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Thursday, May 08, 2008
SC orders Landbank to pay landowners
DAVAO CITY -- The Supreme Court (SC) has declared final its ruling ordering the state-owned Landbank of the Philippines to pay two Davao del Norte plantations the amount of P1.38 billion.
This payment will be just compensation for voluntarily offering 1,454.88 hectares of land for inclusion in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp).
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In a 13-page decision penned by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, the SC's Third Division dismissed the second motion for reconsideration filed by Landbank for being a prohibited pleading in the case between Landbank and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) against the management of Hijo Plantation Inc. (HPI) and Apo Fruits Corporation (AFC).
HPI and AFC are local corporations that owned banana plantation lands in San Isidro in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. These were placed under Carp on October 12, 1995 under the VOS scheme. As a result of the VOS, the land was turned over to Carp beneficiaries in January 1997.
It was Davao industrialist lawyer Jesus V. Ayala who established HPI in the early 1970s with his partners Jose Tuason Jr. and Manuel Lim. HPI became the pioneering exporter of bananas to the Japan market in partnership with Sumito Fruits and Fuji Fruits.
The Ayala group also set up AFC, but sold both plantations to Mercedes A. Tuason in 2006 as the Ayalas focused on tourism estate development.
The SC's final ruling also denied for having no basis the request of Landbank to refer the case to the SC en banc.
"The SC sitting en banc is not an appellate court vis-a-vis its Divisions, and it exercises no appellate jurisdiction over the latter. Each division of the court is considered not a body inferior to the court en banc, and sits veritably as the court en banc itself," the high court said.
The Landbank's second motion questioned the December 19, 2007 ruling of the Third Division, upholding the decision of the Tagum City Regional Trial Court (RTC) that directed the bank and DAR to pay the amount of P1.38 billion to the Davao landowners as just compensation.
The high court assailed the DAR Adjudication Board (Darab), an agency of the DAR that was tasked to determine just compensation for lands acquired under Republic Act (RA) 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (Carl), for sitting on the complaints for determination of just compensation filed by AFC and HPI.
However, the court denied AFC and HPI's motion for partial reconsideration seeking the court's re-imposition of the 12 percent interest on the balance of P95.2 million, representing the difference between the judgment award of P1.38 billion and the amount already paid for the subject properties.
The court battle between DAR and Landbank, and the two plantations started soon after October 16, 1996, around the same time that the DAR provincial agrarian reform officer (Paro) of Davao del Norte forwarded a valuation of the subject lands to both landowners.
AFC's lands, a total of 640.3483 hectares, were valued at P86,900,925.88 or P165,484.47 per hectare, while HPI's lands (814.5308 hectares) were valued at P164,478,178.14.
Both companies protested the valuation, saying these were low and inadequate as just compensation considering the lands are well within what was becoming a prime residential area in Tagum.
As a result of this, AFC and HPI filed separate complaints for determination of just compensation with DAR's Darab on February 14, 1997 with the RTC in Tagum, which was acting as a special agrarian court.
The court ruled in favor of the landowners, thus the case was raised to the Court of Appeals (CA) where the appellate court ruled in favor of the government. Landowners protested this ruling and raised the issue to the Supreme Court (SC).
The Third Division of the SC on February 6, 2007 already ruled in favor of the landowners, even rapping the government agencies for letting the case drag on for so long without even paying the full amount of their valuation of the land in question.
In that decision, the SC's Third Division also noted that the case would have been resolved "with dispatch were it not for LBP's legal counsel causing unnecessary delay."
It also noted that the Darab also sat on the case for three years.
Throughout this period, the SC pointed out, the titles for the land covered has already been cancelled and a new title has been issued in the name of the government of the Philippines.
It also pointed out what the RTC has already said, that the properties are very near residential and industrial areas of Tagum City. (ECV/SAE/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (May 8, 2008 issue)
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