Bureau of Local Government Finance Opinion

December 15, 2000 BUREAU OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE OPINION 1st Indorsement Respectfully referred to the Provincial Assessor, Catarman, N. Samar, the within set of papers relative to the request of Atty. Hazel Rebadulla-Riguera, for the re-appraisal of the land affected by the Small Water Impounding Management (SWIM) Project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The abovementioned request is being made in line with the provision of Section 6 of Executive Order No. 1035, series of 1985, which provides: "Section 6. Acquisition Through Negotiated Sale . As an initial step, the government implementing agency/instrumentality concerned shall negotiate with the owner of the land that is needed for the project for the purchase of the said land, including improvements thereon, In the determination of the purchase price to be paid, the Ministry of Finance and the Provincial/City/Municipal Assessors shall extend full assistance and coordinate with the personnel of the government implementing agency concerned in the valuation of lands and improvements thereon taking into consideration the current and fair market value declared by the owner or administrator of the land, or such current market value as determined by the assessor, whichever is lower, prior to the negotiation." It appears that the abovementioned property was appraised in June, 1994 by the Provincial Appraisal Committee (PAC) at a price of P2.50 sq.m. or P25,000.00/hectare which was based on the then existing records of the Office of the Provincial Assessor as of the year 1993 per resolution dated June 28, 1994 of the said Committee. The said property was taken by the DPWH for purposes of the SWIM project in 1997. ScCEIA Atty. Riguera submits that the subject property should be valued at P200.00 per sq.m., which is allegedly the fair, just and reasonable market value of the said property considering the increase in zonal valuation, the rising price of prime commodities, and the development and progress of Catarman where Macagtas is adjacent to its poblacion, hence, the abovementioned request. In order to address the abovementioned request of Atty. Riguera, this Bureau, under BLGF Travel Order No. 120-99, directed the conduct of an investigation/ocular inspection of the subject property to ascertain the propriety of the price recommended by the PAC for the negotiated sale to the government of the same. In a report submitted by the representatives of this Bureau who conducted the said ocular inspection, it was gathered, among others, that: 1. The Project Manager of Unimasters Conglomeration Incorporated (UNICON), a contractor of the said project, requested for and in behalf of the landowners of the affected properties, the PAC to appraise and determine the reasonable price of affected agricultural lands and improvements within the reservoir area of the SWIM project; 2. The procedure used in acquiring the abovementioned properties used for the government project, in effect, was not in accordance with the aforementioned provisions of Section 6 of E.O. No. 1035. IDaEHC 3. That in a Deed of Sale executed on February 6, 1998 (or about one year when the property of the Rebadullas was taken by DPWH) by and between Eduardo P. Gosiengfiao, as Vendor, and Mayor D. Dela Cruz, for the Municipality of Catarman, as Vendee, a parcel of land located also in the same Barangay (Macagtas) with sold for P100.00 per square meter. The only difference against the subject Rebadulla property is that theirs (the Rebadulla property) is located in the interior portion of the said Barangay, or several meters away from the road; and it is sunken and suitable for the purpose. Accordingly, this Bureau finds merit in the abovementioned request for reconsideration of the value as recommended by the PAC, and therefore, the Provincial Assessor of Northern Samar is hereby requested to determine the applicable unit value for the negotiated sale of the subject property, in line with the abovecited E.O. No. 1035, taking into the consideration the following: 1. The re-evaluation may consider the P100.00 per sq.m. price as benchmark of a property sold which is similarly located in the same Barangay (Macagtas); 2. Increases in property prices from the time the Rebadulla property was taken in 1997 against the 1998 prices when the sale (at P100.00 per sq.m.) was made, should be factored into the recomputation; and 3. The price difference of properties located in the low lying areas against those in the flat or elevated areas should likewise be considered. aSDCIE Report of action taken hereon within fifteen (15) days from receipt hereof, is requested. (SGD.) BENJAMIN A. GERONIMO Executive Director Memorandum For : Exec. Director B. A.. GERONIMO Thru : Channel SUBJECT : Report on the conduct of ocular inspection/investigation of the properties (land) affected by the Small Water Impounding Management (SWIM) Project Date : December 15, 2000 This refers to BLGF Travel Order No. 120-99 dated November 12, 1999, directing the undersigned to proceed to the Province of Northern Samar, to conduct an investigation/ocular inspection