An Act Providing that Provincial Fiscals and the Attorney for the Moro Province Shall Perform the Duties of the Register of Deeds in their Respective Provinces, Abolishing the Position of Examiner of Titles, and Amending Act Numbered Eighty-Three, Four Hundred and Ninety-Six, Seven Hundred and Eighty-Seven, and Nine 'Hundred and Twenty-Six, as Amended

August 30, 1907

ACT NO. 1699

AN ACT PROVIDING THAT PROVINCIAL FISCALS AND THE ATTORNEY FOR THE MORO PROVINCE SHALL PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PROVINCES, ABOLISHING THE POSITION OF EXAMINER OF TITLES, AND AMENDING ACT NUMBERED EIGHTY-THREE, FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX, SEVEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVEN, AND NINE 'HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX, AS AMENDED

 Section eleven of Act Numbered Eighty-three, entitled "A general Act for the organization of provincial governments in the Philippine Islands," as amended by section one of Act Numbered Two hundred and twenty-three and section one of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and forty-three, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: aScITE

"SEC. 11. The provincial fiscal shall be the attorney and legal adviser of the provincial government and of each of its officers, when called upon, and they may require from him written opinions. He shall represent the provincial government in all suits brought on its behalf or against it in the courts of the province in the courts of any other province. He shall be the legal adviser of the council and president of each municipality of the province, and shall upon the request of any president or council submit in writing his views upon any question properly arising in the discharge of their public duties. He shall in the courts of the province represent the public in all criminal cases and perform such duties with reference to the institution of all criminal prosecutions as the laws relating to criminal procedure shall require. In cases where the interest of any municipality and of the provincial government are opposed, he shall act on behalf of the provincial government, and the municipality shall be obliged to employ special counsel.

"He shall also represent each municipality of his province or provinces in all litigation pending for or against such municipality in any court, except in cases where the interests of the municipality and of the provincial government are opposed, in cases where two municipalities are adverse parties to the same litigation, and in cases arising under Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and seventy-six, in all of which cases the municipalities shall be obliged to employ special counsel.

"He shall also perform the duties of the register of deeds.

"The Attorney-General shall represent the provincial government, except as hereinafter provided, in all suits for or against it which shall come into the Supreme Court; but if he deems it necessary he may authorize the provincial fiscal to assist him in the hearing of the cause before the Supreme Court. In suits by the government of one province against the government of another the Attorney-General shall take no part, and the provinces engaged in the litigation shall be represented in the Supreme Court by their respective provincial fiscals. When any criminal case is appealed to the Supreme Court the provincial fiscal shall forthwith make a report to the Attorney-General, explaining the question of law and fact appearing therein and the conclusions of the court; and if the Attorney-General directs, the provincial fiscal shall appear in such criminal cases in the Supreme Court on appeal. The Attorney-General shall have general supervision of all provincial fiscals, shall prepare rules for their guidance, may require reports from them as to the condition of public business in the courts of their respective provinces, and shall make an annual report through the Governor-General to the Commission of the conditions of the public business in litigation throughout the Islands.

"Whenever the provincial fiscal is absent from the province, or fails or refuses to discharge his duty by reason of illness or other cause, or by reason of personal interest in the prosecution or other matter is disqualified to act therein as provincial fiscal, the judge of the Court of First Instance for the province is authorized and required to appoint a temporary fiscal, who shall be paid out of the provincial treasury the same compensation per day as that provided by law for the regular provincial fiscal for the days actually employed. The fiscal thus temporarily appointed shall discharge all the duties of the provincial fiscal as provided by law which the regular provincial fiscal fails or is unable to perform. The provincial fiscal of any province may, by authority of the provincial board, have a deputy fiscal, and a clerk or clerks, to be appointed by the provincial fiscal, at such salaries, out of the provincial treasury, as may be allowed, with the concurrence of the Executive Secretary: PROVIDED, That after the first of March, nineteen hundred and two, such clerk or clerks shall be selected in accordance with the rules and restriction of the Civil Service Act."

