT AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1529 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE, AS AMENDED, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Sec. 1. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State to safeguard and strengthen the integrity of the Torrens system to put a stop to the proliferation of pernicious and irregular practices of titling real property and to rationalize and improve registration proceedings and the issuance of certificates of title. In view of the foregoing, the State sees the urgent need update the procedures adopted by the appropriate government agencies tasked with enforcing the laws relative to property registration and the land titling system in the country. Toward this end, the government shall overhaul the system of property registration in the country by adopting modern means of record keeping which includes but is not limited to electronic and digital technology, and by affording effective means of access to the general public, of any and all information necessary to protect their dealings in real property . It is further declared the policy of the State to train and maintain a competent corps of public servants with a firm commitment to preserve faith in the integrity of property registration and the land titling system in the Philippines . Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 7 of the Property Registration Decree, as amended , is hereby further amended to read as follows: Sec. 7 Office of the Register of Deeds. There shall be at least one Register of Deeds for each province and one for each city. Every registry with a yearly average collection of more than Two Hundred Thousand Pesos during the last three year shall have one Deputy Register of Deeds, and every Registry with a yearly average collection of more than Five Hundred Thousand Pesos during the last three years, shall have one Deputy Register of Deeds, and one second Deputy Register of Deeds. The Secretary of Justice shall define the official station and territorial jurisdiction of each Registry upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Registration , with the end in view of making every Registry easily accessible and its operations transparent 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 and Deputy Registers of Deeds shall be re-assigned or reshuffled every three years, to avert any familiarity with parties or persons

dealing with the respective registrars in the different provinces and cities. The assignments shall be determined by raffles within their regions as may be determined by a special committee to be set up by the Authority within three years from the effectivity of this Act.

Sec. 7a Set-up in the Office of the Register of Deeds. The office of the Register of Deeds shall be divided into other appropriate sections as the Authority may deem necessary. The Registers of deeds shall be circumspect with all their dealings with parties and the public who make inquiries with the office. Transparent glass panels shall be installed in the offices and open to eye to the public so that transactions in the registers may be visible to the public. Assessment of fees shall be made be duly designated assessors so that the attending clerks will have no hand in the assessment of fees and payment thereof. SEC. 2. Article 12 of the Property Registration Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: Section 12 Owners Index, record keeping. There shall be prepared in every Registry an index system which shall contain the names of all registered owners alphabetically arranged. For this purpose, an index card shall be prepared in the name of each registered owner which shall contain a list of all lands registered in his name.

Section 12a Digitization of Certificates of Title Upon the effectivity of this Act , the registry of Deeds shall undertake a digital recording process of certificates of title stored in their offices. The Authority shall adopt necessary measures to introduce an efficient and economic record keeping and duplication system which employs the latest and most feasible digital set-up to address the record keeping needs of the registries. Within five years after the effectivity of this Act, the Authority shall install a secure on-line verification and inquiry system which the public could access through the regular Access protocols (AP), to allow convenient inquiry SEC. 3. Article 70 of the Property Registration Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: Sec. 70. Adverse Claim. Whoever claims any part or interest in registered land adverse to the registered owner, arising subsequent to the date of the original registrations, may, if no other provision is made in this Decree for registering the same, make a statement in writing setting forth fully alleged right or interest, and how or under who acquired, a reference to the number of the certificate of title of the registered owner, the name of the registered owner, and a description of the land in which the right or interest is claimed.

The statement shall be signed and sworn to, and shall state the adverse claimants residence, and a place at which all notices may be served upon him. This statement shall be entitled to registration as an adverse claim on the certificate of title. The adverse claim shall be effective for a period of thirty days from the date of registration. After the lapse of the said period, the annotation of adverse claim is deemed cancelled without need of any positive act. Provided, however, that after cancellation, no second adverse claim based on the same ground shall be registered by the same claimant.

SEC. 4. Article 78 of the Property Registration Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: Sec. 78 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 court 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 land described in the certificate of title, the certificate of the clerk of court where the action is pending and the memorandum entered by the Register of Deeds shall contain a description of the land affected by the judgment. For this purpose, the Register of Deeds shall keep a dossier of the specimen signatures of the different clerks of court of the province or city. It shall be the duty of the Registers of Deeds to ensure that the said dossier is regularly updated. Newly assigned registrars shall, within three months following their assignment shall submit a report to the Authority of the status of the inventory of records in their respective registers. Within two years from the effectivity of this Act, the Authority shall adopt appropriate rules and measures to subject each register to a regular audit, without prejudice to unannounced spot checks which may be conducted by an internal audit team. SEC. 5. Article 109 of the Property Registration Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. In case of loss or theft of an owner's duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered.

Additionally, in case of loss or theft, notice of the same fact subscribed and sworn before a commissioned notary public shall be: a)posted in three (3) conspicuous places, in the following order, barangay hall; city or municipal hall bulletin board; and the bulletin board of the provincial capitol; b) published for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the province or city where the property is located; and c) in the official website of the Authority upon proper application therefor. The authority shall adopt measures to put into place a viable and secure website where publications of this nature may be posted over the internet.

Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new 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 duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this decree. SEC. 6. LRA Modernization Fund . -There is hereby created a special fund, to be known as the LRA Modernization Fund, an initial amount of the One Hundred million pesos(P100,000,000) to cover modernization of the record keeping and registration system of property and land titles in the Philippines. An amount of Fifty million pesos (P50,000,000) shall be sourced from the gross income of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) from its lotto operation, Ten millions pesos (P10,000,000) from the gross receipts of the travel tax of the preceding year, the fund of the Social Reform Council intended for training personnel and staff development to improve the services of the Authority. Thereafter such amount shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. New equipment and technology obtained from foreign sources or suppliers shall be exempt from other taxes, charges or fees imposed by the government or any political subdivision or instrumentality thereof. und

Sec. 7. Punishable Acts and Applicable Penalties.- Any person who commits any act or enters into transactions which will undermine the integrity of property registration and the Torrens title system in the Philippines shall, aside from criminal liabilities he may incur from existing penal laws, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment of not less than nine (9) months but not more than twelve (12) years or a fine not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) nor more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) or both such fine and imprisonment upon the discretion of the court. In addition, he shall be obliged to pay whatever damage may have been suffered by the latter as a consequence of the unlawful act.

The same penalty applies to personnel of the authority who alone or in connivance with any other private person facilitates, or agrees to be a party to any anomalous transaction which may cast doubt on the integrity of the system of property registration and land titling system of the Philippines, without prejudice to criminal liability under the penal laws of the country, on account of his being a public officer. SEC. 8. Article 120, 121, and 122 of the Property Registration Code, as amended, are hereby further amended to read as follows: Sec. 120. Separability Clause. If for any reason any section or provision of this Act, or any portion thereof, or the application of such section, provision or portion thereof to any person, group or circumstance is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act shall not be affected by such declaration and shall remain in force and effect. Sec. 100. Repealing Clause. All other laws, administrative orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Sec. 101. Amending Clause. Republic Act No. 26 is hereby amended accordingly.

Sec. 5 This act shall take effect within sixty (60) days from its publication in three newspapers of general circulation.

Approved. October 2, 2007.

ADDA MORENA GUTIERREZ CANLAS JR. Senate President Representatives Speaker

JOSE C. DE VENECIA, of the House of