Amendment to the Implementing Guidelines on Electronic Registration of Land Titles and Deeds, Published on July 5, 2009

September 2014

LRA CIRCULAR NO. 16-14

 

WHEREAS, the Land Registration Authority ("LRA") is the government agency mandated by law to preserve the integrity of the land registration process, protect the sanctity of the Torrens Title, and act as the central repository of all land records through its Registry of Deeds ("RD") offices nationwide where all records are kept affecting registered and unregistered lands as well as the chattel mortgages affecting movable properties;

WHEREAS, to support its mandate, LRA is implementing the Land Titling Computerization Project ("LTCP" or the "Project"), which, among others, seeks to maintain on-line information on titles that is current, complete and accurate; maintain the security and integrity of records by safeguarding these from tampering or destruction and deter substitution or insertion of questionable data; ensure the integrity of the land titling registration system by moving from a largely paper-based to a largely paperless system; protect land titles from loss due to fire, theft, natural disasters and the normal ravages of time; and implement more reliable and predictable land registration procedures;

WHEREAS, in the implementation of the Project, LRA published several guidelines, including the Implementing Guidelines on Electronic Registration of Land Titles and Deeds on July 5, 2009, and the Implementing Guidelines on Electronic Registration of Land Titles and Deeds and Processing of Central Office Transactions on December 31, 2010;

WHEREAS, on December 20, 2011, LRA issued LRA Circular No. 27-2011 with subject: Implementation of the LRA Voluntary Title Standardization Program for the Conversation of Manually-issued Titles into Electronic Certificates of Title upon Request of the Registered Owner or other Client Representing the Registered Owner, or his/her Interest Thereof, wherein LRA provided the requirements in relation to the voluntary conversion of manually-issued certificates of title into certificates that are issued by the Computerized System ("eTitle"), with the objective of providing the following benefits to the public, to wit: (i) It shall further ensure faster processing of transactions, as RD personnel do not need to retrieve the physical original copies of the certificates of title subject of transaction; (ii) It shall protect original copies of titles from loss by storing this in its electronic original form, which are regularly backed-up because owners shall no longer go through the expensive and tedious process of reconstitution; and, (iii) It shall ensure clearer Certified True Copies as compared to Certified True Copies issued on scanned images of the manually-issued certificates of title;

WHEREAS, LRA intends to fast-track the implementation of the conversion of manually-issued titles to eTitles, with the objective of ensuring that the benefits of the LTCP are felt by a greater majority of the public, and more importantly, to fulfill its mandate to protect and secure the Torrens System of Registration; HSIADc

WHEREFORE, premises considered, LRA shall allow the conversion, upon the request of the client, of manually-issued certificates of title into eTitles, when such certificates of title are subject of a voluntary transaction which shall not cause the cancellation of the subject title, as follows:

SECTION 1. The following rules shall apply:

a. This shall cover voluntary transactions for interests less than ownership, on manually-issued titles, except those titles issued in implementation of the CARP (e.g., CLOAs, Free Patents, etc.) until such time that the LRA and DAR shall have agreed that LRA shall be the one to issue such latter titles;

b. The Owner's Duplicate of the manually-issued Certificate of Title subject of the transaction ("current title"), and all issued Co-owner's Duplicate thereof, as the case may be, shall be surrendered to the Registry;

c. Once the current title has been converted to an eTitle, it shall be deemed as deactivated; henceforth, all succeeding transactions pertaining thereto shall be processed using the resulting eTitle;

d. If the client requested for the conversion of the manually-issued title into an eTitle, and agreed to pay the corresponding additional fee, the eTitle shall be issued regardless of the result of the processing of the voluntary transaction, except if the ground for the denial is on the basis of questionable authenticity of the Judicial Form, and other similar or analogous cases;

e. The eTitle resulting from this process shall, in all respect, contain the exact information as that in the current title, and in no case shall there be an amendment of any kind on any of the entries thereon, except for:

i. The annotation resulting from the registration of the voluntary transaction on the current title;

ii. The annotation that shall be affixed on the newly-issued eTitle, as provided in Section 2 Item i hereof;

iii. The transfer of any entry from the current title to the eTitle, which is considered as illegible despite diligent efforts to interpret the same, in which case the procedure provided in Section 2 Item d hereof shall apply; and

iv. Change in the information provided in the current title by virtue of the implementation of a registered Court Order for the amendment of such information.

SECTION 2. The following procedures for the voluntary transactions for interests less than ownership shall be observed by the Registries of Deeds:

a. The registered owner or his duly authorized representative shall submit the Owner's Duplicate Copy of the current title and all Co-owner's Copies thereof, as the case may be, together with the required documents. The registered owner or his duly authorized representative shall inform the Entry Clerk if they shall avail of the option to convert the manually-issued title into an eTitle, and consent to pay the corresponding additional fee.

b. All basic information from documents received supporting the transaction shall be entered into the Electronic Primary Book for Registered Land ("EPEB-RL"). The date, hour and minute of reception of all instruments in the order in which they were received shall likewise be noted. The document shall be automatically assigned with an entry number as its control or reference number.

