BCDA makes headway in ROW acquisition for railway project

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) continued to make progress in the acquisition of right-of-way for the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas (SCMB) Railway with the distribution of another 36 Transfer Certificate of Titles (TCTs) to landowners affected by the project in Pampanga.

In a statement, the BCDA said the certificates were turned over by Jocelyn Caniones, BCDA vice president and Subic-Clark Railway project director, to 17 lot owners from Porac and Floridablanca.

This is the second batch of TCTs turned over by the BCDA for the SCMB project.

In November last year, the BCDA distributed 68 TCTs.

Under Republic Act 10752 or the Right-of-Way Act, the owner of properties affected by a project and the implementing agency need to execute a deed of absolute sale, with the implementing agency facilitating the annotation of the deed of absolute sale on the TCTs.

TCTs serve as evidence of ownership of the registered land.

There are 519 lots affected by the SCMB project in Porac and Floridablanca.

The BCDA said it had completed the negotiations with 212 lot owners. Of these, 163 have already received either partial or complete compensation.

“The SCMB Railway Project would not succeed without the support of the landowners who yielded to the railway’s requirements. This development emphasizes affected landowners’ important role in realizing the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) vision,” Caniones said.

As a flagship project of the LEC, the 250-kilometer SCMB is expected to link and provide freight transport services for four major economic points in Luzon: the Port of Subic, Clark International Airport, Port of Manila and Port of Batangas.

These four ports facilitate about 80 percent of the country’s port traffic.

The LEC is being developed by the Philippines, along with the United States and Japan, following the Trilateral Leaders’ Summit of the three countries in April of last year.

Earlier, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go said the government remains hopeful that the US would continue to support the development of the LEC.

US President Donald Trump announced a freeze on foreign aid on his first day in office last Jan. 20.

As the government remains optimistic about the SCMB’s implementation, the BCDA continues to facilitate the ROW acquisition for the project.

The US, Sweden and the Asian Development Bank will undertake the SCMB project’s feasibility study.