Case Digest (G.R. No. 106804)
Facts:
National Power Corporation v. Court of Appeals and Antonino Pobre, G.R. No. 106804, August 12, 2004, Supreme Court First Division, Carpio, J., writing for the Court. The petition seeks review under Rule 45 of the Court of Appeals' 30 March 1992 Decision and its 14 August 1992 Resolution in CA-G.R. CV No. 16930, which affirmed the Regional Trial Court, Branch 17, Tabaco, Albay, Decision in Civil Case No. T-552.National Power Corporation (NPC) is a public corporation created under Republic Act No. 6395 and authorized to acquire property and exercise eminent domain; Antonino Pobre is the registered owner of a 68,969 sq. m. parcel in Barangay Bano, Tiwi, Albay (the Property), originally developed by Pobre as Tiwi Hot Springs Resort Subdivision and subject of subdivision approvals and individual titles following the 1966 court-approved subdivision plan. The Commission on Volcanology certified the presence of thermal mineral water and steam beneath the Property in 1965.
NPC's involvement with the Property occurred in three phases: (1) a short-term lease of eleven lots to NPC on 18 February 1972; (2) an expropriation case filed circa 1977 (docketed Civil Case No. T-50) to acquire 8,311.60 sq. m., with the trial court ordering expropriation on 23 October 1979 at P25/sq. m.; and (3) a second expropriation case filed 1 September 1979 to acquire an additional 5,554 sq. m. (the second expropriation), for which NPC deposited 10% of the market value and secured a writ of possession on 6 September 1979 and immediately entered the lot for drilling and construction of steam wells pursuant to Proclamation No. 739 and Republic Act No. 5092.
During and after these operations NPC dumped waste beyond agreed sites, altered topography, and conducted activities which Pobre alleged rendered the Property unfit as a resort-subdivision. On 10 December 1984 Pobre filed a motion to dismiss/answer raising damages; NPC filed its own motion to dismiss on 2 January 1985 claiming abandonment of the project; the trial court granted NPC's motion on 8 January 1985 but expressly preserved Pobre's right to prove damages in the same case. The trial court declared the case submitted on 30 August 1985 (after NPC failed to present evidence), and following interlocutory proceedings and the Intermediate Appellate Court's direction to rule on objections, the trial court rendered judgment on 29 April 1987 in favor of Pobre awarding P3,448,450 (P50/sq. m. for 68,969 sq. m.), legal interest from 6 September 1979, and attorneys' fees of P150,000; NPC's motion for reconsideration was denied on 30 October 1987.
NPC appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. CV No. 16930). On 30 March 1992 the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's decision but deleted the award of attorneys' fees; its denial of reconsideration w...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was NPC's belated dismissal of its expropriation complaint sufficient to extinguish Pobre's reserved claim for damages, or did the trial court have jurisdiction to allow and adjudicate that claim?
- Did the trial court commit grave abuse of discretion or act without jurisdiction in adjudicating Pobre's damages and awarding compensation for the entire 68,969 sq. m.?
- Was NPC liable for the taking of the entire 68,969 sq. m., or should the 8,311.60 sq. m. previously expropriated and paid for have been excluded from the award?
- Was the valuation of P50 per square meter (total P3,448,450) with legal interest from 6 September 1979 appropriate as just compensation?
- Were awards of temperate and exemplary dam...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)