By Brian Jules Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 19 on March 25, creating an interagency committee tasked to streamline the process of land acquisition for all railway projects in the Philippines, Malacañang said Monday.
The Inter-Agency Committee for Right-of-Way (ROW) Activities for National Railway Projects will “study and devise an efficient and collaborative mechanism to streamline the process of land acquisition necessary for the implementation of all railway projects,” according to Marcos.
Under the AO, the secretaries of the Department of Transportation and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development will serve as chairperson and co-chairperson of the committee, respectively.
Meanwhile, members include the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Justice, and the Office of the Solicitor General.
Serving as the Secretariat of the Committee, the Philippine National Railway will provide administrative and technical support to the body.
Marcos also directed the committee to coordinate the implementation of railway policies and projects, as well as craft and approve project-specific policies and programs.
The committee will also identify the appropriate services or programs concerning land acquisition and other ROW activities, such as livelihood, income restoration, and resettlement.
It will likewise identify effective existing policies, agreements, contracts, and other similar arrangements between and among government agencies; as well as consolidate and mobilize agency resources to streamline budgeting, deliberate and resolve issues or grievances; and create technical working groups to implement AO 19.
According to Malacañang, the Republic Act No. 10752, or the “Right-of-Way (ROW) Act,” authorizes the government to acquire real property needed as ROW site or location for any national government infrastructure project through donation, negotiated sale, expropriation, or any other mode of acquisition. – avds
