Bureau of Local Government Finance Opinion

December 5, 2003 BUREAU OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE OPINION Mr. Liberato T. Calvario Poblacion, Sta. Elena Camarines Norte S i r : This refers to your request for assistance relative to the alleged cancellation made by the Office of the Provincial Assessor of Camarines Norte, of the Declaration of Real Property with ARP No. 001-0212 effective CY 2000 in the name of Tomasa Calvario covering a parcel of land with an area of 1.0005 has., resulting in the issuance of ARP No. 001-2762 in the name of a certain Armando T. Obre. In this connection, attention is invited to the letter dated October 7, 2003, copy enclosed, of the said Provincial Assessor of Camarines Norte, submitting, among others, the following information, to wit: 1. That the issuance of the Declaration of Real Property with T.D. No. 4151 in the name of Tomasa Calvario in 1959 for a parcel of land with an area of 4.5000 has., more or less, was made by virtue of the Application For Declaration of Real Property Under Act 436 ; 2. That as a result of the Tax Mapping conducted by the Office of the said Provincial Assessor, it was discovered that portions of the subject T.D. No. 4151 were covered by Original Certificates of Title (OCT) described below: OCT No. T.D. No. Name Area P-1406 001-2125 Armando Obre 10,000 sq.m. P-8304 001-0179 Ma. Aurora Unico, et al. 19,069 sq.m. 3. That, upon your request, being the administrator of the said property of Tomasa Calvario, the remaining area of 10,005 sq.m. was issued with ARP Nos. 001-2355 effective CY 1987, and subsequently, ARP No. 001-0212 effective 2000 (General Revision); 4. That ARP No. 001-0212 was cancelled by ARP No. 001-2762 by virtue of the Sale and Transfer of Rights executed on June 20, 1962 by Tomasa Calvario in favor of Armando Obre, supported by an approved Survey Plan (No. F-10-1-1933-A-D) in the name of the transferee; and 5. That the said ARP No. 001-001-2762 was subsequently cancelled by ARP No. 001-2602 effective CY 2002 by virtue of the Extrajudicial Settlement and Partition of Estate with Sale in favor of Armando A. Obre, Jr. Likewise, attention is also invited to the Memoranda portion of the subject ARP No. 001-2762, which reads as follows: "Transferred by virtue of SALE AND TRANSFER OF RIGHTS notarized. . . series of 1962. Land Tax Paid. Transfer Tax & BIR Cert. Presented." In view hereof, attention is invited to Section 208 of R.A. No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, which provides, as follows: "SEC. 208. Notification of Transfer of Real Property Ownership . Any person who shall transfer real property ownership to another shall notify the provincial, city or municipal assessor concerned within sixty (60) days from the date of such transfer. The notification shall include the mode of transfer, the description of the property alienated, the name and address of the transferee." Applying the abovequoted provision of law to the instant case, this Bureau believes that, except for the prescriptive period which is merely directory, the submission of documents required to effect the transfer of the said parcels of land was complied with. Hence, we find the action taken by the Provincial Assessor of Camarines Norte, in cancelling ARP No. 001-0212 in the name of Tomasa Calvario, and consequently, issuing ARP No. 001-2762 in favor of Armando T. Obre, to be in order. SITCEA In view of the foregoing, we regret that your abovementioned request cannot be given due course, for lack of merit. However, considering that the subject matter involves the issue on ownership which this Bureau has no jurisdiction to act on, we advise you that the same may be brought to a court of competent jurisdiction, for proper resolution. Very truly yours, (SGD.) MA. PRESENTACION R. MONTESA Executive Director