Facts: Clarita Vda. De Onorio is the owner of the land in Barangay M. Roxas, Sto. Nino, South Cotabato. Such land is the subject for the construction of an irrigation canal of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). Mr. Santiago Eslaban Jr. is the project manager of NIA. The parties agreed to the construction of the canal provided that the government will pay for the area that has been taken. A right-of-way agreement was entered into by the parties in which respondent was paid the amount of P4, 180.00 as right of way damages. Subsequently, respondent executed an Affidavit of Waiver of Rights and Fees which waives her rights for the damage to the crops due to construction of the right of way. After which, respondent demands that petitioner pay P111, 299.55 for taking her property but the petitioner refused. Petitioner states that the government had not consented to be sued and that the respondent is not entitled for compensation by virtue of the homestead patent under CA no. 141. The RTC held that the NIA should pay respondent the amount of P107, 517.60 as just compensation for the 24,660 sq meters that have been used for the construction of the canal. The Court of Appeals also affirmed the decision of the RTC.
Issue: Whether or Not the CA erred in affirming the decision of the RTC.
Held: The CA is correct in affirming the decision of the RTC but modifications shall be made regarding the value of the just compensation. The following are the points to be considered in arriving in this decision.
First, Rule 7 par 5 of the Rule of Civil Procedure provides that the certification against forum shopping should only be executed by the plaintiff or the principal. The petition for review was filed by Mr. Eslaban jr. while the verification or certification were signed by Mr. Cesar Gonzales, an administrator of the agency. Neither of the two has the authority to sign such certificate for they are not the plaintiff or principal. Such case is a sufficient ground for dismissing this petition.
Second, PD NO. 1529 provides that the owner is required to recognize in favor of the government the easement of a “public highway, way, private way established by law, or any government canal where the certificate of title does not state that the boundaries thereof have been pre-determined. In the case at bar, the irrigation canal was constructed on Oct 1981 after the property had been registered in May of 1976. In this case, prior expropriation proceedings must be filed and just compensation shall be paid to the owner before the land could be taken for public use.
Third, In this case, just compensation is defined as not only the correct amount to be paid but the reasonable time for the Government to pay the owner. The CA erred in this point by stating that the market value (just compensation) of the land is determined in the filing of the complaint in 1991.The determination of such value should be from the time of its taking by the NIA in 1981.
Lastly, the petitioner cannot argue that the Affidavit of waiver of rights and fees executed by the respondent pertains to the payment of the value of the land therefore exempting NIA to pay the value of the land taken. Such waiver pertains only to the crops and improvements that were damage due to the construction of the right-of-way not the value of the land.
Wherefore, decision of CA affirmed with modification regarding the just compensation in the amount of P16, 047.61 per hectare.
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