CAGAYAN de Oro City Councilor Leon Gan is urging the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Northern Mindanao to examine other options in case the expropriation of the property owned by Barangay 33 chairman Conrad Lim will yet again face delays.
The coastal road project, which would provide an alternate route for motorists wanting to avoid heavy traffic along CM Recto Avenue, has already been stalled for 9 years because of right-of-way issues.
"In my experience, no one can dictate the Office of the Solicitor General (SolGen) when to take an action, this is the basic rule of the SolGen," he said.
"I also have a case in the SolGen, it was filed in 2013, but up to now, there is still no action, another case is the reversion property in Capistrano Street, it needs reversion proceedings because the area is timberland, but up until now too, no reversion happened in Capistrano. This is how they operate," Gan said.
Gan said the city and its people cannot afford to wait for another 10 years before the coastal road can be utilized.
"Do you think we will wait for another 10 years for the DPWH to take action? What if the opponent has a right defense, what do we do after," he said.
For her part, lawyer Melanie Enopia, legal officer of the DPWH-Northern Mindanao, said if the Solicitor General won't act on their request immediately, they might have to resort to arbitration, or the negotiation and discussion would now only involve the DPWH-Northern Mindanao and the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).
Enopia, however, refused to elaborate on the process of the arbitration proceedings.
During Monday's City Council session, DWPH officials faced city councilors and were made to explain the reasons for the delay of the project.
Enopia, legal officer of the DPWH-Northern Mindanao, said they are still preparing the cost of the materials to be used on Lim's property before they can proceed with the filing of the case as required by the SolGen, the implementing agency that would initiate the expropriation.
The project which started in 2008, is already 83 percent complete, the DPWH said.
