CASE: DIRECTOR OF LANDS VS.

CA AND ABISTADO
FACTS:
 Private Respondent Teodoro Abistado filed a petition for original registration of
his title over 648 square meters of land. However, during the pendency of his
petition, applicant died. Hence, his heirs represented by Josefa Abistado, the
aunt, substituted as applicants.
 LOWER COURT
 The land registration court dismissed the petition “for want of jurisdiction.”
However, it found that the applicants through predecessors-in-interest had
been in open, continuous, exclusive and peaceful possession of the subject
land.
 The Court noted that the applicants failed to comply with the provisions of
Section 23 (1) of PD 1529, requiring the Applicants to publish the notice of
Initial Hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines which
only published in the Official Gazette. It has not legally acquired jurisdiction
for want of compliance with the mandatory provision requiring publication of
the notice of initial hearing in a newspaper of general circulation.
 COURT OF APPEALS
 Private respondents appealed to Respondent Court of Appeals which set
aside the decision of the trial court and ordered the registration of the title in
the name of Teodoro Abistado.
 The CA ruled that it was merely procedural and that the failure to cause such
publication did not deprive the trial court of its authority to grant the
application.
 The subsequent motion for reconsideration was denied.
 SUPREME COURT
 The Director of Lands represented by the Solicitor General thus elevated this
recourse to the SC.
 ARGUMENTS
 PETITIONER: Under Section 23 of PD 1529, the notice of initial hearing shall
be “published both in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper of general
circulation.” Publication in the Official Gazette is “necessary to confer
jurisdiction upon the trial court, and in a newspaper of general circulation to
comply with the notice requirement of due process.”
 RESPONDENT: Failure to comply with the requirement of publication in a
newspaper of general circulation is a mere “procedural defect.” They add that
publication in the Official Gazette is sufficient to confer jurisdiction.

ISSUE: Is newspaper publication of the notice of initial hearing an original land

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RULING:
 Newspaper publication of the notice of initial hearing an original land registration
case is mandatory by the demands of statutory construction and the due process
rationale behind the publication requirement.
 1st Ground: Statutory construction
 The law used the term “shall” in prescribing the work to be done by the
Commissioner of Land Registration upon the latter’s receipt of the court order
setting the time for initial hearing. The said word denotes an imperative and
thus indicates the mandatory character of the statute. In the present case, the
term must be understood in its normal mandatory meaning.
 In Republic vs. Marasigan, the Court through Mr. Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
held Section 23 of PD 1529 requires notice of the initial hearing by means of
(1) publication, (2) mailing and (3) posting all of which must be complied with.
If mailing of notices is essential, then by parity of reasoning, publication in a
newspaper of general circulation is likewise imperative since the law included
such requirement in its detailed provision.
 It should be noted further that land registration is a proceeding in rem. Being
in rem, such proceeding requires constructive seizure of the land as against
all persons, including the state, who have rights to or interests in the property.
An in rem proceeding is validated essentially through publication. This being
so, the process must strictly be complied with. Otherwise, persons who may
be interested or whose rights may be adversely affected would be barred from
contesting an application which they had no knowledge of.
 As has been ruled, a party as an owner seeking the inscription of realty in the
land registration court must prove by satisfactory and conclusive evidence not
only his ownership thereof but the identity of the same, for he is in the same
situationas one who institutes an action for recovery of realty. He must prove
his title against the whole word. This task, which rest upon the applicant, can
be achieved when all persons concerned or the whole world, who have rights
to or interests in the subject property are notified and effectively invited to
come to court and show cause why the application should not be granted.
The elementary norms of due process require that before the claimed property
is taken from concerned parties and registered in the name of the applicant,
said parties must be given notice and opportunity to oppose.
nd
 2 Ground: Due Process
 The Official Gazette is not as widely read and circulated as newspapers and is
oftentimes delayed in its circulation, such that the notices published therein may
not reach the interested parties on time, if at all. Additionally, such parties may
not be owners of neighboring properties, and may in fact not own any other real
estate. In sum, the all encompassing in rem nature of land registration cases,
the consequences of default orders issued against the whole world and the

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objective of disseminating the notice in as wide a manner as possible demand a
mandatory construction of the requirements for publication, mailing and posting.

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