Section 1. As soon as practicable after the occurrence of any
fire or other public calamity resulting in the loss of all or part of
the records of judicial proceedings on file in the office of the clerk
of a Court of First Instance, said officer shall send a notice by
registered mail to the Secretary of Justice, the Attorney-General, the
Director of Lands, the Chief of the General Land Registration Office,
the clerk of the Supreme Court, the judge of the province, the register
of deeds of the province, the provincial fiscal, and all lawyers who
may be interested, stating the date on which such fire or public
calamity occurred and whether the loss or destruction was total or
partial, and giving a brief list of the proceedings not affected in
case the loss or destruction was partial.
Sec. 2. Upon receipt of the notice mentioned in
the preceding section, the court shall issue or cause to be issued a
general notice which shall be addressed and sent by registered mail to
the lawyers and officers mentioned in the preceding section, and to
such other persons as might be interested, advising them of the
destruction of the records, with a brief list of the proceedings not
affected in case the destruction was partial, and of the time fixed by
this Act for the reconstitution of the destroyed records.
This notice shall also be published in the Official Gazette and in one
of the newspapers most widely read in the province, once a week, for
four consecutive weeks.
PENDING CIVIL CASES
Sec. 3. The parties to civil cases, or their
counsels, shall appear and file, within thirty days after having been
notified in accordance with the next preceding section, an application
for the reconstitution of the records in which they are interested, and
the clerk of the court, upon receiving such application, shall send
notice to all parties interested, or their counsels, of the day, hour,
and place when the Court will proceed to the reconstitution, requesting
them to present, on said day and hour, and at said place, all copies of
motions, decrees, orders, and other documents in their possession,
having reference to the record or records to be reconstituted.
Sec. 4. Civil cases pending trial shall be
reconstituted by means of the copies presented and certified under oath
as correct by the counsels or the parties interested. In case it is
impossible to find a copy of a motion, decree, order, document, or
other proceeding of vital importance for the reconstitution of the
record, the same may be replaced by an agreement on the facts entered
into between the counsels or the parties interested, which shall be
reduced to writing and attached to the proper record.
Sec. 5. In case the counsels or parties are unable
to come to an agreement, the Court shall determine what may be proper
in the interest of equity and justice, and may also consider the
proceeding in question as non-existent and reconstitute only that part
of the record which can stand without such proceeding, and continue
proceedings upon the record so reconstituted.
Sec. 6. Testimony of witnesses taken in civil
cases shall be reconstituted by means of an authentic copy thereof or a
new transcript of the stenographic notes. If no authentic copy can be
obtained and the stenographic notes have also been destroyed, the cases
shall be tried de novo as if called trial for the first time.
Sec. 7. If a civil case has already been decided,
the decision shall be reconstituted by means of an authentic copy. In
case an authentic copy cannot be found, the Court shall make a new
decision, as if the case had never been decided.
PENDING SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
Sec. 8. Special proceedings shall be reconstituted
in the same manner as ordinary civil cases, with the sole addition that
a copy of the statement to be made by the parties or their counsels,
setting forth the status of the proceedings at the time when the fire
or other public calamity occurred, shall be attached to the
reconstituted record.
PENDING REGISTRATION PROCEEDINGS
Sec. 9. Registration proceedings pending the
issuance of a decree shall be reconstituted by means of copies
furnished by the Chief of the General Land Registration Office. It
shall be the duty of this officer, immediately upon receipt of the
notice provided for in section one of this Act, to direct duly
certified true copies of all destroyed registration proceedings pending
at the time of the destruction, and of all decrees destroyed, to be
sent to the clerk of the Court of First Instance concerned.
PENDING CADASTRAL CASES
Sec. 10. Pending cadastral cases shall be
reconstituted as follows:
The Court shall issue an order directing the person interested to file
anew their replies, for which purpose reasonable time may be allowed.
The order shall be published in the Official Gazette and by local
notices during a period fixed in said order.
