Case Digest (G.R. No. 165828)
Facts:
National Power Corporation v. Heirs of Macabangkit Sangkay, G.R. No. 165828, August 24, 2011, Supreme Court First Division, Bersamin, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner National Power Corporation (NPC) constructed hydroelectric works on the Agus River in the 1970s, including underground tunnels feeding Agus V–VII. The respondents are the Heirs of Macabangkit Sangkay (Cebu, Batowa-an, Sayana, Nasser, Manta, Edgar, Putri, Mongkoy, and Amir), owners of a tract in Ditucalan, Iligan City.
On November 21, 1997 the Heirs sued NPC in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 1, Iligan City (Civil Case No. 4094), for recovery of damages and of the property, with an alternative prayer for payment of just compensation, alleging they had belatedly discovered (circa 1995) that an NPC underground tunnel constructed in 1979 traversed their land and diminished its value and safety. NPC answered, contending the works constituted merely an easement under Republic Act No. 6395 (citing section 3(f) in its pleading), and pleaded prescription and that any action had prescribed as the tunnel was an apparent and continuous easement.
An RTC ocular inspection on July 23, 1998 observed evidence indicating a subterranean tunnel (a concrete post, uprooted trees, dead coconut trees) and the trial court found NPC had constructed the tunnel without the owners’ knowledge, acted in bad faith, and that the tunnel affected the land’s use. In an August 13, 1999 decision the RTC awarded the Heirs just compensation of P500.00 per square meter for 227,065 sq. m. (P113,532,500.00), monthly rentals (P30,000) from 1979 to July 1999 with 12% interest, moral and exemplary damages (P200,000 each), and attorney’s fees of 15%; a supplemental decision of August 18, 1999 added a clause condemning the plaintiffs’ land in favor of NPC upon payment of the award. The Heirs moved for execution pending appeal; the RTC issued a writ of execution, and NPC sought certiorari in the Court of Appeals (CA), which on September 15, 1999 issued a temporary restraining order enjoining execution (that TRO was the subject of a separate elevation, G.R. No. 141447, later resolved).
NPC appealed the RTC judgment to the CA. On October 5, 2004 the CA affirmed the RTC in toto, finding the existence and extent of the tunnel sufficiently proven by testimony, the topographic survey and sketch maps, and the ocular inspect...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the CA and the RTC err in finding that an underground tunnel constructed by NPC traversed and/or affected the Heirs of Macabangkit’s land?
- Had the Heirs’ action for just compensation prescribed under Section 3(i) of Republic Act No. 6395, or alternatively under Articles 620 and 646 (and related provi...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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