Lacson urges DPWH to hold more face-to-face meetings with ROW claimants
Published Jan 15, 2019 06:20 pm
By Mario Casayuran
A person to person meeting between claimants for Right-of-Way (ROW) payments and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) may pave the way to the resolution of protracted ROW negotiations throughout the archipelago.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson
(Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN) What is involved here is not only claimants of Batangas but would involve claimants in other provinces covered by the DPWH’s multi-billion-peso infrastructure programs that could not get started or completed as scheduled due to the failure of the parties to agree on what is the appropriate sum to be paid. DPWH infrastructure programs are embedded in the government’s annual budgets. Some of the landowner-claimants from Batangas met with regional representatives of the DPWH at the Senate office of Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson the other day. While the meeting between the Batangas ROW claimants and the DPWH representatives started on a highly emotional note, the parties eventually found a middle ground, Lacson said. "I advised the Regional Director of the DPWH Region IV-A to simply find a solution instead of arguing and looking for problems. There are P250 million in ROW appropriations for the Batangas project and there should be no reason to make those poor souls wait," he said. "I will continue to urge the DPWH leadership to render justice especially to the poor claimants who don’t have the wherewithal to have their claims processed and finalized," he added. Present at the meeting were claimants from Batangas who had attended Lacson's interpellation of the DPWH's 2019 budget earlier Monday; and DPWH representatives led by Region 4-A Regional Director Samson Hebra. The claimants at the meeting represented 140 families. Lacson pointed out it is high time the DPWH acted on the matter, to finally put an end to the social injustice. "Many of the landowners have been suffering for so long because they do not have the wherewithal to hire an attorney," he pointed out. Also, Lacson said in last Monday's conference should be the first of many such meetings between the DPWH and claimants in other areas. Many claimants have grown tired of waiting and would no longer accept explanations, he noted. "Hindi magagamit ng tao ang paliwanag. Mas maganda kausapin ang tao," he said. (People cannot use arguments or explanation in their daily lives. It is better for DPWH to sit down with the ROW claimants without the assistance of lawyers.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson(Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN) What is involved here is not only claimants of Batangas but would involve claimants in other provinces covered by the DPWH’s multi-billion-peso infrastructure programs that could not get started or completed as scheduled due to the failure of the parties to agree on what is the appropriate sum to be paid. DPWH infrastructure programs are embedded in the government’s annual budgets. Some of the landowner-claimants from Batangas met with regional representatives of the DPWH at the Senate office of Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson the other day. While the meeting between the Batangas ROW claimants and the DPWH representatives started on a highly emotional note, the parties eventually found a middle ground, Lacson said. "I advised the Regional Director of the DPWH Region IV-A to simply find a solution instead of arguing and looking for problems. There are P250 million in ROW appropriations for the Batangas project and there should be no reason to make those poor souls wait," he said. "I will continue to urge the DPWH leadership to render justice especially to the poor claimants who don’t have the wherewithal to have their claims processed and finalized," he added. Present at the meeting were claimants from Batangas who had attended Lacson's interpellation of the DPWH's 2019 budget earlier Monday; and DPWH representatives led by Region 4-A Regional Director Samson Hebra. The claimants at the meeting represented 140 families. Lacson pointed out it is high time the DPWH acted on the matter, to finally put an end to the social injustice. "Many of the landowners have been suffering for so long because they do not have the wherewithal to hire an attorney," he pointed out. Also, Lacson said in last Monday's conference should be the first of many such meetings between the DPWH and claimants in other areas. Many claimants have grown tired of waiting and would no longer accept explanations, he noted. "Hindi magagamit ng tao ang paliwanag. Mas maganda kausapin ang tao," he said. (People cannot use arguments or explanation in their daily lives. It is better for DPWH to sit down with the ROW claimants without the assistance of lawyers.