Expropriation to gain right-of-way pushed

Negotiated sale takes too long, says MCDCB

Lawyer Rose Liza Osorio of the University of Cebu’s College of Law, discusses the road-right-of-way bill during a forum at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Cebu City.
(CDN Photo/Junjie Mendoza)

The Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) is optimistic that the proposed amendments to the right-of-way law will be approved within this year.

University of Cebu Law Professor Rose Liza Osorio, who drafted the amendments, said the changes to Republic Act 8974 are needed to ensure that infrastructure projects are implemented immediately.

This would also lead to a more efficient transport and traffic management system.

“Hopefully, we can come up with a new law before the year ends,” she told members of the Cebu Business Club in a forum on Friday.

RA 8974 governs acquisition of real properties needed as right-of-way, site or location for any government infrastructure project.

Among the proposed amendments is to “include expropriation as a preferential mode of acquisition instead of negotiated sale.”

Osorio said the current preferred mode, negotiated sale, delays project implementation.

“One problem with negotiated sale is that the owner of the private property takes a long time to decide. Expropriation is faster,” she said.

Another proposed amendment is for the implementing agency to make a single offer to the property owner, not thrice as provided in the existing law.

The owner or owners will be given a specific timeline to accept or refuse the offer. After the one-time offer, government can proceed with expropriation, she said.

“Expropriation is a more relevant process now also because the courts are now bound to decide on a case. Now, it will take only six months to a year for the implementing agencies to acquire properties through expropriation,” she said.

Another proposed amendment is to apply the standards in negotiated sale cases also to expropriation cases.

Osorio said she was working with Guingona on the filing of a Senate version of the bill.

Fortunato Sanchez, Jr., MCDCB chairman of the subcommittee on infrastructure and utilities, said the amendments will benefit not only Cebu but the whole country.

“Take for example the Escario Street. It only takes four months to construct a four-lane road but it took us 10 years to do that because of right-of-way problems,” he said.