THE House of Representatives will begin deliberations on several proposed measures to grant President Rodrigo Duterte emergency powers to solve traffic woes in Metro Manila as soon as the Lower House finishes the committee assignments of congressmen.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the emergency powers will be among the first issues to be tackled in the chamber after the committee assignments of 293 House members are completed.
Alvarez, representative of Davao del Norte, acknowledged that the traffic problem in Metro Manila is already a “real crisis” and “not just an ordinary problem.”
“We waste so many hours sitting in cars or buses or riding in jam-packed and rickety MRT and PNR trains instead of spending time at work or being with our families at home. The situation is, in most certain terms, a true crisis which needs emergency powers to enable the President to act,” Alvarez said in his acceptance speech after being elected as Speaker of the 17th Congress.
Alvarez stressed Congress will do “whatever it takes” to solve the traffic crisis in the metropolis but will also ensure there will be safeguards against abuses.
Alvarez himself authored the proposed Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 which calls for the creation of a “centralized traffic authority” both on air and on land that shall be empowered to address all traffic concerns.
A similar measure, or the proposed Metro Manila Traffic Crisis Powers Act, was filed by former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo seeking to authorize the President to enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of critical infrastructure, projects and facilities, subject to certain requirements.
Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap also filed a measure empowering the President to reorganize the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Departments of Transportation and Public Works and Highways as well as appoint a traffic czar to attend to the traffic problem.
House deputy speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu also filed a measure that seeks to regulate the sale of motor vehicles in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao and other highly urbanized cities by requiring proof of parking space or facility as a prerequisite for the purchase of a motor vehicle.
Along with the emergency powers, Alvarez said that Congress would also review Government Procurement Act.
“Since its passage into law, many government agencies as well as those in the private sector have felt discomfited with R.A. 9184, as amended. Unlike a free-size shirt, the Procurement Law should not be a one-size-fits-all kind of law,” Alvarez earlier said.
“We should put in enough flexibility to address all foreseeable possibilities that may arise in the course of government procurement,” Alvarez said.
