The Asian Development Bank, in its Involuntary Resettlement Safeguards document (see here) defines an “Entitlement Matrix” as follows:

An entitlement matrix is a part of a resettlement plan that sets out the type of loss and the definition of the entitled person or the unit of entitlement in a tabular form. It can also include a column setting out compensation and rehabilitation measures for each type of loss resulting from involuntary resettlement.

The Philippine Department of Transportation publishes Entitlement Matrices for its projects. Examples are available in the following article.

This article focuses on the Entitlement Matrix for the Mindanao Railway Project - Tagum-Davao-Digos segment. A companion for this article is available in the following Facebook album.

The Mindanao Railway Project Office (MRPO) provided the Mindanao Railway Watchers community with a copy of this matrix on 6th of December 2022. Click image to enlarge.

 

Key take-aways from the Entitlement Matrix

  • Taxes. Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Documentary Stamp Tax (DST), Transfer Tax, and Registration Fees will be covered by the DOTr. Unpaid Real Property Taxes, however, are still the responsibility of the Affected Persons and can be deducted from compensation.. Relevant Entitlement Matrix image here.
  • Commonwealth Act 141. Property owners whose titles are covered by Commonwealth Act 141, and will therefore not be compensated for the land itself, will instead be compensated for the agricultural products of their land as defined by Executive Order 1035 series of 1985, specifically Section 18 of the document (see here). Relevant Entitlement Matrix image here.
  • Professional squatters. Victims of professional squatters will not be compensated for the land they occupy, but will allowed to recover the materials used for their houses, and be offered settlement options -- if they qualify. Relevant Entitlement images available here and here.

 

Entitlement Matrix details

The Annex to the email above is available in the images in the table below. Click images below to enlarge.

Note: The QR codes in the images were added to the images to help associate these images with this page so that they would not be taken out of context.