G.R. No. 245988 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS (DPWH), VS. HEIRS OF SPOUSES LUIS J. DELA CRUZ AND IMELDA REYES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, Judgment is hereby rendered condemning the following lots of the defendants: TCT NO. AREA AFFECTED (SQ.M.) V-70921 (now V-94768) 23 V-68375 (now V-97473) (undecipherable) V-68373 (now V-947772) 9 all located at Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City, free from all liens and encumbrances whatsoever, for the construction of C-5 Northern Link Road Project Segment 8.1 from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to the North Luzon Expressway, Valenzuela City, a public purpose, in favor of the plaintiff, Republic of the Philippines, upon payment of just compensation which is fixed at Php9,000.00/square meter or in the total amount of Php9,000.00 ( sic ) (NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS) (100 sq. m. x Php9,000.00) deducting the provisional deposit of P275,000.00 previously made and subject to the payment of all unpaid taxes and other relevant taxes by the defendants up to the filing of the complaint, if there be any. The plaintiff is ordered to pay interest at the rate of 12% per annum on the unpaid balance of just compensation of Php625,000.00 (SIX HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND) (Php900,000.00-Php275,000.00) computed from the time of the filing of the complaint until plaintiff fully pays the balance. No additional amount for the improvement of lot covered by TCT No. 68373 is awarded as the court considers the amount of Php220,200.07 already paid by plaintiff to the defendants as enough just compensation for the improvement. Let a certified true copy of this decision be forwarded to the Office of the Register of Deeds of Valenzuela City for the latter to annotate this decision in the Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. V-70921 (now V-94768); V-68375 (now V-97473); and V-68373 (now V-947772) of the Registry of Deeds of Valenzuela City. SO ORDERED. [26] Aggrieved, petitioner, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), appealed the RTC Decision to the CA. [27] CA Ruling In the Decision [28] dated June 28, 2018, the CA denied the appeal and affirmed the ruling of the RTC with modification only as to the payment of interest. [29] The CA first noted that the directive of the RTC for the government to deposit the amount equivalent to the zonal value of the subject properties and the value of the improvements therein before the Acting Branch Clerk of Court runs counter to Republic Act No. (RA) 8974. [30] It explained that the Court, looking into the Senate deliberations, construed that the intent of RA 8974 was to supersede the system of deposit under Rule 67 of the Rules of Court with the scheme of immediate payment in cases involving national government infrastructure projects. [31] As to the determination of just compensation, the CA ruled that the RTC validly lowered the BOC's recommended market value of P15,000.00 to P9,000.00. [32] The CA refused to set the just compensation at P2,750.00 per square meter. It explained that zonal value could not be the lone basis for the determination of just compensation as it is only one of the factors which should be cons