MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reassess its legal opinion that could obstruct right-of-way (ROW) acquisition for the country’s biggest rail projects.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon has asked the DOJ to clarify its legal opinion regarding the compensation for people affected by ROW procurement for foreign-funded projects.
The DOJ’s legal opinion advises the DOTr to comply with Republic Act 10752 or the ROW Act, which provides that payment can be made to a landowner only after the property is cleared of structures and the title is transferred to the government.
This is contrary to the loan guidelines of multilateral partners like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). These lenders require borrowers to fully compensate landowners prior to displacement.
“We are actively pursuing various approaches regarding the DOJ’s legal opinion. As we believe that the opinion was issued based on incomplete facts and assumptions, we submitted to the DOJ a request for clarification where we raised additional facts and new legal arguments,” Dizon said.
Currently, Dizon said the DOTr is following the compensation rules of foreign funders pending the requested clarification from the DOJ.
Recently, the DOTr gained progress in acquiring ROW for the P488.5-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP), receiving the needed clearance to enter posh village White Plains and commercial hub Metrowalk.
Also, the DOTr is accelerating ROW procurement for the southern segment of the P873.6-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) to keep up with the developments on the northern side.
The NSCR has achieved a progress rate of 29.23 percent as of May. By segment, the project has hit 51.25-percent completion in the Tutuban-Malolos section; 39.86 percent in the Malolos-Clark line; and 12.66 percent in the Solis-Calamba stretch.
The previous DOTr leadership had stopped procuring ROW for NSCR and MMSP in respect to the DOJ’s legal opinion, causing years of construction delays. Both NSCR and MMSP are funded by Japan through ADB and JICA.
Originally, the NSCR’s Malolos-Clark segment should be finished by 2027, but this was moved to 2028, while the MMSP was pushed back by three years to 2032.
The NSCR is expected to benefit up to 800,000 passengers daily between the Clark International Airport and Calamba, Laguna, while the MMSP is projected to ferry around 519,000 commuters per day between Valenzuela City and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.