Chapter IX.

LAND TITLES.

[Revised by Judge D. R. Williams.]

Spanish grants-How title was acquired "Composición"-Perfecting title to land-Lack of definite system of survey-Land Registration Act-Court of Registration-Register of deeds-Application for registration of titles-Incumbrances-Fees and penalties-Public lands, how acquired-Act of July 1, 1902-Size of homesteads.

Immediately after the acquisition by Spain of her extensive ultramarine possessions her monarchs set about the task of peopling those distant regions with their subjects. To accomplish the objects they had in view one of the first steps taken was to make gratuitous concessions. of lands not only to those who had assisted in their discovery and conquest but also to such persons as were willing to quit their native land and become colonists in the newly discovered world.

Consequently the earliest legislation on the subject shows that in order to settle the country it was the policy of the Government to distribute. land among the settlers, requiring only that they should establish their residences thereon and utilize the land by cultivation and the raising of stock. A four years' compliance with these conditions gave to them the right of ownership in the property, and thereafter it was absolutely at their disposal. This provision of law dates from the year 1513. It appears, however, that at a very early period lands were occupied without what is termed in the laws of the Indies "just and true titles," and the viceroys and presidentes of the audiencias were authorized as early as 1578 to fix a period, whenever they saw fit, within which landholders should present their titles for examination. Those who held under good titles and instruments or by virtue of what is called "just prescription" (justa prescripción) were to be protected in their possessions, but lands not held under those conditions were to be restored to the Crown in order that they might be disposed of according to the Sovereign's will.

That the abuses which the law just referred to intended to correct had originated long prior to its date and that in some instances land had been disposed of by sale instead of as gratuities, is evidenced by a reference to sales in a law of 1531, while a century later, during the reign of Philip IV., reference is made to lands that had been acquired during the reign of his predecessors by means of composition.

The word "composition" as here used is a literal translation of the

Spanish word "composición," which had a technical meaning as applied to lands, and may be defined as a method by which the State enabled an individual who held its lands without legal title thereto to convert his mere possession into a perfect right of property by virtue of compliance with the requirements of law. Composition was made in the nature of a compact or compromise between the State and the individual who was illegally holding lands in excess of those to which he was legally entitled, and, by virtue of his compliance with the law, the State conferred on him a good title to the lands that he had formerly held under a mere claim of title.

In 1735 a royal cedula was promulgated requiring that grants of land should be submitted to the King for confirmation, but as a similar provision appears in the Laws of the Indies and at a date long prior to the cedula in question, it would seem there must have been a time when either confirmation by the Crown was not required or else the requirement had been disregarded at a period subsequent to the earlier legislation and prior to the year 1735.

It is a recognized fact that comparatively few holders of real estate in the Philippines can trace their titles to their origin in the Spanish Government, and this remarkable fact exists in the face of the liberal provisions made by that Government enabling landholders to convert their mere rights of possession into legal titles.

Regulations for the composition of State lands, approved by the royal decree of June 25, 1880, seem to have produced for a time a beneficial result and to have awakened a considerable interest in the subject of acquiring formal titles to land. Under this decree a gratuitous title to public lands was issued (1) to those who had possessed such land without interruption for ten years under a claim of title in good faith; (2) to those who had no title but who had possessed the ground for twenty years and had cultivated it for three years immediately preceding application; (3) those who had possessed the land for thirty years although without cultivation.

Under this order, which was continued in force with minor modifications until February 13, 1894, a very considerable number of persons perfected their title to public lands. Despite the liberal spirit which dictated the law, however, and the manifest advantages it offered to the people, it failed to accomplish in any large sense the purpose intended. This was due, as was so often the case with Spanish legislation, not to any vice in the law, but to the manner of its application. The officers intrusted with giving it effect instead of facilitating the dispatch of claims too often used the power conferred upon them to further their own ends. Persons seeking adjustment of their claims grew tired of the endless delays and extortions to which they were subjected, and abandoned further efforts, preferring to take their chances as simple. squatters.

