“Another transport infrastructure project confronted by right-of-way problems is the Metro Rail Transit Line 7”
REPORTS of national and local government projects being delayed because of right-of-way issues are common.
For ordinary Filipinos, such issues may seem simple. That these have caused losses in time and resources suggest otherwise. Among government projects that have been delayed due to right-of-way concerns are those connected with transport infrastructure.
Many of the projects are undertaken through public-private arrangements. The difficulties in acquiring right-of way could discourage the entry of more investments in the infrastructure sector.
The country has laws governing the acquisition of right-of-way areas. Foremost of which is Republic Act 10752, The Right-of Way Act, which facilitates the acquisition of right-of-way site or location for national government infrastructure projects.
Approved in 2016, it repealed Republic Act 897. The law provides the modes by which government may acquire real property needed as right-of-way site for its infrastructure projects: through donation, negotiated sale, expropriation, or any other mode of acquisition as provided by the law.
On March 25, 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Administrative Order 19 which created the Inter-agency Committee for Right-of Way Activities for National Railway Projects “to study and devise an efficient and collaborative mechanism to streamline the process of land acquisition necessary for the implementation of all railway projects.”
One of the priority projects in the transportation sector that experienced delays due to right-of-way issues, among others, is the North-South Commuter Railway System.
The North-South Commuter Railway System is a flagship project under the “Build Better More” program. Spanning 148 km., the railway network comprises three segments: the PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban-Malolos), PNR Clark Phase 2 (Malolos-Clark) and PNR Calamba (Solis-Calamba).
It will have 37 stations and 464 train cars. The Department of Transportation, as of posting, expects the Manila to Mallows segment to become operational by end of 2026 or early 2027.
Another transport infrastructure project confronted by right-of-way problems is the Metro Rail Transit Line 7, undertaken by San Miguel Corporation, which broke ground in April 2016 and construction began in August that year.
Its partial operation was supposed to be on the 4th quarter of 2021, according to data from the Public-Private Partnership Center website.
MRT Line 7 will have 14 stations from North Avenue Station in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Last year, the Department of Transportation was looking at operating the Quezon City leg by the last quarter of 2025. The project is facing right-of-way issues in the San Jose del Monte portion.
Meanwhile, a right-of-way usage agreement for the Southeast Metro Manila Expressway or Skyway Stage 4 was signed by SMC, DoTR, the Department of National Defense and the Veterans Association of the Philippineslast February.
The project, which will pass through part of the land owned by the Veterans Federation of the Philippines, spans 32.664 km.
The expressway, mostly six lanes and a combination of elevated and at grade roads, will connect from the existing skyway at FTI complex known as Arca South in Taguig, to Batasan Complex in Quezon City.
It’s sections: skyway/FTI- C5/Diego Silang; C5/Diego Silang-C6/Taguig; C6/Taguig-Ortigas Ave. Extension; Ortigas Ave. Extension-Marcos Highway; Marcos-Highway-Tumana Bridge; and Tumana Bridge-Batasan Complex.
The project will provide an alternate route from the south of the metropolis to Quezon City passing through Taguig, Taytay, Antipolo, and San Mateo thereby helping ease traffic congestion along EDSA.
“We cannot overemphasize the importance of SEMME in improving the traffic situation in our cities. It will benefit residents in the southern and eastern parts of Metro Manila by providing an alternative route to Quezon City,” SMC Chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang said.
RSA said travel time from Bicutan, Taguig to Batasan will be reduced to less than 30 minutes from two hours and the number of vehicles projected to utilize SEMME is placed at 150,000 daily once it is fully operational.
Groundbreaking for the project was held in 2018 with Segment 1 supposed to be completed in 2020.
With the signing of the right-of-way usage agreement, and with SMC’s commitment to start construction as soon as all right-of-way issues are resolved, I hope other right-of way issues will be addressed and Skyway Stage 4 will soon become a reality.
(MTV, book author and publisher, is president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection.)