TRANSPORTATION Secretary Jaime Lopez said landowners who consented to the use of properties for the first phase of the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) would be promptly compensated. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) showed that as of Nov. 26, the agency had served 3,291 Notices of Taking (NOT), covering 92 percent of the 3,548 parcels required in Davao (1,755), Panabo (274), Tagum (437), Carmen (217), Santa Cruz (469), and Digos (139) for the MRP. A total of 1,105 Offer to Buy (OTB) documents have been accepted by property owners, while 381 have already signed Deeds of Sale. Lopez said the department was completing the remaining right-of-way procedures to move the long-delayed railway forward. “We are expediting the procedures, but we also need to follow the correct process. The Mindanao Railway has been awaited for a long time because it will significantly improve the connectivity and mobility of our fellow Mindanaoans,” he said. He added that funding for land acquisition was already secured, and the DOTr was updating the project’s feasibility study to ensure long-term viability and sustainability. Lopez acknowledged the assistance of local governments, noting that their coordination had helped speed up the process.
