PNoy has a very efficient revenue collection system through the leadership of Commissioner Kim Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, so there are funds for road projects in almost all the national highways along the rural tourist routes in the country.
Many, however, are complaining about the traffic caused by these road repairs/widening.
The most awaited by-pass road which would ease traffic in the city center of Dumaguete is long-delayed because of problems due to refusal of some real property owners to grant the right of way to the government.
On this issue, the Supreme Court ruled in National Irrigation Administration v. Court of Appeals, et. al. [G.R. No. 114348. Sept. 20, 2000) that:
The sole issue is whether the NIA should pay just compensation for the taking of a portion of his property for use as easement of a right of way.
xxxthe Original Certificate of Title covering the subject parcel of land contained a reservation granting the government a right of way over the land covered therein. xxx “…subject to the provisions of said Land Registration Act and the Public Land Act, as well as those of Mining Laws, if the land is mineral, and subject, further to such conditions contained in the original title as may be subsisting.
Under the Original Certificate of Title, there was a reservation and condition that the land is subject to “all conditions and public easements and servitudes recognized and prescribed by law especially those mentioned in Sections 109, 110, 111, 112, 113 and 114, Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended.”
This reservation, unlike the other provisos 30 imposed on the grant, was not limited by any time period and thus, is a subsisting condition.
Section 112, Commonwealth Act No. 141, provides that lands granted by patent, ”shall further be subject to a right of way not exceeding twenty meters in width for public highways, railroads, irrigation ditches, aqueducts, telegraphs and telephone lines, and similar works as the Government or any public or quasi-public service or enterprises, including mining or forest concessionaires may reasonably require for carrying on their business, with damages for the improvements only.”c
Article 619 of the Civil Code provides that, “Easements are established either by law or by the will of the owners. The former are called legal and the latter voluntary easements.”
In the present case, we find and declare that a legal easement of a right-of-way exists in favor of the government. The land was originally public land, and awarded to respondent by free patent.
The ruling would be otherwise if the land were originally private property, in which case, just compensation must be paid for the taking of a part thereof for public use as an easement of a right of way.”
Dura lex sed lex. It takes political will to exercise its legal remedy, and implement government projects without delay.
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Author’s email: whelmayap@yahoo.com
