MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed into law Republic Act No. 12289, or the Accelerated and Reformed Right-of-Way (ARROW) Act, which aims to expedite and ensure fairness in the government’s acquisition of land for infrastructure projects while providing proper compensation to landowners and affected families.

The RA No. 12289 amends several sections of R.A. No. 10752, or the Right-of-Way Act of 2016, and introduces new provisions to improve the process of land acquisition for national government projects and private entities providing public services.

The law requires that the price offer for acquired land be based on the valuation system and schedule of market values (SMV) established under R.A. No. 12001, or the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act of 2024. In the absence of an approved SMV, offers must rely on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s zonal land valuation and the assessed value of improvements, including immovable machinery, structures, crops, or trees.

For untitled lands, owners or possessors must submit a tax declaration, an affidavit from disinterested residents, a Real Property Tax Certificate, a certification from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and a property technical description.

Section 6 of R.A. No. 10752, which deals with expropriation proceedings, was amended to require implementing agencies or private entities to deposit 15 percent of the land’s market value with the court upon filing a complaint, along with 100-percent replacement cost for improvements and 15 percent of the market value of crops and trees.

The law also amends provisions on the relocation of informal settlers, mandating the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) to coordinate with local government units in establishing resettlement sites.

Under the amended Section 10, right-of-way acquisition for public-private partnership (PPP) projects will follow R.A. No. 11966 or the PPP Code of the Philippines of 2023 and its implementing rules and regulations. Compensation for project-affected structures, improvements, and immovable machinery will be based on the New Civil Code.

Private entities violating the ARROW Act will be held accountable, with their presidents, managers, directors, trustees, or responsible officers liable for civil or criminal sanctions, according to amended Section 12.

The law also expands the composition of departments involved in preparing the implementing rules and regulations, including the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Interior and Local Government, Economy, Planning and Development, Agrarian Reform, Environment and Natural Resources, and DHSUD.

New sections of the law include guidelines on entry and use of property within ancestral domains, relocation of utilities, expeditious completion of infrastructure projects, information sharing for right-of-way acquisition, foreign-assisted projects, and public disclosure of essential right-of-way information.