Talavera, NUEVA ECIJA – The Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) commended the efforts of the Municipal Government of Talavera led by Local Chief Executive Nerivi Santos Martinez for a successful land expropriation with just compensation to the project affected persons (PAPs) for the Right of Way acquisition of the subproject – Improvement of Poblacion Sur- La Torre – Bantug – Mamandil Farm-to- Market Road (FMR).

Significantly, the Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) Unit cited this feat as one of the good practice notes that can be emulated by other regions as a legal option for land acquisition and resolved land dispossession for the implementation of various subprojects.

A key aspect that was underlined by the SES is that the land expropriation for development purposes was resolved ahead of the target completion of the FMR project which usually takes years in some cases.

Expropriation is the action taken by the local government to use the power of eminent domain in taking a private property from its owner for the benefit of the overall public.

According to Talavera Municipal Agriculturist Virginia Ferrer, it was in 2015 where they started conducting meetings, information dissemination, citizen engagement and public consultation to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the project where they were able to identify some 27 PAPs.

Ferrer recalled that some of the identified PAPs signed a deed of donation (DOD) with the government to allow their property to be used for the improvement of the road. However, there were two individuals who declined to provide a portion of their land.

This is where the long series of negotiation began from several counts of settlement until the local government decided on expropriation as the last recourse.

In a recent interview on November 4, 2020, Mayor Martinez narrated that the process took a while because the individuals kept changing their requested amount which caused the project to be behind the scheduled construction.

“But we are in good faith that this project is for public use and more farmers will be able to utilize the (FMR) project. The lesson here is that if “there’s a will, there’s a way” and that’s why we used expropriation specifically for this project,” Martinez added.

With the intention to fast track the process, Martinez disclosed that the local government of Talavera hired a legal officer to handle the expropriation case whereas the municipal assessor prepared the needed requirements while the Sangguniang Bayan members were sought for the funding of the legal proceedings.

The case was filed at the Regional Trial Court of Baloc and the local government deposited 100% of the current zonal value of the land as issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue within 3 years prior to the filing of the expropriation.

The court ruled that all the requirements and documents for the Talavera local government’s exercise of power of eminent domain had been met and that the land development was more beneficial and advantageous to the beneficiaries of the project.

It was in 2017 where the FMR project was pushed through with its construction and currently has registered 92% complete.

Additionally, Barangay Captain Erwin Tioco of Barangay La Torre, among the beneficiaries of the FMR, recounted the difficulty faced by farmers in harvesting and hauling of produce due to the rough road a few years ago.

“This road is a big help with a great deal of benefits for the people. The first to benefit in this project are the citizens especially the farmers who harvest different kinds of vegetables here. But mostly they harvest onions. This project was made to help in the fast transportation of harvest to our nearby market,” Tioco ended.

The FMR linking the four barangays in the municipality is expected to be completed this November of 2020. (MA. REINA LEN G. LUNA, RPCO3 InfoACE)