Sps. Yusay vs. CA - Prohibition

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Sps. Yusay vs.

CA opposition; and that the purpose for the expropriation was not
for public use and the expropriation would not benefit the
G.R. No. 156684 April 6, 2011 Bersamin, J greater number of inhabitants.
FACTS: The petitioners owned a parcel of land with an area of Ruling of the CA: The decision of the RTC was reversed.
1,044 square meters situated between Nueve de Febrero Resolution No. 552 deserved to be accorded the benefit of the
Street and Fernandez Street in Barangay presumption of regularity and validity absent any sufficient
Mauway, MandaluyongCity. Half of their land they used as showing to the contrary; that notice to the petitioners (Spouses
their residence, and the rest they rented out to nine other Yusay) of the succeeding hearings conducted by the City was
families. Allegedly, the land was their only property and only not a part of due process, for it was enough that their views
source of income. had been consulted and that they had been given the full
On October 2, 1997, the Sangguniang opportunity to voice their protest; that to rule otherwise would
Panglungsod of Mandaluyong City adopted Resolution No. be to give every affected resident effective veto powers in law-
552, Series of 1997, to authorize then City Mayor Benjamin S. making by a local government unit; and that a public hearing,
Abalos, Sr. to take the necessary legal steps for the although necessary at times, was not indispensable and
merely aided in law-making.
expropriation of the land of the petitioners for the purpose of
developing it for low cost housing for the less privileged but
deserving city inhabitants.
ISSUE: Whether or not Prohibition is proper.
Contention of the Petitioner:
RULING: Procedural (prohibition). Verily, there can be no
Violation of due process as they were not notified of the prohibition against a procedure whereby the immediate
succeeding deliberation of the city council.It is their only possession of the land under expropriation proceedings may
property and source of income. be taken, provided always that due provision is made to
Ruling of the Trial Court: The petition for certiorari to declare secure the prompt adjudication and payment of just
compensation to the owner. This bar against prohibition comes
the assailed Resolution is granted. The RTC held that the
from the nature of the power of eminent domain as
petition was not premature because the passage of Resolution
No. 552 would already pave the way for the City to deprive the necessitating the taking of private land intended for public
petitioners and their heirs of their only property; that there was use, and the interest of the affected landowner is thus made
no due process in the passage of Resolution No. 552 because subordinate to the power of the State. Once the State decides
the petitioners had not been invited to the subsequent to exercise its power of eminent domain, the power of judicial
review becomes limited in scope, and the courts will be left to
hearings on the resolution to enable them to ventilate their
determine the appropriate amount of just compensation to be
paid to the affected landowners. Only when the landowners
are not given their just compensation for the taking of their
property or when there has been no agreement on the amount
of just compensation may the remedy of prohibition become
available.

Here, however, the remedy of prohibition was not called for,


considering that only a resolution expressing the desire of
the Sangguniang Panglungsod to expropriate the petitioners
property was issued. As of then, it was premature for the
petitioners to mount any judicial challenge, for the power of
eminent domain could be exercised by the City only through
the filing of a verified complaint in the proper court.[22] Before
the City as the expropriating authority filed such verified
complaint, no expropriation proceeding could be said to exist.
Until then, the petitioners as the owners could not also be
deprived of their property under the power of eminent domain

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