Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-10484 December 29, 1958
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF SAGAY, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.
JANUARIO L. JISON, ET AL., defendants.
JANUARIO L. JISON, DOLORES VDA. DE JISON, and BENJAMIN BAUTISTA, defendants-appellants.
Provincial Fiscal Jesus S. Rodriguez for appellee.
Januario L. Jison for appellants Dolores Vda. de Jison son and Benjamin Bautista and Benjamin Bautista.
CONCEPCION, J.:
The Municipal Government of Sagay, Negros Occidental, seeks to expropriate Lot No. 547-B of the Sagay Cadastre, with an area of eight (8) hectares, for a regional high school site. Said Lot No. 547-B is part of Lot 547 of the aforementioned cadastre, which, together with other lots, constitute what is known as Hacienda Cabalawan, originally belonging to defendants Dolores Lopez Vda. de Jison and Januario L. Jison, and containing a total area of 140 hectares. Inasmuch as these defendants had sold a portion of said Lot No. 547, forming part of Lot No. 547-B, to Benjamin Bautista, the latter was included as defendant. So was the Philippine National Bank, the same being the holder of a real estate mortgage on said Lot No. 547.
The defendants admit plaintiff's right of eminent domain and the public nature of the use for which the property was intended and is now being devoted. The only issue for determination is the amount of compensation due to the defendants. After bearing the parties, who introduced their respective evidence, and making an ocular inspection of Lot No. 547-B, the commissioners appointed by the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental were divided on said issue. Two (2) commissioners recommended payment of P3.50 per square meter, whereas the third commissioner favored P0.10 per square meter. Meanwhile, pursuant to an order of said court, dated June 8, 1953, plaintiff had taken possession of the property, upon deposit, first, of P10,000, and then — in view of defendants' opposition — of the additional sum of P10,000, all of which were turned over to the defendants on August 12, 1953. Thereafter, the government spent P33,000 in the construction of the necessary buildings and other structures, and operated the aforementioned regional high school, with an enrollment of 600 students. In due course, the lower court rendered a decision, dated December 27, 1955, the dispositive part of which reads as follows:
Por la presente, el Juzgado dicta sentencia, declarando dicho lote No. 547-H debida y legalmente expropriado por la demandante, el Gobierno Municipal de Sagay, para el uso publico de levantar y abrir la High School Regional, por el precio de P20,000.00 y en su virtud, declara que el susodicho lote es, por la presente, de la propiedad de la demandante.
La demandante pagara a los tres comisionados como compensacion P24.00 cada uno por los seis (6) dias que han trabajado, a razon de P4.00 al dia, de acuerdo con la ley.
Trasladese copia de esta sentencia al Registrador de Titulos de la provincia de Negros Occidental para todos los efectos legales. (Record on Appeal, p. 52.)
Defendants Dolores Lopez Vda. de Jison, Januario L. Jison and Benjamin Bautista have appealed from this decision. They maintain that the award in their favor should be P4.00 per square meter, or the aggregate sum of P320,000 for Lot No. 547-B. The main evidence for appellants, apart from the testimony of defendant Januario L. Jison, consists of the following:
1. A deed of sale (Exhibit 5) of part of Said Lot No. 547, containing one thousand (1,000) square meters, executed, on August 8, 1949, by defendant Januario L. Jison, with the conformity of his co-defendant, Dolores Lopez Vda. de Jison, in favor of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bacolod, at P4.00 per square meter;
2. A deed of sale (Exhibits 6) of portion of said Lot No. 547, containing 1,596 square meters, executed, on April 22, 1954, by the same seller in favor of the same buyer, for the total sum of P6,000.00, representing less than P3.80 per square meter;
3. A deed of sale (Exhibit 8) of another portion of said Lot No. 547, with an area of 2,000 square meters, executed, on April 30, 1950, by the same vendor, in favor of defendant Benjamin Bautista, at the rate of P2.00 per square meter; and
4. Three (3) deeds of sale (Exhibits 9, 10 and 11) of several parcels of land formerly included in Lot No. 548 of the Sagay Cadastre, which adjoin said Lot 547, and dated, respectively, April 12, February 11, and March 11, 1954, at prices ranging from P4.00 to around P4.80 per square meter.
