Bureau of Local Government Finance Opinion

July 27, 2006 BUREAU OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE OPINION The City Assessor Antipolo City S i r : This refers to the letter dated July 6, 2006 of Atty. Homobono Adaza, Adaza and Adaza Law Office, in behalf of his client, Mrs. Aurelia L. Lavilla, requesting this Bureau to direct your Office to issue tax declarations on the ten (10) parcels of land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) Nos. 330709 to 330718 located in Barangay San Roque, Antipolo City with an aggregate area of 454 square meters which originated from the TCT No. 323000/T-1614 issued to Mrs. Aurelia Lapar Lavilla. It appears that the parcels of land in question are portions of the land covered by Survey No. SWD-24646 with an area of 8,843.75 square meters and were declared by that Office as commercial (C-1) in the name of the City Government of Antipolo under Tax Declaration No. AA-001-15209 effective 2000. Atty. Adaza contends that the denial of that Office to issue the requested tax declarations on the subject parcels of land is illegal and constitutes grave abuse of authority, considering that the issuance of tax declaration is ministerial for real property tax purposes. In support of the said request Atty. Adaza submitted the following: 1. Duly certified xerox copies of titles of ten (10) lots; 2. Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) Nos. 330709 to 330718; 3. Duly approved plan, Psd 04-100842 and Pcs-04-011974; 4. Court Order directing CENRO officials to re-survey Lots 4 and 6; CSHEAI 5. Memorandum from the Regional Technical Director to re-survey the said lots; 6. Compliance report of the CENRO officials on the implementation of re-survey orders; 7. Pictures of the monuments planted on the ground consistent with CENRO report; 8. Letter dated July 3, 2006 of Atty. Reynaldo Aquino, Register of Deeds, Tagaytay City, addressed to Mrs. Aurelia Lavilla informing her that the subject Certificate of Titles are intact and existing at the Register of Deeds of Antipolo City; and 9. Other relevant documents. On the other hand, in a letter dated July 17, 2006, that Office noted the following: "1. The submitted ten (10) certified photocopies of TCT Nos. 330709 to 330718 all indicate the faint mark "cancelled"; 2. The existing and intact titles of Mrs. Lavilla (TCT Nos. 330709 to 330718) have been cancelled pursuant to the following: (a) Decision, promulgated December 26, 1984, of the Supreme Court, First Division, in G.R. No. L-65334, which Decision states, among others, that the disputed property is a site of the public market; (b) Order, dated May 19, 1999, of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 157, Pasig, in Civil Case No. 41353, directing: "Therefore, the owners/holders of the certificates of titles transferred from OCT No. 10957 are hereby ordered to surrender the same to the Register of Deeds of Marikina City within a period of fifteen (15) days from notice of cancellation and issuance of new titles in the name of plaintiff. After the lapse of the period granted, the Register of Deeds of Marikina City is hereby directed to cancel the certificates of title which were not surrendered and in lieu thereof, issue another certificates of title in the name of plaintiff Municipality of Antipolo"; aCATSI (c) Decision, promulgated October 11, 2000, of the Court of Appeals, Twelfth Division, in CA-G.R. SP No. 54597, which dismissed the instant petition for lack of merit; and (d) To date, Mrs. Aurelia L. Lavilla has not submitted complete sales patent documents/new Transfer Certificate of Titles of the subject parcels of land." Moreover, the following annotations reflected at the back of said TCT Nos. 330709 to 330718 state: "Entry No. 8413/T. No. N-68962 RESOLUTION TO CONSULTA No. 2597 by a resolution issued by the Land Registration Authority in Consulta No. 2597, it is hereby made of record that the Supreme Court decision rendered in G.R. No. 65334 dated Dec. 26, 1984 is not registrable. Said resolution has been certified final and executory by a certification of finality issued by the LRA on Jan. 23, 2002. Date of the instrument March 5, 2001 Date of the inscription Jan. 25, 2002 at 9:48 a.m. signed by Valentino LI. Quevado, Dep. Reg. of Deeds. "Entry No. 20018/No. R-16559 DECISION By virtue of a decision rendered by the Court of Appeals in CA-C.R. SP No. 49300 which was made in accordance with the Supreme Court Decision in C.R. No. L-65334 and its Resolution dated 16, December 1986 which declared the judgment and Decree rendered by the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Branch XV in Land Registration Case No. N-9995, LRC Rec. No. N-52176 as null and void with respect to the heirs of Joaquin Avendano, this said certificate of title is hereby cancelled, TCT No. R-16473/T=82 has been issued. Judgement issued by the Court of Appeals on February 21, 2003. SIcEHC Date of the instrument April 30, 2002 Date of the inscription May 14, 2003 at 1:01 p.m., unsigned only initial Edgar D. Santos, Register of Deeds." Furthermore, The Register of Deeds of Antipolo City, issued a Certification dated July 26, 2006, that TCT Nos. 330709 to 