Act No. 2259: The Cadastral Act
Section 1. When, in the opinion of the Governor-General (now the President), the public
interests require that the title to any lands be titled and adjudicated, he may to this end
order the Director of Lands to make a survey and plan thereof. (As amended by Sec.
1850, Act No. 2711.)
The Director of Lands shall, thereupon, give notice to persons claiming an interest in
the lands, and to the general public, of the day on which such survey will begin, giving
as full and accurate a description as possible of the lands to be surveyed. Such notice
shall be published in two successive issues of the Official Gazette, and a copy of the
notice in the English and Spanish languages shall be posted in a conspicuous place on
the chief municipal building of the municipality, township or settlement in which the
lands, or any portion thereof, are situated. A copy of the notice shall also be sent to the
president of such municipality, township, or settlement, and to the provincial board.
(As amended by Sec. 1851, Act No. 2711.)
Sec. 2. The surveyor or other employees of the Bureau of Lands in charge of the survey
shall give reasonable notice to the day on which the survey of any portion of such lands
is to begin, and shall post such notice in the usual place on the chief municipal building
of such municipality, township, or settlement in which the lands are situated, and shall
mark the boundaries of the lands by monuments set up at proper places thereon. (As
amended by Sec. 1852, Act No. 2711.)
Sec. 4. It shall be lawful for surveyors and other employees of the Bureau of Lands to
enter upon the lands whenever necessary for the making of such survey or for the
placing of monuments. (As amended by Sec. 1853, Act No. 2711.)
It shall be the duty of every person claiming an interest in the lands to be surveyed, or
in any parcel thereof, to communicate to the surveyor in charge upon his request
therefor all information possessed by such person concerning the boundary lines of any
lands to which he claims title or in which he claims any interest. (As amended by Sec.
1584, Act No. 2711.)
Interference with surveys and monuments. Any person who shall interfere with the
making of any survey undertaken by the Bureau of Lands, or shall interfere with the
placing of any monument in connection with any such survey, or shall deface, destroy,
or remove any monuments so placed, or shall alter the location of any such monument,
or shall destroy or remove any notice of survey posted on the land pursuant to law,
shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred pesos or by imprisonment for
not more than thirty days or both. (As amended by Section 2753, Act No. 2711.)
Sec. 5. When the lands have been surveyed and platted, the Director of Lands
represented by the Attorney-General (now Solicitor General), shall institute registration
proceedings, by petition against the holders, claimants, possessors, or occupants of
such lands or any part thereof, stating in substance that the public interests require
that the titles to such lands be settled and adjudicated, and praying that such titles be
so settled and adjudicated.
The petition shall contain a description of the lands and shall be accompanied by a plan
thereof, and may contain such other data as may serve to furnish full notice to the
occupants of the lands and to all persons who may claim any right or interest therein.
(As amended by Sec. 1855, Act No. 2711.)
If the lands contain two or more parcels held or occupied by different persons, the plan
shall indicate the boundaries or limits of the various parcels as correctly as may be. The
parcels shall be known as "lots" and shall on the plans filed in the case be given
separate numbers by the Director of Lands, which numbers shall be known is "cadastral
numbers." The lots situated within each municipality, township or settlement, shall, as
far as practicable, be numbered consecutively, beginning with the number "one" and
only one series of numbers shall be used for that purpose in each municipality,
township, or settlement.
In cities or townsites, a designation of the land holdings by block and lot numbers may
be employed instead of the designation by cadastral numbers and shall have the same
effect for all purposes as the latter. (As amended by Sec. 1856, .Act No. 2711.)
Sec. 6. After final decree has been entered for the registration of a lot, its cadastral
number shall not be changed except by order of the Court of First Instance. Future
subdivisions of any lot shall, with the approval of said Court, be designated by a letter
or letters of the alphabet added to the cadastral number of the lot to which the
respective subdivisions pertain. The letter with which a subdivision, is designated shall
be known as its "cadastral letter": Provided, however, That subdivisions of additions to
cities or town sites may, with the approval of the court, be designated by block and lot
numbers instead of cadastral numbers and letters.
