Original source of news.
https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/11/17/sec-revokes-license-of-villar-land-appraiser-1216
MANILA – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revoked the accreditation of E-Value Phils., the appraiser who initially assessed the new investment properties of Villar Land at P1.34 trillion.
In a statement, the SEC said E-Value’s appraisal reports were not compliant with International Valuation Standards. The SEC said this constitutes misrepresentation under its memorandum circular.
According to the SEC, misrepresentation happens when a report indicates compliance with the standards but is not supported by adequate documents, or when supporting documents indicate otherwise.
The SEC said E-Value did not provide documents that served as bases for its assumptions and valuation methodologies that led to the P1.34 trillion valuation of Villar Land’s newly-acquired investment properties.
On top of revoking its accreditation, the SEC also fined E-Value Phils. P1 million.
What went before
Villar Land last week said its investment properties in 2024 were valued at P8.8 billion, down from the P1.34 trillion it declared in March this year. The valuation covered the purchase of 366.34 hectares of land through the purchase of outstanding capital stock of Althorp Land Holdings Inc., Chalgrove Properties Inc., and Los Valores Corp.
The company explained that the properties were initially appraised using the income approach, resulting in an estimated value of approximately P1.3 trillion.
But it noted that the properties were also evaluated under the market approach —which assumes an as-is, stand-alone sale as of the valuation date — after discussions with its external auditor, Punongbayan & Araullo.
The company noted that the income approach and market approach are not directly comparable, “as they rely on different assumptions, development horizons, and intended use.”
The SEC said the company’s March report publicly made known the substantial fair value gains in the company’s total assets because of value appreciation of certain properties. But these were later reported to still be pending final verification or audit.
“This act or scheme could very well mislead the investing public,” the SEC said.
“The effect of such disclosure to the investing public can be clearly seen in the volume turnover of the company’s shares in the market, as, during the period of 25 March 2025 to 31 March 2025, the average volume turnover was at P2,112,808, while it was only P218,382.50 for the period 03 March 2025 to 24 March 2025,” it added.
The SEC also ordered Althorp Land Holdings Inc., Chalgrove Properties Inc., and Los Valores Corp. to submit new appraisal reports, as E-Value’s reports have been found non-compliant with the law.