The House of Representatives may pass on third and final reading the proposed Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act to address the worsening traffic woes in Metro Manila and other urban cities before its adjournment.
In an interview over dzBB, Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento said House Bill No. 6425 may be approved on its third and final reading even as he warned that it may not be enacted into a law.
He said the Senate is now preoccupied with the deliberation of the 2019 proposed P3.757-trillion national budget even as the campaign season for the 2019 midterm polls is fast approaching.
“That is the limitation—lack of material time—that we see on the part of the Senate,” he said.
“The Senate will have insufficient time to consider the Traffic Crisis Act. Not to mention, by next year [they are already on] campaign mode,” he added.
Under the bill, the problem of traffic would be considered an emergency or calamity situation.
The bill gives the secretary of the Department of Transportation power of supervision and control over the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Cebu Coordinating Council to be created under the bill, the Philippine National Police’s Traffic Management Group, Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Road Board, and other executive agencies, bureaus and offices with roles pertaining to land transportation regulation.