All subdivisions under this section shall be made in accordance with the provisions of
section forty-four of Act Numbered Four hundred and ninety-six and the provisions of
section fifty-eight of the said Act shall be applicable to conveyances of lands so
subdivided.
Sec. 9. Any person claiming any interest in any part of the lands, whether named in the
notice or not, shall appear before the Court by himself, or by some person in his behalf
and shall file an answer on or before the return day or within such further time as may
be allowed by the Court. The answer shall be signed and sworn to by the claimant or by
some person in his behalf, and shall state whether the claimant is married or
unmarried, and, if married, the name of the husband or wife and the date of the
marriage, and shall also contain:
(a) The age of the claimant.
(b) The cadastral number of the lot or lots claimed, as appearing on the plan filed
in the case by the Director of Lands, or the block and lot numbers, as the case
may be.
(c) The name of the barrio and municipality, township, or settlement in which the
lots are situated.
(d) The names of the owners of the adjoining lots as far as known to the claimant.
(e) If the claimant is in possession of the lots claimed and can show no express
grant of the land by the Government to him or to his predecessors in interest, the
answer shall state the length of time he has held such possession and the manner
in which it has been acquired, and shall also state the length of time, as far as
known, during which his predecessors, if any, held possession.
(f) If the claimant is not in possession or occupation of the lands, the answer shall
fully set forth the interest claimed by him and the time and manner of its
acquisition.
(g) If the lots have been assessed for taxation, their last assessed value.
(h) The encumbrance, if any, affecting the lots and the names of the adverse
claimants as far as known.
Sec. 11. The trial of the case may occur at any convenient place within the province in
which the lands are situated or at such other place as the court, for reasons stated in
writing and filed with the record of case, may designate, and shall be conducted in the
same manner as ordinary trials and proceedings in the Court of First Instance and shall
be governed by the same rules. Orders of default and confession shall also be entered
in the same manner as in ordinary cases in cases in the same court and shall have the
same effect. All conflicting interests shall be adjudicated by the court and decrees
awarded in favor of the persons entitled to the lands or the various parts thereof, and
such decrees, when final, shall be the basis for original certificates of title in favor of
said persons which shall have the same effect as certificates of title granted on
application for registration of land under the Land Registration Act, and except as
herein otherwise provided all of the provisions of said Land Registration Act, as now
amended, and as it hereafter may be amended, shall be applicable to proceedings under
this Act, and to the titles and certificates of title granted or issued hereunder.
Sec. 18. (a) One-tenth of the cost of registration proceedings and the cadastral survey
and monumenting had under this Act shall be borne by the Insular Government; onetenth shall be paid by the province concerned, and one-tenth by the city, municipality,
municipal district, township, or settlement in which the land is situated, the City of
Manila to be considered for this purpose, both as a province, and municipality; and the
remaining seven-tenth shall be assessed and collected against each and all of the lots
included in a cadastral proceeding and shall be apportioned in accordance with the
square root of the area thereof, but in no case shall less than five-pesos be taxed
against each lot: Provided, That when the province, a municipality, municipal district,
township, or settlement has not sufficient funds to pay this obligation, its share may be
paid in five equal installments within five years, without interest. The amount thus
taxed against each of the lots or parcels of land shall be considered a special
assessment of taxes against the respective parcels, shall constitute a first lien upon the
land, and shall be collected by the Director of Lands or his duly authorized
representatives in equal installments within a period of five years, bearing interest at
the rate of six per centum per annum. The first installment shall become due and
payable at the same time as the general land taxes for the year next succeeding the year
in which the assessment of the costs shall be received by the provincial treasurer, and
shall be collected in the same manner as such general land taxes. Each succeeding
installment shall become due and payable at the same time as the general land taxes for
the corresponding current year and shall be collected in the same manner. The Director
of Lands shall for this purpose send to the officer in charge of such collection a copy of
said assessment of costs: Provided, however, That the amounts representing the
proportional shares of the costs taxed against lots surveyed at the request and expenses
of their owner and for which a plan other than the cadastral plan has been made by a
duly authorized surveyor prior to the decision in the cadastral proceeding, or which
have been registered in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered Four hundred
and ninety-six, entitled. "The Land Registration Act" or surveyed, patented, or leased
under the Public Land and Mining Laws, prior to the decision in the cadastral
proceeding, or have been declared to be public land by the court, shall not constitute a
lien against said lot nor shall be collected from the owners thereof: Provided, further,
that the owner of any lot may, if he so desired, pay any installment of the costs taxed
against his lot at any time before the same becomes due.
