1. POWER OF
EMINENT DOMAIN

2. SECTION 9, ARTICLE III OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION
• “PRIVATE PROPERTY SHALL NOT BE TAKEN FOR PUBLIC
USE WITHOUT JUST COMPENSATION”

3. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS ON EMINENT
DOMAIN
SECTION 18, ARTICLE XII (PUBLIC UTILITIES)
SECTION 4, ARTICLE XIII (LAND REFORM)
SECTION 22, ARTICLE XVIII (IDLE OR ABANDONED LANDS)

4. “Eminent domain is the right or power of a
sovereign state to appropriate private property to
particular uses to promote public welfare. It is an
indispensable attribute of sovereignty; a power
grounded in the primary duty of government to serve the
common need and advance the general welfare.
The power of eminent domain is inseparable in
sovereignty being essential to the existence of the State
and inherent in government.”

5. “But the exercise of such right is not unlimited, for two
mandatory requirements should underlie the Government’s
exercise of the power of eminent domain, namely:
1. That it is for a particular public purpose; and
2. That just compensation be paid to the property owner.
These requirements partake the nature of implied
conditions that should be complied with to enable the
condemnor to keep the property expropriated.”
National Transmission Lines vs. Oroville Development Corporation
G.R No. 223366, August 01, 2017

6. COMPENSABLE
TAKING
• 1. Expropriator must enter upon
the private property;
• 2. not for a momentary period;
and
• 3. under warrant or color of legal
authority
Note: Utilization deprives owner of
all beneficial enjoyment of the
property

7. PUBLIC
USE
• The requirement of public use
means that the expropriator must
use the property for the purpose
specified in the petition. If it is
not done the expropriator must
return the property, even if there
is no agreement as to the reversal.
Owner must return the just
compensation.

8. PUBLIC
USE
• The public nature of the prospective
exercise of expropriation cannot
depend on the “numerical count of
those to be served or the smallness or
largeness of the community to be
benefited.” The number of people is
not determinative of whether or not it
constitutes public use; provided the
use is exercisable in common and is not
limited to particular individuals.

9. JUST
COMPENSATIO
N
• “JUST and COMPLETE EQUIVALENT of the loss
which the owner of the thing expropriated has to
suffer by reason of expropriation.”
• Fair market value (FMV)
• Payment must be made within the a reasonable
time from its taking.
• Appointment of Commissioners (3) for the
determination of just compensation per selection
of the parties.
Note: Payment of deposit of at least 15% of the FMV
based on the current Tax Declaration of the property
to be paid I the appropriate court.
(Sec. 10, RA 7160, LGC)

10. POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN OF THE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS
• No inherent power of eminent domain
• LGUs can exercise the power only when
expressly authorized by the Legislature;
subject to statutory requirements
pursuant to the Local Government Code
(RA 7160);

11. JUDICIAL REVIEW
2 phases:
I. Ascertaining the nature of the TAKING
and PUBLIC USE character of the purpose
of the taking; and
II. Valuation of the JUST COMPENSATION

12. JUDICIAL REVIEW
• Note: When exercised by subordinate bodies of the
Congress the determination of the necessity of
Expropriation Proceedings is a JUSTICIABLE QUESTION.
• However, when the power is exercised directly by the
CONGRESS, the question of necessity is essential a
POLITICAL QUESTION.

13. NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION
V.S
OROVILLE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
G.R. NO. 223366, AUGUST 01, 2017

14. Main point:
In cases when the Government took control and
possession of the subject properties for public use
without initiating expropriation proceedings and
without payment of just compensation, the courts
has uniformly ruled that just compensation is the
value of the property at the time of the taking that is
controlling for the purposes of compensation,

15. POWER OF
T A X A T I O N

16. Section 28 (1), Article VI of the 1987
Constitution:
THE RULE OF TAXATION SHALL BE UNIFORM
AND EQUITABLE. THE CONGRESS SHALL
EVOLVE A PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM OF
TAXATION

17. “As a general rule, the power to tax is an
incident of sovereignty and is unlimited in its
range, acknowledging in its very nature no
limits, so that security against its abuse is to
be found only in the responsibility of the
legislature which imposes the tax on the
constituency who are to pay it. Nevertheless,
effective limitations thereon may be imposed
by the people through the Constitution.

