THE PHILIPPINE STAR

THURSDAY I SEPTEMBER
12, 2ol9'l

POSTSCRIPT
FEDERICO D. PASCUAL JT.

Give Duterte traffic

emergency powers?
T 'f()W manv Datients in ambu-
L-l lu.t *islt in traffic must
I I ;i" "tand Kow manv more
billions of man-hor:rs be wirsted in The emersqrcv Dowe6 should not over-reach b ollrer
tle Metro Manila gridlock befo-re Droiects and ;hc(is bubide those specified in the bill as the
I r rm
lar al< ers sive
rnakers Prpsident
oi vr' Prcsi he
Duterte the
dent Duterte
irafic crisls ii notnationwide. Stepi shown to have worked
emergenry i.*"*
*o'o-l..r powers ne wants ro
he wanE to solve
the omblern?
inMeho Manila and Meto Cebu-could later onbe adapted
to sirnilar situations elsewhere.
Ii cannot be *ut tlre Perceived au- . Tr€ade'asks lor 2 years to rush thlngs
thoriiarian bent of Duede is making r
i.,l',ifi"i'^^^,aa
evenhis suoermaioriw in ii'"c,'"-"i.h"titut"to
the ConFesshesitate to grant him
TRANSFORTAnON Secretary Arthur Tugade asked
Congress for two years of emergeircy powers Is he sPoke
the Iesal shbrt{u6 ma(e good his thr
he seeks to make
shbrt{u6hei'eeks three-year-old
fuedilav of opportunitv lost while the adminishation's
pronise to solve tlre Meho Manila traffic cdsis.
' i-.*ot* oowers mwt be granFd with extreme care,
hands lrave U.btt tiea i" addressing hansportation and
traffic oroblems,
especialti to i fbrcefrn Chie{ Exe-cutive to w hom t}re notion
Aditressins the Senate comrrdttee on public selvices,
ot'drects6 ana balances and the need for due Prccess aP
Tueade and oErer transport officials explajhed that if only
pear at times ho be more of an obstade lhan an aid to good
the emersencv Dowers fiua Ueett stunt"it in previous year3,
govemance.
" Exercisins emersencv powers on May 23,20'17, Du' -ot" ptfr*tr'*d programs woild haue tfoen completed
by no,w.
terte issued Froclariation No. 216 imposing martia.l law ' He said *lat despite ib many completed pn:iecis, his
and suspe ndinq the privilege of the wri t of habeas colpus
in Mindanao iijtia v for 60 davs on the basis of an "in- department muld have done more wih ernerg€ncy Pow-
ers: "Wala 'ln lanning sinasbi na unla 'ln knningwgauw kasi
vasion or rebellion, when the public safety requircs ig''
arzlang ernergency pow er. Angsinasabib la,ttns marami 'ln
The Corqress not only gave him the benefit ofihe doubL
but also apiroved on Dlec. lZ 2018, Duierte's rcquest to snn frmingiigau;kuny merun 'fung olirergertcy power."
'Ihe erant oI emers€rrcv powers would onlv last for one
extend th€idrnepercv measure until the end of 2019, as an
"invasion or rebrjtiori' rcportedly pemists in Mindanao and to t*o !eat", h" said. anii'the orersight funitions of the
Condrress would rrrnain.
oublic safetv rcouins it.
' ItGamakerolopinion iIt}eresort hcerrlergenryPower d:rine the hearine, bansport officials repord on the
has imoroved subsrtantjallv the security situation in Mind- status of"projects anJ futur,ei plans to help relieve uaffic
coneestion in Mebo Manila alrd Meho Cebu.
anao dr if the zupposed iivasion or nlbellion threatening
publlc safety has'tieen quelle4 assuming it has exisied all flendins in the dramber is Senate Bill No. 213 or the
along. SpecialBn"ergency Power Ac! whidr aims to 8i!€ Prcsident
We are mmtionins martial law in Mindanao only as
Duterte fuIl au*oritv to "initiate measues to solve the
country's traffic prob(em ." A taffic aar wou,td exercise the
zuide for guessing hirw Dulerte miSht use-emergenry optioni given tdthe Presidenl
oowers. e'"en iJ in another area of concerrl such as the trat- -
hc congestion threatening to strangle such urban c€ntem as
The House of Representatives approved on Dec. 3,
MetroManila and Metro Cebu. 201& its counterpart tjU fm olas, or thi 'Traffjc Crisis Act
Based on the presentation Tuesdav of transportaiion of- of N17'.
ficials in the Sena'te, *€ foors of the ernlergency powers being Transport officials explained that the grant of erncgency
powers ivould allow the adoption of policies that would
sousht is on inftastructue-building, whi'+r hasbeen slowed
dori,n bv leeal rcqu tments that Du terte wanb to bypass.
ivoid the time.consuming amendment of existing laws
It w;ddhelD fu the adminisbation enurnerates dearly and ordinances.
They said the grant would also fast-bad< Proculem€nt,
the emerp.enry'powers the President wants, citing iheir
factual ant lbfal bases, so {here could at least be intelliSent
rieht-ol-wav accuisitionn and relocation of commr:nities,
wTrile enab[ng the faster launching of priority proiects and
discrrssion.
oertial start of oDeratiorls.
The consolidated bill should also outline an action plan. '
We understand that al though the ernelganry,Powers pertain
UnderseqetirvforRailwavsTrmothvBatansaid:'"V\tth
onerger.cy po*oi, *e can finish oi.r railway projecls ahead
to the President, he intends bo apPoint a traffic czar to carry
of thdorieinal schedule and implemqrt paftial operability
out his wishes and orciestrate government moves
At so that thE ridlng public need n& wait foi fuJJ completion"
Resoonsibilitv and accountabilitv should be dear.
Undersecretarv for Road Transport and Infiashuctwe
oreseni. evervb6dv's fineer is into &affic - induding the
ir,t"no tr,lu"iti Deireloprienr Authority, 17 local govem- Mark de Iffn added: "One problirn ihat the erneryency
oowers can resolve is the conso[dation of frandrises so that
ments, the tanspodatibn deparlrnent and its agqlcies, the
PNP lt l'ugnwav gnup, cr
DaEor group,
highway phtrol et_"l,
dr.
ilUt *ilt coordltr"t as one unit."
""r
Assistant Sesetary for Procuement and bect Im-
ihi,";;{"Iffi ;b"i;5i;;*th"publicf or"rese?rc}r- olerner:r{ation Giovaniri l-opez said: '?rocurernent can be
backed" ide; If only MMDA were'riwake, it could-have
lo"" f*t"i *iift no issued tluough emeryency Powers.
eathered more *ran efior:eh suqgestions- ftorn the sublime
io the paralytic - simply 5y lis6iiry to radicTV commen-
That is what we need right now to avoid delays in oul
priit ofinion inft astructu€ prcjects."
ana reading
taries and ri:ading pieces' .
u P4ga -d0 /