“In a country with an estimated 3.5 million loose firearms and a chronic problem with gun violence, it is frankly appalling that measures to liberalize gun regulations were even considered, much less passed by Congress.”
EXCEPT for the visitation of tropical storms to the country, it would seem that every bit of attention the public and government can spare is focused on the overwhelming corruption scandal involving public works projects, with its growing list of government officials and legislators accused of involvement in it. That is entirely understandable, and appropriate under the circumstances. However, there is still real work being done to keep up the pace of progress and reform in other areas. Two good examples of this made the news this week, involving one bill that was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and one that was not.
The vetoed bill was an amended version of Republic Act (RA) 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunitions Regulation Act, which was passed earlier this year by the 19th Congress. The key changes to the law were a shortening of the election gun ban period to 45 days before an election from the current 90 days, and from 30 days after an election to just five days; an increase in the allowable amount of ammunition purchases; and an extension of the validity of gun carry permits.
In a country with an estimated 3.5 million loose firearms and a chronic problem with gun violence, particularly during election season, it is frankly appalling that these measures to liberalize gun regulations were even considered, much less passed by Congress. It probably would not come as a surprise to most people that the main author of the Senate version of the bill, which was the version sent to the President’s desk, was Sen. Ronald dela Rosa. Dela Rosa was identified in a filing of charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte earlier this week by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court as one of the principal instruments of the policy of state-sanctioned murder for which Duterte stands accused.
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To be sure, the President’s intervention to prevent the degradation of the already inadequate gun regulation law cannot be fairly described as progress in itself, although Marcos still deserves credit for being alert and aware of the potentially horrible consequences of the bill. However, the veto can inspire progress by drawing the public’s attention to the gun control issue and encouraging a wider conversation about the need for more effective regulation and enforcement.
The second measure of note is RA 12289, or the Accelerated and Reformed Right-of-Way (Arrow) Act, which President Marcos signed on Sept. 12, although it was only announced this week. This law provides some badly needed amendments to the Right-of-Way Act of 2016 in the areas of land valuation, expropriation proceedings and relocation of informal settlers.
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The Arrow Act defines national government projects and private entities providing public services, as well as the rules on negotiated sales. It also updates the benchmark for fair pricing of expropriated property to align with RA 12001, or the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act of 2024, and provides guidelines for the Bureau of Internal Revenue zonal land valuation and the assessed value of the improvement, in the absence of a schedule of market values according to RA 12001.
Right-of-way issues have been a huge obstacle to progress on major infrastructure projects, and some of the more notable ones that have been delayed because of right-of-way problems include the Metro Manila Subway, the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 and the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit project. As probably the most obvious example, one of the biggest victims of the dysfunction right-of-way law, however, has been the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), which because of its national reach has had to contend with enough right-of-way disputes to fill a fair-sized basket. Many of the criticisms directed at NGCP — primarily from the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission — for delays in projects have been unwarranted, as the delays are attributable to right-of-way issues that are largely beyond NGCP’s control.
While RA 12289 might not completely close all the loopholes — the acid test of that will be the first right-of-way negotiations under the new guidelines — it is a significant improvement that should greatly accelerate the development of major projects.
