Payment of Compensation to Ifugao Landowners Affected by the Construction of the Lamut-Banaue Road Project

July 18, 1980

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1045

 

WHEREAS, several Ifugao small landowners and farmers have, as far back as 1976, demanded indemnification for damages for the destruction of their lands, terraces and crops as a consequence of the construction of the Lamut-Banaue Road Project;

WHEREAS, verification of these claims made by the Ministry of Public Highways reveals that with the slopes of the road embankment and after a series of typhoons and heavy rains, the waste materials removed from the project and stored at designated sites were eroded slowly and carried by rainwater to farmlands, some of which are 5 kilometers or more away from the waste materials disposal areas, resulting in the silting of crop lands, some of which are terraced, and reducing soil productivity and destroying crops; cdt

WHEREAS, the Ministry of Public Highways had previously referred these claims of Ifugao farm owners to the Commission on Audit, but the latter office opined that the claims partake of the nature of unliquidated damages which is beyond its jurisdiction to decide;

WHEREAS, the peace and order situation in the area has been exacerbated by these unsettled claims, and is imperative that said claims be settled immediately in fairness to these Ifugao farm owners who suffered damages to their crops, rice terraces and lands;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, hereby order and instruct:

1. The Minister of Public Highways to pay just compensation to owners of farmlands that were damaged and/or crops that were destroyed as a consequence of the construction of the Lamut- Banaue Road Project.

2. The representatives of the Ministry of Public Highways, the Commission on Audit and the Ministry of Agriculture to assess and determine the extent of damage or injury suffered by each claimant, which shall be the basis of payment.

3. The Minister of the Budget to release, out of the unexpected balance of the appropriation for the project, the funds needed for the settlement of these claims. casia

DONE in the City of Manila, this 18th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty. acd