THE CADASTRAL ACT

(ACT NO. 2259)

 AN ACT PROVIDING CERTAIN SPECIAL
PROCEEDINGS FOR THE SETTLEMENT
AND ADJUDICATION OF LAND TITLES.

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the

Philippine Legislature, that:
SECTION 1:

• The Director of Lands shall give notice to

persons claiming an interest in the lands, and to
the general public, of the day on which such
survey will begin.
• A copy of the notice shall also be sent to the
president of such municipality, township, or
settlement, and to the provincial board.
SECTION 2:

• The surveyor or other employees of the Bureau of

Lands in charge of the survey shall give reasonable
notice to the day on which the survey of any portion of
such lands is to begin.
• The notice must also be posted to the municipality
where the land to be surveyed is located
SECTION 3 :

• The posting of such notice must be

before the survey started.
SECTION 4 :

• Surveyors and other employees are legally permitted to enter the

land to be surveyed.
• The person who has a claim of interest on the land has the right to
ask about boundaries and things they have to know.
• Any person who interfere on the said survey will be punished by a
fine of not more than one hundred pesos or by imprisonment for
not more than thirty days or both.
SECTION 5 :

• After the survey, the director of lands represented by the attorney-

general (solicitor general) shall institute registration proceedings.
• the public interests require that the titles to such lands be settled and
adjudicated.
• If there are two or more parcels occupied by different person, there shall
be on the plans filed in the case be given separate numbers by the
Director of Lands, which numbers shall be known is "cadastral numbers."
SECTION 6 :

• After final decree has been entered for the registration of a lot, its cadastral
number shall not be changed except by order of the Court of First Instance.
• Future subdivisions of any lot shall with the approval of said Court.
• 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":
SECTION 7 :

• Upon receiving the receipt of the order of the court setting the
time for initial hearing of the petition, the Chief of the General
Land Registration Office shall published a notice in the successive
issue of official gazette in this manner:
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Court of First Instance, Province of __________
Cadastral Case No. _____
G.L.R.O. Cadastral Record No. _____

NOTICE OF 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:

WHEREAS, a petition has been presented to said Court by the Director of Lands.,
praying that the titles to the following described lands or the various parcels thereof
be settled and adjudicated (insert description), you are hereby cited to appear et the
Court of First Instance to be held at _____, in the Province of _______, on the day of
___, 19___, at ___ o'clock, to present such claims as you may have to said lands or any
portion thereof, and to present evidence, if any you have, in support of such claims.

And unless you appear at said court at the time and place aforesaid, your default will
be recorded and the titles to the lands will be adjudicated and determined in
accordance with the prayer of the petition and upon the evidence before the Court
and you will be forever barred from contesting such petition or any decree entered
thereon.

WITNESS _____, Judge of said Court, this __ day of ____, 19 __.

ISSUED at Manila, Philippines, this __ day of _____, 19__

ATTEST:
_________________
Chief of the General
Land Registration Office
SECTION 8 :
• The return of said notice shall not be less than thirty days nor more
than one year from the date of issue.
• The Chief of the General Land Registration Office shall also cause a copy
of notice in seven days to be mailed to every person therein.
• The said official shall also provide a duly attested copy of the notice to
be posted in a conspicuous place where the land is located.
• A copy of the notice shall also be sent by registered mail to the Mayor
of the city, municipality, township, or settlement in which the lands are
situated and to the Provincial Governor.
SECTION 9 :
• Any person claiming any interest in any part of the lands, whether named in the notice or not, shall appear
before the Court by himself.
• It can be a person in his behalf, shall file an answer on or before the return day or within such further time
as may be allowed by the Court.
• The answer shall be signed and sworn to by the claimant or by some person in his behalf, and shall state
whether the claimant is married or unmarried, and, if married, the name of the husband or wife and the
date of the marriage, and shall also contain:
• Age of the claimant
• 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.
• The name of the barrio and municipality, township, or settlement in which the lots are situated.
• The names of the owners of the adjoining lots as far as known to the claimant.
• 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 his predecessors, if
any, held possession.
• If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the lands, the answer shall fully set forth the interest claimed by
him and the time and manner of its acquisition.
• If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value.
• The encumbrance, if any, affecting the lots and the names of the adverse claimants as far as known.
SECTION 10:

