Poe: LGUs presence in hearing to help know emergency powers impact on them

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe on Thursday said the presence of local government officials in the Senate hearing on the proposed granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte is important to know how having a single traffic authority would impact their roles and responsibilities.

At the third day of the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing on the granting of emergency powers to resolve traffic congestion, Poe, chair of the panel, said the absence of officials from local government units (LGUs) is the only unfinished business of the inquiry as the panel has not heard of their side yet. Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista attended the third hearing to present their traffic management pipeline.

“We have entered the phase of our hearing when we have discussed the legislative language of your proposals. Pero meron pa tayong isang unfinished business — ang marinig ang mahalagang boses ng lokal na pamahalaan na maapektuhan dito,” Poe said in her opening statement.

'Balkanized' metropolis

Poe wants to determine the powers of LGUs which are needed to be rationalized, reduced or recalibrated for Metro Manila, citing that management of the metropolis is now “balkanized” or divided into smaller regions.

“Nowhere is this more evident than on its most congested artery, EDSA. This 23-kilometer road passes through six local governments with its own set of rules and own set of enforcers,” she cited.

Due to this, Poe said the hearing might provide the opportunity to revisit the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s power against traffic. She said the 30-plus-year experiment needs an updated 2016 operating system. 

The senator also called on the Department of Transportation to segment their proposals into three parts which are the policies, programs and projects so that there would be clarity and cohesion. Poe stressed that since the Senate is in the last mile of the inquiry, all the three P’s must be identified so the panel could finish on schedule and endorse the bill for plenary debate.

“Let me point out that just recently, it was reported that the MRT broke down during rush hour not once, not twice, but thrice. Some would say that this is enough reason to immediately grant emergency powers. People are becoming impatient and if only I had a magic wand to solve traffic problems, I would. But as I have said during the previous hearings and during my interviews, we owe it the people, to make sure that the powers granted to the executive will not be to the people’s disadvantage,” Poe said.

“Metro Manila residents spend 1,000 hours a year in traffic, while other countries in the world spend only 300 hours. Nakapagpadala na tayo ng satellite sa space, nakapagpanalo na tayo ng kaso sa Arbitral Tribunal, pero ang isang pang-araw-araw na problema tulad ng trapiko ay hindi pa rin nasosolusyunan. However, our traffic woes should not be used as a blanket excuse to grant emergency powers without making sure that these powers are FOI-compliant, time-bound, fiscally-responsible, detailed, and particular,” she said.