Sec. 2.
Discretionary Judicial Notice After trial and before judgment or on appeal, the
Landbank vs. Wycoco
Facts:
Feliciano F. Wycoco is the registered owner of a
94.1690 hectare unirrigated and untenanted rice
land, covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. NT-
206422 and situated in the Barrio of San Juan,
Licab, Nueva Ecija. Pursuant to the CARP, Wycoco
voluntarily offered to sell his land to the DAR for
P14.9 million. The evidence presented by Wycoco
in support of his claim were the following: (1)
Transfer Certificate of Title No. NT-206422; (2)
Notice of Land Valuation; and (3) letter dated July
10, 1992 rejecting the counter-offer of LBP and
DAR. However, the offered price of the DAR is only
P2,280,159.82, thus, he rejected the offer. He then
filed a case before the RTC for the determination of
just compensation. The RTC ruled in his favor. It
ruled that there is no need to present evidence in
support of the land valuation inasmuch as it is of
public knowledge that the prevailing market value
of agricultural lands sold in Licab, Nueva Ecija is
from P135,000.00 to 150,000.00 per hectare. The
court thus took judicial notice thereof and fixed the
compensation for the entire 94.1690 hectare land
at P142,500.00 per hectare or a total of
P13,428,082.00.
Issue:
WON the just compensation determined by the RTC
was valid and within its jurisdiction.
Ruling:
The Supreme Court ruled in the negative.
Sec. 3. Judicial Notice, When Hearing Necessary.
During the trial, the court, on its own initiative, or
on request of a party, may announce its intention
to take judicial notice of any matter and allow the
parties to be heard thereon.
proper court, on its own initiative, or on request of
a party, may take judicial notice of any matter and
allow the parties to be heard thereon if such matter
is decisive of a material issue in the case.
Inasmuch as the valuation of the property of
Wycoco is the very issue in the case at bar, the trial
court should have allowed the parties to present
evidence thereon instead of practically assuming a
valuation without basis. While market value may be
one of the bases of determining just compensation,
the same cannot be arbitrarily arrived at without
considering the factors to be appreciated in arriving
at the fair market value of the property e.g., the
cost of acquisition, the current value of like
properties, its size, shape, location, as well as the
tax declarations thereon. Since these factors were
not considered, a remand of the case for
determination of just compensation is
necessary. The power to take judicial notice is to be
exercised by courts with caution especially where
the case involves a vast tract of land. Care must be
taken that the requisite notoriety exists; and every
reasonable doubt on the subject should be
promptly resolved in the negative. To say that a
court will take judicial notice of a fact is merely
another way of saying that the usual form of
evidence will be dispensed with if knowledge of the
fact can be otherwise acquired. This is because the
court assumes that the matter is so notorious that
it will not be disputed. But judicial notice is not
judicial knowledge. The mere personal knowledge
of the judge is not the judicial knowledge of the
court, and he is not authorized to make his
individual knowledge of a fact, not generally or
professionally known, the basis of his action.