© See. 2. Discretionary Judicial Notice 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, LUcab, Nugva Ecija. Pursuant to the CARP, Wycoco voluntarily ofered to sell his land to the DAR for P149 millon. The evidence presented by Wycoco in support of his claim were the fallowing: (4) Trander Certificate of Tide No. NT206422; (2) Notice of Land Valuation; and (3) leter dated July 10, 1992 rejecting the counter-offer of LAP and DAR. However, the offered price ofthe DAR is only 2,280,159.82, 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 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 713,428,082.00, WON the just compensation determined by the RTC was valid and withinitsjurisdietion. Ruling: The Supreme Court ruled in the negative. “After trial and before judgment ex an appeal, the proper court, on its own initiative, ar on request of ‘party, may take judicial notice of any matter and allow the partes to be heard therean if such matter Is decisive of a material ssve in the case. Inasmuch as the valuation of the property of \Wycoce is the very issue in the ease at bar, the trial court should have allowed the parties to present ‘evidence thereon instead of practically assuming 2 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 lat 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. Sinee these factors were rot considered, 2 remand of the case for determination ‘af just compensation is necessary. The power to take judicial notice is to be exercised by courts with caution especialy where: the case involves a vast tract of land. Care must be taken that the requisite natoriety exists; and every reasonable doutt on the subject shoud be promptly resolved in the negative. To say that 2 ‘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. Thisis because the ‘court assumes that the matter is s0 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 ‘Sec. 3. Judicial Notice, When Hearing Necessary. During the trial, the court, on its own initiative, ar on request of a party, may announce its intention to take judicial notice of any matter and allow the porties to be heard thereon.