G.R. No. L-8414; March 19, 1914

FACTS:
In a land registration proceeding, the Court of Land Registration adjudicated title to a tract of land in favor of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, finding that the applicant had been in possession under a claim of ownership for over forty years. Before the final decree of registration could issue, the court’s official surveyor reported that the original survey plan submitted by the applicant was defective because it lacked the approval of the Director of Lands. The court then ordered the applicant to present a new plan. The applicant, invoking Section 66 of Act No. 926 (the Public Land Act), prayed that the Bureau of Lands be directed to conduct a new survey at the expense of the Insular Government. The Court of Land Registration granted this prayer. The Director of Lands appealed this order on behalf of the Government.

ISSUE:
Whether an applicant for land registration, whose claim is based on possession under a bona fide claim of ownership for the prescribed period (pursuant to Section 54, subsection 6 of Act No. 926 ), is entitled under Section 66 of the same Act to have the land surveyed at the cost of the Insular Government.

RULING:
No. The Supreme Court reversed the order of the Court of Land Registration.

The Court held that Section 66 of Act No. 926 applies only to cases where the final judgment or decree of the court involves lands that are still part of the public domain at the time of the adjudication. The provision mandates a government-funded survey only for such “public lands.”

The applicant’s claim was grounded on Section 54, subsection 6, which grants a certificate of title to those in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession of agricultural public lands under a bona fide claim of ownership for ten years preceding the Act. Under this provision, such possession creates a conclusive presumption of a prior Government grant and the performance of all conditions essential to it. Therefore, by legal fiction, the land had ceased to be public land long before the registration proceeding (from the moment the presumed grant was perfected). The adjudication under subsection 6 merely recognizes a title already vested, not one originating from the court’s decree.

In contrast, the other subsections of Section 54 (1-5) deal with unperfected Spanish titles or concessions where the land may still be considered public until formally confirmed by the court. Section 66’s reference to “public lands” pertains to lands whose title remains with the Government until the court’s decree, which is not the case for claims under subsection 6.

The Court found no legislative intent to impose the burden of survey costs on the Insular Government for all lands registered under the Land Registration Act, especially those where ownership was perfected long before American sovereignty. The order directing a government-funded survey was therefore erroneous. The order was reversed, with no costs awarded.