THE CADASTRAL SYSTEM OF

LAND REGISTRATION

CHARACTERISTICS & PURPOSE OF THE

SYSTEM
When in the opinion of the President of the
Philippines, public interest so requires that the
title to any unregistered lands be settled and
adjudicated, he may to this end, direct and
order the Director of Lands to cause to be
made a cadastral survey of the lands involved
& the plans and technical description thereof
prepared in due form (Section 35 of PD

PURPOSE
To serve public interest requiring that the title
to all lands be settled and adjudicated
Ordinary procedure was found too slow
To minimize land conflicts

Ordinary Proceeding

Cadastral Proceeding

Registration is voluntary

Compulsory

Owner of the land or his legal heirs are the The Director of lands on behalf of the
applicant
government is the applicant
Application usually refers to a private land

All classes of lands are included

The person who files his application for

registration of the land is called applicant and
the person who objects is the opponent
The petitioner asks the Court to confirm his title
and order the registration of the land in his name

The owners of the land comes to court as

claimants of their own lands

Land is surveyed at the request of the owner

Government asks the Court to settle and

adjudicate the land described in the petition

Lands are surveyed by the Government w/c

initiates the registration of all lands in a
municipality for public interests
If there is no adverse claim & the applicant fails If none of the claimants can prove that he is
to prove his title to the land, his application may entitled to the land, same is declared public
be dismissed without prejudice (order of land and judgment is res judicata
dismissal does not constitute res judicata)

PROCEDURE

SURVEY
Opinion of Phil President

Order Director of Lands to make survey and plan

Director gives notice to persons claiming interest in lands

& to general public of day of survey

Geodetic engineers commences survey

During survey, boundaries are marked by monuments

Filing of Petition for registration &

Publication of Notices
Contents of Petition
Description of the Lands

Such other data as may

serve to furnish full notice
to the occupants of the
lands

Publication of Notice of Hearing

Court orders date of
hearing

Publishing notice once

in Official Gazette
Newspaper of general
circulation also once
Copy mailed to person
whose address is known

Filing of Answer

Any person claiming interest in any part of lands subject to petition

is required to file answer including the following information:

(a) The age of the claimant;

(b) The cadastral number of the lot or lots claimed, as appearing on
the plan filed in the case by the Director of Lands, or the block and
lot numbers, as the case may be;
(c) The name of the barrio and municipality in which 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, held 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.

What if claimant files a false answer?

SECTION 116. Whoever knowingly swears
falsely to any statement required to be
made under oath by this Act shall be guilty of
perjury and liable to the penalties provided by
law for perjury.

Hearing
Where the land is situated
Like and ordinary TRC trial
Conflicting claims are determined
DUTY OF SENDING NOTICES OF DECISIONS TO
INTERESTED PARTIES
-Clerk of Court

Final Judgment
A proceeding in rem
Rationale:
Public policy and public order demand not only
that litigations must terminate at some definite
point but also that titles over the lands under the
Torrens System should be given stability for on it
greatly depends the stability of the countrys
economy.

Jurisdiction & Powers of the Cadastral

Court in Cadastral Proceedings

Adjudicate title to any claimant entitled thereto

Declare a land public land
Order the correction of technical description
Order the issuance of a new title in place of the
title issued under voluntary registration
proceedings
Determine priority of overlapping titles
Order partition of the property

However, the cadastral court cannot:

Adjudicate the title to a lot already covered by
homestead patent
Decree again the registration of land already
decreed in an earlier land registration
Award damages