It has been estimated that in 1894 there were throughout the Islands over 200,000 claims where proceedings had been initiated but not concluded. In 1894 a final effort was made to impress upon the occupants of public lands the urgency of applying for adjudication of their claims. By royal decree issued in February of that year, it was provided as follows:

ART. 19. Parties in possession of alienable crown lands which are under cultivation and who have not obtained nor petitioned for adjustment up to date of the publication of this decree in the Manila Gazette may obtain free title deeds to the property by means of "possessory proceedings," in accordance with the laws of civil procedure and the mortgage law, provided they have fulfilled one of the following conditions:

First. To hold or to have held them under cultivation without any interruption during the last six years.

Second. To have held them in possession uninterruptedly during twelve years, having them under cultivation at the time of the "possessory proceedings" and during the three years preceding thereto.

Third. To have held them in possession openly and without interruption during thirty or more years, although the land has not been under cultivation.

ART. 21. The nonextendible term of one year is hereby granted for the purpose of instituting "possessory proceedings," as referred to in articles 19 and 20 hereof. At the expiration of said year the right of cultivators and holders thereof in obtaining a free title deed to the property shall become extinct and full title to the land shall revert to the State or to the citizens in common.

Notwithstanding the explicit provisions contained in the above order, that with the expiration of one year title to public lands could be acquired only through purchase, comparatively few persons, either of those having unfinished claims or otherwise, instituted proceedings to perfect their holdings.

The number of titles issued under these different orders can not now be ascertained owing to the destruction by fire of the records of the Forestry Office in 1897. The royal decree mentioned (1894) made full provision concerning the sale of Crown lands and constituted the "publicland law" of the Islands upon American occupation.

In 1889 the registration system known as "La Ley Hipotecaria” (mortgage law) was extended to the Philippines. This law furnishes a complete scheme for the recording of ownership to property. Its virtue, however, lies more in theory than in practice, its provisions being too detailed and involved to be readily understood or availed of by a people notably lacking in initiative. Under this law a register of deeds was provided for each province, while a registration book was opened for each municipality within the province. Certain pages and a separate number were allotted to each estate appearing in the register, and thereafter every document referring to the estate, whatever its nature, was entered in the one book and under the one heading. Every document presented for registration was required to contain numerous circum

stances as a condition for record, it being provided that the registration of any instrument lacking these circumstances not only subjected the registrar to damages but nullified the inscription. The registers were required to determine both the legality of the instrument and the capacity of the parties thereto. It was provided further that no instrument transferring or encumbering property could be registered unless the rights of the party seeking to convey the interest were properly recorded, or if such interest appeared in the name of another person.

From this it will be seen that as to property actually recorded the registration books furnished a complete abstract, and a person could feel reasonably certain as to who was the owner. The difficulty, however, lay in the fact that a vast number of holdings were not of record while the law forbade the registration of instruments dealing with such property until they did appear of record.

To remedy this somewhat anomalous condition the law provided what was known as "possessory information proceedings," by which any person who lacked a record title of ownership, no matter at what period the acquisition took place, was permitted to record his instrument upon proving possession. This was done after a full series of notices and proofs and with the intervention of the State through the department of public prosecution. These "entries of possession" could be converted into records of ownership after the lapse of twenty years, a public proclamation of such intended conversion being first had and there being no record that the prescription had been interrupted. A very considerable number of titles were recorded under this provision, though many who might have availed themselves of the proceeding neglected to do so.

This comparative failure of the people to take advantage of the various liberal decrees and orders of the Spanish Government intended to facilitate the conversion of titles of occupation into titles of record, was due in a measure, as already indicated, to the manner in which such laws were administered. In addition to this was the fact that the necessity for such action was not immediately apparent to the majority of land holders. Owing to the large excess of the public domain over lands. reduced to private ownership proceedings were seldom if ever taken to evict occupants of public lands. As their right of possession was usually conceded by their neighbors, deficiency in their titles caused them very little concern. The natural tendency of the people is to postpone action in every matter when such action is not imperative.

Under the Spanish system an individual who desired to take up a piece of government land could do so in any form that suited him. There were at different times limitations as to the amount of land that he might acquire by purchase, at one period it being as much as 2,500 hectares, or 6,175 acres, but there was no restriction as to the form of the tract. The result of this was that the lands were surveyed in every imaginable form, and without any view to a system of connected sur