MANILA -- Senator Aquilino Pimentel III on Thursday urged Congress to prioritize a proposal to grant emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to solve the country’s worsening traffic problem.
In a statement, Pimentel said it may be an urgent and critical time to revisit the proposal, considering the losses incurred in man-hours, productivity, and opportunities every day due to the crippling traffic, which makes the country’s economy uncompetitive with its neighboring countries.
"It might be the proper time for Congress to take immediate and priority action to re-assess proposals granting emergency powers to the President para maayos ang napakasamang traffic dito sa Manila. Kailangang matulungan nating maibsan ang araw-araw na kalbaryo ng ating mga commuters (so that we can fix the terrible traffic here in Manila. We need to ease the daily burden of the commuters)," Pimentel said.
He cited that last year, the Philippines suffered an estimated economic loss of PHP3.5 billion daily due to Metro Manila traffic.
"Dapat nating ma-solusyonan yan (We have to solve it)! We are losing money and our patience every day and the opportunity to spend more time sa ating mga kapamilya (with our families)," Pimentel added.
He said the government could immediately enter into projects that can help solve traffic issues with such emergency powers granted to the President.
Examples of these projects include the building and construction of elevated roads and walkways, as well as bike lanes along Edsa, Ortigas Avenue, Shaw Boulevard and Ayala Ave, and the equivalent traffic bridges and roads in Cebu, he noted.
Pimentel also suggested that government infrastructure projects should be bid out for the private sector to operate and maintain after they are built.
"Mas maganda rin siguro kung ang mga proyektong ito ay pangangasiwaan ng pribadong sektor para masiguradong maayos ang paggamit at pagpapanatili ng mga ito (It would also be better if these projects would be operated by the private sector to ensure that these would be used and maintained properly)," he said.
“I am hoping the business sectors and the various business groups and associations will heed and support this call,” he added.
Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, has stressed that she is not against the granting of emergency powers that are backed by a well-studied master plan.
Poe, however, said even without emergency powers, there are already laws and policies to speed up government projects to alleviate the woes of the Filipino commuters and motorists.
On the other hand, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade denied Poe’s accusation of lack of a master plan on the use of emergency powers to solve traffic woes in Metro Manila.
Tugade enumerated the agency's plans on how to use the emergency powers to be granted to the President.
These, he said, include a transportation infrastructure plan made by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a proposal submitted to and reviewed by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), and a 30-year roadmap filed as legislation. (PNA)
