Registration of land

Registration of land "Are we required to make a new publication in our petition for original registration of land when some portion or area included in the petition will be excluded? For sure, given the cost of publication, it will be great if somehow, we would no longer be required to effectuate another publication.Vanessa Dear Vanessa,No. Section 23 of Presidential Decree 1529, otherwise known as the “Property Registration Decree,” provides for the Rule on Publication, which is jurisdictional in original registration proceedings, viz: “Section 23. Notice of initial hearing, publication, etc. The court shall, within five days from filing of the application, issue an order setting the date and hour of the initial hearing which shall not be earlier than forty-five days nor later than ninety days from the date of the order.“The public shall be given notice of the initial hearing of the application for land registration by means of (1) publication (2) mailing and (3) posting. xxx.” In relation to Section 23 as stated above, publication, as a rule is also required whenever an amendment which substantially changes the boundaries or area of the land being applied in the petition is being made, thus:“Section 19. Amendments. Amendments to the application including joinder, substitution, or discontinuance as to parties may be allowed by the court at any stage of the proceedings upon just and reasonable terms. “Amendments which shall consist in a substantial change in the boundaries or an increase in area of the land applied for or which involve the inclusion of an additional land shall be subject to the same requirements of publication and notice as in an original application.”Nonetheless, as clarified by the Supreme Court in the case of Benin et al. vs Tuason et al. (GR L-26127, June 28, 1974), penned by Associate Justice Calixto Zaldivar, the requirement of publication is no longer necessary, as in your situation, if the amendment consists in the exclusion of a portion of the area covered by the original application and the original plan as previously published. The pertinent portion of the decision of the said case is quoted below:“(T)he registration court may allow, or order, an amendment of the application for registration when it appears to the court that the amendment is necessary and proper.Under Section 24 of the same act the court may at any time order an application to be amended by striking out one or more parcels or by severance of the application. The amendment may be made in the application or in the survey plan, or in both, since the application and the survey plan go together. If the amendment consists in the inclusion in the application for registration of an area or parcel of land not previously included in the original application, as published, a new publication of the amended application must be made. The purpose of the new publication is to give notice to all persons concerned regarding the amended application. Without a new publication the registration court cannot acquire jurisdiction over the area or parcel of land that is added to the area covered by the original application, and the decision of the registration court would be a nullity insofar as the decision concerns the newly included land. The reason is because without a new publication, the law is infringed with respect to the publicity that is required in registration proceedings, and third parties who have not had the opportunity to present their claim might be prejudiced in their rights because of failure of notice. “But if the amendment consists in the exclusion of a portion of the area covered by the original application and the original plan as previously published, a new publication is not necessary. In the latter case, the jurisdiction of the court over the remaining area is not affected by the failure of a new publication.”We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our narration of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net" - https://www.affordablecebu.com/