DPWH hires more lawyers to help curb right of way issues

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 7 -- More lawyers will be hired by the Department of Public Works and Highways to address legal issues related to road right of way acquisition that has been delaying infrastructure projects in the country.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar on Tuesday said five more lawyers will be hired in each of the department’s 16 regional offices nationwide to reinforce the road right of way task force.

“Each region has only two lawyers at present. We need at least seven lawyers to deal with right of way acquisition concerns of every regional office,” Villar told reporters during the inauguration of newly-widened Tigbao Bridge in this city.

Hiring process of lawyers is ongoing in many regions in preparation for massive infrastructure development under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The official admitted that one of the major causes of projects delays is the right of way acquisition issues as most property owners refuse to sell the land needed for building and road widening, constructing bridges and flood control structures.

The acquisition in the past had been a long and cumbersome process, which greatly hindered the implementation of infrastructure projects, said Villar.

Earlier, the Unified Project Management Office right of way task force formed by the department’s central office came up with DPWH right of way acquisition manual.

The manual is designed to enhance the quality of right of way acquisition by showing a clear step-by-step procedure, which is quicker, consistent across all DPWH offices, more transparent, and with greater accountability.

In turn, this will result in faster and more economical provision of infrastructure works and services needed to accelerate socio-economic development, according to DPWH.

“With the clear implementing rules and stronger legal teams, and President Duterte’s order for simplified process of permit approval, our projects will not be delayed anymore,” Villar added.

The DPWH chief also said that poor performance of contractors has contributed to project delays, prompting the agency to come up with policies to make contractors more accountable.

“We are stricter now with contractors. We have identified all contractors with slippages and ask them to submit action plan on how to expedite projects. If they will not follow action plan, we will blacklist them,” he said.

The strategy is in preparation for the annual cash-based budget starting 2019. According to Memorandum No. 129 of the Department of Budget and Management, agencies can only incur contractual obligations and disburse payments for goods delivered and services rendered and inspected within the year, with an extended payment period of three months.

This will effectively limit agencies to submit budget proposals reflecting payment of goods and services that will “actually be delivered for the year”, according to DBM.

This shift is expected to quicken program delivery, as well as strengthen the “focus and accountability of government” as target outputs of government programs become more clearly linked to their appropriated budget. (SQM/PNA)