Eminent domain

The Holy Week exodus began last weekend. Wherever we roam, millions of Filipinos will stay connected digitally. And millions of Filipinos will likely feel frustrated over the quality of internet and mobile phone signals in the country.

Internet access was declared a basic human right in June last year by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Of course the declaration is largely meaningless in a country where the most basic right to life is blatantly disregarded. Still, there should be more effort in this democratic country to promote universal access to the internet.

The country now has the slowest broadband speed in the Asia-Pacific, according to the latest study. Speeding it up requires adequate infrastructure. The country has only 16,300 cell sites. Compare this with Vietnam’s 70,000.

Telecommunications companies have the resources for expansion and reportedly have applications for new cell sites. But their expansion plans have been frustrated by red tape. It can take from three to eight months to secure 24 to 30 permits from local government units, with fees ranging from P5,000 to P500,000. Construction then takes about three months.

Regulators are hoping to cut the process down to 16 steps in 61 days, with seven days being the most ambitious goal. A suggestion is to allow online application, but those who profit from red tape may follow the example of the crooks at Customs, who daubed computer cables with edible stuff like fish sauce and sardine sauce so rats would gnaw and destroy the system.

Because livelihoods depend on red tape and grease money, the ambitious goal may be achieved only if Oplan Double Barrel is expanded to the offices in charge of the permits.

New People’s Army extortionists compound the problem when they destroy telecommunications towers. The telcos also face right of way problems, often linked to health concerns, which the government should help resolve.

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Last March 29, Globe Telecom Inc. took out an ad in The STAR, appealing to several homeowners’ associations in gated villages to allow the installation of cell sites in their communities.

The ad identified 26 gated villages whose homeowners’ associations have resisted requests to set up cell sites, roll out fiber optic cables and install other facilities to improve mobile and internet service.

Among the villages are Forbes Park where the Globe owners live, Dasmariñas, Magallanes, San Lorenzo, Bel-Air, La Vista and Greenhills North as well as the nation’s largest gated subdivision, BF Homes.

Exclusive Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa at least has one cell site, but that’s barely enough to cover its 700 hectares. Forbes Park (up to 300 hectares) and Dasmariñas (up to 400 hectares) have no cell cites. So if your phone and internet services are weak in Forbes Park, it’s not because the US embassy and other foreign missions are scrambling signals.

In its ad, Globe cited studies that it said should allay homeowners’ concerns about the health hazards posed by heat emissions from local cell sites. Globe provided a link to information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection to refute “ridiculous” allegations about the health hazards.

I’m no expert on such health risks. But there must be a link between the lack of gated villages in places such as South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan and the fact that they have universal high-speed internet and mobile services. I haven’t heard of reports about their people suffering from health problems related to cell sites.

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Pinoys take for granted the proliferation of gated villages all over our islands, but many expats have pointed them out to me as some of the most visible manifestations of the deep social divide in our country.

In Metro Manila, certain homeowners’ associations have also turned the setup into moneymaking machines, through the issuance of vehicle stickers.

BF Homes in Parañaque, for example, has just finished issuing new vehicle stickers at a whopping P2,000 each for non-residents, for use of just four main roads.

The village sections that are part of Las Piñas are covered by the Friendship Route stickers, distributed for free by the city government. But Parañaque has jurisdiction over wider areas.

Last year the Parañaque city government promised to open main roads in gated villages to the public for free to ease traffic congestion. But the election campaign rolled around and Mayor Edwin Olivarez of the Liberal Party, who was seeking a fresh term, must have been presented an offer he couldn’t refuse by the BF association.

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If such setups are to be changed, it may require legislation to amend housing and land use laws. Developers are supposed to turn over gated villages to the local government units after a certain period from completion, with the homeowners’ formal approval, so the LGUs can take full charge of basic services including road improvements.

In almost all the villages, the approval has been perpetually delayed. Some LGUs have tried to force the issue by withholding or slowing down the delivery of services such as road repairs, street lighting and garbage collection. The majority of homeowners suffer from crummy roads and dirty public spaces, but association officers can’t let go of annual dues, vehicle sticker fees and entry fees for delivery vans.

LGUs should challenge this in court, citing as precedent Jejomar Binay’s victory when he was Makati mayor over the homeowners’ association in one exclusive village.

If mayors lack the political will to do it, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority can take the lead, to ease the ever-worsening traffic woes in congested Metro Manila.

As a compromise, only a few village streets can be opened for free public use. Homeowners can still put up gates on secondary streets to keep out burglars, beggars, snoops and other unwanted non-residents.

Even such a situation may not be allowed if government officials invoke the state’s power of eminent domain – the power to take private property for public use, following the payment of just compensation. How expensive would it be to take a few village roads for free public use?

Eminent domain, taxation and police power are inherent powers of the state. Eminent domain can be invoked for roads, government buildings and other structures as well as public utilities including telecommunications. Under certain circumstances, governments can even take over private patents, copyrights and trade secrets in exercising eminent domain.

President Duterte, a lawyer, understands this inherent state power. He can put it to good use in improving basic services.