In Candelaria town in Quezon, landowner fights for just pay

An irate landowner vowed to block the completion of the 7.5-kilometer Candelaria bypass road project unless the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) paid for his houses and lots that are in the middle of the road project.

But Teodoro Jamias Jr. may be running out of time as construction workers on Monday started digging portions of his lot in preparation for the eventual possession of his property to meet a DPWH target to finish the project by December.

According to Jamias, resident of Barangay Pahinga Norte in Candelaria, he has borrowed P200,000 for the initial payment of a house and lot that he and his family would transfer to. He said he was counting on a DPWH promise to pay him in December.

“I will never leave this place unless they (DPWH) pay for the lots and the two houses,” he said.

DPWH, he said, offered to pay for his houses and lots separately, but he rejected it. “I want the DPWH to pay for the houses and lots at the same time,” Jamias said.

He said the DPWH was pressuring him to accept the payment scheme to meet its target date to complete the project.

Celestial Flancia, head of DPWH-Quezon second engineering district, said her office was just following standard government procedure.

She said her office found Jamias’ title to be “clean” and recommended payment of the land and houses together.

Jamias owns two adjacent lots measuring 228 square meters each. Two houses—a concrete bungalow and a dilapidated two-story wooden structure—have been erected on the lots. But they stand right in the middle of the construction project.

Across the street lies the end of the finished concrete portion of the bypass road project. At the back of the Jamias lots is the almost completed concrete Quiapo Bridge which will be connected to the bypass road.

Some finished portions of the concrete road were being used by farmers as drying areas for palay.

Jamias also complained that the DPWH road plan would leave him with a total of only 71 square meters on both sides of the road.

“Can we construct a new house in that small patch of lot right along the highway? They should also pay for the leftovers since it will no longer be of use to us,” Jamias said.

He said he was worried he would end up like other landowners whose right-of-way claims haven’t been paid. “I’m not against the construction of the new highway but the government should pay us first before they dispossess us,” Jamias said.

DPWH, he said, would pay him only P1,100 per square meter even if prevailing real estate prices in the area was P2,500 per square meter. “We’re at the losing end of the deal,” he said.