 Section nine of Act Numbered Seven hundred and eighty-seven, entitled "An Act providing for the organization and government of the Moro Province," is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 9. The provincial attorney shall be the attorney and legal adviser of the provincial government and of each of its officers and of the legislative council hereinafter constituted and shall, when called upon by the council or by any officer, furnish a written opinion on questions of law arising in the administration of the government. He shall represent the provincial government in all suits brought on its behalf or against it in the courts of the province or in the courts of any province or district. He shall be the legal adviser of the municipal authorities of any municipality organized in the province and shall, upon request, submit in writing his views upon any question properly arising in the discharge of the public duties of such officers or authorities. He shall exercise supervisory control in the courts in the province over the district fiscals for whose appointment and salaries the legislative council may have provided. The provincial attorney shall, when the public interest requires it, appear and take charge of prosecutions for the government in any court within the province. In cases where the interests of any municipality and of the province are distinct or opposed he shall act on behalf of the provincial government and the municipality shall be obliged to employ special counsel. The provincial attorney shall discharge his duties under the general supervision of the Attorney-General of the Insular Government, and the Attorney-General shall represent the provincial government in all suits for or against it which shall come before the Supreme Court, but if the Attorney-General deems it necessary he may require the provincial attorney to assist in the presentation of the cause before the Supreme Court. In every criminal case appealed to the Supreme Court from the Court of First Instance held in the province the provincial attorney shall forthwith make a report to the Attorney-General, explaining the questions of law and fact appearing therein and the conclusions of the court. The provincial attorney shall make an annual report to the Attorney-General of the Philippine Islands as to the conditions of public and private litigation in the courts throughout the province, and shall discharge such other duties as may be required by the legislative council. HEITAD

"He shall also perform the duties of the register of deeds."

 Section four of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, entitled "An Act to provide for the adjudication and registration of titles to lands in the Philippine Islands," as amended by section one of Act Numbered Sixteen hundred and forty-eight, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 4. The authority and jurisdiction of the Court of Land Registration shall begin and take effect as soon as the judges thereof are appointed and qualified in the manner required by law for judicial officers. The court may be held by a single judge, and when so held shall have all the authority and jurisdiction committed to said court. Different sessions may be held at the same time, either in the same province or in different provinces, as the judges may decide, and they shall so arrange sessions as to insure a prompt discharge of the business of the court.

"All cases arising in the Court of Land Registration in the city of Manila shall be assigned to the regular judges of the court by rotation, as nearly as may be, and all cases arising in said court outside of the city of Manila shall be assigned by districts to the regular judges and the judges at large of the Court of First Instance performing the duties of judges of the Court of Land Registration. The limits of said districts shall be determined by agreement among all of the judges serving on the court. The judge to whom a case is once assigned shall thereafter have exclusive authority and jurisdiction therein unless and until he shall be absent from the Philippine Islands, or shall have voluntarily transferred such case to another judge, or such transfer shall have been authorized by the Secretary of Finance and Justice: PROVIDED, That any judge of the Court of First Instance outside of the city of Manila shall, whenever directed in writing to do so by the Secretary of Finance and Justice, hear and make findings of fact in land-registration cases at the times and places prescribed by law for holding regular or special terms of the Court of First Instance in his judicial district whenever any application or applications under this Act shall have been duly published, mailed, and posted for hearing at any such times and places. For the purposes of any such hearing such judge of the Court of First Instance shall exercise all the powers exercised for like purposes by judges of the Court of Land Registration, including the power to determine whether the application has been duly published, mailed, and posted for hearing, and the power of adjournment to such times and places as may be convenient, and after the hearing, such judge of the Court of First Instance shall return the application and all papers and documents filed in connection therewith and all evidence presented in support thereof or in opposition thereto, together with his findings of fact, by official messenger or registered mail, to the clerk in Manila, who shall thereupon transmit the papers and record in the case to the judge to whom the case has been assigned for decision. Such judge to whom the case has been assigned may, of his own motion, or on motion for a new trial made by any party to the case on proper grounds and in due time, reopen the case, and, with the previous approval in writing of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, return it to the judge of the Court of First Instance of the district in which the findings of fact were originally made for further hearing. Such judge of the Court of First Instance shall thereupon conduct such further hearing and return the application, papers, documents, and evidence and any further findings of fact to the clerk in Manila in the manner hereinbefore provided, to be again delivered to the judge to whom the case has been assigned. But the judges of the Court of Land Registration shall have the same powers of appointing referees in all cases coming before them as are conferred by law upon judges of the Courts of First Instance." ATICcS

 Section ten of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, as amended by section two of Act Numbered Six hundred and fourteen, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 10. There shall be a register of deeds in the city of Manila and one in each province. The register of deeds for the city of Manila shall be appointed at a salary of four thousand pesos per annum and removed in the manner provided for the appointment and removal of judges by section three. The provincial fiscals and the attorney for the Moro Province shall perform the duties of the register of deeds in their respective provinces. The duties of the register of deeds in the Provinces of Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Lepanto-Bontoc, Zambales, Palawan, and Agusan shall be performed by the respective provincial treasurers of said provinces. The registers of deeds, after any land within their respective districts has been registered under this Act, shall have the same authority as the clerk of the Court of Land Registration to make all memoranda affecting the title of such land, and to enter and issue new certificates of title as provided herein, and each shall affix his seal to such certificates and duplicate certificates of title; but in executing the provisions of this Act the registers of deeds shall subject to the general direction of the Court of Land Registration, in order to secure uniformity throughout the Islands, and their official designation shall be register of deeds for the province or for the city of Manila, in which their duties are to be performed, as the case may be."