• The governor of the province shall, upon the request of the court,
sent an officer or employee of the province to assist the defendants in
action brought under this Act in the preparation of their pleadings
and evidence, without cost to them.
• in case of the failure of the provincial governor to make suitable
provision for the assistance of the defendants as above set forth, the
court may, with the approval of the Secretary of Justice, employ for
such purpose the necessary personnel, to be paid out of provincial
funds.
SECTION 11:
• The trial of the case may occur at any convenient place within the province in which the
lands are situated or at such other place as the court,
• All conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the court and decrees awarded in favor of
the persons entitled to the lands or the various parts thereof.
• decrees, when final, shall be the basis for original certificates of title in favor of said
persons which shall have the same effect as certificates of title granted on application for
registration of land under the Land Registration Act,
• in deciding a cadastral case the court shall set aside from the cadastral proceedings all lots
that have not been contested and shall award such lots to the claimants in a decision which
shall become final thirty days after the rendition of the same.
SECTION 12:

In case of the death of any judge, who may have begun the trial of
an action brought under the provisions of this Act, before the
termination of the trial or in case of his inability for any other
reason to terminate such trial, the Secretary of Justice may
designate another judge to complete the trial and to decide the
case.
SECTION 13:

Whenever in an action brought under the provisions of

this Act a new trial is ordered, the court shall specify the
lot or lots with reference to which the new trial is ordered,
and the case shall remain closed as to all other lots, if any,
included in the action.
SECTION 14:

In the event of an appeal to the Supreme Court from any decision or order of the
Court of First Instance in an action brought under the provisions of this Act, only
the lots claimed by the appellant shall be affected thereby. The decision of the
Court of First Instance shall be final as to all remaining lots, if any, included in the
action, and upon the expiration of the time for the filing of a bill of exceptions,
final decree for such remaining lots may be entered and certificates of title
therefor issued.
SECTION 15:

Except as otherwise ordered by the court, a separate

certificate of title shall be entered and a corresponding
duplicate certificate issued for each separate parcel or
holding of land included in the petition.
SECTION 16:

• After the entry of the final decree of registration of any lot, the
designation of the lot by its cadastral number, or block and lot number
as the case may be, together with the name of the municipality,
township, or settlement and province in which the lot is situated, shall
be a sufficient description of said lot for all purposes.
• The cadastral letter of a subdivision of a lot added to the cadastral
number thereof shall, together with the name of the municipality,
township, or settlement and province, be a sufficient description of
each subdivision.
SECTION 17:
In all proceedings under this Act, the fees of the several registers of deeds for the making and
entering of a certificate of title, including the issue of one duplicate certificate, and for the
registration of the same, including the entering, indexing, filing, and attesting thereof, shall be
as follows and no other fees shall be lawful:

• When the value of property does not exceed fifty pesos, fifty centavos.
• When the value of the property exceeds fifty pesos but does not exceed two hundred pesos,
one peso.
• When the value of the property exceeds two hundred pesos but does not exceed five hundred
pesos, two pesos.
• When the value of the property exceeds five hundred pesos, six pesos.
• For the purposes of this section the value of the property shall be its last assessed value, or, in
default thereof, its market value.
• The fees authorized under this section shall be payable to the register upon the delivery of the
titles to the owners thereof: Provided, however, That such fees may be payable to the
provincial treasurer or his deputies when these deliver said titles by delegation to the register.
SECTION 18:

A. One-tenth of the cost of registration proceedings and the cadastral survey and
monumenting had under this Act shall be borne by the Insular Government; one-tenth shall
be paid by the province concerned, and one-tenth by the city, municipality, municipal
district, township, or settlement in which the land is situated, the City of Manila to be
considered for this purpose, both as a province, and municipality; and the remaining seven-
tenth shall be assessed and collected against each and all of the lots included in a cadastral
proceeding and shall be apportioned in accordance with the square root of the area thereof,
but in no case shall less than five-pesos be taxed against each lot.
 B. In case of the sale, transfer, or conveyance, for a pecuniary consideration, of any
property, or part thereof, registered by virtue of a decree issued in a cadastral
proceeding, prior to the payment of the total amount of the costs taxed against such
property in accordance with the preceding paragraph, endorsed as an encumbrance of
lien upon each cadastral certificate of title, the vendor or his legal representatives shall
pay such costs in their entirety in case the order apportioning the costs has already
been issued in the cadastral proceeding in which the property being sold, transferred,
or conveyed is included, and the register of deeds concerned shall demand of the
vendor, before registering the deed for such sale, transfer, or conveyance of said
property, that he exhibit a receipt signed by the Director of Lands or his duly authorized
representative, showing that such encumbrance or lien has been paid: Provided,
however, That in cases of sale, transfer, or conveyance of the property in. which the
order apportioning the costs has not yet been issued, the register shall endorse on the
certificate of transfer issued by him the encumbrance or lien appearing on the former
certificate as guarantee of the payment of the costs above referred to.
C. The costs of the registration proceedings under the provisions of this
Act shall consist of a sum equivalent to ten per centum of the cost of
the survey and monumenting of the land. The amount of the costs of
the proceeding so taxes shall be for all services rendered by the General
Land Registration Office and the clerk or his deputies in each cadastral
proceeding, and the expense of publication, mailing, and posting
notices, as well as the notices of the decision and the order
apportioning the costs shall be borne by the General Land Registration
Office.
 d. All amounts collected by the Director of Lands or his duly
authorized representatives from the owners of the various lots as
costs of proceedings, survey, and monumenting in accordance with
this section, shall be covered into the Insular Treasury.

