‘The Right-of-Way Act’ aims to facilitate the acquisition of right-of-way (ROW) site for government infrastructure projects.
Can the government take private real property without just compensation?
The answer is a big no. Article III, Section 9 of the Constitution states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.
In March last year, businessmen lauded former President Aquino who then signed into law Republic Act No. 10752, also known as “The Right-of-Way Act,” which aims to facilitate the acquisition of right-of-way (ROW) site for government infrastructure projects.
The law’s implementing rules and regulations were approved in May last year by an interagency committee chaired by former Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson.
While time is of the essence in building new roads and other infrastructure projects, the contentious issue of computing for the compensation of real estate acquired for ROW sites had been a cause of delay.
These sites can be acquired by the government through different modes: by donation, negotiated sale, expropriation and other modes of acquisition authorized by existing laws.
In negotiated sales, which is the most preferred mode, the Bureau of Internal Revenue zonal value is no longer the basis for compensation.
The offered compensation price is the sum of the 1) current market value of the land; 2) replacement cost of structures and improvements; and 3) current market value of crops and trees in the property (Sec. 6).
The appraisal to make a reasonable offer is to be done by government financial institution with adequate experience in property appraisal, or an independent property appraiser accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), or a professional association of appraisers recognized by the BSP.
The law provides Guidelines for Expropriation Proceedings (Sec. 7), as well as addresses Ecological and Environmental Concerns (Sec. 8) and Relocation of Informal Settlers (Sec. 9).
The hope is that this will clear ambiguity in the acquisition of private property for public use—a pain in the neck for both national and local governments.
Compiled by Minerva Generalao, Inquirer Research (Source: Inquirer Archives, gov.ph, coa.gov.ph)