SUBIDO VS. OZAETA- Registered Land Records

FACTS:

Petitioner was the editor of the Manila Post who sought the inspection of real estates sold to aliens and registered with the Register of Deeds (RD) who was given the authority thru DOJ Circular to examine all the records in the respondent’s custody relative to the said transactions.

ISSUE:

What is the extent of the discretion of the Register of Deeds (RD) to regulate the accessibility of records relating to registered lands in its office.

HELD:

What the law expects and requires from the RD is the exercise of an unbiased and impartial judgment by which all persons resorting to the office, under the legal authority and conducting themselves with the motives, reasons and objects of the person seeking access to the records. Except when it is clear that the purpose of the inspection is unlawful, it is not the duty of the registration officers to concern  themselves with the motives, purposes, and objects of the person seeking to inspect the records. It is not their prerogative to see that the information which the records contain is not flaunted before the public gaze.