 Section eleven of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 11. The clerk of the Court of Land Registration and all registers of deeds shall be sworn before any official authorized to administer oaths, and a record thereof shall be made in the records of the court. They shall each give a bond to the Government of the Philippine Islands for the benefit of whom it may concern in a sum to be fixed by the Insular Auditor for the faithful performance of their official duties, before entering upon the same. The judge and the associate judges and the clerk of the Court of Land Registration and all registers of deeds will have power to administer oaths in all matters and cases in which an oath is required, whether pertaining to the registration of lands or otherwise. The clerk and his deputy and all registers of deeds shall keep an accurate account of all moneys received, as fees or otherwise, which shall be subject to examination by the Insular Auditor in the city of Manila and by the district auditors in the several provinces, and to revision thereof by the Insular Auditor, and they shall pay over such moneys at the end of each calendar month to the Insular Treasurer, except such moneys as are otherwise disposed of by the provisions of section thirteen of this Act.

"In case of a vacancy in the office of the register of deeds for the city of Manila, or his absence or disability, the clerk of the Court of Land Registration shall perform the duties of the register. In case of a vacancy in the office of provincial fiscal or that of the attorney for the Moro Province, or their absence or disability, the deputy fiscal or assistant attorney, or, if there is no deputy or assistant, the provincial treasurer, shall perform the duties of the register of deeds. The clerk of the Court of Land Registration and all registers of deeds may require a bond of indemnification from all deputies, assistants, and employees in their respective offices. The register of deeds for the city of Manila may appoint such deputies, assistants, clerks, stenographers, and translators as may be authorized by law."

 Section thirteen of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, as amended by section one (b) of Act Numbered Eight hundred and nine and section one of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and twelve, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 13. The salary of the judge of the Court of Land Registration shall be ten thousand pesos per annum, and that of the associate judge shall be nine thousand pesos per annum, and that of the clerk of the court shall be five thousand pesos per annum; the salary of any associate judge appointed after July first, nineteen hundred and five, under this Act shall be eight thousand pesos per annum for the first two years of service, and thereafter nine thousand pesos per annum.

"All salaries and expenses of the court, including those for necessary interpreters, translators, stenographers, typists, and other employees, as well as those of deputy or assistant clerks duly authorized, shall be paid from the Insular Treasury, but the salary of the register of deeds for the city of Manila and of all of his deputies, assistants or clerks duly authorized and appointed, and all the expenses of every kind incident to the office of register of deeds, including necessary books and stationery, shall be paid out of the respective provincial treasuries, or out of the Insular Treasury from funds belonging to the city of Manila, as the case may be. All fees payable under this Act for the services of the clerk of the Court of Land Registration shall be deposited in the Insular Treasury. All fees payable under this Act for the services of the register of deeds or his deputy or clerks, including those for entry of original certificate of title, issuing all duplicates thereof, for the registration of instruments, making and attesting copies of memorandum on instruments, for filing and registering adverse claims, for entering statement of change of residence or post-office, for entering any note on registration book, for registration of a suggestion of death or notice of proceedings in bankruptcy, insolvency, or the like, for the registration of a discharge of a lease or a mortgage or instrument creating an incumbrance, for the registration of any levy or any discharge or dissolution of attachment or levy or of any certificate of or receipt for payment of taxes or a notice of any pending action, of a judgment or decree, for indorsing of any mortgage lien or other instrument, memorandum of partition, or for certified copies of registered instruments, shall be deposited in the appropriate provincial treasury, or in the Insular Treasury for the city of Manila, as the case may be.

"All fees payable under this Act for services by sheriff or other officer shall be paid to the officer or person entitled thereto.

"Registers of deeds shall pay over to the provincial treasury or to the Insular Treasury, as the case may be, at the end of each calendar month, all funds received by them in accordance with the provisions of this Act."