E. Upon the collection of the amount of the cost of the registration proceedings,
or part thereof, in each cadastral proceeding in accordance with this Section, the
Commissioner of Land Registration shall forward to the Insular Auditor and the
Insular Treasurer a statement of such collection, and the latter is hereby
authorized and empowered to pay to the General Land Registration office a sum
equal to the amount of said cost of proceedings collected, and the sums
necessary to make such payments, are hereby appropriated, such sums to be
credited to the appropriation for the General Land Registration Office for
disbursement in other cadastral registration proceedings.
SECTION 19:
Whenever in proceedings under this Act the Court is of the opinion that the
interests of justice require or the parties themselves petition that a partition
be made of lands included in the petition and held by various persons in
common or jointly, the court may order that partition be made and for that
purpose may appoint two or more disinterested and judicious persons to be
commissioners, commanding them to make partition of the lands and to get
off to each of the parties in interest such part and proportion of the lands as
the court shall order.
SECTION 20:

Before making the partition, the commissioners shall take

and subscribe an oath before any officer authorized to
administer oaths, that they will faithfully perform their
duties as such commissioners, which oath shall be filed in
court with the proceedings in the case.
SECTION 21:

Except as herein otherwise provided, the commissioners and

the court in making the partition shall be governed by the
provisions of sections one hundred and eighty-five, one
hundred and eighty-six, one hundred and eighty-seven, one
hundred and ninety, one hundred-and ninety-one of the
Code of Civil Procedure and the commissioners shall receive
such compensation as the court may determine, but not to
exceed three, pesos per day for the time actually and
necessarily employed in the performance of the duties.
SECTION 22:

The order of the court effecting the partition shall state

definitely, by adequate description, the particular portion of
the estate which is apportioned to each party in interest and
shall have the same force and effect as the final judgment in
partition proceedings under the Code of Civil Procedure.
SECTION 23:

The guardian of minors and persons of unsound mind shall represent

them in the partition proceedings authorized by this Act. Where no
guardian is appointed, or where he fails to appear, the court may
appoint a guardian "ad litem" to represent the minors or persons of
unsound mind in the proceedings. Such guardian or guardian "ad litem"
may, on behalf of his ward, and with the approval of the court, do and
perform any act, matter, or thing respecting the partition of the estate,
including amicable partition thereof which such minor or person of
unsound mind could do in the partition proceedings.
SECTION 24:

The proceedings in partitions authorized by this Act shall be regarded as a

part of the land registration case in connection with which the partition is
ordered, and no special fees shall be charged by the clerk of the court for
any service performed by him in such partition proceedings, but the
compensation of the commissioners appointed and additional expenses
incurred in connection with the partition, including the costs of additional
surveys, may be taxed as cost in the case and apportioned among the
parties interested in the partition to such an extent and in such a manner
as the court may deem just and equitable. Upon the order taxing and
apportioning such costs becoming final, an execution may issue therefor as
in partition proceedings under the Code of Civil Procedure unless the court
directs that payment be made in installments as provided in section
eighteen of this Act.
SECTION 25:

If the property partitioned under the foregoing provisions

constitutes the estate, or part of the estate, of a deceased person,
which has not been settled by administration proceedings under
the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, the heirs or devisees
of such deceased person shall, for the full period of two years from
the date of the order effecting the partition, be jointly liable to the
creditors of the deceased for his debts.
The judgment rendered in any action brought under this section by
a creditor against the heirs or devisees of a deceased person shall,
if favorable to the plaintiff, specify the maximum amount for which
each heir or devisee shall be liable under such judgments.
SECTION 26:

In the interpretation of the provisions of this Act, the rules of

construction laid down by sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Code
of Civil Procedure and section 123 of the Land Registration
Act shall apply. The word "court" as used in this Act shall
mean the Court of First Instance.
SECTION 27:

