- Petitioner
- Land Bank of the Philippines
- Respondent
- Manuel O. Gallego, Jr.
- Citation
- G.R. No. 173226
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- Second Division
- Ponente
- Tinga, J.
- Decided
- January 20, 2009
Summary
This landmark agrarian reform case involved the determination of just compensation for 122.8464 hectares of agricultural land expropriated in 1972 under P.D. No. 27. The Gallego family sought proper compensation after 26 years of non-payment. The Regional Trial Court awarded P52.2 million using a P500 government support price, while the Court of Appeals reduced this to P30.7 million based on current market value. The Supreme Court reversed both decisions, ruling that R.A. No. 6657 provisions apply to incomplete P.D. No. 27 expropriations and remanded the case for proper valuation under DAR Administrative Order No. 5. The Court granted execution pending appeal citing the 36-year delay and humanitarian considerations, establishing important precedent for retroactive application of R.A. No. 6657 to incomplete agrarian reform cases and equitable treatment of long-delayed compensation claims.