February 11, 1913
ACT NO. 2259
THE CADASTRAL ACT
SECTION 1.
SECTION 2.
SECTION 3.
SECTION 4.
SECTION 5.
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,
be 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": Provided,
however, That subdivisions of additions to cities or town sites may, with the
approval of the court, be designated by block and lot numbers instead of cadastral
numbers and letters.
All subdivisions under this section shall be made in accordance with the
provisions of section forty-four of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six and
the provisions of section fifty-eight of the said Act shall be applicable to
conveyances of lands so subdivided.
SECTION 7. Upon 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 cause notice thereof to be published twice, in successive
issues of the Official Gazette, in the English language. The notice shall be issued
by order of the court, attested by the Chief of the General Land Registration
Office, and shall be in form substantially as follows:
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Court of First Instance, Province of __________
Cadastral Case No. _____
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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 at 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, within seven days after the publication of said
notice in the Official Gazette, as hereinbefore provided, cause a copy of the notice
to be mailed to every person named therein whose address is known. Said official
shall also cause a duly attested copy of the notice to be posted, in a conspicuous
place on the lands included in the petition and also in a conspicuous place upon the
chief municipal building of the city, municipality, township, or settlement in
which the lands or a portion thereof are situated, by the sheriff of the province, or
by his deputy, or by such other person as may be designated by the Chief of the
General Land Registration Office, fourteen days at least before the return day
thereof. 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. The court may cause other or further notice of the
petition to be given in such manner and to such persons as it may deem proper.
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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, or by some person in his behalf and 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:
(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, township, or
settlement in which the lots are situated.
(d) The names of the owners of the adjoining lots as 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 his predecessors, if any, held possession.
(f) 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.
(g) If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed
value.
(h) 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, detail 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: Provided, however, That the court may in its discretion,
detail any of its employees to perform such service, and 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
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Finance and Justice, employ for such purpose the necessary personnel, to be
paid out of provincial funds. The officer or employee detailed, or the person
employed to assist the defendants, shall prepare their answer, which shall be sworn
to before such officer, employee or person. No fees shall be charged for the
preparation, acknowledgment and filing of answer, nor shall a documentary stamp
be required. The court shall, at some convenient date prior to the expiration of the
time for filing the answer, cause such general notice to be issued to all persons
interested as may be necessary fully to inform them of the purposes of this section
and their rights with respect thereto.
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, for reasons stated in writing and filed with the record of case, may
designate, and shall be conducted in the same manner as ordinary trials and
proceedings in the Court of First Instance and shall be governed by the same
rules. Orders of default and confession shall also be entered in the same manner as
in ordinary cases in cases in the same court and shall have the same effect. 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, and such 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, and except as
herein otherwise provided all of the provisions of said Land Registration Act, as
now amended, and as it hereafter may be amended, shall be applicable to
proceedings under this Act, and to the titles and certificates of title granted or
issued hereunder.
Provided, however, That 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, without prejudice to going on with
the preceding as regards the contested lots. Every decision shall set forth the
civil status of the respective claimant, the name of the spouse if married, the
age if a minor, and if under disability, the nature of such disability.
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. Such other judge shall have the same power as the
judge who began the trial to decide all questions arising in connection with the
case and to decide the case upon the evidence appearing in the record.
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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. In deeds of conveyance or other documents evidencing the
transfer of title to lands, or creating encumbrances thereon, the cadastral numbers
or the block and lot numbers, as the case may be, shall be written in words and
figures.
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.
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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. One tenth of the costs of the 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-tenths 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:
Provided, That when the province, a municipality, municipal district, township, or
settlement has not sufficient funds to pay this obligation, its share may be paid in
five equal installments within five years, without interest. The amounts thus
taxed against each of the lots or parcels of land shall be considered a special
assessment of taxes against the respective parcels, shall constitute a first lien upon
the land, and shall be collected by the Director of Lands or his duly authorized
representatives in equal installments within a period of five years, bearing interest
at the rate of six per centum per annum. The first installment shall become due and
payable at the same time as the general land taxes for the year next succeeding the
year in which the assessment of the costs shall be received by the provincial
treasurer and shall be collected in the same manner as such general land taxes.
Each succeeding installment shall become due and payable at the same time as the
general land taxes for the corresponding current year and shall be collected in the
same manner. The Director shall for this purpose send to the officer in charge of
such collection a copy of said assessment of costs: Provided, however, That the
amounts representing the proportional shares of the costs taxed against lots
surveyed at the request and expense of their owner and for which a plan other than
the cadastral plan has been made by a duly authorized surveyor prior to the
decision in the cadastral proceeding, or which have been registered in accordance
with the provision of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, entitled "The
Land Registration Act," or surveyed, patented, or leased under the Public Land and
Mining Laws, prior to the decision in the cadastral proceeding, or have been
declared to be public lands by the court, shall not constitute a lien against said lot
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nor shall be collected from the owners thereof: Provided, further, That the owner
of any lot may, if he so desires, pay any installment of the costs taxed against his
lot at any time before the same become due.
(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 Islands 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: Provided, however, That the various provincial or municipal
governments may, in their discretion, with the approval of the Secretary of the
Interior, assume and pay the cost of the survey, monumenting and registration
taxed and apportioned against the various lots and owners thereof, and in such
event the payments required to be made by said owners shall be made as herein
provided and shall be covered into the provincial or municipal treasury as a part of
the general funds of the province or municipality. TDcAIH
(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
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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. By agreement between the co-owners or co-tenants of lands included
in the petition, lands not so included but held by said co-owners or co-tenants in
the same manner and by the same tenure may, with the approval of the court, be
included in the same partition proceedings, and in such cases the court may order a
survey to be made of such lands.
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
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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 if he were of age
or of sound mind.
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: Provided, however, That no
heir or devisee shall be liable for a greater amount than the value of the property
received by him as his share in the estate: And Provided, further, That for the
purpose of contribution between the heirs or devisees themselves, the amount of
the debts of the estate for which each shall be liable shall bear the same proportion
to the value of his share of the estate as the total amount of the legal debts paid by
the heirs or devisees demanding contribution bears to the total value of the estate.
Any heir or devisee who, under a final judgment rendered in an action brought
under this section, pays more than his proportionate share of the debts of the estate
shall, with reference to the excess, be subrogated to the rights of the creditors
under such judgment against each of the other heirs or devisees to the extent of
their respective proportionate shares of the debts so paid by him: Provided,
further, That the provisions of this section shall not be construed to modify the
provisions of existing law as to the order in which the heirs or devisees are liable
to pay the debts of the deceased.
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.
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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.
SECTION 29. The short title of this Act shall be "The Cadastral Act."
SECTION 30. This Act shall take effect on its passage.
Enacted: February 11, 1913
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