ATTY. PLARIDEL M. MINGOA, PETITIONER, VS. LAND REGISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR, RESPONDENT.

The facts of this
case are simple.  A deed of donation of several parcels of land
was executed by petitioner in favor of his children on July 15, 1987. 
The deed was forwarded to the Register of Deeds of Romblon
for registration by registered mail on September
9, 1988.  It was entered in the primary entry book of the Register
of Deeds on September 20, 1988
under Entry No. 181.  Said Register of
Deeds suspended registration of the donation until the petitioner has secured
the proper clearances from the Department of Agrarian Reform on the ground that
under Section 6 of Republic Act 6657 any disposition of private agricultural
lands made prior to June 15, 1988, when the Act took effect, must be registered
within three (3) months from said date or on or before September 13, 1988 to be
valid.

The matter was elevated by petitioner en consulta with the Administrator of the Land
Registration Authority (LTA).  On November 27, 1990 the LTA Administrator issued a
resolution sustaining the stand of the Register of Deeds that unless the proper
clearances from the Department of Agrarian Reform are secured the deed of
donation may not be registered.

Hence this petition for certiorari whereby petitioner
contends that Section 1, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court should apply in a suppletory manner in that the date of the mailing should be
considered the date of filing of the document in the office of the Register of
Deeds.

The petition is impressed with merit.

Section 6 of Republic Act No. 6657 provides, among others:

“SEC. 6.  Retention Limits-Except as
otherwise provided in this Act, no person may own or retain, directly or
indirectly, any public or private agricultural land, the size of which shall
vary according to factors governing a viable family-size farm, such as
commodity produced, terrain, infrastructure, and soil fertility as determined
by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) created hereunder, but in no
case shall retention by the landowner exceed five (5) hectares.  Three (3) hectares may be awarded to each
child of the landowner, subject to the following qualifications:  (1) that he is at least fifteen (15) years of
age, and (2) that he is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm: 
Provided, That landowners whose lands have been covered by Presidential
Decree No. 27 shall be allowed to keep the area originally retained by them thereunder: 
Provided, further, That original homestead grantees or their direct
compulsory heirs who still own the original homestead at the time of the
approval of this Act shall retain the same areas as long as they continue to
cultivate said homestead.

The right to choose the area to be retained, which shall be compact
or contiguous, shall pertain to the landowner; Provided, however, That in case
the area selected for retention
by the landowner is tenanted, the tenant shall have the option to choose
whether to remain therein or be a beneficiary in the same or another
agricultural land with similar or comparable features.  In case the tenant chooses to remain in the
retained area, he shall be considered a leaseholder and shall lose his right to be a beneficiary under this Act.  In case the tenant chooses to be a
beneficiary in another agricultural land, he loses his right as a leaseholder
to the land retained by the landowner. 
The tenant must exercise this option within a period of one (1) year from the time the landowner manifests
his choice of the area for retention.

In all cases the security of tenure of the farmers or farmworkers on the land prior to the approval of this Act
shall be respected.

Upon the effectivity of this Act, any sale, disposition, lease,
management contract or transfer of possession of private lands executed by the original landowner in violation of this Act shall be null
and void; Provided,
however, That those executed prior to this Act shall be valid only when registered with the Register of Deeds within a period of three
(3) months after the effectivity of this Act. 
Thereafter, all Registers of Deeds shall inform the Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR) within thirty (30) days of any transaction involving
agricultural lands in excess of five (5) hectares.  (Underscoring supplied)”

The said law was approved by the President of the Philippines
on June 10, 1988.  Section 78 thereof provides that it
“shall take effect immediately after publication in at least two (2)
national newspapers of general circulation.”
It appears the law took effect on June 15, 1988.

Section 56 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 also provides:

“SEC. 56.  Primary Entry Book; fees; certified copies. – Each Register of Deeds shall keep a primary entry book in which,
upon payment of the entry fee, he shall enter, in the order of their reception,
all instruments including copies of writs and processes filed with him relating
to registered land.  He shall, as a
preliminary process in registration, note in such book the date, hour and
minute of reception of all instruments, in the order in which they were
received.  They shall be regarded as
registered from the time so noted, and the memorandum of each instrument, when
made on the certificate of title to which it refers, shall bear the same date;
Provided, that the national government as
well as the provincial and city governments shall be exempt from the
payment of such fees in advance in order to be entitled to entry and
registration.

Every deed or other instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, so filed with the
Register of Deeds shall be numbered and indexed and endorsed with a reference
to the proper certificate of title.  All
records and papers relative to registered land in the office of the Register of
Deeds shall be open to the public in the same manner as court records, subject
to such reasonable regulations as the
Register of Deeds, . No. 97282 under the direction of
the Commissioner of Land Registration, may prescribe.

All deeds and voluntary instruments shall be presented with their
respective copies and shall be attested and sealed by the Register of Deeds,
endorsed with the file number, and copies may be delivered to the person
presenting them.

Certified copies of all instruments filed and registered may also
be obtained from the Register of Deeds upon payment of the prescribed
fees.”

The foregoing provision requires the Register of Deeds, upon
payment of the entry fees, to enter in the primary book of entry, in the order
of reception, all instruments including copies of writs and processes filed
with him relative to registered land; the date, hour and minute shall be noted
in said book which shall be regarded as the date of registration of the
instrument; and the memorandum of each instrument on the certificate of title
shall bear the same date.

Section 34 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 likewise provides:

“SEC. 34.  Rules of procedure.
– The Rules of Court shall, insofar as not inconsistent with the provisions of
this Decree, be applicable to land registration and cadastral cases by analogy
or in a suppletory character and whenever practicable
and convenient.”

Consequently, Section 1, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court is
applicable to this case in a suppletory character as
it provides:

“SEC.1. 
Filing with the court, defined. – The filing of pleadings, appearances,
motions, notices, orders and other papers with the court as required by these
rules shall be made by filing them personally with the clerk of the court or by
sending them by registered mail.  In the
first case, the clerk shall endorse on the pleading the date and hour of
filing.  In the second case, the date of
the mailing of motions, pleadings, or any other papers or payments or deposits
as shown by the post office stamp on the envelope or the registry receipt,
shall be considered as the date of their filing, payment, or deposit in
court.  The envelope shall be attached to
the record of the case.”

The foregoing rule clearly provides that the date of mailing of
the motion, pleading, or any other papers, which may include instruments as the
deed of donation, is considered
the date of filing as shown by the post office stamp on the envelope or
registry receipt.

The Court therefore finds and so holds that the date of mailing
of an instrument to the Register of Deeds for purposes of registration should
be considered the date of filing and receipt thereof by the Register of
Deeds.  It is this date that should be
entered in the primary entry book of the Register of Deeds which shall be
regarded as the date of its registration.

Since in this case, the deed of donation was admittedly sent by
registered mail to the Register of Deeds on September 9, 1988, said date is in
effect the date of filing, receipt and registration of the instrument, although
the instrument was actually received by said office only on September 20, 1988.

WHEREFORE, the petition is given due course and is hereby
GRANTED.  The questioned resolution of
the public respondent Administrator of the Land Registration Authority dated
November 27, 1990 is hereby SET ASIDE and it is hereby directed that the
registration of deed of donation subject
of this petition be effected by the Register of Deeds of Romblon.

SO ORDERED.

Narvasa, (Chairman), Cruz, Griño-Aquino, and Medialdea, JJ., concur.