G.R. No. 211666 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS, VS. ARLENE R. SORIANO.

Ruling

Accordingly, the RTC considered respondent to have waived her right to adduce evidence and to object to the evidence submitted by petitioner for her continued absence despite being given several notices to do so. On November 15, 2013, the RTC rendered its Decision, the dispositive portion of which reads: WHEREFORE, with the foregoing determination of just compensation, judgment is hereby rendered: 1) Declaring plaintiff to have lawful right to acquire possession of and title to 200 square meters of defendant Arlene R. Sorianos parcel of land covered by TCT V-13790 necessary for the construction of the NLEX Harbor Link Project (Segment 9) from NLEX to MacArthur Highway Valenzuela City; 2) Condemning portion to the extent of 200 square meters of the above-described parcel of land including improvements thereon, if there be any, free from all liens and encumbrances; 3) Ordering the plaintiff to pay defendant Arlene R. Soriano Php2,100.00 per square meter or the sum of Four Hundred Twenty Thousand Pesos (Php420,000.00) for the 200 square meters as fair, equitable, and just compensation with legal interest at 12% per annum from the taking of the possession of the property, subject to the payment of all unpaid real property taxes and other relevant taxes, if there be any; 4) Plaintiff is likewise ordered to pay the defendant consequential damages which shall include the value of the transfer tax necessary for the transfer of the subject property from the name of the defendant to that of the plaintiff; 5) The Office of the Register of Deeds of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila is directed to annotate this Decision in Transfer Certificate of Title No. V-13790 registered under the name of Arlene R. Soriano. Let a certified true copy of this decision be recorded in the Registry of Deeds of Valenzuela City. Records of this case show that the Land Bank Managers Check Nos. 0000016913 dated January 21, 2011 in the amount of Php400,000.00 and 0000017263 dated April 28, 2011 in the amount of Php20,000.00 issued by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are already stale. Thus, the said Office is hereby directed to issue another Managers Check in the total amount Php420,000.00 under the name of the Office of the Clerk of Court, Regional Trial Court, Valenzuela City earmarked for the instant case. [10] Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration maintaining that pursuant to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular No. 799, Series of 2013, which took effect on July 1, 2013, the interest rate imposed by the RTC on just compensation should be lowered to 6% for the instant case falls under a loan or forbearance of money. [11] In its Order [12] dated March 10, 2014, the RTC reduced the interest rate to 6% per annum not on the basis of the aforementioned Circular, but on Article 2209 of the Civil Code, viz.: However, the case of National Power Corporation v. Honorable Zain B. Angas is instructive. In the aforementioned case law, which is similar to the