July 17, 1989
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6732
AN ACT ALLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE RECONSTITUTION OF ORIGINAL COPIES OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLES LOST OR DESTROYED DUE TO FIRE, FLOOD AND OTHER
FORCE MAJEURE, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION ONE HUNDRED TEN OF
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NUMBERED FIFTEEN TWENTY-NINE AND SECTION FIVE OF
REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-SIX
SECTION 1. Section 110 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
"Sec. 110. Reconstitution of Lost or Destroyed Original of Torrens Title.
— Original copies of certificates of titles lost or destroyed in the offices of Register
of Deeds as well as liens and encumbrances affecting the lands covered by such
titles shall be reconstituted judicially in accordance with the procedure prescribed
in Republic Act No. 26 insofar as not inconsistent with this Decree. The procedure
relative to administrative reconstitution of lost or destroyed certi cate prescribed
in said Act may be availed of only in case of substantial loss or destruction of
land titles due to re, ood or other force majeure as determined by the
Administrator of the Land Registration Authority: Provided, That the number of
certi cates of titles lost or damaged should be at least ten percent (10%) of the
total number in the possession of the O ce of the Register of Deeds: Provided,
further, That in no case shall the number of certi cates of titles lost or damaged
be less than five hundred (500). casia
"Notice of all hearings of the petition for judicial reconstitution shall be
furnished the Register of Deeds of the place where the land is situated and to the
Administrator of the Land Registration Authority. No order or judgment ordering
the reconstitution of a certi cate of title shall become nal until the lapse of
fteen (15) days from receipt by the Register of Deeds and by the Administrator
of the Land Registration Authority of a notice of such order or judgment without
any appeal having been filed by any such officials."
SECTION 2. For the purpose of the preceding section, Section 5 of Republic
Act No. 26 is hereby revived and amended to read as follows: cd i
"Sec. 5. Petitions for reconstitution from sources enumerated in
Sections 2(a), 2(b), 3(a,) and 3(b) of this Act may be led with the Register of
Deeds concerned by the registered owner, his assigns, or other person, both
natural and juridical, having an interest in the property. The petition shall be
accompanied with the necessary sources for reconstitution and with an a davit
of the registered owner stating, among other things:
"(1) That no deed or other instrument affecting the property had been
presented for registration, or, if there be any, the nature thereof, the date of its
presentation, as well as the names of the parties, and whether the registration of
such deed or instrument is still pending accomplishment;
"(2) That the owner's duplicate certi cate or co-owner's duplicate is in
due form without any apparent intentional alterations or erasures;
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"(3) That the certi cate of title is not the subject of litigation or
investigation, administrative or judicial, regarding its genuineness or due
execution or issuance;
"(4) That the certi cate of title was in full force and effect at the time it
was lost or destroyed;
"(5) That the certi cate of title is covered by a tax declaration regularly
issued by the Assessor's Office; and
"(6) That real estate taxes have been fully paid up to at least two (2)
years prior to the filing of the petition for reconstitution.
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"If the reconstitution is to be made from any of the sources enumerated in
Section 2(b) or 3(b), the a davit should further state that the owner's duplicate
has been lost or destroyed and the circumstances under which it was lost or
destroyed. Thereupon, the Register of Deeds shall, no valid reason to the contrary
existing, reconstitute the certificate of title as provided in this Act."
SECTION 3. Immediately after the loss or destruction of titles mentioned in
Section 2 hereof, a true, complete and faithful inventory of all books, titles, documents,
cash and property in the Registry of Deeds concerned shall be prepared by the Land
Registration Authority through the newly designated reconstituting o cer or Register
of Deeds. Said inventory, duly signed and certi ed under oath by the Administrator of
the Land Registration Authority, shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation
in the province or city where the loss or destruction of titles occurred. cdtai
SECTION 4. All reconstituted titles shall be reproduced by the Land
Registration Authority in at least three image copies or in whatever means by which the
original can be reproduced, one copy to be kept by the Land Registration Authority, the
second copy to be kept by the National Library Archives Division, and the third copy to
be secured in a government re-proof vault, preferably in the Security Printing Plant of
the Central Bank. Such image copy of the original copy of the reconstituted title shall be
considered after due authentication by the Land Registration Authority, through the
Register of Deeds in the province or city where the land is located, as a duplicate
original, and as an authorized source or basis for reconstitution together with the
sources enumerated in Section 2 and 3 of Republic Act No. 26.
