G.R. No. 226138 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS (DPWH), VS. ESPINA & MADARANG, CO. AND MAKAR AGRICULTURAL CORP..

Ruling

WHEREFORE , premises considered[,] the petition is PARTLY GRANTED . The Decision dated January 25, 2016 and the Resolution dated July 22, 2016 of the CA in CA-G.R. SP No. 06472-MIN is AFFIRMED WITH MODIFICATION to read as follows: The Orders dated December 16, 2013, February 24, 2014, and July 21, 2014 of the Regional Trial Court of General Santos City, Branch 36 in Civil Case No. 7788 are REVERSED and SET ASIDE in so far as they directed the Sheriff to reimplement the Writ of Execution dated June 2, 2010 and to levy, garnish, seize, and deliver to the respondents Espina & Madarang, Co. and Makar Agricultural Corp., or to the court whatever funds money, or assets of the Department of Public Works and Highways susceptible to execution found anywhere in the Philippines to satisfy the judgment in favor of the respondents. Respondents Espina & Madarang, Co. and Makar Agricultural Corp. are hereby enjoined to file a money claim before the Commission on Audit for the satisfaction and enforcement of the money judgment validating their claim to the Road Right of Way compensation. SO ORDERED . [3] (Emphasis in the original) The Antecedents In an undated letter, Vincente L. Olarte (Vincente), as attorney-in-fact of the Olarte Hermanos y Cia Estate (Olartes), wrote to the regional director of the DPWH, Region XII, Cotabato City to claim Road Right of Way (RROW) compensation for Lots A, G, and F, Plan Lot SC-6834, Subdivision Plan SWO-12-000103, located along the National Highway, General Santos City (subject property). [4] The subject property involved a 3.5-kilometer road with an area of approximately 186,856 square meters that was taken by the government for public use as it was traversed by the Cotabato-Kiamba-General Santos-Koronadal National Highway. [5] The DPWH then received the June 4, 2007 Order from Branch 14, Regional Trial Court of Cotabato City (RTC), in relation to a case docketed as Spec Proc. No. 2004-074 entitled "In Re: Matter of Insolvencia Voluntaria de [Olarte] Hermanos [ y ] Cia, Heirs of the late Alberto P. Olarte, etc." The said Order enjoined the DPWH to pay the RROW claim of the Olartes. On November 13, 2007, an Order was again issued instructing DPWH to release the partial payment in the amount of PHP 44,891,140.65 within 10 days from notice. As such, the DPWH began paying the Olartes in installment. [6] On May 7, 2008, Espina and Makar filed a Complaint (With [prayer for a] temporary restraining order) [7] docketed as Civil Case No. 7788 against the heirs of Alberto Pelayo Olarte and Jose Pelayo Olarte (heirs of Olarte), the DPWH, and the Register of Deeds of General Santos City. They alleged that Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 12 registered in the name of Olarte Hermanos, under which the heirs of Olarte were laying claim to the RROW compensation, had been mortgaged to El Hogar Filipino (El Hogar). Due to nonpayment of the loan, the subject property was sold at public auction and OCT No. 12 was cancelled. Transfer Certif