Immediately upon receipt of the notice provided for in section one of
this Act, the Chief of the General Land Registration Office shall cause
duly certified true copies of all destroyed cadastral proceedings to be
sent to the clerk of the Court concerned.
The new replies filed by the parties interested and the copies
furnished by the General Land Registration Office shall form the
reconstituted record.
PROVISIONS COMMON TO THE
RECONSTITUTION OF PENDING REGISTRATION AND CADASTRAL PROCEEDINGS
Sec. 11. The Director of Lands shall cooperate
with the Chief of the General Land Registration Office in furnishing
copies of the plans, certificates, reports, and other documents
necessary for the reconstitution of destroyed registration or cadastral
proceedings. The expense of the reconstitution of such records shall be
reimbursable to said Bureau and office out of the public calamity or
emergency funds.
Sec. 12. In case there is anything in the
registration or civil cadastral proceedings which cannot be
reconstituted by means of the procedure provided for in sections nine
and ten hereof and which is of vital importance to the interested
parties, the reconstitution procedure established for ordinary civil
cases shall be used.
PENDING CRIMINAL ACTIONS
Sec. 13. Pending criminal actions shall be
reconstituted by means of copies filed by the fiscal and the counsel
for the defendant or the defendant himself, or certified by them under
oath as being correct, and whatever cannot be reconstituted in this
manner shall be reconstructed by, means of the supplementary procedure,
provided for the reconstitution of ordinary civil cases.
Sec. 14. The testimony of witnesses, if any has
already been taken, shall be reconstituted by means of an authentic
copy thereof or by a new transcript of the stenographic notes; but if
it is impossible to obtain an authentic copy of the evidence and if the
stenographic notes have been destroyed, the case shall be heard anew as
if it had never been tried.
Documentary evidence shall be replaced by secondary evidence.
Sec. 15. If the case has already been decided, the
decision shall be reconstituted by means of an authentic copy. If an
authentic copy is not obtainable, the case shall be decided anew, as if
it had never been decided.
Sec. 16. A duly certified copy of the proper
entries of the docket of the justice of the peace court concerned shall
be attached to the reconstituted record and shall be sufficient
evidence that a preliminary investigation was held.
Sec. 17. In case the records of the office of the
provincial fiscal have also been destroyed, said provincial fiscal
shall ascertain the criminal actions pending in the Court of First
Instance and may for this purpose make use of the data obtainable from
the dockets of the justice of the peace courts of the province, the
reports of the provincial commander of the Constabulary, the records of
the warden of the provincial jail and of the municipal police, and from
any other sources that might be of assistance to him in the
investigation.
Sec. 18. The provincial fiscal shall investigate
the facts in each pending criminal action, and if he should find
sufficient merits to sustain the action, he shall without loss of time
file the proper information which, after being registered, shall,
together with a certified copy of the proper entries in the docket of
the justice of the peace court concerned, if any, form the
reconstituted record, which shall be used as point of departure in the
continuation of the proceedings.
Sec. 19. If the provincial fiscal does not find
sufficient merits to sustain the accusation, he shall present to the
court a motion for dismissal, specifying all the facts of the case and
all steps taken by him in the investigation required in section
seventeen hereof. This motion for dismissal, after being registered,
shall, together with a certified copy of the proper entries in the
docket of the justice of the peace court concerned, if any, form the
reconstituted record, which shall be used as point of departure in the
continuation of the proceedings.
Sec. 20. If the provincial fiscal finds that
evidence has already been taken in the case, which has not been
destroyed or which can be reproduced by a new transcription of the
proper stenographic notes, he may, in view of such evidence, enter into
an agreement with the defendants, or with their counsel, as to the
substantial facts alleged in the information, and may reproduce it in
this form. In case he does not come to an agreement with the defendants
or their counsel, the Court, in view of the evidence, shall determine
in what terms the information shall be reproduced, and shall give the
defendants an opportunity to file a demurrer against the information so
reproduced or introduce additional evidence.