of the land affected by the Small Water Impounding Management Project (SWIP) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) located at Macagtas, Catarman, said province. The said investigation/ocular inspection was prompted by the representations made by Atty. Hazel Rebadulla-Riguera, requesting assistance for the re-appraisal of the land owned by Pablo and Paz, Perrain and Pablo, all surnamed Rebadulla, respectively, which was affected by the said project of the DPWH. It is submitted that an initial report hereon was submitted which advanced that: "the undersigned advised the representative of the party concerned to submit relevant documents pertaining to the subject matter in order to serve as guide/basis in resolving the aforementioned issue." In view thereof, Atty. Riguera, in her letter dated September 7, 2000, submitted a copy of the map indicating the affected properties of the said project, in addition to her letter dated May 25, 2000, copies attached. In this connection, the undersigned hereby submit the following: FINDINGS/OBSERVATIONS: 1. The subject property, covering an area of 16.5954 has., more or less, was appraised in June, 1994 by the Provincial Appraisal Committee (PAC) at a price of P2.50/sq.m. or P25,000.00/hectare which was based on the then existing records of the Office of the Provincial Assessor as of the year 1993 per resolution dated June 28, 1994 of the said Committee, copy attached. The said property was taken by the DPWH for purposes of the SWIP project in 1997; 2. The Project Manager of Unimasters Conglomeration Incorporated (UNICON), a contractor of the said project, requested for and in behalf of the landowners of the affected properties, the PAC to appraise and determine the reasonable price of the affected agricultural lands and improvements within the reservoir area of the SWIM Project; 3. Consequently, Atty. Riguera questioned the personality of UNICON to request, apparently in behalf of the affected property owners, for the appraisal of the said affected properties. Allegedly, the landowners never authorized any person or entity, much less UNICON, to represent them in the negotiation for the sale of any of their properties. It is likewise submitted that no one among the landowners of the said properties was called or invited to participate in the said negotiation of sale; 4. The Rebadullas (Paz and Terrain) appears to have already collected the amount of P336,862.50 and P146,887.50, respectively, as payment for their improvements based on the appraised value set by the PAC of Northern Samar. The herein representations, therefore, is for the reconsideration of the purchase price for the land at P2.50/sq.m. 5. The procedure used in acquiring the abovementioned properties to be used for government project was not in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 of E.O. No. 1035, which reads as follows: "Section 6. Acquisition Through Negotiated Sale . As an initial step, the government implementing agency/instrumentality concerned shall negotiate with the owner of the land that is needed for the project for the purchase of the said land, including improvements thereon, In the determination of the purchase price to be paid, the Ministry of Finance and the Provincial/City/Municipal Assessors shall extend full assistance and coordinate with the personnel of the government implementing agency concerned in the valuation of lands and improvements thereon taking into consideration the current and fair market value declared by the owner or administrator of the land, or such current market value as determined by the assessor, whichever is lower, prior to the negotiation." 6. In a Deed of Sale executed on February 6, 1998 (or about one year when the property of the Rebadullas was taken by DPWH) by and between Eduardo P. Gosiengfiao, as Vendor, and Mayor D. Dela Cruz, for the Municipality of Catarman, as Vendee, a parcel of land located also in the same Barangay (Macagtas) was sold for P100.00 per square meter. The only difference against the subject Rebadulla property is that theirs (the Rebadulla property) is located in the interior portion of the said Barangay, or several meters away from the road; and it is sunken and suitable for the purpose. RECOMMENDATION: Accordingly, the undersigned hereby recommend that the request of Atty. Riguera for the reconsideration of the value of P2.50 per square meter be favorably acted upon taking into consideration the fact that: 1. UNICON could not be considered to have validly represented the Rebadullas in negotiating with DPWH concerning the acceptable purchase price of their subject property; and 2. The re-evaluation may consider the P100.00 per sq.m. price as benchmark of a property sold which is similarly located in the same Barangay (Macagtas), taking into consideration the increases in property prices from the time the Rebadulla property was taken in 1997 against the 1998 prices when the sale (at P100.00 per sq.m. was made); and the price difference of properties located in the low lying areas against those in the flat or elevated areas. (SGD.) EDUARDO L. DEL ROSARIO (SGD.) SANTIAGO F. SOTELO (SGD.) ANABELLE C. GARRIDO