Gov’t ordered to pay P28 billion to Hacienda Luisita
THE Court of Appeals (CA) ordered the government to pay Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI) over P28.49 billion in just compensation for 4,500 hectares of farmland.
In a decision, dated April 25, 2025, the appellate court special twelfth division reversed and set aside the February 2023 decision and August 2023 resolution of a regional trial court, which affirmed the P304-million valuation fixed by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) as just compensation for the lands owned by the HLI.
“To this Court, just compensation was not correctly assessed and determined by the RTC-SAC (RTC, acting as Special Agrarian Court) as what should be paid to the landowner in exchange for the property taken shall be real, substantial, full, ample, just and fair,” the 35-page ruling penned by Justice Raymond Reynold R. Lauigan read.
It ruled that the RTC-SAC failed to follow Section 17 of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, Republic Act No. 6657, in determining the just compensation owed to Cojuangco-owned HLI for the government’s takeover of its land.
The respondents, LBP and DAR, were ordered to pay P28.48 billion as just compensation as of April 30, 2025, without prejudice to the accrual of interest until fully paid.
DAR Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III and Landbank President Lynette V. Ortiz did not immediately respond to separate Viber chats seeking comment.
HLI filed the case before the RTC-SAC of Tarlac City, Branch 63, after the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) denied its petition for additional compensation and affirmed LBP’s valuation.
In its January 2015 decision, DARAB noted it denied the claims after HLI already received and withdrew the P304-million principal amount, and an additional P167.4 million in interest.
The CA emphasized that in determining just compensation, factors such as the nature and character of the land at the time of taking, or when the owner was deprived of its use, including the transfer of title to the Republic, must be considered.
The tribunal ruled that the time of taking, Nov. 21, 1989, determines the applicable DAR administrative order for computing just compensation. It found that the RTC-SAC erred by failing to consider HLI’s actual production data in its valuation.
Instead of conducting an independent assessment, the trial court merely adopted the valuation of the LBP and DAR without validating HLI’s submitted financial records, including audited statements and accounting documents.
The CA said HLI established that the land value was P1.029 billion, which should serve as the base amount for just compensation, excluding interest and other possible entitlements. Given that payment was made only in 2013, well after the 1989 taking, the delay entitled HLI to interest.
As a result, the CA ruled that the total just compensation due to HLI, as of April 30, 2025, amounts to P28.49 billion. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