If the defendants have no counsel and state to the Court that they
desire one, the court shall assign to them a counsel who shall
represent them in the proceedings for the reproduction of the
information.
Sec. 21. Upon the reproduction of the information
in the manner set forth in the next preceding section, the defendant
shall be informed thereof, and if he enters a plea of not guilty, the
proper hearing shall be held, in which shall be admitted all evidence
previously introduced and such additional evidence, if any, as may be
lawfully offered by the parties.
Sec. 22. If the case has already been decided, the
decision shall be reconstituted by means of an authentic copy, and in
case it is impossible to obtain an authentic copy, the case shall be
decided anew, as if it had never been decided.
Sec. 23. The provincial fiscal shall give absolute
preference to the reconstitution of criminal actions in which the
defendants are confined awaiting decision, and shall act with all
possible dispatch.
Sec. 24. All informations reproduced by the
provincial fiscal shall be entitled "Reproduced Information," and at
the end thereof shall appear the date on which they were actually
reproduced and a statement to the effect that they were reproduced in
accordance with the provisions of this Act.
COMMON PROVISIONS
Sec. 25. The records of civil actions, special
proceedings, and registration and cadastral proceedings which at the
time of their destruction were ready to be sent to the Supreme Court of
the Philippine Islands on appeal, shall be reconstituted by means of an
authentic copy of the bill of exceptions or appeal record, which,
together with the reconstituted evidence, shall form the reconstituted
record for the purposes of the appeal.
Sec. 26. If it is not possible to obtain an
authentic copy of the bill of exceptions or appeal record, or if the
evidence cannot be reconstituted, the records referred to in the next
preceding section shall be reconstituted by means of the other
procedure established in the preceding sections.
Sec. 27. The records of criminal actions which at
the time of their destruction were ready to be sent to the Supreme
Court of these Islands on appeal, shall be reconstituted in the manner
established in sections thirteen to twenty-four. At any event, if there
shall be any question as to the appeal record or the time within which
the same was filed, the court may authorize the defendant to reproduce
it within a reasonable time.
Sec. 28. In case it has been possible to save or
preserve the dockets of the clerk's office relative to the civil
actions, registration and cadastral proceedings, criminal actions, and
special proceedings, destroyed, which were pending at the time of their
destruction, the entries in said dockets shall be proof of the judicial
proceedings therein made of record and shall prevail over any agreement
entered into between the parties or their counsels.
Sec. 29. In case the parties interested in a
destroyed record fail to petition for the reconstitution thereof within
the six months next following the date on which they were given notice
in accordance with section two hereof, they shall be understood to have
waived the reconstitution and may file their respective actions anew
without being entitled to claim the benefits of section thirty-one
hereof.
Sec. 30. When it shall not be possible to
reconstitute a destroyed judicial record by means of the procedure
established in this Act or for any reason not herein provided for, the
interested parties may file their actions anew, upon payment of the
proper fees, and such actions shall be registered as new actions and
shall be treated as such.
Sec. 31. For all legal effects, the time that has
elapsed from the initiation of the destroyed record until the date when
its reconstitution was declared impossible, shall not be counted
against the interested party or his heirs and other successors in
interest.
Sec. 32. All reconstituted civil and criminal
actions and special proceedings, and those initiated anew after the
calamity, shall be registered and entered in the respective docket and
shall be numbered consecutively in the chronological order of their
reconstitution and filing. Reconstituted cases shall be numbered with
figures preceded by a dash and a capital letter R.
Sec. 33. In case it has been possible to save or
preserve the dockets of the civil and criminal actions and special
proceedings, the reconstituted records shall be numbered as they were
in said dockets, with the sole addition of a dash and a capital letter
R preceding their respective numbers, and without prejudice to their
being registered and entered in the "Docket of Reconstituted Cases"
prescribed in section thirty-five hereof.
