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FACTS:
On the last-mentioned certificate of title are noted the following are subsisting
encumbrances on the land in question: (1) A mortgage of P400,000 in favor of
the Philippine National Bank, recorded October 24, 1935; (2) another mortgage
in favor of the Philippine National Bank to secure credit of P1,000,000 to
P2,000,000, recorded February 25, 1938; and (3) notice of lis pendens by the
plaintiff in this case, recorded April 21, 1939.
The present action was instituted in or about April, 1939, by Joaquin V. Bass
against Esteban de la Rama and Hijos de I. de la Rama to obtain judgment
ordering the defendants "to deliver the land in question to the plaintiff and to
pay to the latter damages in the sum of P1,220,700" claimed to be the value of
the sugar realized from the produce of one-fourth of the said land during the
time it has been in the possession of the defendants. That amount has been
reduced in the prayer of appellant's brief to P353,365.98.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the equity of right acquired by the plaintiff in the land in question
did not mature into ownership
RULING:
It will be noted that section 51 declares the effect of registration, while section
52 specifies the manner of registration. The two sections are complementary to
each other and should be interpreted together. To hold that the mere entry of a
document in the day or entry book, without noting it on the certificate of title, is
sufficient, would render section 52 nugatory and destroy of the principal features
of the Torrens System of registration, namely, that all encumbrances on the land
or special estates therein shall be shown or at least intimated upon the certificate
of title so that a person dealing with the owner of the land need not go behind
the certificate and inquire into transactions the existence of which is not there
intimated. It will further be noted that section 114 of the Land Registration Act
provides for separate fees for the entry of a document in the entry book and for
the annotation thereof on the certificate of title. For each entry in the entry book,
including indexing, a fee of only fifty centavos is provided; but for each
registration on the certificate of title a fixed fee of one peso is charged plus an
additional fee ranging from P3 to P100, depending upon the value of the property
or right involved. If the mere entry of a document in the entry book were
sufficient, no one would or should take the trouble of causing it to be annotated
on the certificate of title and paying additional fees. But that is unavoidable
because section 56 provides "that no registration, annotation, or memorandum
on a certificate of title shall be made unless the fees prescribed therefor by this
Act are paid within fifteen days' time after the date of the registration of the deed,
instrument order, or document in the entry book or day book, and in case said
fee is not paid within the time above mentioned, such entry shall be null and
void." It seems clear, therefore, that the mere entry in the day book is not
sufficient. It is true that the same section 56 also provides that the register of
deeds shall note in the entry book the year, month, day, hour, and minute of
reception of all instruments, in the order in which they are received, and that
"they shall be regarded as registered from the time so noted, and the
memorandum of each instrument when made on the certificate of title which it
refers shall bear the same date. But this provision must be harmonized with the
other provisions of the Act, particularly sections 52 and 114, which require the
annotation of such instruments on the certificate of title as an indispensable
requisite to accomplish registration. Only by so doing may the prime purpose of
the Torrens System be fulfilled: to facilitate dealings on land by means of a
certificate of title which shall show all encumbrances on the land or special
estates therein so that a person dealing on the land need not go behind that
certificate.