The acquisition of ROW is a multifaceted process that requires the cooperation and coordination of all stakeholders
The slow development of Philippine transportation infrastructure is one of the most frustrating problems every inhabitant has been living with for decades.
If you live and work in the Mega-Manila area, like me, you are one of the millions who must endure hours of daily traffic jams.
The underdevelopment of transport infrastructure has been a constant bane to individual mobility and industry supply chains, like a ball and chain restraining the economy.
In the 2023 World Competitiveness Yearbook by Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development, the Philippines’ competitiveness ranking slipped to 52nd out of 64 countries, a drop of four places from the previous year.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines has been stuck in 13th place, that’s second to the last out of 14 countries for six years straight.
In a published statement, the Asian Institute of Management, the IMD’s local partner, pointed out the constant delays in infrastructure caused another downgrade from 57th in 2022 to 58th in 2023.
Right-of way issues are the most common and already an anticipated cause for delay and added costs because of the clashing interests created between government and the development partner, versus the legal owners of ROW affected properties.
Here are four big examples of huge projects that suffered serious delays because of ROW issues.
The Skyway Stage 3 and the NLEX Connector projects managed by San Miguel Corporation, the NLEX-SLEX connector road and CALAX projects managed by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. all had to negotiate with tough dealing property owners that in some cases even caused the rerouting of entire segments of the projects because a property owner just would not budge.
From what I can gather from online research, just for the Skyway Stage 3 project which spans 18.83 km, almost 400 ROW cases had to be resolved.
Imagine how many more ROW issues had to be addressed with the other three projects mentioned above which have an approximate total length of over 61 kilometers.
It’s likely that all of Metro-Manila’s inhabitants at one time or another experienced the inconvenience of disrupted traffic routes throughout the approximately 80 kilometer-length of these four projects while under construction.
Apparently, there is a need for urgent reforms that would unravel what seems to be a Right-of-way law (R.A. 10752) that is supposed to establish the legal process of acquiring the ROW, while ensuring fair compensation for affected property owners.
Ironically the same law applied by skillful lawyers to protect the interest of their ROW affected property owners, which then results in huge delays.
The House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 6571 or the “An Act of Providing Additional Guidelines in the Acquisition of ROW, Site or Location for National Government Infrastructure Projects” which aims to expedite ROW issues; offer landowners affected by ROW acquisition of the current market value or zonal value of the land; address the issues of squatting, among others.
I had the privilege of listening to a forum of Industry leaders and stakeholders engaging in honest and insights on how to solve the ROW problem.
Respecting Chatham House rules, I cannot quote the participants but will share some very instructive notes.
Political will is important. Mandated to streamline the ROW process, a champion must be appointed by Office of the President and mandated with an Executive Order to expedite the ROW process. This method is faster than passing a bill through Congress.
The private sector engaging in Public Private Partnerships plays a significant role in this process.
They are can be allowed to compensate for ROW appropriately, which could include replacement or market value, rent subsidy, etc. This can help alleviate the financial burden on the government.
Coordination gaps between implementing agencies and Local Government Units must be aligned to improve the process of expropriation.
A special court can be created to ensure the ease of resolution of cases. This would expedite the process and help avoid unnecessary delays.
ROW can be partially delegated to the private sector. However, safeguards must be in place to ensure that the process is fair and transparent.
The acquisition of ROW is a multifaceted process that requires the cooperation and coordination of all stakeholders.
With the right strategies and policies billions in resources can be saved by quickening the completion all of these delayed critical infrastructure that we needed decades ago.