In the event that the Philippine Legislature shall pass an Act

transferring to the Courts of First Instance the jurisdiction now
conferred upon the Court of Land Registration, the word "court" used
in this Act shall be construed to mean the respective Courts of First
Instance and the word "clerk" to mean the Clerk of the respective
Courts of First Instance, or the Chief of the General Land Registration
Office if that office shall have been created and the powers and
duties now performed by the clerk of the court of Land Registration
transferred to that office.
SECTION 28:
The surveyors employed to make surveys for registration purposes, or to prepare
maps and plats of property in connection therewith, shall give due notice in
advance to the adjoining owners, whose, addresses are known, of the date and
hour when they should present themselves on the property for the purpose of
making such objections to the boundaries of the properties to be surveyed as
they consider necessary for the protection of their rights.

Surveyors shall report all objections made by adjoining property owners and
occupants or claimants of any portion of the lands at the time of the survey and
demarcation, giving a proper description of the boundaries claimed by such
owners, occupants or claimants.tions to the boundaries of the properties to be
surveyed as they consider necessary for the protection of their rights.
 Surveyors shall define the boundaries of the lands, surveyed for registration
purposes, by means of monuments placed thereon and shall indicate on the
maps or plats the respective boundaries as designated, both by the applicant for
the survey and adverse claimants of adjoining properties; but the work of survey
and demarcation of the boundaries of the lands as occupied by the said applicant
need not be suspended because of the presentation of any complaint or
objections.

If, in any registration proceeding involving such survey, the court shall find the
boundary line designated by an adverse claimant to be incorrect and that
designated by the applicant to be correct, the expense of making any extra
survey over that required by the applicant shall be assessed by the court as cost
against the adverse claimant.
 Private surveyors employed in making survey as hereinabove contemplated shall be
subject to the regulations of the Bureau of Lands in respect to such surveys and shall
execute the same in accordance with current instructions relative thereto as issued
by the Director of Lands. Promptly upon completing their work, it shall be their duty
to send their original field notes, computations, reports, surveys, maps and plate of
the property in question to the Bureau of Lands, for verification and approval.

no private surveyor shall be qualified to make a survey to be used in registration

proceedings unless he shall have passed either the appropriate civil service examination
provided for surveyors or a special examination prepared by the Bureau of Lands for the
purpose of determining his competency for such work. When so requested by the
Director of Lands such special examination may be given under the supervision of the
Bureau of Civil Service upon the dates and at the places of scheduled civil service
examinations, the papers being returned to the Director of Lands for rating by him.
Surveyors who have held the office of assistant in one of the technical corps of engineers
of public works, forests, mines, and agronomist during the Spanish Government and
surveyors holding an academic diploma issued by a duly authorized and recognized
university, college of school who furnished satisfactory proof to the Director of Lands that
they have practiced surveying in the Philippine Islands prior to June First, nineteen
hundred and nine, shall be exempted from the examination hereinabove required,
excepting those who, having taken the said examination, failed to obtain a rating of fifty
per centum therein. "Surveyors, holding an academic diplomas," as herein used, shall
include all those who with similar diplomas under the Spanish Government, were
considered as surveyors or as entitled to practice to said profession in the Philippine
Islands.
A private surveyor possessing the prescribed qualifications shall, upon application
to the Director of Lands, be given a certificate authorizing him to make surveys as
contemplated in this article; and without such certificate no private surveyor
shall make any survey for Land registration purposes.
 When the Director of Lands shall find that any certified private surveyor submits any
plan or survey made by him which is defective, incorrect and substantially erroneous,
owning to incompetency, inexperience, bad faith, or inexcusable negligence; or fails to
forward within a reasonable length of time to the Bureau of Lands for verification any
surveys work contracted by him to the prejudice and detriment of the clients; or that
he is guilty of any fraud, deceit, malpractice, or misconduct in the exercise of his
profession or of disregarding the instruction, rules and regulations issued by the said
Bureau concerning the survey in preparation of his plans, the said Director may, after
due investigation, suspend or cancel the certificate of such surveyor; but the latter
may, within thirty days after receiving notice of such action, take and appeal to a
committee composed of the Department Head, the Judge of the fourth branch of the
Court of First Instance for the Ninth Judicial District, and duly authorized surveyor
appointed by the Governor-General. Pending appeal the right of the surveyor shall be
suspended, and the action of said committee shall be final.
SECTION 29:

The short title of this Act shall be "The Cadastral Act."

SECTION 30:

This Act shall take effect on its passage.