On the basis of their capacity “to acquire or hold lands o f the public domain,” the following may acquire private lands: a. Filipino Filipino citizens citizens b. Filipino corporations and and asscociations as defined in !ection ", #rticle $%% of the &onstitution and, by e'ception c. #liens, but only by hereditary succession and d. # natural(born citizen citizen of the )hilippines who has lost his citizenship under the terms of !ection *.
Section 14. +ho may apply. he following persons may file in the proper &ourt of First %nstance an application for registration of of title to land, whether personally or through their duly authorized representatives:
-/ hose who by themselves or through their predecessors(in( interest have been in open, continuous, e'clusive and notorious possession and occupation of of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide claim of ownership since 0une ", 123, or earlier. -"/ hose who have acquired ownership of private lands by prescription under the provision provision of e'isting laws. -4/ hose who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river beds by right of accession or accretion under the e'isting laws. -2/ hose who have acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided for by la w. +here the land is owned in common, all the co(owners shall file the application 5ointly. +here the land has been sold under pacto de retro, the vendor a retro may file an application for the original registration of the land, provided, however, that should the period for redemption e'pire during the pendency of the registration proceedings and ownership to the property consolidated in the vendee a retro, the latter shall be substituted for the applicant and may continue the proceedings. # trustee on behalf of his principal may apply for original registration of any land held i n trust by him, unless prohibited by the instrument creating the trust.
Section 15. Form and contents. The
application for land registration shall be in writing, signed by the application or the person duly authorized in his
behalf, and sworn to before any ocer authorized to administer oaths for the province or city where the application was actually signed. If there is more than one applicant, the application shall be signed and sworn to by and in behalf of each. The application shall contain a description of the land and shall state the citizenship and civil status of the applicant, whether single or married, and, if married, the name of the wife or husband, and, if the marriage has been legally dissolved, when and how the marriage relation terminated. It shall also state the full names and addresses of all occupants of the land and those of the adjoining owners, if known, and, if not known, it shall state the extent of the search made to nd them.
6equisite steps in bringing land und er the orrens system. %n order that land may be br ought under the operation of the orrens orrens !ystem, the following steps should be observed: a. !urvey of land by the 7ands 7ands 8anagement 9ureau 9ureau or a duly licensed private surveyor b. Filling of application application for registration by the the applicant c. !etting of the date for the initial hearing hearing of the application by the court d. ransmittal ransmittal of the application and the date of initial hearing together with all the documents or other evidences attached thereto thereto by the &ler of &ourt to the 7and 6egistration #uthority e. )ublication of the notice notice of the filing filing of the application application and date and place of the hearing in the Official ;azette and in a newspaper o f general circulation f. !ervice by mailing of notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those nown to have interests interests in the property g. )osting by the sheriff of the notice in a conspicuous place place on the land and in the bulletin board of the municipal building or city where the the land is situated situated h. Filing of answer to the the application by any any person whether named in the notice notice or not i. eds and n. ranscription ranscription of the decree of registration in the registration registration boo and the inssuance of the owner?s duplicate duplicate original certificate of title to the applicant by the register of >eeds, upon payment of the prescribed fees. &%%@=A!<%) 6=BC%6=8=A
. he Drivino doctrine disqualified from acquiring public and private lands. he-12E/ landmar case of rivino v. 6egister of >eeds has seetled the issue as to whoa re qualified -and disqualified/ to own public as well as private lands in the )hilippines. he court, through &hief 0ustice 8oran, held that aliens may not acquire private or public agricultural lands, thus: “Cnder !ection of #rticle $%%% now !ec. ", #rt. $%%G of the 143G &onstitution, H natural resources, with the e'ception of public agriculture land, shall not be alienated,? and with respect to public agricultural lands, their alienation is limited to Filipino citizens. 9ut this constitutional purpose conserving agricultural resources in the hands of Filipino citizens may easily be defeated by the Filipino citizens themselves who may alienate their agricultural lands in favor of aliens. %t is partly to prevent this result that !ection 3 is included in #rticle $%%%, and it reads as follows: H!ec. 3. !ave in cases of heredity succession, no private agricultural land will be transferred or assigned e'cept to individuals, corporations or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of p ublic domain in the )hilippines.? ". # natural(born Filipino citizen who has lost his citizenship may be transferee of private land. 4. 6e(acquisition of )hilippine citizenship under 6# Ao. 1""3 obviates area limitation . Foreigners allowed to purchase condominium units. Cnder 6# Ao. 2E"I, foreign nationals can own )hilippines real estate through the purchase of condominium units or townhomes pursuant to !ection 3 thereof which states: “ !=&. 3. #ny transfer or conveyance of a unit or an apartment, office or store or other space therein, shall include the transfer or conve yance of the individual interest in the common areas or, in a proper case, the membership or shareholdings in the condominium corporation )rovided, however, hat where the common areas in the condominium pro5ect are held by the owners of separate units as co(owners thereof, no condominium unit therein shall be conveyed or transferred to persons other than Filipino citizens or corporations at least IJK of the capital stoc of which belong to Filipino citizens, e'cept in cases of hereditary succession. +here the common areas in a condominium pro5ect are held by a corporation, no transfer or conveyance of a unit shall be valid if the concomitant transfer of the appurtenant membership or stocholding in the corporation will cause the alien interest in such corporation to e'ceed the limits imposed b y e'isting laws. ". >onation in favor of a religious corporation controlled by non(Filipinos not registrable. 4. 7and acquired by an #merican citizen in 123 can be registered under the Ordinance appended to the 143 &onstitution. 2. # corporation sole may acquire and register private agricultural land.
3. &an a Filipino vendor revover land sold to an alienL I. 6ule 6estated.
=videnced deemed sufficient to established classification of land as # and > land. he following may be considered sufficient to established the classification of land as alienable and disposable land for purposes of o riginal registration: . &ertification of the 9ureau of Forest >evelopment that the land has been released as alienable and disposable land. ". 7and &lassification 8ap showing that the land lies within the alienable and disposable portion of the public domain. 4. ='ecutive proclamation withdrawing from a reservation a specific area and declaring the same open for entry, sale or other mode of disposition. 2. 7egislative act or e'ecutive proclamation reserving a portion of the public domain for public or quasi(public use, which amounts to a transfer of o wnership to the grantee. 3. he report of a land inspector of the 9ureau of 7ands that the sub5ect land was foun d inside an “agricultural zone” and is suitable for rice cultivation ”is binding on the courts inasmuch as it is the e'clusive prerogative of the ='ecutive >epartment of the ;overnment to classify public lands. I. # certification by the &=A6O of the >=A6 stating that the land sub5ect of an application is found to be within the alienable and disposable site per a land classification pro5ect map is sufficient evidence to show the real character of the land sub5ect o f the application.
E. he &ertification by >=A6 6egional echnical >irector that “7ot "21 had been verified as belonging to the alienable and disposable area as early as 0uly *, 1"3.?? #s annotated on the subdivision plan, constitutes substantial compliance with the legal requirement.
!ection ", #rticle %% H? he !tate recognizes and promotes the right of indigenous cultural communities within the framewor of national unity and development.??
ransfer of 7and or )roperty 6ights he right of ownership and possession of the %&&sM%)s to their ancestral lands shall be recognized and protected. hese lands may be transferred sub5ect to the following limitations a. Only to the members of the same %&&sM%)s b. %n accord with customary laws and traditions and c. !ub5ect to the right of redemption of the %&&sM%)s for a period of 3 years if the land was transferred to a non( members of the %&&sM%)s, under the terms of the law.
