Who owned portion of the lots of Mango and Gorordo avenues? (Last of two parts)
In response to the letter of Victoria Amigable, the registered owner of a portion of the lots appropriated by the government for the construction of the Mango and Gorordo avenues, President Carlos P. Garcia endorsed the claim to the auditor general, who disallowed it.
The endorsement was dated December 9, 1958. The disallowance letter was transmitted by the Office of President Garcia to the counsel of Amigable on January 9, 1959.
On February 6, 1959, Amigable filed a complaint before the Court of First Instance of Cebu against the Republic of the Philippines and the Commissioner of Public Highways, Nicolas Cuenca. She asked for the recovery of the possession of her lots and asked for P50,000 for compensatory damages for the illegal possession and P50,000 for moral damages.
The government defended itself with the arguments that the complaint has prescribed and that it was the Province of Cebu that appropriated the lot and not the national government.
The Court of First Instance dismissed the complaint on July 29, 1959 explaining it had no jurisdiction to the cause of action of Victoria Amigable. She then filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied, she then later appealed to the Court of Appeals, which also denied her plea, so she went to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court decided in favor of Victoria Amigable, saying that that latter could question the expropriation anytime, being the registered owner of the lot. It also said that the government is obliged to give due compensation for the private property used by it for public use.
The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Court of First Instance for the determination of due compensation of the portion of the lots used by the government for the construction of the roads.
It was a long and arduous legal battle. It was only on February 29, 1972 that the Supreme Court en banc finally decided on the case. The Supreme Court noted an earlier similar case that of Amigable. The decision was written by Justice Makalintal.
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