G.R. No. 242781 - SUPERIORA LOCALE DELL' ISTITUTO DELLE SUORE DI SAN GIUSEPPE DEL CABURLOTTO, INC., VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the Court deems it apt to echo the rules laid down by Republic v. Pasig Rizal [47] for the guidance of the bench and the bar: RA 11573 shall apply retroactively to all applications for judicial confirmation of title which remain pending as of September 1, 2021, or the date when RA 11573 took effect. These include all applications pending resolution at the first instance before all Regional Trial Courts, and applications pending appeal before the Court of Appeals. Applications for judicial confirmation of title filed on the basis of the old Section 14(1) and 14(2) of PD 1529 and which remain pending before the Regional Trial Court or the Court of Appeals as of September 1, 2021 shall be resolved following the period and manner of possession required under the new Section 14(1). Thus, beginning September 1, 2021, proof of "open, continuous, exclusive and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain not covered by existing certificates of title or patents under a bona fide claim of ownership for at least twenty (20) years immediately preceding the filing of the application for confirmation" shall be sufficient for purposes of judicial confirmation of title, and shall entitle the applicant to a decree of registration. In the interest of substantial justice, the Regional Trial Courts and Court of Appeals are hereby directed, upon motion or motu proprio , to permit the presentation of additional evidence on land classification status based on the parameters set forth in Section 7 of RA 11573. Such additional evidence shall consist of a certification issued by the DENR geodetic engineer which (i) states that the land subject of the application for registration has been classified as alienable and disposable land of the public domain; (ii) bears reference to the applicable Forestry Administrative Order, DENR Administrative Order, Executive Order, or proclamation classifying the land as such; and (iii) indicates the number of LC Map covering the land. In the absence of a copy of the relevant issuance classifying the land as alienable and disposable, the certification must additionally state (i) the release date of the LC Map; and (ii) the Project Number. Further, the certification must confirm that the LC Map forms part of the records of NAMRIA and is precisely being used by the DENR as a land classification map. The DENR geodetic engineer must be presented as witness for proper authentication of the certification in accordance with the Rules of Court. The Court would sanction an injustice were it to deny the petition, considering petitioner's legitimate chance of having its alleged land finally registered under its name. The Court is not unmindful of the CA's pronouncement in the first CA decision, where it recognized petitioner's possession since 1948 "at the most." Therefore: Applicant-appellee likewise failed to prove that its possession, by itself and through its predecessors-in-interest coul