REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
LAND REGISTRATION AUTHORITY

REGISTRY OF DEEDS
For Lapu-Lapu City

MERCY FLORES
SOONG, CENTER MACTAN LAPU-
LAPU CITY

Consulta No:

Petitioner.
x-----------------------------------x

PETITION EN CONSULTA

The Register of Deeds for the City of Lapu-Lapu, denied the

registration of the Affidavit of Adverse Claim executed by the
PETITIONER Mercy Ursal Flores in a Notice of Denial (“Notice”) dated
November 14,2018. A copy of said Notice is hereto attached as Annex
“A”. The pertinent portions of said Notice are herein quoted, viz:

Please be notified that this office cannot proceed with

the registration of the Notice of Adverse Claim under
Registration Land Entry Number(s) 2018009535
involving TCT 57064 based on the following
ground(s):

1. that the affidavit of ad verse claim did not conform

with the formal requisites provided for by law. To
be sufficient, for the purposes of registration
under section 70 of presidential decree pd 1529,
an adverse claim must comply with the following
requisites:

a. It is adverse to the registered owner;

b. It arises after original registration; and
c. It cannot be registered under any other
provision of PD 1529;
2. That the adverse claim is the remedy of last resort
available only if no other provision is made in PD
1529 for the registration of such interest. However,
Section 57 of PD 1529 provides for registration of
 deed of conveyances and the alleged sale may be
registered thereon. Hence registration was denied
by the Office of the Registry of Deeds for the City of
Lapu-Lapu;

Pursuant to Section 117 of Presidential Decree No. 1529,

otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree, petitioners
elevate the matter to Land Registration Authority (LRA) by way of
consulta.

BASIS OF CONSULTA

Section 117 of the Property Registration Decree reads –

Section 117. Procedure. When the Register of Deeds is

in doubt with regard to the proper step to be taken or
memorandum to be made in pursuance of any deed,
mortgage or other instrument presented to him for
registration, or where any party in interest does not
agree with the action taken by the Register of Deeds
with reference to any such instrument, the question
shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Land
Registration by the Register of Deeds, or by the party
in interest thru the Register of Deeds. Where the
instrument is denied registration, the Register of
Deeds shall notify the interested party in writing,
setting forth the defects of the instrument or legal
grounds relied upon, and advising him that if he is not
agreeable to such ruling, he may, without withdrawing
the documents from the Registry, elevate the matter
by consulta within five days from receipt of notice of
the denial of registration to the Commissioner of Land
Registration.

The Register of Deeds shall make a memorandum of

the pending consulta on the certificate of title which
shall be cancelled motu proprio by the Register of
Deeds after final resolution or decision thereof, or
before resolution, if withdrawn by petitioner.

The Commissioner of Land Registration, considering

the consulta and the records certified to him after
notice to the parties and hearing, shall enter an order
prescribing the step to be taken or memorandum to
be made. His resolution or ruling in consultas shall be
conclusive and binding upon all Registers of Deeds,
provided, that the party in interest who disagrees
 with the final resolution, ruling or order of the
Commissioner relative to consultas may appeal to the
Court of Appeals within the period and in manner
provided in Republic Act No. 5434.

STATEMENT OF MATERIAL DATES

The Notice was received by herein petitioner Mercy Flores, last

December 19.2018; thus, petitioners have five days therefrom or until
December 27,2018 to elevate the matter by consulta to the Land
Registration Authority considering that December 24, 25, 26 were
considered and declared as a holiday.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Petitioner is one of the subsequent buyer of a portion of the

subject lot. As a matter of fact the petitioner succeeded in securing the
certificate allowing registration pertaining to the subject property.

Petitioner learned that other portion of the said lot was also sold
to other subsequent buyers. Copy of the said conveyance is hereto
attached as Annex B;

Petitioner further learned that the owner’s duplicate certificate of

title pertaining to the whole property was under the possession of
another subsequent purchaser of a portion of the said property in the
name of Mr. Cristopher Igot (IGOT), and the herein petitioner was not
able to subdivide her lot for the sole reason that the owner’s duplicate of
title was withheld by IGOT.

In line with the forgoing, the petitioner is reluctant in knowing the

fact that the Owner’s Duplicate of Certificate of title was already
transferred to a person other than the registered owner, in fact the
petitioner learned that some of the portion of the property were being
negotiated by Mr. Cristopher Igot and the petitioner is in quandary
whether or not her lot containing 49 square meters was included in the
said negotiation.

