PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he will no longer push Congress to grant him emergency powers to solve Metro Manila’s traffic woes, citing the resistance of some lawmakers to some members of his Cabinet.
“No. If the Congress would want to give it to me, fine. It would expedite things,” Duterte told reporters after arriving from working visits in Cambodia, Hong Kong and China.
“But if they are fearful of corruption there because [there will be no bidding], then they have every right to doubt.”
Duterte said lawmakers should not doubt the integrity of his Cabinet members in case Congress granted him emergency powers, adding he would not allow corruption under his watch.
“I told them that corruption has no place in my government. I will not allow it,” he said.
Duterte, who first raised the need for emergency powers during his first State of the Nation Address, earlier met with several officials from Congress to discuss his priority measures to solve Metro Manila’s traffic crisis.
Senator Grace Poe, who heads the Senate committee on public services, earlier said that it was “not that easy” to grant emergency powers to Duterte to solve the traffic crisis in the country, especially with the trillions of pesos that his administration was seeking for its big-ticket infrastructure projects.
Special powers would allow Duterte to conduct selective bidding, direct contracting or negotiated procurement to deal with the traffic problem.
Those powers would also prevent the courts from issuing temporary restraining orders against his projects, with only the Supreme Court having the authority to do such.
Duterte said he had told the judiciary not to paralyze government projects by issuing Temporary Restraining Orders.
While he was going to do his job, the Supreme Court should act on various cases involving the lower courts that would hamper government projects.
“And I am asking the Supreme Court to do something about it… I will do my share of cleaning the government,” Duterte said.
He said some companies could also try to delay government projects should they lose in the public biddings.
“The bidders. If A wins the bid and B and C [lose], they’re going to file a case, not really asking for justice. I am now addressing myself to the judiciary, do not, do not for Christ’s sake play with TROs,” he said.
Duterte likewise claimed that some courts were issuing TROs because their judges were being paid.