By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Butch Fernandez, Cai U. Ordinario & Catherine N. Pillas
MORNINGS in Metro Manila—one of the largest megacities in the world with 14 million people—can be filled with ironies. At a time when most people are rushing off to work, traffic jams have kept millions of commuters and motorists trapped inside private and public vehicles—unmoving.
Trains that are supposed to take commuters from one end of the Metro to another in minutes suddenly seemed slow in arriving, as millions of passengers wait in long queues for their ride to arrive.
Others bet on buses, while a few shell out additional pesos on taxi cabs.
All these happen on a supposed 21-kilometer expressway named after one of the best Filipino writers in Spanish, Epifanio de los Santos.
Indeed, what straddles the fast-paced centers of the metropolis, Edsa seems to hold every inch of growth in abeyance. The clogged Highway 54 is something that President Duterte promises to change. To do this, Mr. Duterte said he may need to be granted emergency powers by both houses of Congress.
“’Pag walang emergency powers makukumpas ba natin ’yan? Hindi natin makukumpas ’yan,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade earlier told the BusinessMirror in a roundtable. According to Tugade, if the government fails to synchronize everything, traffic ills would be solved in one area, but would cause a bottleneck in another area.
“You can solve the traffic jam along Edsa, but a bottleneck would occur in Quezon City,” he said. “Let’s cooperate with each other. We have a good chance to do something now.”
Tugade said he vows to solve traffic ills in 24 months. “Kapag after two years wala akong nagawa, sipain ninyo ako.”
Nothing capricious
GRANTING emergency powers to the Commander in Chief will give Mr. Duterte the authority to impose rules and regulations without the permission of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
In terms of traffic rules, the emergency powers can give the current administration the authority to disregard traffic rules set by each city and municipality in Metro Manila.
Under the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, local government units (LGUs) are given autonomy to set their respective road-use policies, among others.
However, after over two decades, the independence given to local public officials has resulted in conflicting traffic rules and regulations. Tugade said the policy incongruity needs to be addressed if some reprieve from the daily traffic situation—which seems to be worsening by the day—will be felt by commuters and motorists.
Tugade claims giving Mr. Duterte emergency powers will allow the government the authority to remove all bus terminals on Edsa. These bus terminals have added to the congestion before, during and after rush hour, the transportation czar said.
“Nothing in the emergency powers is capricious,” Tugade said, adding they would also consult owners of land that may need widening or opening up. “’Pag pumunta ako ng walang emergency powers, papaalisin lang nila ako.”
Knife-like
THESE emergency powers, Tugade claims, can also help address “with knife-like precision” the complicated situation of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT). He said so many temporary restraining orders (TROs) are currently filed in connection with the MRT.
The complex ownership structure of the MRT is one of the biggest causes for the neglect of the mass-transport system, Tugade said.
The country’s train system suffers a serious lack of cars, poor maintenance, especially of tracks, faulty elevators and escalators at stations, and other operational deficiencies.
The main victims of this poor service are commuters who are crammed into train cars like sardines every rush hour. Apart from the high density of passengers, many MRT cars encounter problems with their air-conditioning system, causing many passengers severe discomfort throughout their ride.
According to Tugade, the emergency powers would address the various TROs and lawsuits that have tied the MRT to its current sorry state.
“If you look at the problems related to the MRT, you will see a labyrinth of selfishness na hindi mo mabibigyan ng solusyon.”
Port congestion
APART from addressing traffic jams, Tugade claims the emergency powers would allow the Duterte administration to directly and swiftly address congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
One major solution the government intends to implement is to transfer the Naia’s general aviation—which includes mostly privately owned aircraft—to locations like Sangley.
The President himself said in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday the move will negatively affect only the rich who have their own planes. But the move, Tugade said, will address at least 18 percent to 20 percent of the congestion at the Naia.
This, however, will open Tugade and the administration to lawsuits. He said the owners of these private aircraft will not take the matter sitting down and, because they have the money, can sue him and the Duterte administration.
