October 2009 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence
G.R. No. 162474 - Hon. Vicente P. Eusebio, et al. v. Jovito M. Luis, et al.
THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. NO. 162474 : October 13, 2009]
HON. VICENTE P. EUSEBIO, LORNA A. BERNARDO, VICTOR ENDRIGA, and the CITY OF PASIG, Petitioners, v. JOVITO M. LUIS, LIDINILA LUIS SANTOS, ANGELITA CAGALINGAN, ROMEO M. LUIS, and VIRGINIA LUIS-BELLESTEROS,*Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
PERALTA, J.:
This resolves the Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, praying that the Decision1 of the Court of Appeals (CA) dated November 28, 2003, affirming the trial court judgment, and the CA Resolution2 dated February 27, 2004, denying petitioners' motion for reconsideration, be reversed and set aside.
The antecedent facts are as follows:
Respondents are the registered owners of a parcel of land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. 53591 and 53589 with an area of 1,586 square meters. Said parcel of land was taken by the City of Pasig sometime in 1980 and used as a municipal road now known as A. Sandoval Avenue, Barangay Palatiw, Pasig City. On February 1, 1993, the Sanggunian of Pasig City passed Resolution No. 15 authorizing payments to respondents for said parcel of land. However, the Appraisal Committee of the City of Pasig, in Resolution No. 93-13 dated October 19, 1993, assessed the value of the land only at P150.00 per square meter. In a letter dated June 26, 1995, respondents requested the Appraisal Committee to consider P2,000.00 per square meter as the value of their land.
One of the respondents also wrote a letter dated November 25, 1994 to Mayor Vicente P. Eusebio calling the latter's attention to the fact that a property in the same area, as the land subject of this case, had been paid for by petitioners at the price of P2,000.00 per square meter when said property was expropriated in the year 1994 also for conversion into a public road. Subsequently, respondents' counsel sent a demand letter dated August 26, 1996 to Mayor Eusebio, demanding the amount of P5,000.00 per square meter, or a total of P7,930,000.00, as just compensation for respondents' property. In response, Mayor Eusebio wrote a letter dated September 9, 1996 informing respondents that the City of Pasig cannot pay them more than the amount set by the Appraisal Committee.
Thus, on October 8, 1996, respondents filed a Complaint for Reconveyance and/or Damages (Civil Case No. 65937) against herein petitioners before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasig City, Branch 155. Respondents prayed that the property be returned to them with payment of reasonable rental for sixteen years of use at P500.00 per square meter, or P793,000.00, with legal interest of 12% per annum from date of filing of the complaint until full payment, or in the event that said property can no longer be returned, that petitioners be ordered to pay just compensation in the amount of P7,930,000.00 and rental for sixteen years of use at P500.00 per square meter, or P793,000.00, both with legal interest of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the complaint until full payment. In addition, respondents prayed for payment of moral and exemplary damages, attorney's fees and costs.
After trial, the RTC rendered a Decision3 dated January 2, 2001, the dispositive portion of which reads as follows:
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendants:
1. Declaring as ILLEGAL and UNJUST the action of the defendants in taking the properties of plaintiffs covered by Transfer Certificates of Title Nos. 53591 and 53589 without their consent and without the benefit of an expropriation proceedings required by law in the taking of private property for public use;
2. Ordering the defendants to jointly RETURN the subject properties to plaintiffs with payment of reasonable rental for its use in the amount of
P793,000.00 with legal interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the filing of the instant Complaint until full payment is made;3. In the event that said properties can no longer be returned to the plaintiffs as the same is already being used as a public road known as A. Sandoval Avenue, Pasig City, the defendants are hereby ordered to jointly pay the plaintiffs the fair and reasonable value therefore at
P5,000.00 per square meter or a total ofP7,930,000.00 with payment of reasonable rental for its use in the amount ofP500.00 per square meter or a total ofP793,000.00, both with legal interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the filing of the instant Complaint until full payment is made; andcralawlibrary4. Ordering the defendants to jointly pay the plaintiffs attorney's fees in the amount of
P200,000.00.
No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.
Petitioners then appealed the case to the CA, but the CA affirmed the RTC judgment in its Decision dated November 28, 2003.???�r?bl?