Preparation of Decree and Certificate of Title.
SEC. 39. Preparation of Decree and Certificate of Title.—After the judgment directing the registration of title to land has become final, the court shall, within fifteen days from entry of judgment, issue an order directing the Commissioner to issue the corresponding decree of registration and certificate of title. The clerk of court shall send, within fifteen days from entry of judgment, certified copies of the judgment and of the order of the court directing the Commissioner to issue the corresponding decree of registration and certificate of title, and a certificate stating that the decision has not been amended, reconsidered, nor appealed, and has become final. Thereupon, the Commissioner shall cause to be prepared the decree of registration as well as the original and duplicate of the corresponding original certificate of title. The original certificate of title shall be a true copy of the decree of registration. The decree of registration shall be signed by the Commissioner, entered and filed in the Land Registration Commission. The original of the original certificate of title shall also be signed by the Commissioner and shall be sent, together with the owner's duplicate certificate, to the Register of Deeds of the city or province where the property is situated for entry in his registration book.
Entry of Original Certificate of Title.
SEC. 40. Entry of Original Certificate of Title.—Upon receipt by the Register of Deeds of the original and duplicate copies 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. The Register of Deeds shall forthwith send notice by mail to the registered owner that his owner's duplicate is ready for delivery to him upon payment of legal fees.
Owner's duplicate certificate of title.
SEC. 41. 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.
Registration Books.
SEC. 42. Registration Books.—The original copy of the original certificate of title shall be filed in the Registry of Deeds. The same shall be bound in consecutive order together with similar certificates of title and shall constitute the registration book for titled properties.
Transfer Certificate of Title.
SEC. 43. 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", and likewise issued in duplicate. 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.
Statutory liens affecting title.
SEC. 44. Statutory liens affecting title.—Every registered owner receiving a certificate of title in pursuance of a decree of registration, 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 on 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 records.
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, Presidential Decree No. 27 or any other law or regulations on agrarian reform.
Statement of personal circumstances in the certificate.
SEC. 45. Statement of personal circumstances in the certificate.—Every certificate of title shall set forth the full names of all the 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. If the property covered belongs to the conjugal partnership, it shall be issued in the names of both spouses.
General incidents of registered land.
SEC. 46. General 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 Decree 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 bankcruptcy 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 Decree.
Registered land not subject to prescription.
SEC. 47. Registered land not subject to prescription.—No title to registered land in derogation of the title of the registered owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession.
Certificate not subject to collateral attack.
SEC. 48. Certificate not subject to collateral attack.—A certificate of title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified, or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law.
Splitting or consolidation of titles.
SEC. 49. Splitting or consolidation of titles.—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 the owner's duplicate, shall cancel it together with its original and issue in lieu thereof separate certificates as desired. A registered owner of several distinct parcels of land covered by separate certificates of title desiring to have in lieu thereof a single certificate for the whole land, or several certificates for the different parcels thereof, may also file a written request with the Register of Deeds concerned, and the latter, upon the surrender of the owner's duplicates, shall cancel them together with their originals, and issue in lieu thereof one or separate certificates as desired.
Subdivision and consolidation plans.
SEC. 50. Subdivision and consolidation plans.—Any owner subdividing a tract of registered land into lots which do not constitute a subdivision project as defined and provided for under P.D. No. 957, shall file with the Commissioner of Land Registration or with the Bureau of Lands a subdivision plan of such land on which all boundaries, streets, passageways and waterways, if any, shall be distinctly and accurately delineated.
If a subdivision plan, be it simple or complex, duly approved by the Commissioner of Land Registration or the Bureau of Lands 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 the Land Registration Act, as amended: 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 otherwise disposed of by the registered owner without the approval of the Court of First Instance of the province or city in which the land is situated.
A registered owner desiring to consolidate several lots into one or more, requiring now technical descriptions, shall file with the Land Registration 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 consolidation plan duty approved by the Commission, the Register of Deeds concerned shall cancel the corresponding certificates of title and issue a new one for the consolidated lots.
The Commission may not order or cause any change, modification, or amendment in the contents of any certificate of title, or of any decree or 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.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
