G.R. No. L-16011; July 26, 1960
DOMINGO T. PARRAS, applicant-appellee, vs. LAND REGISTRATION COMMISSION, oppositor-appellant.

FACTS

Domingo T. Parras filed an application for registration of his land. The Land Registration Commissioner required him to remit P57.00 as the estimated cost of publishing the notice of initial hearing in the Official Gazette, citing Paragraph 2 of the Special Provisions of Republic Act No. 2300 (the Appropriations Act for the fiscal year). Parras objected to this requirement by filing a petition in the land registration court, arguing that the insertion of this revenue-raising provision in an appropriation act was unconstitutional. He prayed for exemption from the deposit and for an order directing the Commissioner and the Director of Printing to publish the notice without payment. The Land Registration Commissioner opposed, contending that the requirement for applicants to pay publication costs was not new, as the exemption previously available under Section 114 of Act No. 496 (the Land Registration Act), as amended by Act No. 2866, had been eliminated by the re-amendment of Section 114 through Republic Act No. 117 . The lower court ruled in favor of Parras, holding that Republic Act No. 117 only increased the filing fee rates and did not eliminate the exemption, and that the revenue-raising provision in the appropriation act was unconstitutional. It ordered the Commissioner to publish the notice without requiring payment. The Commissioner appealed directly to the Supreme Court on purely legal grounds.

ISSUE

Whether, after the enactment of Republic Act No. 117 , an applicant for land registration is still exempt from paying the cost of publishing the notice of initial hearing when the value of the land is less than P50,000.00.

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the lower court. It held that Republic Act No. 117 completely amended Section 114 of Act No. 496 , as amended by Act No. 2866. The original Section 114 explicitly included publication costs within the filing fees paid and provided an exemption from additional publication costs for applicants with land valued under P50,000.00, requiring only those with land over P50,000.00 to refund any excess publication expenses. Republic Act No. 117 , which stated it was amending Section 114 “to read as follows,” enacted a wholly new provision that omitted both the specific inclusion of publication costs in the filing fees and the exemption clause. The Court applied the principle of statutory construction that when an amendatory act sets out the original act or section as amended, all matters omitted in the amendment are considered repealed. Therefore, the exemption was withdrawn by the legislature. Consequently, after Republic Act No. 117 , the cost of publication must be borne by the applicant. The Court found that Paragraph 2 of the Special Provisions of Republic Act No. 2300 was merely a permissible statement reflecting the non-availability of funds for free publication as a result of this legal change. The applicant was directed to pay the publication expenses as required by the Commissioner. Costs were taxed against the applicant-appellee.