Sec. 34. Reconstituted registration and cadastral
proceedings shall be registered and entered in their respective dockets
under the same numbers they had before the calamity occurred, with the
sole addition of a dash and a capital letter R, preceding their
respective numbers.
Records of a like nature presented after the calamity shall take the
numbers of the destroyed and reconstituted records.
Sec. 35. Independently from the ordinary dockets
for all criminal and civil actions and special proceedings
reconstituted or newly filed, the clerk of the court shall open a
special docket for all reconstituted cases which shall be denominated
"Docket of Reconstituted Cases."
Sec. 36. On the first pages of the "Docket of
Reconstituted Cases," the clerk of the court shall spread a certificate
setting forth that notice was duly given as required in sections one
and two of this Act, transcribing the same in full, and shall paste
thereon a copy of the publication in a newspaper of the notice
prescribed in section two, with the statement that such publication was
also made in the Official Gazette, and specifying the volume and page
number.
Sec. 37. All civil and criminal actions and
special proceedings reconstituted in accordance with this Act shall be
registered and entered in the "Docket of Reconstituted Cases" and shall
be given the same numbers under which they appear in their respective
ordinary dockets, and in the entry of each case mention shall be made
of the agreements and all other proceedings had for the reconstitution
of the record, and, if possible, the register number which it bore
before the fire or public calamity shall be stated.
Sec. 38. Reconstituted registration and cadastral
proceedings shall not be registered or entered, but briefly noted in
the "Docket of Reconstituted Cases."
Sec. 39. In case of the failure of the
reconstitution of a record, the clerk of the court shall make a
statement to this effect in the "Docket of Reconstituted Cases,"
setting forth all the proceedings had and the order of the court
declaring such reconstitution to have failed.
Sec. 40. The proceedings for the continuation of
the reconstituted record shall not be spread upon the "Docket of
Reconstituted Cases," but upon the respective ordinary dockets.
Sec. 41. All terms fixed by law or regulation
shall cease to run from the date of the destruction of the records and
shall only begin to run again on the date when the parties or their
counsels shall have received from the clerk of the court notice to the
effect that the records have been reconstituted.
Sec. 42. All bonds executed in civil and criminal
cases and special proceedings shall be renewed as soon as the
respective cases have been duly reconstituted.
Sec. 43. In case of the partial loss or
destruction of a judicial record, the destroyed portion may be
reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 44. Judicial records destroyed or lost from
causes other than fire or public calamity may also be reconstituted in
accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 45. Nothing contained in this Act shall be
construed to repeal or modify the provisions of section three hundred
and twenty-one of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety.
Sec. 46. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the
court to state in the proper dockets and in the minutes of the sessions
of the court the names of the stenographers who have taken notes of the
evidence introduced in the cases tried, and to send to the provincial
fiscal full copies of the decisions rendered by the court in criminal
actions.
Sec. 47. It shall be the duty of the provincial
fiscal to keep authentic copies of all informations filed by him and of
all decisions sent to him by the clerk of the court.
PROCEDURE FOR RECONSTITUTION OF
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT RECORDS
Sec. 48. Justice of the peace courts in
reconstituting the records of cases pending in said courts and
destroyed by fire or any other public calamity, shall follow
substantially and wherever possible, the procedure established for the
reconstitution of records in the Courts of First Instance.
Sec. 49. Justice of the peace courts shall not be
required to issue the notice provided for in section one hereof, but
that provided for in section two, which shall be addressed and sent by
registered mail to the provincial board, the provincial fiscal, the
provincial commander of the Constabulary, the municipal president and
councilors, the local health officer, the municipal treasurer, the
chief of police, and the barrio lieutenants.
Sec. 50. Copies of this notice shall be posted for
ten consecutive days in three public places of the poblacion of the
municipality, and in three public places in each and all of the barrios
of the municipality.
Such notice shall, moreover, be published by bandillo during the ten
days mentioned in the next preceding section in the poblacion of the
municipality and in each and all of the barrios thereof.