According to Tugade, this plan is not new and was hatched during the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
“Bakit hindi nagawa? There was no political will that is supported by emergency powers, kasi kakasuhan ka,” he told the BusinessMirror. “’Pag inalis ko ho ’yung general aviation, akala mo ’yung mga may-ari ng mga helicopter dyan, ‘just-just’ na papayag? Kakasuhan ho ako [ng mga] iyan.”
Business support
BUSINESS groups, meanwhile, have supported Tugade’s proposal for emergency powers when it was aired in June.
In a statement issued following the Sulong Pilipinas Business Conference in Davao City, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said it is giving conditional support to the Duterte administration to be vested with emergency powers to resolve what it has dubbed a “transportation crisis.”
“The MBC believes that the nation does face a transportation crisis, which needs urgent action and solutions,” the group said. “If the solutions to address the transport crisis require emergency powers, [the] MBC will be prepared to support the consideration of well-defined emergency powers for the transport sector, provided these emergency powers are specific, limited and time-bound, anchored on a solid national policy and complemented by a strong system of accountability.”
Another group, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has called for an executive order for the same, emphasizing that there must be a concurrence of Congress on the matter.
“There must be an issuance of an executive order to declare that a transportation and traffic crisis exists in Metro Manila and, with the concurrence of Congress, secure emergency powers for the President to address the crisis by mobilizing all government resources and undertaking necessary measures unhampered by appointment, procurement, budgetary and Commission on Audit regulations during its pendency.”
Further, the MAP recommended in June the appointment of a traffic czar to oversee the so-called crisis, and endorsed Jose P. de Jesus. De Jesus held previous posts in the government: as secretary of transportation and communication and as secretary of public works and highways.
On the long-standing issue of a common station between the proposed MRT 7 and the lines of MRT 3 and Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1, the MAP suggests quarreling parties to solve the dilemma within a period of 60 days upon commencement of talks. And if the talks fail to progress, the appointed czar must step in and take “direct action.”
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is mostly composed of small and medium enterprises, similarly aired support for the measure.
Senate scrutiny
SENATORS share the Executive’s sense that daily traffic gridlocks in Metro Manila—estimated to cost the economy P2.5 billion daily—require quick, determined action. However, members of the Upper House believe that action cannot guarantee they can meet a one-month timeframe to seal the grant of emergency powers sought by Mr. Duterte.
Responding to queries from the BusinessMirror, senators were divided on whether the Senate can fast-track approval of emergency powers that Mr. Duterte himself requested from lawmakers when he appeared before a joint session of Congress to deliver his first Sona.
“Pwede [that’s possible],” Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III said, when asked if the emergency powers can be approved within a one-month timeframe.
But Sen. Richard J. Gordon said speedy passage of the special powers for the President to untie daily traffic gridlocks can only be determined at the committee level.
“[It] depends on how fast it can come out of committee,” Gordon said, referring to the Public Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, to which the emergency powers proposal was referred for public hearings.
Sen. Ralph G. Recto, however, applied the brakes, saying lawmakers need to first ascertain what exactly are the parameters and duration of the requested emergency powers.
“I filed a resolution inquiring exactly what emergency powers do they need,” Recto told the BusinessMirror, clarifying that, “in general, I am not opposed to it.”
“We are losing P2.5 billion daily due to traffic,” he added. “But we need to know exactly what they [members of the Executive] are asking for.”
Drilon’s doubts
FORMER Senate President Franklin M. Drilon voiced doubts that Congress can grant the emergency powers sought by Mr. Duterte in only four weeks of plenary deliberations.
“We will give it priority, but I doubt if we can finish it in one month,” Drilon said, adding at least two committees—on Public Services and Revision of Codes—will likely conduct joint hearings on the proposal.
Recto’s Senate Resolution 59 “directs the appropriate Senate committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the propriety of granting special or emergency powers to the President of the Republic of the Philippines to immediately solve the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.”
The Recto resolution cited the 1987 Constitution, which provides that in times of war or other national emergency, Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a limited period and subject to certain conditions, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy.
