GR 160890; (November, 2004) (Digest)
G.R. No. 160890 ; November 10, 2004
BANK OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS and NATIONAL POWER CORPORATION, respondents.
FACTS
The National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) filed a complaint for eminent domain to expropriate a portion of Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) land in Dasmariñas, Cavite, for a transmission line project. The trial court appointed three commissioners to determine just compensation. The commissioners submitted a report valuing the land at P10,000.00 per square meter, using the “Market Data Approach” based on sales of comparable properties. The trial court adopted this valuation.
NAPOCOR appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, reducing the just compensation to P3,000.00 per square meter. It gave weight to Resolution No. 08-95 of the Provincial Appraisal Committee of Cavite, which pegged the fair market value of lots along General Aguinaldo Highway in Dasmariñas at P3,000.00 per square meter as of October 1995. The appellate court noted this valuation was closer to the complaint’s filing date in April 1996 and that over 70% of affected lot owners had accepted it via compromise agreements.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in fixing just compensation at P3,000.00 per square meter instead of the P10,000.00 per square meter recommended by the commissioners.
RULING
The Supreme Court denied BPI’s petition and affirmed the Court of Appeals. While commissioners’ findings are generally accorded respect, they are not binding and can be rejected for lack of an evidentiary basis. The Court found the commissioners’ P10,000.00 valuation was not sufficiently supported, as their report cited the “Market Data Approach” but provided no concrete evidence of the alleged comparable sales.
Conversely, the appellate court correctly relied on the official and contemporaneous valuation from the Provincial Appraisal Committee. This Resolution, issued just six months before NAPOCOR filed the complaint, represented a credible and relevant benchmark for determining fair market value at the time of taking. The considerable acceptance of this value by most affected landowners further reinforced its reasonableness. Just compensation is the owner’s loss at the time of taking, not a speculative future value. Therefore, the Court of Appeals committed no error in setting just compensation at P3,000.00 per square meter.