JUDICIAL RECONSTITUTION UNDER REPUBLIC ACT 26

> Republic Act 26: An Act Providing a Special Procedure For The Reconstitution of Torrens Certificate of Titles Lost or Destroyed

> Reconstitution of title is an action in rem

> A judicially reconstituted title has the same validity and legal effect as the original thereof, and isn’t subject to the reservation that it shall be without prejudice to any party whose right or interest in the property was duly noted in the original at the time of loss or destruction but which entry or notation hasn’t been
made on the reconstituted title

> The limitation that reconstitution of title should be limited to the certificate as it stood at the time of its loss or destruction has reference only to changes which alter or affect title of the registered owner and not to mere liens and other encumbrances

RECONSTITUTION DENOTES RESTORATION OF THE LOST TITLE IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM AND CONDITION

> Purpose is to have it reproduced, after observing the procedure prescribed by law in the same form they where when the loss or destruction occurred

> The fact that the title to the land was lost doesn’t mean that the lot ceased to be a registered land before the reconstitution of its title

> As the subject land didn’t cease to be titled, it cannot be acquired by acquisitive prescription

> Reconstitution is proper only when it is satisfactorily shown that the title sought to be reconstituted is lost or no longer available

> Where the petition for reconstitution wasn’t to restore a lost registered certificate of title but to re-register and issue a new certificate in the names of petitioner and her deceased husband, in lieu of one originally registered in the names of other persons, the petition should be denied without prejudice to the right of the
parties to take the necessary action under Section 51 and 53 of PD1529

> Republic Act 26 provides for special procedure for the reconstitution of torrens certificate of title that are missing and not fictitious titles which are existing. Where a certificate of title over a parcel of land was reconstituted judicially and later it was found that there existed a previous certificate of title covering the same land in the name of another person, the court ruled that the existence of the prior title ipso facto nullified the reconstitution proceedings

SOURCES OF RECONSTITUTION ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES OF TITLE

1. The owner’s duplicate certificate of title
2. The co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate certificate of title
3. A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the RD or by a legal custodian thereof
4. An authenticated copy of the decree of registration or patent, as the case may be, pursuant to which the original certificate of title was issued
5. A document, on file with the RD, 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 has been registered
6. Any other document which, in the judgment of the court is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting the lost or destroyed certificate of title

FOR TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE

1. The owner’s duplicate certificate of title
2. The co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate certificate of title
3. A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the RD or by a legal custodian thereof
4. The deed of transfer or other document, on file in the RD, containing a 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
5. A document, on file with the RD, 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 has been registered
6. Any other document which, in the judgment of the court is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting the lost or destroyed certificate of title

FOR LIENS AND ENCUMBRANCES

1. Annotations or memoranda appearing on the owner’s co-owner’s mortgagee’s or lessee’s duplicate
2. Registered documents on file in the RD, or authenticated copies thereof showing that the originals thereof had been registered
3. Any other document which, in the judgment of the court is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting the liens or encumbrances affecting the property covered by the lost or destroyed certificate of title

MEANING OF “ANY OTHER DOCUMENT”

> As per LRC circular #35, the signed duplicate copy of the petition to be forwarded to this Commission shall be accompanied by the following:
o A duly prepared plan of said parcel of land in tracing cloth, with 2 print copies thereof, prepared by the government agency which issued the certified technical
description, or by a duly licensed Geodetic Engineer who shall certify thereon that he prepared the same on the basis of a duly certified technical description. Where the plan as submitted is certified by the government agency which issued the same, it is sufficient that the technical description be prepared by a duly licensed Geodetic Engineer on the basis of said certified plan.
o The original, 2 duplicate copies, and a Xerox copy of the original of the technical description of the parcel of land covered by the certificate of title, duly certified by the authorized officer of the Bureau of Lands or the LRC who issued the technical description
o A signed copy of the certification of the RD concerned that the original of the certificate on title on file with the RD was either lost or destroyed, indicating the name of the registered owner, if known from the other records in file in said office.

WHERE TO FILE PETITION; CONTENTS

> Shall be filed by the registered owner, his assigns, or any person having interest in the property with the proper RTC where the same is based on sources enumerated earlier

> Contents shall be as followed—
1. That the owner’s duplicate had been lost or destroyed
2. That no co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, lessee’s, duplicate had been issued or, if any had been issued, the same had been lost or destroyed
3. The location, area and boundaries of the property
4. The nature and description of the buildings or improvements, if any, which don’t belong to the owner of the land, and the names and addresses of the owners of such buildings or improvements
5. The names and addresses of the occupants or persons in possession of the property, of the owners of the adjoining properties and all persons who may have any interest in the property
6. A detailed description of the encumbrances if any, affecting the property
7. A statement that no deeds or other instruments affecting the property have been presented for registration, or if there be any, the registration thereof hasn’t been accomplished, as yet

REQUIREMENTS OF NOTICE BY PUBLICATION, POSTING AND MAILING

1. To be published twice, at the expense of the petitioner, in successive issues of the Official Gazette
2. To be posted on the main entrance of the provincial building and of the municipal building of the municipality or city in which the land is situated
3. Copy of the notice to be sent by registered mail or otherwise, at the expense of the petitioner, to every person named therein whose address is known, within 30 days prior the date of hearing

> The jurisdiction of the court is hedged in the forewalls of the petition and the published notice of hearing which define the subject matter of the petition.