Sec. 51. The parties to civil actions or their
counsels shall be given ten days' time for applying for the
reconstitution of the records of the cases in which they may be
interested.
Sec. 52. The duties imposed upon the provincial
fiscal shall, with regard to the reconstitution of criminal actions
pending in the justice of the peace courts, be imposed upon the proper
prosecuting officer.
Sec. 53. It shall not be necessary for justice of
the peace courts to open a special docket for reconstituted cases.
PROCEDURE FOR RECONSTITUTION IN
THE SUPREME COURT
Sec. 54. As soon as practicable after the
occurrence of any fire or other public calamity resulting in the loss
of all or part of the records of judicial proceedings on file in the
Supreme Court, the clerk of said Court shall send a notice by
registered mail to the Governor-General, the Judges of the Supreme
Court, the Secretary of Justice, the Attorney-General, all Courts of
First Instance, the Director of Lands, the Chief of the General Land
Registration Office, the Fiscal of the City of Manila, the provincial
fiscals, and all lawyers who may be interested, stating the date on
which such fire or public calamity occurred and whether the loss or
destruction was total or partial, and giving a brief list of the
proceedings not affected in case the loss or destruction was
partial.
Sec. 55. Upon receipt of the notice mentioned in
the preceding section, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall
issue or cause to be issued a general notice which shall be addressed
and sent by registered mail to the lawyers and officers mentioned in
the preceding section, advising them of the destruction of the records
of the Supreme Court, with a brief list of the proceedings not affected
in case the destruction was partial, and of the time fixed by this Act
for the reconstitution of the destroyed records.
This notice shall also be published in the Official Gazette and in one
of the newspapers most widely read in these Islands, once a week during
eight consecutive weeks.
ORIGINAL CASES
Sec. 56. Application for the reconstitution of the
records of cases of the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
shall be made within six months from the month in which the interested
parties were notified in accordance with the next preceding section,
and such reconstitution shall be accomplished by the same procedure as
established for the reconstitution of cases pending in the Courts of
First Instance.
CIVIL ACTIONS, REGISTRATION AND
CADASTRAL PROCEEDINGS, AND SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS UNDER APPEAL
Sec. 57. Parties interested in any civil action,
registration or cadastral proceeding, or special proceeding appealed to
the Supreme Court may apply for the reconstitution thereof by filing,
within six months' time, a petition accompanied by a printed copy of
the bill of exceptions or appeal record.
Sec. 58. Upon receipt of the petition mentioned in
the next preceding section, the clerk of the Supreme Court shall notify
all interested parties and their respective counsels of the day, hour,
and place at which the Supreme Court or its commissioner will proceed
to the reconstitution, and on said day and hour and at said place, the
parties or their counsels shall present to the Supreme Court or its
commissioner all papers they may have in their possession relative to
the cases to be reconstituted.
Sec. 59. The case may be reconstituted by means of
an authentic printed copy of the bill of exceptions or appeal record, a
copy of the briefs if any have already been presented, an authentic
copy of the transcript of the stenographic notes of the testimony
taken, an authentic copy of the judgment if any has already been
rendered by the Supreme Court, and copies of the resolution, writs, and
other documents of vital importance.
Destroyed documentary evidence shall be reconstituted by means of
secondary evidence which may be presented to any judge of the Supreme
Court or any other officer commissioned by said Court, who may be the
judge of the Court of First Instance from which the case came.
Sec. 60. If no copy of any resolution, writs or
other document of vital importance can be filed or found, the parties
shall substitute an agreement in lieu thereof, and in default of such
agreement, the Supreme Court shall determine what may be proper in the
interest of equity and justice and may even consider the proceeding or
document in question as nonexistent and reconstitute only that part of
the case which can stand without such proceeding or document, and
continue the proceeding on the basis of the record so reconstituted.
Sec. 61. If an authentic copy of the decision
rendered by the Supreme Court is not obtainable, the case shall be
decided anew.
