G.R. No. 240331 . March 16, 2022.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (DOTr), PETITIONER, VS. GUILLERMA LAMACLAMAC AND THE LAND REGISTRATION AUTHORITY, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

The Republic, represented by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), filed a Complaint for Cancellation of Decree against Guillerma Lamaclamac and the Land Registration Authority (LRA). The subject was Lot No. 12446 in Alubijid, Misamis Oriental, brought under cadastral proceedings. On August 26, 1941, the cadastral court issued Decree No. 756523 in favor of Lamaclamac, which the LRA recorded. Lamaclamac died in 1947, and her heirs later sold the lot to the government, which now uses it for the Laguindingan Airport Development Project.
On July 7, 2006, the DOTr obtained an LRA Certification stating that Decree No. 756523 was “not among those salvaged decrees on file” and was “presumed to have been lost or destroyed as a consequence of the last World War.” A similarly worded Certification from the Registrar of Deeds of Misamis Oriental, dated August 17, 2007, stated the decrees “can no longer be located” and suggested titles, if issued, may not have survived World War II.
The Republic alleged that Lamaclamac abandoned her right over the lot because she failed to secure a certificate of title after more than 65 years, and thus laches applied. The LRA, in its Manifestation, countered that the Certifications did not categorically state no title was ever issued and implied it may have been lost. The RTC dismissed the complaint for insufficiency of evidence, finding the DOTr failed to prove Lamaclamac did not secure a title, as the issuance of a decree makes the issuance of a title a ministerial duty. The CA affirmed the RTC’s decision.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals gravely erred in affirming the RTC decision denying the complaint for cancellation of decree considering the absence of evidence to prove that the decree issued to private respondent had actually been transcribed in the registry books of the Register of Deeds.

RULING

The petition is bereft of merit. The Court affirmed the CA’s decision. The issuance of a decree of registration in a cadastral case is a final adjudication of title that confers ownership. Once a decree is issued, it is the ministerial duty of the land registration court to order its issuance and for the LRA to issue the corresponding decree of registration and certificate of title. The claimant is not required to take any further action. The LRA and RD Certifications did not prove that no title was issued; they indicated the records were presumed lost or destroyed due to World War II. The presumption is that official duty has been regularly performed, meaning the LRA likely complied with its duty to issue the title after the decree was recorded. The government, as the current owner and buyer from Lamaclamac’s heirs, is in no position to allege abandonment or laches. The action for cancellation of the decree had no legal basis.