SECTION 5. After reconstitution, said owner's duplicate or co-owner's
duplicate exhibited as basis for the reconstitution shall be surrendered to the Register
of Deeds and a new certi cate of title issued in lieu thereof, the original of which shall
be kept by the Register of Deeds and the owners duplicate delivered to the registered
owner.
SECTION 6. Section 6 of Republic Act No. 26 is hereby declared inoperative.
SECTION 7. Section 19 of Republic Act No. 26 is hereby amended to read as
follows:
"Sec. 19. If the certi cate of title considered lost or destroyed, and
subsequently found or recovered, is not in the name of the same person in whose
favor the reconstituted certi cate of title has been issued, the Register of Deeds or
the party concerned should bring the matter to the attention of the proper regional
trial court, which, after due notice and hearing, shall order the cancellation of the
reconstituted certi cate of title and render, with respect to the memoranda of new
liens and encumbrances, if any, made in the reconstituted certi cate of title, after
its reconstitution, such judgment as justice and equity may require: Provided,
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however, That if the reconstituted certi cate of title has been cancelled by virtue
of any deed or instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, or by an order of the
court, and a new certi cate of title has been issued, the procedure prescribed
above, with respect to the memorandum of new liens and encumbrances made
on the reconstituted certi cate of title, after its reconstitution, shall be followed
with respect to the new certi cate of title, and to such new liens and
encumbrances, if any, as may have been on the latter, after the issuance thereof."
SECTION 8. The Administrator of the Land Registration Authority, with the
approval of the Secretary of Justice, shall issue rules, regulations, and circulars as may
be necessary and appropriate to implement this Act, including but not limited to the
following: aisa dc
(1) The temporary designation of a reconstituting o cer or another
Register of Deeds;
(2) The submission of monthly periodic status reports on reconstitution
proceedings and reconstituted titles to the Secretary of Justice and
the governor or city mayor concerned; and
(3) The immediate reporting by the reconstituting o cer or Register of
Deeds to the Secretary of Justice and the governor or city mayor
concerned on any verified complaint presented to him.
SECTION 9. The Land Registration Authority Administrator may review,
revise, reverse, modify or a rm any decision of the reconstituting o cer or Register of
Deeds. Any appeal shall be led within fteen days from the receipt of the judgment or
order by the aggrieved party. cda
SECTION 10. Any interested party who by fraud, accident, mistake or
excusable negligence has been unjustly deprived or prevented from taking part in the
proceedings may le a petition in the proper court to set aside the decision and to
reopen the proceedings. The petition shall be veri ed and must be led within sixty
days after the petitioner learns of the decision but not more than six months from the
promulgation thereof.
SECTION 11. A reconstituted title obtained by means of fraud, deceit or other
machination is void ab initio as against the party obtaining the same and all persons
having knowledge thereof.
SECTION 12. Any person who by means of fraud, deceit or other machination
obtains or attempts to obtain a reconstituted title shall be subject to criminal
prosecution and, upon conviction, shall be liable for imprisonment for a period of not
less than two years but not exceeding ve years or the payment of a ne of not less
than Twenty thousand pesos but not exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos or both
at the discretion of the court.
Any public o cer or employee who knowingly approves or assists in securing a
decision allowing reconstitution in favor of any person not entitled thereto shall be
subject to criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, shall be liable for imprisonment of
not less than ve years but not exceeding ten years or payment of a ne of not less
than Fifty thousand pesos but not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos or both at
the discretion of the court and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
SECTION 13. All acts, laws, decrees, executive orders, or parts thereof which
are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modi ed
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accordingly.
SECTION 14. This Act shall likewise cover administrative reconstitution of
copies of original certi cates of titles destroyed by re, ood or other force majeure
within a period of fifteen years before the effectivity of this Act.
aisa dc
SECTION 15. This Act shall take effect upon its publication in three
newspapers of general circulation.
Approved: July 17, 1989
Published in the Manila Chronicle, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Malaya on July 20,
1989. Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 85 No. 33 page 4961 on July 10, 1989.
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