(b) In case of the sale, transfer, or conveyance, for a pecuniary consideration, of any
property, or part thereof, registered by virtue of a decree issued in a cadastral
proceeding, prior to the payment of the total amount of the costs taxed against such
property in accordance with the preceding paragraph, endorsed as an encumbrance of
lien upon each cadastral certificate of title, the vendor or his legal representatives shall
pay such costs in their entirety in case the order apportioning the costs has already
been issued in the cadastral proceeding in which the property being sold, transferred,
or conveyed is included, and the register of deeds concerned shall demand of the
vendor, before registering the deed for such sale, transfer, or conveyance of said
property, that he exhibit a receipt signed by the Director of Lands or his duly
authorized representative, showing that such encumbrance or lien has been paid:
Provided, however, That in cases of sale, transfer, or conveyance of the property in.
which the order apportioning the costs has not yet been issued, the register shall
endorse on the certificate of transfer issued by him the encumbrance or lien appearing
on the former certificate as guarantee of the payment of the costs above referred to.
(c) The costs of the registration proceedings under the provisions of this Act shall
consist of a sum equivalent to ten per centum of the cost of the survey and
monumenting of the land. The amount of the costs of the proceeding so taxes shall be
for all services rendered by the General Land Registration Office and the clerk or his
deputies in each cadastral proceeding, and the expense of publication, mailing, and
posting notices, as well as the notices of the decision and the order apportioning the
costs shall be borne by the General Land Registration Office.
(d) All amounts collected by the Director of Lands or his duly authorized
representatives from the owners of the various lots as costs of proceedings, survey, and
monumenting in accordance with this section, shall be covered into the Insular
Treasury: Provided, however, That the various lots and owners thereof, and in such
event the payments required to be made by said owners shall be made as herein
provided and shall be covered into the provincial or municipal treasury as a part of the
general funds of the province or municipality.
(e) Upon the collection of the amount of the cost of the registration proceedings, or part
thereof, in each cadastral proceeding in accordance with this Section, the Commissioner
of Land Registration shall forward to the Insular Auditor and the Insular Treasurer a
statement of such collection, and the latter is hereby authorized and empowered to pay
to the General Land Registration office a sum equal to the amount of said cost of
proceedings collected, and the sums necessary to make such payments, are hereby
appropriated, such sums to be credited to the appropriation for the General Land
Registration Office for disbursement in other cadastral registration proceedings. (As
amended by Sec. 2, Act No. 3081, and Secs. 3 and 5, Rep. Act No. 1151.)
Sec. 22. The order of the court effecting the partition shall state definitely, by adequate
description, the particular portion of the estate which is apportioned to each party in
interest and shall have the same force and effect as the final judgment in partition
proceedings under the Code of Civil Procedure.
Sec. 28. The surveyors employed to make surveys for registration purposes, or to
prepare maps and plats of property in connection therewith, shall give due notice in
advance to the adjoining owners, whose, addresses are known, of the date and hour
when they should present themselves on the property for the purpose of making such
objections to the boundaries of the properties to be surveyed as they consider
necessary for the protection of their rights. (As amended by Sec. 1859, Act No. 2711.)
