How To Reconstitute Or Replace Lost/Destroyed

Land Titles in the Philippines

Before we dive into how lost land titles can be reconstituted or replaced, let’s tackle why you
should protect them in the first place.

Obviously, your property needs to have a title, if you are going to sell your property and proceed
with the transfer of ownership.

If you think there is no urgency to get your lost title reconstituted or replaced if you have no
plans of selling your property in the near future, think again.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who can take advantage of the
situation when a title is lost or destroyed. If you are not paying attention, your property can end
up being transferred to someone else’s name without your knowledge.

This in fact happened when the Registry of Deeds (RD) of Quezon City was razed by fire in 1988,
and until now, there are many pending court cases brought about by con artists who took
advantage of the situation.

In a situation where a registered owner lost his/her owner’s duplicate title, and due to termites,
fire, floods, or any other event the original copy of the title in the RD was destroyed, it is really
possible that bad elements will make fake titles and assert that they are the true owners.

It’s better to be safe than sorry, so make sure all your land titles are safe and well protected, and
this includes your copies of the owner’s duplicate certificate, and the original title with the
respective RD’s.

How to protect your land titles from floods, fire, and natural disasters

When properties are mortgaged, the original owner’s duplicate certificate of titles are kept in a
safe and secure place by the bank/lending institution. I suppose they put it in a fire-proof safe or
vault that is in a flood-free area, so it’s safe to say they are safe and sound.

However, if your property is already fully-paid, you should already have the original owner’s
duplicate certificate of the title, and it becomes your responsibility to keep it in a safe and secure
place.

I suggest that you keep them in a safety deposit box (SDB) in a bank not too near your home (Jay
say’s it’s like having an off-site backup). Since the bank has security guards, your important
documents are more secure in the SDB. I think this is more cost-effective because you need not
buy your own vault. Plus, you will have peace of mind in case your house gets affected by fire,
floods, or get robbed or burglarized.

I suggest you choose an SDB which is in a high place, as I recall a case where documents stored
in the SDB of a certain bank got wet because the SDB was near the floor and got flooded. Maybe
you can also have a fire-safe and waterproof chest where you can put your documents before
you put them in the SDB.

You might be asking, “How about the original titles that were in the hands of the Register of
deeds, like those that got destroyed when the Quezon City RD burned down, is there a way to
prevent the same thing from happening?”

The answer to this is yes, and this can be done by converting a physical land title into an “eTitle”
through the Land Registration Authority’s Voluntary Title Standardization Program. According to
LRA’s website,

“Registry copies of the titles are protected from loss or destruction due to age, wear and tear,
fire, natural disasters, and misfiling of records, as the eTitles are stored in its electronic original
form, which are regularly backed up. By availing of this program, eTitle owners may rest assured
that their titles are always safe and available, and they need no longer go through the expensive
and time consuming process of title reconstitution should a disaster hit the Registry”.

For a sample of the documents that need to be submitted if you would like to apply for an eTitle,
click here.

Unfortunately, since this program is voluntary, there will surely be a lot of titles that have not
been converted to eTitles, which means titles lost or destroyed when RD’s got hit by Yolanda will
have to undergo reconstitution.

Reconstitution or replacement, what’s the difference?

If the original title with the registry of deeds got lost or destroyed, then reconstitution of the
title would be necessary. This can be either through an administrative reconstitution (in case of a
substantial loss of titles in the RD) or a judicial reconstitution (in case the RD copy of the title is
lost or destroyed, but no administrative reconstitution is necessary as determined by the LRA).

For example, if the original copy of the title in the RD was destroyed by termites, your title needs
to be reconstituted. For a short discussion on this example written by Atty. Persida Acosta, Chief
of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), click here.

On the other hand, if only the owner’s duplicate certificate got lost/destroyed, and the copy at
the register of deeds is intact, then the owner only needs to get a replacement for the lost
duplicate certificate, through the procedure stated in Section 109 of Presidential Decree (P.D.)
No. 1529 (Property Registration Decree)

How to reconstitute land titles under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 26, as
amended by R.A. 6732
Administrative reconstitution

Following the procedure under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 26, as amended by R.A. 6732,
administrative reconstitution may be done in case there is substantial loss or destruction of
land titles due to flood or other force majeure as determined by the Administrator of the Land
Registration Authority (LRA). I have not read about any such declaration from the LRA, there’s
no announcement on their website. I think also it’s because while some original titles have been
lost, the number does not reach 10% of the total number of titles.
Flowchart: Administrative reconstitution

Judicial reconstitution

In any case, for those whose titles got lost or destroyed in the Registry of Deeds, but no
administrative reconstitution was determined to be necessary, they need to undergo judicial
reconstitution of title.

Reconstitution of a title is very tedious and time-consuming. The whole process could take
anywhere from six to nine months to complete. Sometimes, it even takes years. You have to
prepare legal documents, secure certifications and clearances, and you need a legal counsel to
represent you in court proceedings.

Mr. Raul J. Palabrica of the Inquirer has offered suggestions so that reconstitution could be done
with the least time and effort, but to date, these remain as suggestions to be acted upon.

Flowchart: Judicial reconstitution of titles

Section 109 of PD 1529 provides for the procedure in getting a new owner’s duplicate
certificate as follows:

Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate.

(1) In case of loss or theft of an owner’s duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath
shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province
or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered.

(2) If a duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person applying for
the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any instrument, a sworn statement
of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other person in
interest and registered.
(3) Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may, after
notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate,

(a) which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in place of the lost
duplicate certificate,

(b) but shall in all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as the original duplicate,
and

(c) shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this decree.