This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2015-01-14 |
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J. |
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| Moreover, the rule on the incontrovertibility or indefeasibility of title has no application in this case given the fact that the contending parties claim ownership over the subject land based on their respective certificates of title thereon which originated from different sources. Certainly, there cannot be two or even several certificates of title on the same parcel of real property because "a land registration court has no jurisdiction to order the registration of land already decreed in the name of another in an earlier land registration case" and "a second decree for the same land would be null and void, since the principle behind original registration is to register a parcel of land only once."[47] The indefeasibility of a title under the Torrens system could be claimed only if a previous valid title to the same parcel of land does not exist. Where the issuance of the title was attended by fraud, the same cannot vest in the titled owner any valid legal title to the land covered by it; and the person in whose name the title was issued cannot transmit the same, for he has no true title thereto. This ruling is a mere affirmation of the recognized principle that a certificate is not conclusive evidence of title if it is shown that the same land had already been registered and that an earlier certificate for the same land is in existence.[48] | |||||