568 Phil. 171
AZCUNA, J.:
WHEREFORE, premises above considered, there being no justification for the Quezon City Register of Deeds in making the annotation on petitioners’ original TCT Nos. 56683 (RT-55703), 56684 (RT-55702), 56685 (RT-55748) and 56686 (RT-55705), said respondent is hereby ordered to DELETE therefrom the said annotation “request for annotation and the annotated Supreme Court decision against the Pacific Mills, Inc.” and to desist from its request for petitioners to submit their owners duplicate of titles to annotate such request of the Philippine Cotton Corporation.The trial court ratiocinated that:
There being no justiciable issue in the complaint-in-intervention, let the annotations of a mortgage executed by petitioners on December 18, 1992 in favor of intervenor China Banking Corporation remain on petitioners’ subject TCTs.
SO ORDERED.[10]
Under the circumstances, respondent [the Registry of Deeds of Quezon City] should and could have properly refused such request instead of immediately annotating it. In the same light, “The Register of Deeds may likewise properly refuse registration of an order attachment when it appears that the title involved is not in the name of the defendant and there is no evidence submitted to indicate that the said defendant has any present or future interest in the property covered by the titles.” (Gotauco vs. Register of Deeds of Tayabas, 59 Phil. 756, 1934 and Geonanga vs. Hodges, 55 O.G. p. 2891, April 21, 1958). (Underscoring Supplied)[11]Unsatisfied with the outcome of the case, petitioner filed a notice of appeal before the CA, contending that:
“THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF QUEZON CITY HAS THE AUTHORITY TO RE-ANNOTATE THE NOTICE OF LEVY AND TO ANNOTATE THE ENTRY OF JUDGMENT OF THE SUPREME COURT ON TRANSFER CERTIFICATES OF TITLE NOS. 56683, 56684, 56685 AND 56686, ALL ISSUED IN THE NAME OF THE PETITIONERS-APPELLEES AS A RESULT OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE RECONSTITUTION OF TITLES.”[12]In its August 29, 1997 decision, the appellate court dismissed the appeal because the issue raised by the petitioner was a pure question of law, over which the CA had no jurisdiction.
Petitioner asserts that a cursory reading of Section 71 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 shows that it is the ministerial duty of the Register of Deeds, in the matter of an attachment or other liens in the nature of involuntary dealing in registered land, to “send notice by mail to a registered owner requesting him to produce his duplicate certificate so that a memorandum of attachment or other lien may be made thereon.” This provision, according to petitioner, actually applies whenever a writ of attachment has been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction after hearing on the issuance of the said writ. The notice of attachment not having been dissolved, it was ministerial on the part of the Register of Deeds to record the notice on the TCTs he issued.FIRST ERROR
THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN NOT SUSTAINING THE AUTHORITY OF THE QUEZON CITY REGISTER OF DEEDS TO VALIDLY RE-ANNOTATE THE INCUMBRANCE/LIENS AND ANNOTATE THE SUPREME COURT DECISION ON THE ADMINISTRATIVELY RECONSTITUTED TRANSFER CERTIFICATES OF TITLES (TCTs) IN FAVOR OF PETITIONER-APPELLANT.SECOND ERROR
THE LOWER COURT, IN CONSEQUENCE THEREOF, LIKEWISE ERRED IN ORDERING THE QUEZON CITY REGISTER OF DEEDS TO DELETE THE ANNOTATION THAT READS: “REQUEST FOR ANNOTATION AND THE ANNOTATED SUPREME COURT DECISION AGAINST PACIFIC MILLS, INC.”, FROM PETITIONERS’ ORIGINAL TCT NOS. 96683 [sic] (RT-55703), 56684 (RT-55702), 56685 (RT-55748) AND 56686 (RT-55705) AND TO DESIST FROM REQUESTING RESPONDENTS/APPELLEES TO SUBMIT THEIR OWNERS’ DUPLICATE OF TITLES FOR ANNOTATION OF PETITIONER PHILIPPINE COTTON CORPORATION’S REQUEST.[13]
Section 10. General functions of Registers of Deeds. — The office of the Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of records of instruments affecting registered or unregistered lands and chattel mortgages in the province or city wherein such office is situated.The Court is not in accord with the stance of petitioner. Section 10 of P.D. No. 1529 merely involves the general functions of the Register of Deeds, while Section 71 thereof relates to an attachment or lien in a registered land in which the duplicate certificate was not presented at the time of the registration of the said lien or attachment.
It shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds to immediately register an instrument presented for registration dealing with real or personal property which complies with all the requisites for registration. He shall see to it that said instrument bears the proper documentary and science stamps and that the same are properly cancelled. If the instrument is not registrable, he shall forthwith deny registration thereof and inform the presentor of such denial in writing, stating the ground or reason therefor, and advising him of his right to appeal by consulta in accordance with Section 117 of this Decree.x x x
Section 71. Surrender of certificate in involuntary dealings. – If an attachment or other lien in the nature of involuntary dealing in registered land is registered, and the duplicate certificate is not presented at the time of registration, the Register of Deeds, shall, within thirty-six hours thereafter, send notice by mail to the registered owner, stating that such paper has been registered, and requesting him to send or produce his duplicate certificate so that a memorandum of the attachment or other lien may be made thereon. If the owner neglects or refuses to comply within a reasonable time, the Register of Deeds shall report the matter to the court, and it shall, after notice, enter an order to the owner to produce his certificate at a time and place named therein, and may enforce the order by suitable process. (Underscoring supplied)
Liens and other encumbrances affecting a destroyed or lost certificate of title shall be reconstituted from such of the sources hereunder enumerated as may be available, in the following order:Furthermore, Sections 8 and 11 of the same Act provide for the procedure for the notation of an interest that did not appear in the reconstituted certificate of title, mandating that a petition be filed before a court of competent jurisdiction:
(a) Annotations or memoranda appearing on the owner’s, co-owner’s, mortgagee’s or lessee’s duplicate; (b) Registered documents on file in the registry of deeds, or authenticated copies thereof showing that the originals thereof had been registered; and (c) 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. (Underscoring supplied)
Section 8. Any person whose right or interest was duly noted in the original of a certificate of title, at the time it was lost or destroyed, but does not appear so noted on the reconstituted certificate of title, which is subject to the reservation provided in the preceding section, may, while such reservation subsists, file a petition with the proper Court of First Instance for the annotation of such right or interest on said reconstituted certificate of title, and the court, after notice and hearing, shall determine the merits of the petition and render such judgment as justice and equity may require. The petition shall state the number of the reconstituted certificate of title and the nature, as well as a description, of the right or interest claimed. (Underscoring supplied)Clearly, therefore, it is not the ministerial function of the Register of Deeds to record a right or an interest that was not duly noted in the reconstituted certificate of title. As a matter of fact, this task is not even within the ambit of the Register of Deed’s job as the responsibility is lodged by law to the proper courts. The foregoing quoted provisions of the law leave no question nor any doubt that it is indeed the duty of the trial court to determine the merits of the petition and render judgment as justice and equity may require.x x x
Section 11. Petitions for reconstitution of registered interests, liens and other encumbrances, based on sources enumerated in sections 4(b) and/or 4(c) of this Act, shall be filed, by the interested party, with the proper Court of First Instance. The petition shall be accompanied with the necessary documents and shall state, among other things, the number of the certificate of title and the nature as well as a description of the interest, lien or encumbrance which is to be reconstituted, and the court, after publication, in the manner stated in section nine of this Act, and hearing shall determine the merits of the petition and render such judgment as justice and equity may require. (Underscoring supplied)
Sec. 108. Amendment and alteration of certificates. — No erasure, alteration, or amendment shall be made upon the registration book after the entry of a certificate of title or of a memorandum thereon and the attestation of the same by the Register of Deeds, except by order of the proper Court of First Instance. A registered owner or other person having an interest in registered property, or, in proper cases, the Register of Deeds with the approval of the Commissioner of Land Registration, may apply by petition to the court upon the ground that the registered interests of any description, whether vested, contingent, expectant inchoate appearing on the certificate, have terminated and ceased; or that new interest not appearing upon the certificate have arisen or been created; or that an omission or error was made in entering the certificate or any memorandum thereon, or on any duplicate certificate; or that the name of any person on the certificate has been changed; or that the registered owner has married, or, if registered as married, that the marriage has been terminated and no right or interest of heirs or creditors will thereby be affected, or that a corporation which owned registered land and has been dissolved has not yet conveyed the same within three years after its dissolution; or upon any other reasonable ground; and the court may hear and determine the petition after notice to all parties in interest, and may order the entry or cancellation of a new certificate, the entry or cancellation of a memorandum upon a certificate, or grant any other relief upon such terms and conditions, requiring security or bond if necessary, as it may consider proper: Provided, however, That this section shall not be construed to give the court authority to reopen the judgment or decree of registration, and that nothing shall be done or ordered by the court which shall impair the title or other interest of a purchaser holding a certificate for value and in good faith, or his heirs and assigns, without his or their written consent. Where the owner’s duplicate certificate is not presented, a similar petition may be filed as provided in the preceding section,The court’s intervention in the amendment of the registration book after the entry of a certificate of title or of a memorandum thereon is categorically stated in the Property Registration Decree and cannot be denied by the mere allegations of petitioner. Hence, the contentions that the Register of Deeds may “validly re-annotate the incumbrance/liens and annotate the Supreme Court decision on the administratively reconstituted transfer certificates of titles (TCTs)” have no basis in law and jurisprudence.
All petitions or motions filed under this section as well as under any other provision of this Decree after original registration shall be filed and entitled in the original case in which the decree or registration was entered. (Underscoring supplied)