Senators urged: Grant Rody emergency powers

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano warned fellow senators that the longer it takes for Congress to grant emergency powers to President Duterte, the longer it will take to solve the traffic crisis in the country.

Cayetano issued the warning during the hearing on proposals to grant Duterte emergency powers conducted by the Senate committee on public services chaired by Sen. Grace Poe.

He urged his colleagues at the Senate to immediately pass an emergency measure to end the traffic mess.

“Every one month delay in granting emergency powers means additional three to six months delay in the implementation of (infrastructure) projects,” he said.

He also appealed to members of the House of Representatives to fast- track the passage of a counterpart bill granting emergency powers to the President.

Cayetano was among those who filed a measure in the Senate seeking to grant Duterte emergency powers to deal with the traffic crisis in Metro Manila and other urban areas in the country.

The emergency powers of the executive branch would speed up the procurement of transport and infrastructure projects, which will pave the way for the construction of faster and more reliable transport services throughout the country, he said.

Poe vowed to keep public interest in mind in crafting an emergency powers bill even as she prodded the Department of Transportation to speed up the submission of their proposals.

“If the emergency powers are being sought in the name of the people, then it is proper that we ask the people what changes they want to see. Most often, transport plans fail, not because they are not good enough, but because they suffer from the fatal handicap of not consulting people on the ground,” Poe said.

She also slammed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority for the decrepit state of the interim Southwest Integrated Provincial Terminal at the Uniwide Mall in Parañaque City.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito has batted for long-term solutions to the “hellish” traffic conditions in Metro Manila and other urban centers in the country.

In a privilege speech, Ejercito cited the need to prioritize transportation projects like railways that would efficiently move goods and people while occupying less space.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri proposed the construction of elevated walkways along EDSA to lessen congestion.

The Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), under the newly formed traffic inter-agency council, is seeking to unify all local traffic units under its operational control to ease the plight of the riding public.

Senior Supt. Antonio Gardiola, PNP-HPG group director and designated traffic czar in Metro Manila, said that to address the traffic problem there should be an overhaul of infrastructure and engineering in the entire metropolis. – With Perseus Echeminada, Jaime Laude