G.R. No.

L-20611

May 8, 1969

AURELIO BALBIN and FRANCISCO BALBIN, petitioners, vs. REGISTER OF DEEDS OF ILOCOS SUR, respondent. Vicente Llanes for petitioners. Office of the Solicitor General for respondent. Manuel A. Argel for respondents third parties affected. MA ALINTAL, J.: Appeal from the resolution of the Commissioner of Land Registration in LRC Consulta No. 366. On November 15, 1 61 petitioners presented to the register of deeds of !lo"os #ur a dupli"ate "op$ of the registered o%ner&s "ertifi"ate of title 'OC( No. 5)*+ and an instrument entitled ,-eed of -onation inter-vivos,, %ith the re.uest that the same be annotated on the title. /nder the terms of the instrument sought to be annotated one Cornelio 0albin, registered o%ner of the par"el of land des"ribed in OC( No. 5)*, appears to have donated intervivos an undivided t%o1thirds '234+ portion thereof in favor of petitioners. (he entire area of the land is 11.5555 he"tares. (he register of deeds denied the re.uested annotation for being ,legall$ defe"tive or other%ise not suffi"ient in la%., !t appears that previousl$ annotated in the memorandum of en"umbran"es on the "ertifi"ate are three separate sales of undivided portions of the land earlier e6e"uted b$ Cornelio 0albin in favor of three different bu$ers. (he pertinent entries read7 8ntr$ No. 565*. #ales.

#ale for the sum of 9)::.:: e6e"uted b$ the registered o%ner, "onve$ing an undivided portion of an area of 3,;1: s.uare meters onl$ in favor of <lorentino =aba$an, this Original Certifi"ate of (itle No. 5)* is hereb$ "an"elled %ith respe"t to said area of 3,;1: s.uare meters and in lieu thereof, the name of the vendee ... is hereb$ substituted to su""eed to all rights, parti"ipation in interest of the vendor. ... -ate of !nstrument7 >anuar$ 55, 1 55, ... 666 8ntr$ No. 565 . #ale of portion. 666 666

#ale for the sum of 91::.:: e6e"uted b$ the registered o%ner, "onve$ing an undivided portion of an area of 16,;13 s.uare meters in favor of Roberto 0ravo, this Original Certifi"ate of (itle No. 5)* is hereb$ "an"elled %ith respe"t to said undivided portion ... and in lieu thereof the name of the vendee ... is hereb$ substituted to su""eed to all rights, parti"ipation and interest of the vendor ... -ate of !nstrument7 8ntr$ No. 566:. >une , 1 53. ... #ale of portion.

#ale for the sum of 9)::.:: e6e"uted b$ the registered o%ner, "onve$ing an undivided portion of an area of 15,::: s.uare meters in favor of >uana =aba$an, this Certifi"ate of (itle No. 5)* is hereb$ "an"elled %ith respe"t to said undivided portion ... and in lieu thereof the name of the vendee ... is hereb$ substituted to su""eed to all rights, parti"ipation and interest of the vendor ... -ate of !nstrument7 <ebruar$ 15, 1 55. ...

(he final part of the annotations referring to the abovementioned sales "ontains an additional memorandum stating that ,three "o1o%ner&s dupli"ate "ertifi"ates of title No. 5)* have been issued 'b$ the register of deeds of !lo"os #ur+ in the name of <lorentino =aba$an, Roberto 0ravo and >uana =aba$an upon verbal re.uest of ?r. Andres Cabeldo, Notar$ 9ubli" of Caoa$an, !. #ur, for and in the name of the vendees, this 5th da$ of >anuar$, 1 56 at @igan, !. #ur., ?ainl$ be"ause these three other "o1o%ner&s "opies of the "ertifi"ate of title No. 5)* had not been presented b$ petitioners, the Register of -eeds refused to maAe the re.uested annotation. /nsatisfied, petitioners referred the matter to the Commissioner of Land Registration, %ho subse.uentl$ upheld the a"tion of the Register of -eeds in a resolution dated April 1:, 1 65. Bith respe"t to the prin"ipal point in "ontrovers$, the Commissioner observed7 '1+ !t appears that the donor is no% merel$ a "o1o%ner of the propert$ des"ribed in the Original Certifi"ate of (itle No. 5)*, having previousl$ sold undivided portions thereof on three different o""asions in favor of three different bu$ers. Conse.uentl$, aside from the o%ner&s dupli"ate issued to Cornelio 0albin, there are no% three "o1o%ner&s dupli"ates %hi"h are presumabl$ in the possession of the three bu$ers. A""ordingl$, in addition to the o%ner&s dupli"ate of Original Certifi"ate of (itle No. 5)*, the three "o1o%ner&s dupli"ates must liAe%ise be surrendered. (he "laim of "ounsel for the donees that the issuan"e of the three "o1 o%ner&s dupli"ates %as unauthoriCed is beside the point. /nless and until a "ourt of "ompetent Durisdi"tion rules to the "ontrar$, these titles are presumed to have been la%full$ issued.
lawphi1.et