ISSUE
Whether or not the Affidavit of Adverse Claim is registrable

DISCUSSION

Section 70 of the Property Registration Decree reads –

Section 70. Adverse claim. Whoever claims any part or

interest in registered land adverse to the registered
owner, arising subsequent to the date of the original
registration, may, if no other provision is made in this
Decree for registering the same, make a statement in
writing setting forth fully his alleged right or interest,
and how or under whom acquired, a reference to the
number of the certificate of title of the registered
owner, the name of the registered owner, and a
description of the land in which the right or interest is
claimed.

The statement shall be signed and sworn to, and shall

state the adverse claimant's residence, and a place at
which all notices may be served upon him. This
statement shall be entitled to registration as an
adverse claim on the certificate of title. The adverse
claim shall be effective for a period of thirty days from
the date of registration. After the lapse of said period,
the annotation of adverse claim may be canceled upon
filing of a verified petition therefor by the party in
interest: Provided, however, that after cancellation, no
second adverse claim based on the same ground shall
be registered by the same claimant.

Before the lapse of thirty days aforesaid, any party in

interest may file a petition in the Court of First
Instance where the land is situated for the
cancellation of the adverse claim, and the court shall
grant a speedy hearing upon the question of the
validity of such adverse claim, and shall render
judgment as may be just and equitable. If the adverse
claim is adjudged to be invalid, the registration
thereof shall be ordered canceled. If, in any case, the
court, after notice and hearing, shall find that the
adverse claim thus registered was frivolous, it may
fine the claimant in an amount not less than one
thousand pesos nor more than five thousand pesos, in
its discretion. Before the lapse of thirty days, the
 claimant may withdraw his adverse claim by filing
with the Register of Deeds a sworn petition to that
effect.

From the foregoing, the following are the requisites of an adverse

claim:

1. The adverse claimant must state the following in

writing:

a. His alleged right or interest;

b. How and under whom such alleged right or interest
is acquired;
c. The description of the land in which the right or
interest is claimed; and
d. The number of the certificate of title;

2. The statement must be signed and sworn to before

a notary public or other officer authorized to administer
oath

3. The claimant should state his residence or the place

to which all notices may be served upon him

Here, based on the adverse claimed filed by petitioner, the above

mentioned requisites are indubitably present. The petitioner is an
owner in fee simple of the portion of the subject property by virtue of a
Deed of Absolute Sale executed before Atty. Francisco M. Senerpida, a
notary public for the City of Lapu-Lapu with Doc. No. 219; Page No. 45;
Book No. 29, Series of 2001, with the property description, Certificate of
Title number, and residential address of the Petitioner, as shown in the
Affidavit of Adverse claim of the herein Petitioner.

Moreover, the Petitioner has also shown that the withholding of

the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Title by a certain Cristopher Igot
who is not the registered owner of the entire undivided property is a
sufficient demonstration of adverse possession against the herein
petitioner, considering the fact that the registered owner has already
transferred ownership (49 sq. meters portion of lot) in favour of the
petitioner by virtue of the aforementioned deed of conveyance ( Deed of
Sale), and such transfer arises after the original registration of the said
lot.

Further, purpose of annotating the adverse claim on the title of the

disputed land is to apprise third persons that there is a controversy over
the ownership of the subject land and to preserve and protect the rights
of the petitioner as a co-owner of the undivided property, while there is
a pending controversy.

Also, there is no other provision made in the Property

Registration Decree for registering the herein rights of petitioner as a
co-owner of the said property.

PRAYER

Petitioner therefore request that:

1. The Land Registration Authority direct the Register of Deeds for

the City of Lapu-Lapu to register the Affidavit of Adverse Claim herein
presented.

2. The Register of Deeds be further directed to cause the

annotation of a memorandum of the pending consulta.

Petitioners pray for such other reliefs as may be just and equitable
in the premises.

This ______________________, in the City of Lapu-Lapu.

Mercy Ursal Flores

Petitioner

VERIFICATION

I, Mercy Ursal Flores, Filipino, of legal age, after being duly sworn
to in accordance with law hereby depose and state: THAT-

1. I am the petitioner in the above entitled case and I have caused

the preparation of the foregoing consulta; and

2. I have read the foregoing and the allegations therein are true
and correct based on our personal knowledge and/or on authentic
records.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affix my signature this

__________________________ at Lapu-Lapu City.
 Mercy Ursal Flores
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me on

this_______________________, at Lapu-Lapu affiant exhibiting to me her
_____________ with No. ______ as competent proof of their identity.

Doc. No._______
Page No. ______
Book No. ______
Series of 2018.