Surveyors shall report all objections made by adjoining property owners and occupants
or claimants of any portion of the lands at the time of the survey and demarcation,
giving a proper description of the boundaries claimed by such owners, occupants or
claimants. (As amended by Sec. 1859, Act No. 2711.)
Surveyors shall define the boundaries of the lands, surveyed for registration purposes,
by means of monuments placed thereon and shall indicate on the maps or plats the
respective boundaries as designated, both by the applicant for the survey and adverse
claimants of adjoining properties; but the work of survey and demarcation of the
boundaries of the lands as occupied by the said applicant need not be suspended
because of the presentation of any complaint or objections. (As amended by Sec. 1860,
Act No. 2711.)
If, in any registration proceeding involving such survey, the court shall find the
boundary line designated by an adverse claimant to be incorrect and that designated by
the applicant to be correct, the expense of making any extra survey over that required
by the applicant shall be assessed by the court as cost against the adverse claimant. (As
amended by Sec. 1861, Act. No. 2711)
Private surveyors employed in making survey as hereinabove contemplated shall be
subject to the regulations of the Bureau of Lands in respect to such surveys and shall
execute the same in accordance with current instructions relative thereto as issued by
the Director of Lands. Promptly upon completing their work, it shall be their duty to
send their original field notes, computations, reports, surveys, maps and plate of the
property in question to the Bureau of Lands, for verification and approval. (As amended
by Sec. 1862, Act No. 2711.)
Except as herein below provided, no private surveyor shall be qualified to make a
survey to be used in registration proceedings unless he shall have passed either the
appropriate civil service examination provided for surveyors or a special examination
prepared by the Bureau of Lands for the purpose of determining his competency for
such work. When so requested by the Director of Lands such special examination may
be given under the supervision of the Bureau of Civil Service upon the dates and at the
places of scheduled civil service examinations, the papers being returned to the
Director of Lands for rating by him. (As amended by Sec. 1863, Enact Act No. 2711.)
Surveyors who have held the office of assistant in one of the technical corps of
engineers of public works, forests, mines, and agronomist during the Spanish
Government and surveyors holding an academic diploma issued by a duly authorized
and recognized university, college of school who furnished satisfactory proof to the
Director of Lands that they have practiced surveying in the Philippine Islands prior to
June First, nineteen hundred and nine, shall be exempted from the examination
hereinabove required, excepting those who, having taken the said examination, failed to
obtain a rating of fifty per centum therein. "Surveyors, holding an academic diplomas,"
as herein used, shall include all those who with similar diplomas under the Spanish
Government, were considered as surveyors or as entitled to practice to said profession
in the Philippine Islands. (As amended by Sec. 1863, Act No. 2711.)
A private surveyor possessing the prescribed qualifications shall, upon application to
the Director of Lands, be given a certificate authorizing him to make surveys as
contemplated in this article; and without such certificate no private surveyor shall make
any survey for Land registration purposes. (As amended by Sec. 1864, Act No. 2711.)
When the Director of Lands shall find that any certified private surveyor submits any
plan or survey made by him which is defective, incorrect and substantially erroneous,
owning to incompetency, inexperience, bad faith, or inexcusable negligence; or fails to
forward within a reasonable length of time to the Bureau of Lands for verification any
surveys work contracted by him to the prejudice and detriment of the clients; or that he
is guilty of any fraud, deceit, malpractice, or misconduct in the exercise of his
profession or of disregarding the instruction, rules and regulations issued by the said
Bureau concerning the survey in preparation of his plans, the said Director may, after
due investigation, suspend or cancel the certificate of such surveyor; but the latter may,
within thirty days after receiving notice of such action, take and appeal to a committee
composed of the Department Head, the Judge of the fourth branch of the Court of First
Instance for the Ninth Judicial District, and duly authorized surveyor appointed by the
Governor-General. Pending appeal the right of the surveyor shall be suspended, and the
action of said committee shall be final. (Sec. 1865, Rev. Adm. Code, as amended by Sec.
1, Act No. 3092.)