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6 Dalandag V Follosco
6 Dalandag V Follosco
DECISION
SERENO, C.J : p
The present case stems from a Petition for Review 1 led by the heirs of Datu
Dalandag Kuli (petitioners), praying for the reversal of the Decision 2 of the Court of
Appeals (CA), Cagayan de Oro City dated 28 January 2011 and subsequent Resolution 3
dated 6 December 2011. The CA a rmed the Judgment 4 rendered by the Regional
Trial Court (RTC), Branch 18, Midsayap Cotabato, on 16 January 2004, dismissing the
case for the quieting of title led by petitioners. The RTC found that petitioners failed to
overcome the presumption of regularity in the issuance of Transfer Certi cate of Title
(TCT) No. 1608 in the name of Daniel R. Pia (respondent Pia).
The parcel of land subject of this case (Lot 2327) was awarded to Datu Kuli
through cadastral proceedings. 5 Thereafter, the Register of Deeds of Cotabato City
registered the property in his name on 12 November 1935 as evidenced by Original
Certi cate of Title (OCT) No. 1654. When Datu Kuli died on 8 July 1985, the possession
of Lot 2327 was passed on to his heirs, the present petitioners, who continue to hold
possession thereof.
When petitioners sought to have Datu Kuli's title reconstituted, they were
informed by the Register of Deeds that a different title had already been issued in the
name of Jose Follosco, Sr. (respondent Jose). 6
It appears from the records that on 21 December 1940, TCT 1608 covering Lot
2327 was issued in respondent Pia's name. Although the Register of Deeds could no
longer produce a copy of the alleged Deed of Sale, 7 it issued a Certi cation that a Deed
of Sale executed by Datu Kuli in respondent Pia's favor had been presented to it. 8 On
the strength of this deed, Datu Kuli's OCT 1654 was cancelled, and TCT 1608 issued.
On 14 July 1948, the Register of Deeds administratively reconstituted TCT 1608
using a duplicate of respondent Pia's title as the source. 9 On even date, after another
Deed of Conveyance was supposedly executed by respondent Pia in favor of Filomena
Follosco (respondent Filomena), 10 the former's reconstituted title was cancelled and a
new title (TCT T-374) issued in the name of respondent Filomena. Again, on 22
September 1954, the latter title was cancelled and TCT T-2911 issued in the name of
respondent Jose. 11
Claiming that they had always been in possession of the property and that Datu
Kuli never sold the property to any of the respondents, petitioners led a Complaint for
Quieting of Title with the RTC, praying for the restoration of OCT No. 1654 and the
annulment of all the subsequently issued titles covering Lot 2327 under the names of
respondents. 12 DACcIH
Although the Deed of Sale itself can no longer be located, we agree with the
RTC's conclusion that the above notation proves that "there was at one time in the past
such document recorded in the Register of Deeds but that with the passage of time, the
same became tattered, unreadable, badly dilapidated, and mutilated and could not be
found or recognized to boot." 27
All in all, it becomes clear that TCT 1608 was issued on 21 December 1940,
because respondent Pia was able to present the requisite Deed of Sale as proven by
the certification issued by the Register of Deeds.
Section 57 of the Property Registration Decree provides the procedure for the
registration of conveyances, viz.:
SECTION 57. Procedure in Registration of Conveyances. — An owner desiring to
convey his registered land in fee simple shall execute and register a deed of
conveyance in a form su cient in law. The Register of Deeds shall thereafter
make out in the registration book a new certi cate of title to the grantee and
shall prepare and deliver to him an owner's duplicate certi cate. The Register of
Deeds shall note upon the original and duplicate certi cate the date of transfer,
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the volume and page of the registration book in which the new certi cate is
registered and a reference by number to the last preceding certi cate. The
original and the owner's duplicate of the grantor's certi cate shall be stamped
"cancelled". The deed of conveyance shall be led and indorsed with the
number and the place of registration of the certi cate of title of the land
conveyed. IDTSEH
The evidence and the records prove that the proper procedure for the issuance
of TCT 1608 was followed. The title was validly issued.
Deserving scant consideration is petitioners' claim that the failure of the Register
of Deeds to produce a copy of the Deed of Conveyance proves that Datu Kuli never sold
Lot 2327 to anyone. Other than their self-serving claim that the sale never happened,
petitioners failed to present any other evidence to prove that Lot 2327 had never been
purchased by respondent Pia. It requires more than petitioners' bare allegation to
defeat TCT 1608, which on its face enjoys the legal presumption of regularity of
issuance. 28
With respect to the allegation of petitioner that the administrative reconstitution
of TCT 1608 is invalid, we agree with the CA and rule that the Register of Deeds
administratively reconstituted TCT 1608 in accordance with Republic Act No. 26, 29
which is the law that provides the procedure for the reconstitution of lost titles. Section
3 thereof reads:
SECTION 3. Transfer certi cates of title shall be reconstituted from such
of the sources hereunder enumerated as may be available, in the following
order:
(a) The owner's duplicate of the certificate of title;
(b) The co-owner's, mortgagee's, or lessee's duplicate of the
certificate of title;
(c) A certi ed copy of the certi cate of title, previously issued by
the register of deeds or by a legal custodian thereof;
(d) The deed of transfer or other document, on le in the registry
of deeds, containing the description of the property, or an
authenticated copy thereof, showing that its original had been
registered, and pursuant to which the lost or destroyed transfer
certificate of title was issued;
(e) A document, on le in the registry of deeds, by which the
property, the description of which is given in said document, is
mortgaged, leased or encumbered, or an authenticated copy of
said document showing that its original had been registered; and
(f) Any other document which, in the judgment of the court, is
su cient and proper basis for reconstituting the lost or destroyed
certificate of title.
The owner's duplicate of the certi cate of title is the primary source from which
transfer certi cates of title may be reconstituted. Because of the presence of the
owner's duplicate copy of TCT 1608 in the Register of Deeds, it was no longer
necessary for the registrar to compel respondent Pia to produce his copy before
reconstituting his title. 30 Having been issued in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Republic Act No. 26, the Court upholds the validity of the administratively
reconstituted TCT 1608.
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Since petitioners failed to prove the invalidity of TCT 1608, it follows that they
cannot now cast doubt on the validity of the titles derived therefrom. SICDAa
3. Id. at 46-47; CA-G.R. CV No. 00033-MIN, penned by Associate Justice Edgardo A. Camello,
and concurred in by Associate Justices Pamela Ann Abella Maxino and Zenaida T.
Galapate-Laguilles.
4. CA rollo, pp. 81-94; Civil Case No. 99-014, penned by acting Presiding Judge Francisco G.
Rabang, Jr.
5. Id. at 86.
6. Id.
7. Id.
8. Id. at 86-87.
9. Id. at 91.
14. Id.
15. Id. at 89-90.
21. Id. at 75
22. CA rollo, p. 81.
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23. Phil-Ville Development and Housing Corp. v. Bonifacio, G.R. No. 167391, 8 June 2011, 651
SCRA 66, 92; Eland Philippines, Inc. v. Garcia , G.R. No. 173289, 17 February 2010,
613 SCRA 66, 92.
24. Rollo, p. 22.