President Marcos has formed an interagency committee intended to streamline the process of land acquisition necessary for the implementation of all railway projects in the country.
Through Administrative Order No. 19 dated March 25, Marcos created the Inter-Agency Committee for Right-of Way (ROW) Activities for National Railway Projects, Malacañang said on Tuesday, April 2.
“The Inter-Agency Committee for ROW Activities for National Railway Projects (Committee) is hereby created to study and devise an efficient and collaborative mechanism to streamline the process of land acquisition necessary for the implementation of all railway projects,” Marcos said in the order.
Among the committee’s functions include coordinating the implementation of railway policies and projects, crafting and approving project-specific policies and programs, and identifying the appropriate services or programs concerning land acquisition and other ROW activities, such as livelihood, income restoration, and resettlement.
It will also identify effective existing policies, agreements, contracts, and other similar arrangements between and among government agencies, consolidate and mobilize agency resources to streamline budgeting, deliberate and resolve issues, grievance and create technical working groups to implement the order.
Under the administrative order, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) secretary was designated as the chairperson with the head of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) as co-chair of the committee.
Among the committee’s members include the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG); Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; Department of Finance (DOF); Department of Budget and Management (DBM); Department of Justice (DOJ); and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
The Philippine National Railway (PNR) shall serve as the Secretariat of the Committee and shall provide administrative and technical support to the body.
The Republic Act (RA) No. 10752, or the “Right-of-Way (ROW) Act” authorizes the government to acquire real property needed as ROW site for any national government infrastructure project through donation, negotiated sale, expropriation, or any other mode of acquisition.
The Metro Manila Subway Project, North-South Commuter Railway System, Mindanao Railway Project, and PNR South Long Haul are among the administration’s priority infrastructure projects in the transportation sector.