Land Acquisition, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Indigenous Peoples’ Policy, 3rd edition (2007) a. For Structures: In the event that the PAF rejects the compensation for structures at replacement cost offered by DPWH, the Department or the PAF may take the matter to court. When court cases are resorted to either by the DPWH through expropriation or by the PAFs through legal complaints, the DPWH will deposit with the court in escrow the whole amount of the replacement cost (100%) it is offering the owner for his/her assets as compensation to allow DPWH to proceed with the works. The PAF will receive the replacement cost of the assets within one (1) month following the receipt of the decision of the court. b. For Land: If the owner contests the Department’s second offered value for compensation for land, the PAF or the DPWH may take the matter to court. DPWH shall immediately pay the owner: a) 100% of the value of the property based on the BIR zonal valuation and b) the value of improvements and structures. However, if the owner rejects the full payment, the DPWH will deposit 100% of the BIR zonal value in an escrow account. The court shall determine the just compensation within sixty (60) days, taking into account the standards for the assessment of the value of the land (Sec. 5, RA 8974). C. Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. The IPRA sets conditions, requirements, and safeguards for plans, programs, and projects affecting Indigenous Peoples. It spells out and protects the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The important provisions of the IPRA are: 1. The right to their ancestral domains. (Chapter III, Section 11); 2. The right to an informed and intelligent participation in the formulation and implementation of any project, government or private, that will impact upon their ancestral domains; (Chapter III, Section 7b); 3. The right to participate fully, if they so choose, at all levels of decision-making in matters which may affect their rights, lives and destinies through procedures determined by them; (Chapter IV, Section 16); 4. The right to receive just and fair compensation for any damages inflicted by or as a result of any project, government or private; (Chapter III, Section 7b); 5. The right to stay in their territory and not to be removed from that territory. If relocation is necessary as an exceptional measure, it can only take place with the Environmental and Social Services OfficeDepartment of Public Works and Highways February 2007 5