G.R. No.

165828               August 24, 2011

NATIONAL POWER CORPORATION, Petitioner,

vs.
HEIRS OF MACABANGKIT SANGKAY, Respondents.

Facts: National Power Corporation (NPC) undertook the Agus River Hydroelectric
Power Plant Project to generate electricity for Mindanao. It included the
construction of several underground tunnels to be used in diverting the water
flow from the Agus River to the hydroelectric plants.

On 1997, Respondents sued NPC for recovery of damages of the property and a
prayer for just compensation. They alleged that the tunnel deprived them of the
agricultural, commercial, industrial and residential value of their land; and that
their land had also become an unsafe place for habitation, forcing them and their
workers to relocate to safer grounds.

Issue: Whether the Heirs of Sangkay have the right to just compensation

Held: Just compensation is the full and fair equivalent of the property taken from its
owner by the expropriator. It has the objective to recover the value of property
taken in fact by the governmental defendant, even though no formal exercise of
the power of eminent domain has been attempted by the taking agency.

The underground tunnels impose limitations on respondents’ use of the property

for an indefinite period and deprive them of its ordinary use. Hence, respondents
are clearly entitled to the payment of just compensation.

Notwithstanding the fact that petitioner only occupies the sub-terrain portion, it is
liable to pay not merely an easement fee but rather the full compensation for land.
It is settled that the taking of private property for public use, to be compensable,
need not be an actual physical taking or appropriation. This is so because in this
case, the nature of the easement practically deprives the owners of its normal
beneficial use. Compensable taking includes destruction, restriction, diminution,
or interruption of the rights of ownership or of the common and necessary use
and enjoyment of the property in a lawful manner, lessening or destroying its
value.