Sec. 62. If it is not possible to obtain authentic
copies of the briefs already filed and the case was pending decision at
the time of the calamity, or if it is necessary to decide it anew, the
Supreme Court shall order new briefs to be submitted and may grant
reasonable time therefor.
Sec. 63. If an authentic printed copy of the bill
of exceptions or appeal record is not obtainable or if the bill of
exceptions or appeal record presented were about to be printed at the
time of the destruction, the Supreme Court shall direct the Court of
First Instance concerned to order the preparation of a new bill of
exceptions or appeal record and may grant reasonable time therefor.
Sec. 64. If an authentic copy of the transcript of
the stenographic notes of the testimony taken cannot be filed, the
Supreme Court shall direct the proper stenographer to make another
transcription. And if the stenographic notes taken by the stenographer
have also been destroyed, the Supreme Court shall direct the proper
Court of First Instance to proceed to hear the case anew, which shall
then be considered as ready for a hearing in said Court of First
Instance.
Sec. 65. If the decision rendered by the Supreme
Court is not appealable or has already become final, an authentic copy
of such decision shall be proof of its contents and shall form the
reconstituted record, without prejudice to attaching thereto such
copies as may be obtainable of the bill of exceptions or appeal record
and the briefs filed.
CRIMINAL ACTIONS UNDER APPEAL
Sec. 66. Upon receipt of the notice provided for
in sections fifty-four and fifty-five hereof, the Courts of First
Instance shall cause a complete list to be made of all criminal actions
appealed to the Supreme Court, which list shall contain the names of
the stenographers who have reported each case. Copies of this list
shall be sent to the provincial fiscal, the Attorney-General, and the
clerk of the Supreme Court.
Sec. 67. Upon the preparation of the list provided
for in the next preceding section, the Courts of First Instance shall
proceed to reconstitute all criminal actions included in said list, in
accordance with the rules and procedure established in sections
thirteen to forty-five hereof, and every time they declare any record
reconstituted or its reconstitution a failure, they shall report the
same to the Supreme Court.
Sec. 68. As soon as the reconstituted record is
ready to be submitted to the Supreme Court on appeal, the proper clerk
of court shall send it, in accordance with the existing legal
procedure, to the clerk of the Supreme Court, for further appeal
proceedings.
Sec. 69. In case the Court of First Instance is
successful in restoring the record to the condition in which it was
when forwarded under appeal, such record, together with an authentic
copy of the briefs, if any have been filed, and with an authentic copy
of the decision, if any has been rendered by the Supreme Court, shall
form the reconstituted record in the Supreme Court.
Sec. 70. If an authentic copy of the decision
rendered by the Supreme Court is not obtainable, the case shall be
decided anew.
Sec. 71. If authentic copies of the briefs filed
are not obtainable and the case was pending decision at the time of the
calamity, or if it is necessary to decide it anew, the Supreme Court
shall direct new briefs to be filed and may allow a reasonable time for
this purpose.
Sec. 72. If a criminal action has already been
decided by the Supreme Court and the decision has become final or is
not appealable, an authentic copy thereof shall be proof of its
contents and shall form the reconstituted record, without prejudice to
copies of the information, the decision of the court below, and the
briefs filed being attached to it.
COMMON PROVISIONS
Sec. 73. Civil and criminal actions, registration
and cadastral proceedings, and special proceedings pending appeal to
the Supreme Court of the United States shall be reconstituted in
accordance with the rules and procedure provided for in the preceding
sections, and the appeal shall take its course as soon as the
reconstituted record is ready for it.
Sec. 74. In case there is any question as to the
appeal record or the time within which the same was filed, the Supreme
Court may authorize its reproduction within such time as it may deem
reasonable.
