(The Philippine Star) | Updated November 27, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines —
With three weeks left before Congress adjourns, Sen. Grace Poe appealed
yesterday to President Duterte to certify as urgent the pending emergency
powers bill as the transportation crisis in the country continues to worsen.
Poe, chairperson of the
Senate committee on public services, hopes that Duterte will certify Senate
Bill 1284 or the proposed Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act so the measure will
be approved and implemented immediately.
She said the “fastest
way” to advance the measure is a Malacañang certification, just like other
urgent measures immediately passed by Congress.
“The emergency powers
bill will surely move (in the Senate) if Malacañang makes it a priority and
certifies it to speed up the implementation of projects to ease traffic,” Poe
said.
The measure remains
pending in the chamber since Poe sponsored it for approval on second reading
last year.
It seeks, among others,
to reduce obstacles to the implementation of transportation projects, such as
barring lower courts from issuing temporary restraining orders, for the
duration of the emergency powers.
The committee recently
met with officials of the Departments of Transportation and of Public Works and
Highways; and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority requesting that they
submit their concrete traffic crisis plans to the plenary after tax reform and
budget deliberations are finished.
The agencies promised
to submit a comprehensive report on priority projects that will be implemented
during the duration of the proposed emergency powers before the session break.
A certification of
urgency will allow Congress to pass the measure on second and third reading
within the same day. The certification will also prompt her colleagues to work
on the bill.
Poe said Duterte, who
first floated the idea to address traffic gridlocks during his first State of
the Nation Address, could also issue marching orders to his allies in the House
of Representatives, led by a “super majority” coalition, and the Senate to pass
the measure.
Sen. Joseph Victor
Ejercito, vice chairman of the panel, earlier said
granting emergency powers can ensure the speedy completion of
many of Duterte’s P8-trillion “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.
No comments:
Post a Comment