c. The fees shall be automatically computed by the system and the corresponding electronic receipt generated upon payment. In default of payment, the entry made in the EPEB-RL shall be rendered of no force and effect. Fees for the issuance of title shall be charged in addition to the existing fee breakdown for the transaction, as follows:

i. LRA Fees

1. Issuance of Title — for each certificate of title issued, price shall be as published by the Authority CAaEDH

2. Issuance of Title — for each Additional Page of the title, price shall be as published by the Authority

3. Issuance of Title — for each Additional Copy of the Owner's Duplicate, price shall be as published by the Authority

ii. IT Service Fee

1. Issuance of Title — for each certificate of title issued and for each Additional Copy of the Owner's Duplicate, price shall be as published by the Authority

d. All pertinent data on the current title shall be encoded, while the corresponding annotation(s) of the pending transaction shall be made using the formats and templates provided in the Computerized System. All annotations, whether subsisting or canceled, on the manually-issued Title subject of the transaction, shall be copied en toto on the draft eTitle.

i. In case any entry, annotation, or memorandum thereon is illegible or unreadable, the following options may be availed of by the Register of Deeds:

1. In cases where only a small portion of the entry, annotation, or memorandum is illegible or unreadable, the legible entry, annotation, or memorandum shall be copied en toto and, for portions that are deemed illegible, the same may be replaced by putting the letter "X" for each illegible or unreadable entry; and

2. In cases where majority of the entry, annotation, or memorandum is illegible or unreadable, the notation below shall be used:

"Illegible entry, annotation, or memorandum. Please refer to preceding title for details."

ii. In case of an omitted entry, annotation, or memorandum in the resulting eTitle, the party-in-interest may avail of the appropriate remedy under LRA Circular No. 2013-51 (i.e., LRA Policy and Standards — Request for System Update) to cause its re-annotation.

e. The encoded data, as well as the pertinent documents, shall then be examined, thereafter, upon finding that the same are complete, it shall be transmitted to the Registrar of Deeds or his Deputy, in accordance with existing LRA policies.

f. If the voluntary transaction is approved, the documents shall be stamped and signed by the Registrar of Deeds or his Deputy, in accordance with existing LRA policies.

g. If the voluntary transaction is denied, a Notice of Denial shall be issued to the client who may, without withdrawing the documents, elevate the transaction en consulta within five (5) days from the receipt of notice of such denial in accordance with the pertinent provision of Presidential Decree 1529. Otherwise, the denial shall be considered final.

h. The Owner's Duplicate of the current title and all the documents submitted by the client shall be scanned, and the resulting images shall be uploaded in the database. After scanning, the documents shall be kept in the vault for safekeeping.

i. Regardless of the result of applicable transactions, except if the ground for the denial is on the basis of questionable authenticity of the Judicial Form, and other similar or analogous cases, a new Owner's Duplicate Copy and/or Co-owners Copy of the eTitle shall be printed with a unique system-generated title number, subject to the provisions of Section 1 hereof, which shall bear an annotation that it was issued by virtue of this Circular, as follows:

i. For the current title subject of the transaction:

 Entry No.: ASaTHc

 Certificate of Title No.: <Current Title Number> has been deactivated by virtue of LRA Circular No.: <Number of this Circular> with subject: "Amendment to the Implementing Guidelines on Electronic Registration of Land Titles and Deeds, published on July 5, 2009", published on: <Publication Date of this Circular>, and shall no longer be used in transaction processing. Henceforth, transactions shall be processed on the basis of PHILARIS-generated <Original/Transfer/Condominium> Certificate of Title No.: <New eTitle Number>.

ii. For the eTitle resulting from the transaction:

 Entry No.:

 Certificate of Title No.: <New eTitle Number> is issued based on <Original/Transfer/Condominium> Certificate of Title No.: <Current Title Number>, printed on Serial No.: <Serial No.> (if applicable), by virtue of LRA Circular No.: <Number of this Circular> with subject: "Amendment to the Implementing Guidelines on Electronic Registration of Land Titles and Deeds, published on July 5, 2009", published on: <Publication Date of this Circular>.

j. The eTitle shall bear the name of the Registrar who issued the current title, as well as the name of the Registrar who issued the eTitle.

k. Both the Original and Duplicate Copies of the current title shall be stamped on each and every page thereof with the following words: "DEACTIVATED pursuant to LRA Circular No.: <Number of this Circular> with subject: "Amendment to the Implementing Guidelines on Electronic Registration of Land Titles and Deeds, published on July 5, 2009".

l. The newly-issued Owner's Duplicate Copy of the eTitle and/or Co-Owner's Copy thereof, and the duplicate of the entered documents shall then be received by the registered owner or his duly authorized representative, who shall sign the acknowledgment slip generated by the Computerized System.

SECTION 3. If any provision of this Circular, or any application thereof, is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 4. All orders, guidelines, circulars, rules and regulations inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

SECTION 5. This Circular shall take effect after fifteen (15 days) from its publication in a newspaper of general circulation, and the filing of the three (3) copies hereof with the University of the Philippines Law Center.

This _______ day of September 2014, Quezon City, Philippines.

Approved by:

(SGD.) EULALIO C. DIAZ IIIAdministrator

Published in The Philippine Star on October 3, 2014.