Bithout presenting those three '3+ other dupli"ates of the title, petitioners %ould %ant to "ompel annotation of the deed of donation upon the "op$ in their possession, "iting se"tion 55 of A"t ) 6, %hi"h provides that ,the produ"tion of the o%ner&s dupli"ate "ertifi"ate of title %henever an$ voluntar$ instrument is presented for registration shall be "on"lusive authorit$ from the registered o%ner to the register of deeds to maAe a memorandum of registration in a""ordan"e %ith su"h instrument., /nder this provision, a""ording to petitioners, the presentation of the other "opies of the title is not re.uired, first, be"ause it speaAs of ,registered o%ner, and not one %hose "laim to or interest in the propert$ is merel$ annotated on the title, su"h as the three vendees1"o1o%ners in this "aseE and se"ondl$, be"ause the issuan"e of the dupli"ate "opies in their favor %as illegal or unauthoriCed. Be find no merit in petitioners& "ontention. #e"tion 55, supra, obviousl$ assumes that there is onl$ one dupli"ate "op$ of the title in .uestion, namel$, that of the registered o%ner himself, su"h that its produ"tion %henever a voluntar$ instrument is presented "onstitutes suffi"ient authorit$ from him for the register of deeds to maAe the "orresponding memorandum of registration. !n the "ase at bar, the three other "opies of the title %ere in e6isten"e, presumabl$ issued under se"tion )3 F of A"t ) 6. As "orre"tl$ observed b$ the Land Registration Commissioner, petitioners& "laim that the issuan"e of those "opies %as unauthoriCed or illegal is beside the point, its legalit$ being presumed until other%ise de"lared b$ a "ourt of "ompetent Durisdi"tion. (here being several "opies of the same title in e6isten"e, it is eas$ to see ho% their integrit$ ma$ be adversel$ affe"ted if an en"umbran"e, or an outright "onve$an"e, is annotated on one "op$ and not on the others. (he la% itself refers to ever$ "op$ authoriCed to be issued as a dupli"ate of the original, %hi"h means that both must "ontain identi"al entries of the transa"tions, parti"ularl$ voluntar$ ones, affe"ting the land "overed b$ the title. !f this %ere not so, if different "opies %ere permitted to "arr$ differing annotations, the %hole s$stem of (orrens registration %ould "ease to be reliable. One other ground relied upon b$ the Land Registration Commissioner in upholding the a"tion taAen b$ the Register of -eeds of !lo"os #ur is that sin"e the propert$ subDe"t of the donation is presumed "onDugal, that is, propert$ of the marriage of the donor, Cornelio 0albin, and his de"eased %ife, Nemesia ?ina, ,there should first be a li.uidation of the partnership before the surviving spouse ma$ maAe su"h a "onve$an"e., (his legal "on"lusion ma$ appear too general and s%eeping in its impli"ations, for %ithout a previous settlement of the partnership a surviving spouse ma$ dispose of his ali.uot share or interest therein G subDe"t of "ourse to the result of future li.uidation. Nevertheless, it is not to be denied that, if the "onDugal "hara"ter of the propert$ is assumed, the deed of donation e6e"uted b$ the husband, Cornelio 0albin, bears on its fa"e an infirmit$ %hi"h Dustified the denial of its registration, namel$, the fa"t that the t%o1thirds portion of said propert$ %hi"h he donated %as more than his one1half share, not to sa$ more than %hat remained of su"h share after he had sold portions of the same land to three other parties. !t appears that there is a "ase pending in the Court of <irst !nstan"e of !lo"os #ur 'CC No. 5551+, %herein the "ivil status of the donor Cornelio 0albin and the "hara"ter of the land in .uestion are in issue, as %ell as the validit$ of the different "onve$an"es e6e"uted b$ him. (he matter of registration of the deed of donation ma$ %ell a%ait the out"ome of that "ase, and in the meantime the rights of the interested parties "ould be prote"ted b$ filing the proper noti"es of lis pendens.

!N @!8B O< (H8 <OR8=O!N=, the de"isions of the Register of -eeds of !lo"os #ur and that of the Commissioner of Land Registration are affirmed. No pronoun"ement as to "osts. Re es! ".#.L.! $i%on! &aldivar! Sanche%! 'ernando! (eehan)ee and #arredo! "".! concur. *apistrano! ".! too) no part. *oncepcion! *.".! and *astro! ".! are on leave.