Appellants, likewise, allege that, aside from being residential in nature, Lot No. 547-B is bounded by roads on three sides; that the parcels of land sold to the Catholic Church and a lot of eight (8) hectares donated by the Jisons, to the plaintiff, in 1950, were assessed for tax purposes at the rate of P1.00 a square meter; and that the properties in the vicinity of Lot 547-B have the benefit of modern facilities, such as water system, electric light, and commercial establishments operated nearby.
At the outset, it should be noted that this case was instituted in 1951, and that plaintiff took possession of Lot No. 547-B a little after June 8, 1953. Considering that the construction thereon of a high school building and its appurtenances, and the operation of such high school, have admittedly inured to the benefits of all other property in the locality, it is clear that the aforementioned sales made in 1954 do not offer a safe measure of the reasonable value of Lot No. 547-B, either in 1951, when the original complaint herein was filed, or in 1953, when the government took possession of said lot.lawphil.net
Upon the other hand, the sale to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bacolod on August 8, 1949, at P4.00 per square meter, does not suffice to establish that such is the market price of Lot No. 547-B. Indeed,, on April 22, 1954, an adjoining land was acquired, by the same buyer, at less than P3.80 per square meter, although, normally, the price of real estate tends to rise in the course of time. In fact, on April 30, 1950, a land similarly located was sold to Benjamin Bautista at P2.00 per square meter.
For a correct appraisal of the issue before us, its factual background is necessary. In this connection, it appears that the seat of the municipal government of Sagay used to be five (5) to six (6) kilometers from the barrio of Dalusan, in the outskirts of which — about one kilometer away from the center thereof, where the poblacion of new Sagay is — Lot No. 547-B is situated. Shortly before the death of President Roxas, or late in 1947, it was decided that the seat of the government of Sagay be transferred to said barrio. The lands therein were devoted principally to the planting of sugar cane, and so was Lot No. 547-B. Hence, as late as 1950, Lot No. 547, containing 34.939 hectares — of which Lot No. 547-B forms part — was assessed for tax purposes in the aggregate sum of P16,430, or a little over P0.04 per square meter. At the time of the institution of this case, in 1951, as well as when plaintiff took possession of the property in question, in 1953, the total assessed value of Lot No. 547 was P22,530, or a little over P0.06 a square meter. On August 15, 1951, a committee composed of the Acting Provincial Treasurer, the Provincial Auditor and the District Engineer, all of Negros occidental, estimated the value of Lot No. 547-B at P8,000, upon the ground that it was an agricultural land and that the current value of sugar land was P1,000, per hectare, (Exh. O), which is the assessed value of first class sugar lands (Exhs. A, C and D). The agricultural nature of Lot No. 547-B becomes apparent when we bear in mind that, when plaintiff tried to occupy it in 1953, sugar cane was found growing thereon.
Prior thereto, or as early as 1948, the need for a high school in Sagay had been felt. A committee created to enter into negotiations for the acquisition of a high school site achieved no tangible results. However, on January 11, 1950, defendants Dolores Lopez Vda. de Jison and Januario L. Jison executed the deed Exhibit 4, donating to plaintiff herein a portion of Lot No. 547, containing appellants' subdivision plan Exhibit 12, as Lot No. 547-A — is West of the one involved in the case at bar, which is marked as Lot No. 547-B. Unlike the latter, said lot No. 547-A does not adjoin any road. It is about 40 meters from the national highway, from which it is separated by strip of land, of said width, forming part of Lot No. 547. For this reason and because said Lot No. 547-A has a rolling terrain, the division superintendent of schools objected thereto as unsuitable for high school purposes and, eventually, plaintiff declined to accept the donation (Exh. I).Inasmuch as another committee created to negotiate with the Jisons, failed to reach any agreement with the latter, in August, 1951, the municipal council of Sagay sought and, thereafter, obtained from the Provincial Board and the Office of the President, the necessary authority for the institution of the present expropriation case, which was filed soon later (Exhs. J, L, M and N).
