by PNA
Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) will seek thorough and correct valuation of its sugar plantation in Tarlac province so that the government can truly justly compensate this company for subjecting the estate to agrarian reform.
â€All inputs for the valuation must be correct,†lawyer and HLI spokesperson Tony Ligon said during Saturday Forum at Annabel’s in Quezon City.
Ligon said among such inputs are the 4,915-hectare land’s productivity and yield as well as property values in areas surrounding this estate.
Ligon clarified HLI’s stand, noting the company can no longer seek reconsideration of SC’s ruling that the valuation must be based on 1989 land rates.
SC spokesperson Midas Marquez said the order - which also mandates distribution of Luisita land to farmer-beneficiaries there - is final and executory, he noted.
Owners of Luisita believe their land’s valuation must be reckoned from January 2006 when government served them the notice of coverage for their plantation.
â€Just compensation is what the value is at the time of a property’s taking,†Ligon noted.
Last year, however, SC ruled “HLI is entitled to just compensation for the agricultural land that will be transferred to Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to be reckoned from November 21, 1989 which is the date of issuance of PARC Resolution No. 89-12-2.â€
â€We can’t insist on using 2006 as basis for the valuation -- we’ll abide by SC’s decision but the assessment must cover the correct parameters,†Ligon said.
DAR and State-run Land Bank of the Philippines will undertake the valuation.
Ligon said 1989 land rate in the area hovered around P4 per square meter or P40,000 per hectare only.
Such rate already soared to P100 per square meter or P1 million per hectare in 2006, he noted, citing valuation of nearby properties surrounding Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
Ligon said HLI will explain SC’s final decision to workers at the plantation.
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