Poe urges Duterte: Tell your allies to pass emergency traffic powers

MANILA, Philippines – Ahead of his 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24, Senator Grace Poe urged President Rodrigo Duterte to nudge his allies in the Senate to pass the bill granting him emergency powers to respond to problems of traffic and congestion.

“Maraming kaalyado ang Pangulo hindi ba? So medyo sabihan, na ipasa na natin. Sa tingin ko makikinig sila,” Poe said on Sunday, July 23 in an interview on radio dzBB.

(The President has many allies, right? So he should tell them to pass it. I think they will listen.)

Poe, as chair of the Senate committee on public services, has been pushing for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1284 or “An Act Compelling the Government to Address the Transportation and Congestion Crisis Through the Grant of Emergency Powers to the President.”

The bill is still being deliberated by senators, she said. Its version at the House of Representatives is also being deliberated.

She said she hopes Duterte will include it in his priority bills when he delivers his SONA on Monday.

It was Duterte who raised the possible need for emergency powers to solve traffic woes in his first SONA July last year, but has since toned down his stance. In May, he said he will no longer insist on emergency powers following doubts from some lawmakers about the transparency of budgetary processes.

“Tinanong ko nga mismo iyong Pangulo, ‘Mr. President do you need the emergency powers?’ Ang sagot naman niya sa akin, ‘mapagkakatiwalaan mo si Sec. Tugade’ pero hindi iyong eksaktong kasama doon sa mga priority measures ng unang SONA niya,” Poe said.

(I asked him directly, ‘Mr President do you need emergency powers?’ He answered me, ‘you can trust Transportation Secretary Art Tugade.’ It wasn’t also directly included in his priority measures in his last SONA.)

Poe said that among Duterte’s emergency powers, if granted, will be:

1. Instead of a zonal value, government will be able to offer to buy for a fair market value private lands which  need to be utilized for infrastructure
2. Funds will be available to the government to relocate informal settlers currently living on government lands which need to be utilized for infrastructure
3. Emergency procurement methods for urgent needs such as equipment for Metro Rail Transit (MRT)

Poe said that should emergency powers be granted, an oversight committee will be established to ensure that the processes will not be used for corruption.

She said emergency powers will help the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program.

“Mayroon nga kayong ‘build, build, bulid’ program ay puro naman balakid ng kaso, balakid ng right of way issue, balakid ng local government concerns, kapag hindi naman ninyo naresolba iyan, hindi iyan matutuloy.  Kaya nga ang ginagawa natin sa abot ng ating makakaya, sa ating poder, iyong ating kontribusyon dito, pero konting tulong din doon sa iba na para naman ito ay umusad na,” she said.

(You have a ‘build, build, build’ program but it is always blocked by lawsuits, right of way issues, local government concerns. If you don’t resolve that, this will not progress. That’s why I’m doing all I can in the Senate, this is my contribution, but I need help from others for this to move along.) – Rappler.com