RECONSTITUTION OF THE DOCUMENTS
AND BOOKS OF THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS
Sec. 75. When, as result of a fire or other public
calamity, the documents, books, and files of the office of the register
of deeds are destroyed, the register of deeds shall report such facts
immediately to the Chief of the General Land Registration Office and
shall, if possible, forward to the same a list of the register books,
decrees, and certificates of title destroyed.
Sec. 76. The Chief of the General Land
Registration Office shall send or cause to be sent to the register of
deeds copies of the destroyed registration decrees and certificates of
title.
Sec. 77. Upon receipt of the copies mentioned in
the next preceding section, the register of deeds shall cause to be
published in the Official Gazette and in one of the papers most widely
read in the Philippine Islands, and in the province, if any, for a
period of six months, a notice to all owners of property registered
under the Torrens system, requiring them to present in the office of
the register of deeds copies of the original certificates of title or
certificates of transfer in their possession, in order that the
annotation made upon the same may be spread upon the copies received
from the General Land Registration Office, and upon such new
certificates of transfer as may be issued.
Sec. 78. The register of deeds shall not make any
new annotation upon the back of any reconstituted certificate of title
or certificate of transfer until the previous annotations have been
transcribed thereon.
Sec. 79. The register of deeds shall cause to be
published, in the manner mentioned in section seventy-seven, a notice
to holders of chattel mortgages to present such copies of documents
relative to the same as they may have, in the office of the register of
deeds.
Sec. 80. Upon the presentation of the copies
mentioned in the next preceding section, the register of deeds shall
enter them anew in the book of records of chattel mortgages, under Act
Numbered Fifteen hundred and eight, under the date appearing on said
copies.
Sec. 81. The register of deeds shall use a book of
records of chattel mortgages separate from the one he shall open for
the registration of new mortgages, filed after the fire or public
calamity, and shall register the new mortgages in chronological order,
beginning with number one, unless it has been possible to save the book
of records of chattel mortgages, in which case the existing enumeration
shall be followed in future entries.
Sec. 82. The register of deeds shall adopt the
same rules and procedure for the reconstitutions of entries made under
Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and thirty-seven and Act Numbered
Twelve hundred and twenty-eight, and amendments thereof.
Sec. 83. With regard to entries made under the
Spanish Mortgage Law, the register of deeds shall cause to be
published, in the manner mentioned in section seventy-seven hereof, a
notice to all persons having in their possession any instrument
registered under said law, requiring them to present the same at the
office of the register of deeds, for re-registration.
Sec. 84. Entries made in accordance with the
Spanish Mortgage Law shall be given the same numbers as appear at the
foot of the instrument.
Sec. 85. The register of deeds shall open a record
book for reconstituted registrations.
Sec. 86. It shall not be necessary for the
register of deeds, upon extending the reconstituted entries to make any
entry in the entry book; but in the column for remarks or at the foot
of each reconstituted entry he shall put a note setting forth that such
entry has been reconstituted in accordance with this Act.
Sec. 87. The register of deeds shall not charge
any fees whatsoever for the reconstitution of entries.
Sec. 88. Reconstituted entries shall have the same
validity and legal effects as the original entries.
Sec. 89. For the purposes of the reconstitution of
the documents of the office of the register of deeds, the latter shall,
whenever possible, require the interested parties to present the
original documents, and shall make a copy thereof, which shall be
certified correct and authentic and made in accordance with this Act.
Sec. 90. Copies so made and certified shall be
filed in the proper envelopes or bundles and shall have the same
validity and legal effects as their originals.
FINAL PROVISION
Sec. 91. The Supreme Court, the Secretary of
Justice, the Attorney-General, and the Chief of the General Land
Registration Office shall issue regulations, circulars, and
instructions, and prescribe the books and blanks necessary to carry
into effect the provisions of this Act, and shall promulgate the rules
and take the measures necessary to avoid future destruction of the
judicial records and the books or documents of the office of the
register of deeds.
DATE OF TAKING EFFECT
Sec. 92. This Act shall take effect on its
approval.
Approved: March 19, 1923.
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