PROVIDING FOR THE MECHANICS OF REGISTRATION OF OWNERSHIP AND/OR TITLE TO LAND UNDER PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 27.

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 266
• Sections: 4

Preamble

WHEREAS, the present laws do not adequately provide for a

method of registering the ownership of tenant-farmers covered by Presidential

Decree No. 27; and

WHEREAS, there is urgent need of registering such rights to

prevent confusion in land titles;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as

Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to

Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated

September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and order the registration of

said rights in the following manner:

Section 1

SECTION 1. All Land Transfer Certificates issued pursuant to

Presidential Decree No. 27 shall be filed by the Department of Agrarian Reform

and recorded with the Land Registration Commission and forthwith the latter

shall transmit a copy thereof to the Register of Deeds of the province or city

where the land lies. When involving registered land, the Department of Agrarian

Reform shall indicate the number of the corresponding original or transfer

certificate of title.

Upon receipt of the copy of the Land Transfer Certificate, the Register of

Deeds concerned shall record it in the primary entry book and annotate a

memorandum thereof in the corresponding certificate of title covering the land,

without need of prior surrender of the owner's duplicate certificate of title.

It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to notify the registered owner

concerned of such fact within a reasonable time. If the land involved is not

registered under the Torrens System, the Register of Deeds shall record the Land

Transfer Certificate in the primary entry book and in the registration book made

and provided for unregistered lands under Act 3344.

Section 2

SEC. 2. After the tenant-farmer shall have fully complied

with the requirements for a grant of title under Presidential Decree No. 27, an

Emancipation Patent and/or Grant shall be issued by the Department of Agrarian

Reform on the basis of a duly approved survey plan.

If the land is previously registered under the Torrens System, the

Emancipation Patent and/or Grant, if filed with the Register of Deeds, shall

constitute conclusive authority for him to enter a transfer certificate of title

in accordance with such patent and/or grant: Provided, however, That

the Register of Deeds, before cancelling the original of the certificate of

title and issuing a new one in favor of the grantee, shall require the

registered owner or the party in possession thereof to surrender for

cancellation the owner's duplicate within a reasonable period: And provided,

further, That if the owner or party withholding such duplicate certificate

shall refuse or fail to surrender the same within thirty (30) days from and

after the date of receipt of the proper notice, the Register of Deeds shall be

authorized to cancel the original as well as the owner's duplicate certificate

of title and issue in lieu thereof a new one, with the corresponding owner's

duplicate, in favor of the grantee.

If the patent or grant affects unregistered lands previously recorded under

Section one, the filing of the Emancipation Patent and/or Grant with the

Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land is situated, shall

forthwith bring the land under the operation of Act 496, as amended, and the

same shall thenceforth be considered registered lands. It shall thus be the duty

of the Register of Deeds, after the entry of the patent and/or grant in the

corresponding registration book, to enter an original certificate of title for

such registered land, and issue an owner's duplicate certificate to the

grantee.

Section 3

SEC. 3. No fee, premium, or tax of any kind shall be charged

or imposed in connection with the issuance and registration of documents and

titles, nor shall postage dues and mailing charges be required in all matters

connected with the implementation of this Decree.

Done in the City of Manila, this 4th day of August, in the year of Our Lord,

nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. REYES

Assistant Executive Secretary