by Mario Casayuran August 13, 2016
Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano asked
yesterday his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives to speed up
the passage of a measure granting emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte
to resolve the country’s worsening traffic and congestion problem.
At the same time, Senate Minority
Leader Ralph G. Recto said that any traffic plan authorized by emergency powers
that Malacañang asked Congress to confer to President Dutere must include
flood-related projects that would prevent monstrous gridlocks during rainy
days.
Cayetano, the defeated vice
presidential candidate of Duterte, said he expects the President would be
granted emergency powers by the end of September or before Congress goes on a
legislative break.
“Sana before the end of September.
That will be more than enough time for both Houses to put the proper
safeguards,” Cayetano said.
The Senate Committee on Public
Services, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, conducted recently the first in a series
of public hearings on three bills and three resolutions seeking the grant of
emergency powers to the President squarely address the transport and traffic
crises.
“We should not overcomplicate it. We
should put it this way. Everyday na hindi natin ibigay (that the) emergency
powers is not given is another day of traffic and gridlock,” he added.
Cayetano said fast-tracking an
emergency measure such as this is doable, as it was done during the time of
former President Fidel Ramos.
During Ramos’ term, it took Congress
only 12 days to enact a law that granted the President emergency powers to
address the country’s energy crisis, he pointed out.
Cayetano filed last Monday Senate
Bill No. 999 or the “Freedom from Traffic and Congestion Act of 2016,” which
seeks to give emergency powers to the President as well as to heads of
executive agencies related to the transportation sector, authorizing them to utilize
necessary resources and employ executive actions to resolve the crisis.
Through his bill, Cayetano aims to
end not just the traffic and congestion mess in Metro Manila, but also in all
other highly urbanized areas that experience the same problem, including the
provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Metro Cebu.
POWERS AGAINST FLOODS
For his part, Recto said it is not
enough to build or widen new roads to ease traffic in Metro Manila, “existing
roads must be made flood-proof too.”
He said the megalopolis gets 144
days of rain in a year which make 3,845 hectares flood-prone.
Government agencies have identified
85 flood-prone areas in the National Capital Region (NCR), some of which cover
portions of major roads, including five intersections along EDSA.
Recto said the average 32-kilometer
per hour crawl of cars during good weather in NCR roads further slows down
during rainy days, “or even at the slightest drizzle.”
“So ’yung P2.6 billion a day
economic losses to traffic ay kung maaraw lang. Di hamak na mas malaki, abot ng
P3 bilyon, kung maulan as the resulting longer commute time or absences cut
worker productivity (The estimated P2.6 billion economic loss due to traffic is
during sunny days. This estimate increases to about P3 billion during rainy
days as rains trigger longer commute time or absences cut workers’
productivity),” Recto said.
Recto urged Malacañang to pump more
funds into flood control projects “so that light downpours will no longer be a
major inconvenience to 14.5 million NCR residents.”
He said Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) was only given P504 million this year to repair
and construct 66 flood and drainage structures, citing a Budget department
briefer, “the proverbial drop in a bucket of needs.”
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