The plan to establish and operate a high school was thus known since the year 1948. It was particularly known to defendants Dolores Lopez Vda. de Jison and Januario L. Jison, for on January 11, 1950, they executed the deed Exhibit H, donating Lot No. 547-A to plaintiff herein, for high school site, which donation had been preceded by negotiations lasting for some time. In fact, on April 19-20, 1949 — or almost 4 months before the first sale to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bacolod — the Jisons had caused Lot No. 547 to be surveyed for the preparation of the subdivision plan Exhibit 12, indicating thereon Lot No. 547-A, which was intended to be donated for high school site." The high school project, in turn, contributed substantially to the sudden and unusual increase in the price of real estate in the locality. We are not satisfied, therefore, that the sales evidenced by Exhibits 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were made in the ordinary course of business. Indeed, considering that the assessed value of Lot 547 in 1951, was P0.04 a square meter, and in 1953, P0.06 a square meter, the aforementioned sales at rates ranging from P2.00 to P4.80 are understandable only in the light of the speculation prompted by the plan to establish in the barrio of Dalusan a new high school. Such were the benefits expected therefrom, that even the Jisons were willing to part, free of charge, with eight (8) hectares of land, constituting Lot No. 547-A, provided that the same was used exclusively for the operation of said high school.
With respect to the effect, upon the nature of Lot No. 547-B, of three (3) roads (one of which is of private ownership) on three (3) sides thereof, His Honor, the Trial Judge, has aptly observed:lawphil.net
. . . Es un hecho de conocimiento publico que a lo largo de la carretera provincial desde la caudad de Bacolod hasta el municipio de San Carlos, por el Norte, y desde dicha ciudad hasta el municipio de Cauayan, por el Sur, una distancia combinada de alrededor de trescientos kilometros, grandes y extensas haciendas de canadulce se extienden por ambos lados, y alguna que otras casa-hacienda y grupos de caserios de los obreros que trabajan en ellas se levantan en dichas haciendas, y ciertamente que nadie pretendera clasificar las mismas como terrenos residenciales, por el solo hecho de bordear con la carretera provincial. La circunstancia alegada de que el barrio Dalusan se ha convertido recientemente en la nueva poblacion y de que la carretera bordea el lote en controversia por sus tres costados, en opinion del juzgado, constituiria por lo mas, una razon valida y poderosa para aumentarle de valor dentro de su categoria de terreno agricola. (Record on Appeal, pp. 46-47.)
Indeed, the value of the property exproriated should be determined by, among other factors, its character at the time of the taking "and not as potential building" site (Manila Electric Co. vs. Tuason, 60. Phil., 663, 668). In short, if Lot No. 547-B was agricultural in 1953, the adaptability thereof for conversion in the future into a residential site does not affect its nature when plaintiff assumed possession of the property, although it is a circumstance that should be considered in determining its value at that time, as an "agricultural" land.
Upon consideration of all the facts and circumstances surrounding the case, we are of the opinion, therefore, that the reasonable value of Lot No. 547-B may be, as it is hereby, fixed at P3,000, per hectare, or P24,000 for the entire lot. Having received already the sum of P20,000, appellants are consequently, entitled to collect the balance of P4,000, with interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum, beginning from August 12, 1953.
Modified accordingly, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed in all other respects, without special pronouncement as to costs. It is so ordered.
Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Labrador, Reyes, J. B. L. and Endencia, JJ., concur.
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