House allies bent on granting Rody emergency powers

MANILA, Philippines – President Duterte’s allies in the House of Representatives remain keen on granting him emergency powers to solve the country’s traffic woes despite caution that these might be unnecessary.

Sen. Grace Poe, for her part, asked yesterday the Department of Education (DepEd) to study the feasibility of setting the academic Christmas break in the first week of December to help ease traffic in the coming holidays.

Poe, chairperson of the committee on public services hearing proposals for emergency powers, also urged government offices to come up with staggered working hours or even a four-day workweek to avoid congestion on the streets.

Earlier, Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque Jr. said there was no need for emergency powers as most of the provisions in proposed measures were already stated in the Constitution.

For his part, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. said emergency powers being asked by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) could be exercised by merely declaring a transportation crisis.

But congressmen said Duterte must be armed with emergency powers, assuring that safeguards would be put in place to avoid abuses and finally solve the country’s land and air traffic problems.

“The proposal will fast-track the implementation of key infrastructure projects critical to attracting foreign investments and help create quality and decent jobs for many Filipinos, apart from stimulating the local economy,” Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu, a co-author of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on the grant of emergency powers for the DOTr, said.

Administration lawmakers Winnie Castelo of Quezon City, LRay Villafuerte of Camarines Sur and Yedda Marie Romualdez of Leyte likewise vowed to support Duterte’s efforts to solve the traffic not just in Metro Manila but in other key areas like Cebu City.

Castelo, chairman of the House committee on Metro Manila development, lamented that he himself was helpless in the last 16th Congress as chairman of the same panel to address the traffic problem in the metropolis.

“Let’s give President Duterte the power to solve the biggest problem that we are having right now. It’s disappointing that we feel so helpless, and that we cannot do anything to address traffic in the last three years,” Castelo said.

Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, for his part, expressed concern over possible conflict of interest on the part of Tugade and DOTr Undersecretary Noel Kintanar in the Metro Rail Transit-Light Railway Transit Common Station since both were former executives of Ayala firms, now the contractors of the project.

Immediate solutions

Poe said measures must be undertaken to ease traffic congestion while the proposals on emergency powers were being deliberated on.

Poe earlier said the Senate could be finished tackling the bills by December. “Maybe the DepEd can have the Christmas vacation in schools in the first week of December, you know how horrendous the traffic can be in December,” Poe told dzBB.

She said the early Christmas break could be offset by extending the school calendar before the summer vacation.

Poe said the committee would hold another hearing on the proposals to grant Duterte emergency powers on Thursday with representatives or heads of local government units (LGUs) invited as resource persons.

Aside from holding the hearings, the panel is also conducting technical working group (TWG) meetings with stakeholders.

She appealed to LGUs, government agencies and other stakeholders to cooperate and make some sacrifices to address the transportation crisis.

Like the House members, she gave assurances that whatever legislation would emerge would have safeguards against possible abuse.

“For example, when it comes to biddings or entering into contracts, the proposal is to speed them up. Not just because a particular project is the cheapest, we must also make sure of its quality,” Poe said.

She cited the case of maintenance and supply contracts in the MRT-3 that were taken away from a long-time Japanese firm, Sumitomo despite its established track record.

Poe said contracts and transactions entered into by government must be transparent and that any extra powers to be granted to the administration would be freedom-of-information or “FOI-compliant, fiscally responsible and well-defined with deadlines.”

She said a congressional oversight committee composed of five members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives would be established.

Under the proposed emergency powers, Tugade said there would be a “single source” or direct procurement for government projects and that the power of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and other agencies over traffic management would be abolished.