330718, all registered in the name of Spouses Samson Lavilla and Aurelia Lapar Lavilla, situated in the Municipality of Antipolo, Rizal, are among the titles being kept in the Registry of Deeds in Antipolo City. The provision of Chapter IV, Section 5 (B) of Assessment Regulations No. 1-04 dated October 01, 2004, otherwise known as the Manual on Real Property Appraisal and Assessment Operations, provides as follows: "xxx xxx xxx "B. For Titled Property: 1. A certified true copy of free patent, homestead or miscellaneous application must be submitted; 2. A certified true copy of the title issued by the Register of Deeds, certifying among others, that the original copy of which is intact and existing in the said registry; and 3. Approved survey plan." Relatedly, attention is also invited to Local Assessment Opinion No. 1-81 dated February 19, 1981 of the Department of Finance, which squarely applies to the case at hand, the penultimate portion of which reads as follows: "xxx xxx xxx "It must be remembered that issuance of the 'tax declaration' is for taxation purposes only. The 'Tax Declaration' DOES NOT and CANNOT, alone by itself, confer any legal title of ownership in fee simple "to the declarant/assessee over the properties covered thereby unlike ' Certificate of Title ' issued by the Register of Deeds in accordance with the Torrens System prevailing in our jurisdiction with the enactment of Act 496, otherwise known as the 'Land Registration Act' which is the very ' evidence of ownership ' itself. The primary function of the 'Tax Declaration' is to serve as documentary ' evidence of taxability ' of real property covered thereby. EcDATH "Issuance of the 'tax declaration' by the Assessor concerned to the 'property party', in conformity with the provisions of the governing law on realty taxation, i.e. , previously, C.A. 470, otherwise known as the Assessment Law and, presently, by the Real Property Tax Code, PD 464, as amended, which became effective on June 1, 1974, and/or in accordance with the legal pronouncements of the proper courts of justice is a mere ministerial act as these Officers have no power to adjudicate, his Office being NEITHER a court of justice NOR a property registry 'but simply an office for collection of the land tax.' ( Carmo vs. Jose Riocu Boyco , 29 Phil. 437.) Question on 'ownership over lands' are ventilated in, and finally resolved by, the proper courts of justice where the adverse claimants may later resort to, as when the proceedings in Court for the 'titling' of subject properties is had." Chapter V, Section 3 (B) of the said Manual on Real Property Appraisal and Assessment Operations states the following: "B. Cancellation of Assessments in Case Several Assessments are made on One Property. '1. In case several assessments are made on one and same property, the duty of the assessor is to cancel all the assessments, except the one properly made; However, if any assessee or his representative shall object to the cancellation of the assessment made in his name, such assessment shall not be cancelled but the fact shall be noted on the Field Appraisal and Assessment Sheet (FAAS), tax declaration, assessment roll and other property books of record. Preference, however, shall be given to the assessment of the person who has the best title to the property, or in default thereof, of the person who has possession of the property. "2. When two persons have declared in their names the same property or a portion thereof and were issued corresponding tax declarations, a notation shall be made on the face of each tax declaration and the "corresponding FAAS's the fact that the property or part thereof is also declared in the name of the other person. "Thus, if Mr. A declared a property which is also declared in the name of Mr. B there shall be noted on the face of the field appraisal and assessment sheet and tax declaration of Mr. A the following: "Property is also declared in the name of Mr. B under Tax Declaration No. ______. "A similar notation shall be made on the face of the Tax Declaration of Mr. B as "Property is also declared in the name of Mr. A under Tax Declaration No. ______. EHACcT "xxx xxx xxx." In view of the foregoing, that Office is hereby requested to require Mrs. Lavilla to submit certified true copies of the subject Transfer Certificates of Title mentioned in the Certification issued by the Registrar of Deeds of Antipolo City, before issuing the tax declarations on subject parcels of land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. 330709 to 330718. That Office is also instructed to reflect the corresponding "notation" on the face of each tax declaration in the name of the City Government of Antipolo City and Mrs. Lavilla in the following manner: "This parcel of land is a portion of the land covering an area of 8,843.75 square meters declared in the name of the City Government of Antipolo under Tax Declaration No. _____ effective _________. "This property is also declared in the name of Mrs. Lavilla under Tax Declaration No. _______ effective _________." Report of action taken hereon soonest is requested. Very truly yours, (SGD.) MA. PRESENTACION R. MONTESA Executive Director