BRGY SAN ROQUE V. HEIRS OF PASTOR (REMEDIAL)

We agree with the petitioner that an EXPROPRIATION suit is incapable of pecuniary estimation.

In the present case, an expropriation suit does not involve the recovery of a sum of money. Rather, it deals with the exercise by the government of its authority and right to take private property for public use.

As held in NAPOCOR v. Jocson, expropriation proceedings have two phases:

1. The first is concerned with the determination of the authority of the plaintiff to exercise the power of eminent domain and the propriety of its exercise in the context of the facts involved in the suit. It ends with an order, if not of dismissal of the action, 'of condemnation declaring that the plaintiff has a lawful right to take the property sought to be condemned for the public use or purpose described in the complaint.
2. The second phase is concerned with the determination by the court of the just compensation for the property sought to be taken. This is done by the court with the held of three commissioners.

It should be stressed that the primary consideration in an expropriation suit is whether the government or any of its instrumentalities has complied with the requisites for the taking of private property. Hence, the courts determine the authority of the government entity, the necessity of the expropriation, and the observance of due process. In the main, the subject of an expropriation suit is the government's exercise of eminent domain, a matter that is incapable of pecuniary estimation.