Davao City councilor proposes allocating funds for ROW

Photo from Councilor Edgar Ibuyan Jr. Office
Photo from Councilor Edgar Ibuyan Jr. Office

A CITY councilor proposed to allocate funds to resolve the insufficient budget for the road right-of-way (ROW) problem of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“I am proposing to have a right of way acquisition fund to help also DPWH kay gusto nako tinabangay ta, kay gusto nako paspas kay dili mani kaya sa DPWH lang tanan (we need to help each other so that will be able to finish the pending projects since DPWH could not handle this alone),” Davao City councilor Bernie Al-ag said during the regular session of the 20th Council on January 17, 2023, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Dabaw.

DPWH said one of the causes for the delay of their projects is the road right of way negotiation since some private landowners would refuse the use of their area.

One of the affected projects is the bridge in Asico Village in Matina Pangi. The landowner initially agreed to the use of the portion of their land but upon learning that there’s no allocation of funds for right-of-way acquisition, they requested the re-alignment of the project.

Meanwhile, during the regular session, DPWH was questioned by the council as to why some projects were allowed to push through even though the road right-of-way clearance was not secured.

The Davao City Engineering Office said that it is the responsibility of DPWH to secure the road right-of-way clearance certification for their project implementation.

“Dapat si DPWH hindi po talaga dapat siya mag-start kung hindi pa na-solve ‘yong problema sa road right-of-way (DPWH should not start their project if they were not able to secure the road right-of-way),” Engr. Allyn Tibos, representative from the Davao City Engineering Office, said.

However, DPWH representative Engr. Lilibeth Sarmiento said they can still implement the project even with right-of-way issues.

“Linawin ko lang po sa lahat, we can proceed with the construction and implementation maski kahit mayroon tayong problema sa right of way. Kaya namin ‘yong i-negotiate with the help of the barangay (I would like to clarify that we can still proceed with the construction and implementation although we have a right-of-way problem. The barangay can help us with the negotiations),” she said.

She added that affected landowners will be called by the barangay officials to negotiate with them.

“So, during that time, may negotiation na, meron pong portion na makapagtrabaho si contractor, tapos kung nakita nila na nakaproceed na, ‘yong iba pumapayag na po (the negotiation happens. After this, the contractor can proceed with the project if they see fit and when other landowners have allowed them to start working),” Sarmiento said.

According to Republic Act no. 10752, also known as the Right of Way Act, “private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.”

This law ensures that “owners of real property acquired for national government infrastructure projects are promptly paid just compensation for the expeditious acquisition of the required right-of-way for the projects.” KSD

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