FORMER president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday vowed to file a bill that seeks to grant President-elect Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to impose drastic traffic reduction measures to deal with the deteriorating situation in Metro Manila and prevent billions in economic losses.
“The current traffic congestion in Metro Manila impedes progress and leads to a situation where billions are lost daily in fuel cost, man hours and opportunities,” said Arroyo, in a proposed bill, a copy of which was furnished The Standard.
In an explanatory note of the bill, Arroyo said the Duterte administration aims for an annual growth rate of at least seven percent to make a significant dent on poverty.
One of the ways to speed up growth, she said, is to get infrastructure moving, either by government or by build-operate-transfer or any of its variants.
“Contractors would have to accelerate the implementation and completion of infrastructure projects in Metro Manila in order to decongest,” Arroyo said.
“Drastic traffic reduction measures also need to be undertaken through traffic management reforms,” Arroyo said.
Arroyo is set to file the bill as one of her 10 priority bills upon the opening of the 17th Congress.
Among the additional powers that Arroyo wanted Duterte to be granted was to allow the president to enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of critical infrastructure, projects and facilities subject to certain conditions.
Duterte would also be authorized, whenever it is necessary for the national welfare and in the public interest, to set a maximum internal rate of return of not more than 12 percent of the house-estimated project cost.
“Provided, that any infrastructure project that has the capacity to yield said internal rate of return under commercial conditions may be undertaken on a build-operate-transfer [BOT] basis or any of its variants as enumerated in Section 2 of Republic Act 7718,” she said.
“Provided, further, that the toll fees in the case of projects undertaken as BOT or any of its variants shall be set by the Toll Regulatory Board,” she added.
“The President is hereby empowered to reorganize the Metro Manila Development Authority [MMDA], to make it more effective, innovative and responsive to the traffic crisis in Metro Manila,” the Arroyo bill also states.
Under the bill, Arroyo said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. will set aside 10 percent of its annual aggregate gross earnings for the next five years as a subsidy to MMDA, provided, that such percentage allocation will be based on gross revenue after deducting the 5 percent franchise tax and the 50 percent income share of the national government.
The bill seeks to grant Duterte the extra powers for two years unless they are withdrawn earlier by a resolution of Congress.
An oversight committee in each House of Congress will be created to monitor the implementation to be composed of five members of each, to monitor the implementation of the law and the exercise of the authority granted by it, she said.
Arroyo said the Oversight Committees will submit periodic reports, evaluations and recommendations to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Outgoing Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Tuesday said he supported the proposal to grant special powers to the incoming president to deal with Metro Manila’s traffic woes.
He added, however, that the powers given must be very specific.
Returning Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers also rallied behind the grant of emergency powers to Duterte.
At the time the emergency powers are in effect, the government should start working on major infrastructure projects, such as road widening and the mass transit system, he said.
“We should build more roads, flyovers and improve our mass transport system. We should also study the possibility of creating commercial and residential hubs outside of Metro Manila,” Barbers said.
Earlier, incoming speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez said Congress was ready to grant the emergency powers to Duterte.
It was Alvarez who first broached the idea. With Maricel V. Cruz
