■ BUSINESS SECTOR COOPERATION WITH GOV'T SOUGHT ON ROAD RIGHT-OFWAY ACQUISITION

Appeal to business owners whose establishments will be affected by infrastructure projects

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7 has appealed to business owners in Cebu, whose establishments and offices will be affected by future and ongoing infrastructure projects, to cooperate with the government in its process of acquiring road right of way.

“We are appealing to the businessmen that have properties in areas where we implement infrastructure works now and in the future to cooperate with the implementing agencies in acquiring the (road) right of way,” said Dionesio Ledres, Neda 7 Assistant Regional Director.

Ledres served as one of the speakers on Friday during the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry general membership meeting at the City Sports Club where he mentioned that one of the causes of delay in the implementation of public infrastructure is the difficulty in acquiring road right of way, side by side with the bidding and procurement process.

“We have projects here that take time to implement because of this issue with right of way. If we want to speed up infrastructure projects, there is a need for cooperation,” he said.

For instance, the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) requires road right-of-way acquisitions since the project entails widening of national roads. Early this year, BRT project chief Rafael Yap was quoted in reports as saying that the cost of road right of way acquisition would balloon to P9.04 billion from P1.27 billion, when it was first proposed to the Neda board in 2012.

Under Republic Act 10752 or An Act Facilitating the Acquisition of Right of Way Site or Location for National Government Infrastructure Projects, acquiring real property for any national government infrastructure projects can be done by means of donation, negotiated sale, expropriation or any other modes allowed legally.

For properties acquired via ne- gotiated sale, the law requires that the implementing government agency of the project pay the owner “fair compensation” equivalent to the current market value of the land, costs of replacement of structure and improvements therein, as well as the value of crops and trees to be removed.

In determining the appropriate price offer, the implementing government agency may engage the services of an independent property appraiser or government financial institution like the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The property owner is given 30 days to accept or refuse the government’s offer for payment. If the land owner accepts the offer, the implementing agency will need to pay half of the negotiated price upon execution of a deed of sale. The balance would be paid when the land title is transferred to the government.

If the property owner decides to decline the price offer, the implementing agency could initiate expropriation proceedings and take the matter to the proper court.

In cases where informal settlers are affected by the project, the government is mandated to establish resettlement sites for the affected individuals.

Anticipated big-ticket infrastructure projects in Cebu include the P50 billion Metro Cebu Expressway that will become an alternative road network that will link Naga City in the south and Danao City up north.