 Section thirty of said Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, as amended by section five of Act Numbered Sixteen hundred and forty-eight, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 30. If the application is filed with the clerk, he shall forthwith forward it by registered mail to the register of deeds of the province or city in which the land or any portion thereof lies. Immediately upon the receipt of the application, whether from the applicant or the clerk, the register of deeds shall search the books and records of his office and attach to the application a certificate stating that the land to which the application relates does not appear in such books or records, or setting forth copies of all entries of such land, as the fact may be, and shall transmit the application, such certificate, and the papers, plans, and memorandum mentioned in section twenty of this Act by the first registered mail to the clerk in Manila."

 Section thirty-five of said Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 35. If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court may at once upon motion of the applicant, no reason to the contrary appearing, order a general default to be recorded and the application to be taken for confessed. By the description in the notice, 'To all whom it may concern,' all the world are made parties defendant and shall be concluded by the default and order. After such default and order the court may enter a decree confirming the title of the applicant and ordering registration of the same."

 Section thirty-six of said Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, as amended by section eight of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and eight, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 36. If in any case an appearance is entered and answer filed, the case shall be set down for hearing on motion of either party, but a default and order shall be entered against all persons who do not appear and answer, in the manner provided in the preceding section. The court may hear the parties and their evidence or may refer the case or any part thereof to a referee, to hear the parties and their evidence and make report thereon to the court. The trial before the referee may occur at any convenient place within the province or city, and the time and place of trial shall be fixed by the referee and reasonable notice thereof shall be given by him to the parties. The court shall render judgment in accordance with the report as though the facts had been found by the judge himself, unless the court shall for cause shown set the report aside or order it to be recommitted to the referee for further finding: PROVIDED, NEVERTHELESS, That the court may in its discretion accept the report in part or set it aside in part. The court may in any case before decree require a survey to be made for the purpose of determining boundaries, and may order durable bounds to be set, and referred to in the application, by amendment. The expense of survey and bounds shall be taxed in the costs of the case and may be apportioned among the parties as justice may require. If no person appears to oppose the application, such expense shall be borne by the applicant. If two or more applications claim the same land, or part of the same land, the court may order the hearings upon all such applications to be consolidated, if such consolidation is in the interest of economy of time and expense.

"The surveying required by the provisions of this section, or by any rules and directions of the Court of Land Registration, and the drafting of any plans required, may be done by any private surveyor of sufficient qualifications, to be approved by the judges of the Court of Land Registration, or by a surveyor or surveyors to be detailed for that purpose from the clerical force authorized by law for the Court of Land Registration, whose duty it is hereby made to provide in its clerical force a sufficient number of competent surveyors for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section. The judges of the Court of Land Registration shall fix in each case the fee to be charged for the expense of a survey and necessary drafting, which shall be paid by the applicant, or apportioned among the parties, as justice may require. The fees so charged shall be paid into the Insular Treasury, except in cases where a private surveyor, to be approved by the judges, is employed."

 Section fifty-nine of Act Numbered Nine hundred and twenty-six, entitled "The Public Land Act," is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 59. Upon the filing of claims and applications for registration in the Court of Land Registration, under this chapter, the same procedure shall be adopted in the hearing of such cases and in the matter of appeal as is by the Land Registration Act provided for other claims, except that a notice of all such applications, together with a plan of the lands claimed, shall be immediately forwarded to the Director of Lands, who shall be represented in all questions arising upon the consideration of such applications by the Attorney-General or by any subordinate or assistant to the Attorney-General- appointed for that purpose: PROVIDED, That prior to the publication for hearing, all of the papers in such case shall be transmitted by the clerk to the Attorney-General in order that he may, if he considers it advisable for the interests of the Government, investigate all of the facts alleged in the application or otherwise brought to his attention. The Attorney-General shall return such papers to the clerk as soon as practicable within three months."

 In lieu of one examiner of titles for the city of Manila, which position is by this Act abolished, authority is hereby given for the employment by the Court of Land Registration of a clerk of class eight, and the sum of three thousand pesos, which was appropriated for the payment of the salary of the examiner of titles under the provisions of Act Numbered Sixteen hundred and seventy-nine, is hereby made available for the payment of the salary of such clerk so authorized to be employed.

 Section twelve of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six, Acts Numbered Six hundred and six, Eight hundred and ninety-four, Nine hundred and ninety-one, and Eleven hundred and seven, and section sixty of Act Numbered Nine hundred and twenty-six, and all Acts or parts of Acts in conflict with this Act, are hereby repealed. AIDSTE

 The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-six, nineteen hundred.

 This Act shall take effect on the first day of October nineteen hundred and seven.

ENACTED, August 30, 1907.