18. “The power to tax is primarily vested in the
Congress; however, in our jurisdiction, it may be
exercised by local legislative bodies, no longer
merely by virtue of a valid delegation as before,
but pursuant to direct authority conferred by
Section 5, Article X of the Constitution.”
(MCIAA vs. MARCOS G.R. No. 120082, September 11, 1996)

19. Purposes
and
objectives
• Revenue
• Regulatory
• Promotion of general welfare

20. LIFEBLOOD THEORY BENEFITS RECEIVED THEORY

21. Limitations on the exercise
• Due process of the law;
• Equal protection clause;
• Public purpose;

22. Due
process of
the law
• Tax should not be confiscatory;
• An imposition of tax should not be so unconscionable
and unjust as to amount to confiscation of property. For
despite it plenitude, the power to tax cannot override
constitutional prescription.

23. Facts of the case:
MCIAA enjoyed the privilege of exemption from payment of realty taxes in
accordance with Section 14 of its Charter (RA 6958).
However, the Office of the Treasurer of Cebu, demanded for the payment
of realty taxes, insisting that the MCIAA’s tax exemption privilege has been
withdrawn by virtue the repealing clause in the Local Government Code
(LGC),
MACTAN CEBU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY (MCIAA) v.
Hon. Ferdinand Marcos
261 SCRA 667

24. Ruling of the Court
• Tax statutes are construed strictly against the government and
liberally in favor of the taxpayer. But since taxes are paid for
civilized society, or are the lifeblood of the nation, the law frowns
against exemptions from taxation and statutes granting tax
exemptions are thus construed strictissimi juris against the
taxpayer and liberally in favor of the taxing authority.
• A claim of exemption from tax payments must be clearly shown
and based on language in the law too plain to be mistaken.
Taxation is the rule, exemption therefrom is the exception. And
corollary, the exemption may be withdrawn at the pleasure of
the taxing authority..

25. Ruling of the Court
• MCIAA is a “taxable person” under its Charter (RA 6958),
and was only exempted from the payment of real property
taxes. The grant of the privilege only in respect of this tax is
conclusive proof of the legislative intent to make it a taxable
person subject to all taxes, except real property tax.
• With that repealing clause in the LGC, the tax exemption
provided for in RA 6958 had been expressly repealed by the
provisions of the LGC. Therefore, MCIAA has to pay the
assessed realty tax of its properties.

27. KAWANANAKOA v. POLYBANK
205 US 349 (1907)
“A sovereign is exempt from suit, not because of any
formal conception or obsolete theory, but on the logical
and practical ground that there can be no legal right as
against the authority that makes the law on which the
right depends.”
IMMUNITY FROM SUIT

28. DOCTRINE OF QUALIFIED
AGENCY

29. “All executive and administrative organizations are adjuncts of the
Executive Department, the heads of the various executive departments
are assistants and agents of the Chief Executive, and except in cases where
the Chief Executive is required by the Constitution or the law to act in
person or the exigencies of the situation demand that he act personally,
the multifarious executive and administrative functions of the Chief
Executive are performed by and through the executive departments, and
the acts of the secretaries of such departments, performed and
promulgated in the regular course of business, are, unless disapproved
or reprobated by the Chief Executive, presumptively the acts of the Chief
Executive.”

30. VILLENA v. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
G.R. No. L-46570
April 21, 1939
• The Doctrine of Qualified Political Agency provides that
the “acts of the department secretaries performed and
promulgated in the regular course of business, are,
unless disapproved or reprobated by the President,
presumptively the acts of the President”
• The power to suspend may be exercised by the President.
It follows that the heads of the Department under her
may also exercise the same.