Frasco asks LGUs: Assist DPWH in road right of way for faster project implementation 

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Acquiring the Road Right of Way (RROW) remains the greatest setback of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in implementing their projects.

This was the concern brought up by DPWH Central Visayas Director Edgar Tabacon during the House of Representatives Committee on Visayas Development on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, as he said that the implementation of their projects are often delayed because they do not have the budget to pay for the properties that will be affected by the projects.

This 2020, the DPWH-7 has about P25 billion worth of projects for implementation. However, these may not be completely rolled out because of the issues on RROW.

This prompted Cebu fifth district Representative Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco, who chairs the Committee, to call on local government units to assist the DPWH-7 in acquiring the RROW and fast-track the implementation of projects.

“The road right of way issue macompound gyud siya kay mo-affect man pod sa implementation sa projects sa DPWH,” Frasco said in a separate interview. “Ingon sila naa silay kwarta but di sila ka- implement kay walay road right of way budget. Moabot ang RROW budget sunod tuig,” he added.

But since the utilization of the DPWH budget for 2020 will be affected by the RROW issue, Frasco said the DPWH-7 still cannot implement their projects right away when the RROW is settled because their budget allocation is determined by their budget utilization rate in the previous budget year.

“That means maghuwat tag two to three years usa mahuman ang project. That is if itingub nila og release ang budget for road right of way. What if ilang i-tagi-tagi,” Frasco said.

The neophyte representative said Cebu can no longer wait for another two or three years to implement projects that are seen to solve the traffic congestion woes.

“Katong akong gi-suggest which is ang local government unit mo-assist. Whether the municipality or city and perhaps even the province motabang for the road right of way acquisition. At the end of the day, kung ma-solve nato ang RROW issue, makaimplement ang DPWH and everybody would be much happier. The roads will be fixed and widened and ang mga lungson, mag accessible na,” Frasco said.

“We can’t wait for 2 or three years to get it (traffic) fixed. Akong gi-propose nga magtinabangay ang DPWH ug ang LGUs in terms of solving the issue sa RROW,” he added.

By “assisting,” the LGUs will shoulder the RROW acquisition first and pay for the affected properties but the DPWH will have to reimburse the LGUs once their RROW budget is already available.

Frasco, who is also the vice-chair of the House Committee on Budget and Appropriation, also vowed to push for the release of the RROW budget of the DPWH. /rcg