Monday, August 11, 2008

Inherent powers

I had been absent from the blogging world for almost two weeks since my sister's passing. Not that I had nothing to write about but my pen, or should I say my fingers couldn't find the words on my keyboard. Suffice it to say that I was not in the mood. The words just could not come out. My sister's passing, although was expected, still brought pain as she is the first sibling to pass away. At any rate, life has to move on for after all, struggles, pain and suffering are all for the living. I might as well face it now and wake from my useless slumber.

I was reading the paper this morning when an article written by Mr. Neal Cruz caught my attention. In the article, Mr. Neal Cruz writes about how the city government of Quezon City plans to widen a sidewalk in Novaliches without paying the rightful owners.

When I was still studying, I was taught that there are three inherent powers of the state. These are police power, taxation and eminent domain. Eminent domain is the right of the state "to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or rights in property with due monetary compensation..." A landowner, whose land sits on a track of land that is proposed to be part of a public hiway, for example, cannot deny the state to have his/her land expropriated, but with due compensation. This can be what the Quezon City is probably exercising when it told residents of the Susano Road to give up three meters of their property for its sidewalk widening project. However, the city government seems to have abused its power for it does not want to pay for the land it is getting from the rightful owners. Never mind that the cost of land in this part of the country is at Php30,000 per square meter. The city government can always pay for a lesser price.

The thing is it does not want to spend a single centavo. Too bad that not only does City Administrator Tadeo Palma insists that they shall not pay for the expropriated land, the owners will retain ownership. What does this mean? Several things: The owners have land that they cannot use, the commercial establishments lose merchandise in favor of illegal sidewalk vendors and unfortunately, would probably be asked to pay for the land's real estate tax! What utter misfortune lies in wait for these land owners? What have they done to deserve this injustice?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sobra na ang pang-aabuso nayan. Kukunin na nga ang sa iyo, babrasohin ka pa sa compensation. If you go to court naman, aabutin nang dekada bago hatulan. Meanwhile sisirain ang pader mo to pave way to their construction while your case is gathering cobwebs in court.

Kung minsan maiisip mo tuloy gawing "example" yang mga opisyales nayan para huwag tularan.

Panaderos said...

This is the latest display of arrogance by people in positions of authority. They're now distorting the principle of eminent domain. I wonder what's next?

Welcome back, Rolly. Take good care of yourself.

Anonymous said...

Does a city administrator have this much power? Does the city government have the legal right to expropriate properties without compensating the owners? "Masakit manakawan sa gabi,lalong masakit kung" in broad daylight by person or persons of authority.

Anonymous said...

nakakainis pero yan ang mga klaseng tao ang nakaupo sa gobyerno. :(

rolly said...

blogusvox yun pa nga ang masakit. Ayaw magbayad sa aagawin nilang lupa.

panaderos Thanks. It's nice to be back

bertn That's what they're trying to do.

Mari Ganun ata talaga eh.

Anonymous said...

tito rolly, first of all, my condolences to you and your family.

re post: is it sheer ignorance, or just a brazen display of arrogance? either way, this is a clear abuse of power. shame.

rolly said...

siu Thanks. Whether it is borne out of ignorance or a brazen display of arrogance, hindi siya nakatutuwa, no? As for the first, a government official has to do his/her assignment and know what and how government works, with regard to the second, what will make someone think that this kind of things would pass unnoticed or that the courts would back them up?

Anonymous said...

may kaibigan ako na kapag nakakabasa ng ganyang balita, parang gusto nya raw matutong mangkulam. hehe!

rolly said...

apol SAna nag-aral na nga siya.

Unknown said...

Ha! Grabe. Wala na bang matino na tao sa gobyerno natin?

If I remember my constitutional and political law, the government has the power to expropriate but the law provides for just compensation. I am sure the Supreme Court will not allow this abuse.

Even then, even if this is brought all the way up to the Supreme Court, can you imagine the inconvenience and anxiety on the parts of the rightful owners?

Pakapalan na lang talaga.

rolly said...

bugsy Two things. Either hindi nya alam na dapat i compensate dahil hindi naman siya ma-alam sa law, o talagang ginagarapal nila yung mga tao. Grabe no?

batjay said...

bossing,

kung hindi magbayad ang quezon city doon sa kukunin nilang lupa eh di pag natapos na yung kalye, pwede sigurong magpagawa ng bakod yung mga may-ari para walang makadaan na sasakyan.

rolly said...

batjay Good idea. A dose of their own medicine, ano?

Anonymous said...

one thing..

there's really a sort of conflict between human rights and inherent power of the state..

rolly said...

anonymous Yeah, sometimes there is. And there had been abuses, too.