THE National Transmission Corporation (Transco) needs to pay 41 years’ worth of rent to the heirs of property owners in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte for occupying a portion of their land since 1979.
In a decision released last week, the Commission on Audit said heirs of Pedro Lido and spouses Mauro Borja and Demetria Bajao deserve to collect just compensation for being deprived use of their properties.
By the audit agency’s calculations, the unpaid rent at P100 per square meter has accumulated to P891,400 as of September 2019 but the legal interest of six percent per year has reached P2.115 million.
According to records Llido, Borja and Bajao passed aways “in the 1920s” and were no longer around when government workers installed the power lines that intruded into their lot boundaries.
Their grandchildren discovered the incursion in 2001 and sought payment from Transco through a demand letter. After waiting for six years and getting no reply, they filed a petition with the Butuan City regional trial court on De ember 13, 2007.
In 2015, the RTC rendered a decision declaring the heirs of Borja and Bajao are entitled to compensation of P572,500 plus six percent annual interest from 1979 until fully paid.
Llido’s heirs, on the other hand, were ordered paid P318,900 and six percent interest counted from 1979.
Transco was also told to pay P4,747 in litigation expenses and P5,000 as cost of suit.
The state-owned firm appealed the RTC judgment but lost before the Court of Appeals (2017) and the Supreme Court (2018). With all challenges resolved, the SC declared the ruling final and issued an entry of judgment on July 9, 2018.
The heirs were then told by the Butuan RTC to file a petition for money claim before the COA.
