In the wake of the recent land fiasco in Cebu, the Consumers Union of the Philippines (CUP) warned land buyers and investors to protect themselves against flawed titles by at least verifying the location of the titled land being sold.

The Cebu provincial government was recently reported as having bought a 25-hectare property in Naga, Cebu, some 20 hectares of which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) found to be timberlands partly submerged at sea, and for which reversion and title cancellation proceedings are reportedly being pursued.

Cebu government authorities were reported as saying that no survey was made because they relied on the Torrens system of land registration where the certificate of title serves as proof of ownership.

“We hope this serves as yet another lesson to the land buying public that beyond mere reliance on a certificate of title, a much higher degree of prudence is required, in the light of countless questionable titles that have been circulating in the market for decades,” said CUP chairman Ambassador Raul Goco, former solicitor-general in a statement.

Goco explained that under the established rules and doctrines that underpin the Torrens system, two things must concur: First, proof of ownership; and second, proof of identity of the land.

“We strongly urge the land buying public to pay closer attention to the technical descriptions that every certificate of title is required to contain, for this is the means by which one could ascertain the titled land’s identity – meaning its exact location, configuration, size and metes and bounds,” Goco said.

Goco said that the Cebu fiasco may have been avoided if, prior to buying, the authorities simply plotted and mapped the land based on the title’s technical descriptions.