No reason to fear Rody’s emergency powers – Poe

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Grace Poe said she has no reason to fear the granting of emergency powers to President Duterte to address the traffic crisis in Metro Manila because there will be enough safeguards to prevent its abuse.

Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, said Congress would guarantee that the necessary safeguards would be in place for the emergency powers.

She also noted that the proposed emergency powers would last no longer than three years as provided for in the Constitution.

“I am not afraid to grant emergency powers if I feel that we have the safeguards there. Congress also has the power to withdraw it,” she said. 

“Just like the pronouncements of the President when he says I will declare this and that, we know the 1987 Constitution was specifically created to prevent something like that. In my case, my conscience will be clear granting it as long as I know we have all of the safeguards there,” she added.

Poe also said that she does not see any problems getting the emergency powers bill passed in the Senate and she expects this to be out before Congress goes on its break in December.

“The bottleneck will not be in the Senate. We will be able to conduct hearings consistently and frequently but what we ask the DOT (Department of Transportation) is to give us as early as now, while we are discussing the problems in our hearings, what your proposed projects are,” Poe said in a forum yesterday. 

Poe said the House of Representatives is still in the process of organizing its committees, so there is no telling when it would start tackling the bills on emergency powers.

But yesterday, lawmakers from the Visayas released a manifesto calling for the immediate granting of emergency powers to the President to address not just the worsening land traffic in Metro Manila, but also air traffic congestion.

The 14-member bloc led by Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the traffic “aggravated the people’s daily economic activity” and has deteriorated to a national crisis needing final and immediate resolution.

Other lawmakers who signed the manifesto were Reps. Rogelio Espina (Biliran), Mila Tan (2nd District, Samar), Roger Mercado (Southern Leyte), Jose Carlos Cari (5th District, Leyte), Lucy Torres-Gomez (4th District Leyte), Victoria Noel (An Waray PL), Edgar Sarmiento (1st District Samar), Edwin Ong (2nd District Northern Samar), Vicente Veloso (3rd District Leyte), Yedda Marie Romualdez (1st District Leyte) and Harlin Neil Abayon (AANGAT TAYO PL).

The Committee on Public Services will hold its second hearing on the issue of emergency powers with the representatives of the DOT, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group invited as resource persons. – With Mike Frialde, Delon Porcalla