Recto pointed out that “residents and motorists in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces experience horrendous traffic congestion on a daily basis.”
Moreover, he asserted that Metro Manila continues to be the top contributor to the country’s economy, based on the 2014 statistics presented by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), accounting for a 37-percent share in the country’s GDP.
Jica study
RECTO also cited a road-map study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) that estimated the loss caused by Metro Manila’s traffic jams on the Philippine economy at P2.4 billion a day, or almost P900 billion a year in potential income, “a figure that could balloon up to P6 billion a day, or P180 billion a year by 2030.”
Recto noted that precisely, the objective of the Jica study was to formulate a transportation infrastructure road map for a sustainable development of Metro Manila and its surrounding areas.
He added that the road-map study also included proposals that can “help reduce traffic congestion; remove barriers for seamless mobility; lower the cost of transportation for low-income groups; and decrease air pollution.”
According to Recto, the proposals include integration of a mass-transit network; an integrated network of developed urban expressways; modernization of road-based public-transport system; and strengthening of the traffic-management program.
The senator, likewise, listed the short-term projects proposed by Jica, which include suggestions to rehabilitate main urban roads; develop secondary roads in peri-urban areas; completion of North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway connector, including the provision of access to port areas.
“As for urban rail, the government must finalize the overall metropolitan urban rail-network system plan by looking into the possibility of including a subway on Edsa, and to extend railway main lines and secondary lines,” Recto said, quoting from the Jica proposal.
Unmanageable proportion
THE Japanese agency also suggested that “with respect to traffic management, the government must conduct a comprehensive traffic-management study that will strengthen enforcement capacities and introduce systematic road-safety interventions.
He added that with regard to gateway ports and airports, Jica recommended that the government implement committed improvement packages for the Naia and the Clark International Airport; place a cap on expansion of Manila ports; facilitate diversion to Batangas and Subic Ports through incentives; and to conduct study for the development of a new Naia and redevelopment of the Port of Manila.
Recto warned that should the worsening traffic problem be allowed to persist, “the economic losses may soon reach unmanageable proportion.”
The senator asserted that implementation of the Jica Roadmap Study by 2030 is expected to produce, among others, time cost savings of up to P570 billion a year; toll and fare revenue for the government of up to P119 billion a year; public transport-fare savings of up to P18 a day; and travel-time reduction of up to 49 minutes per trip.
Recto recalled that the Executive department had already reviewed the Jica Roadmap Study, and has formulated an action plan in order to implement the Jica proposals, but it “admitted that there are serious physical and legal roadblocks that must be hurdled before the government can fully implement the Jica proposals.”
“In providing special or emergency powers to the President of the Republic of the Philippines to solve the vehicular traffic crisis, impediments to the full implementation of the Jica proposals, such as restraining orders or injunctions from courts, right-of-way issues; restrictive regulations from LGUs; and even the control, management and apprehension of undisciplined motorists and pedestrians may be specifically addressed,” Recto said.
But the senator cautioned that before granting emergency powers to the President, it is incumbent upon Congress to inquire from the Executive department the specific powers being requested and, thereafter, ascertain whether the grant of emergency powers is, “indeed, necessary and proper, and will enable the President to implement programs that will solve the country’s traffic woes, unhindered by the usual bureaucratic delays.”
Recto explained that this was why he asked the Senate leadership, under newly installed Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III, to direct the appropriate Senate committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the propriety of granting special or emergency powers to the President to promptly address daily traffic gridlocks in Metro Manila and other clogged areas in the metropolis.
Last resort
EVEN as he authored the bill seeking to grant emergency powers to Mr. Duterte, Drilon is asking Congress to include adequate safeguards against “corruption, as well as onerous and disadvantageous contracts” the government would sign in a bid to solve daily traffic gridlocks in Metro Manila and other urban areas.
In filing Senate Bill 11, also known as the Transportation Crisis Act of 2016, Drilon proposed to grant Mr. Duterte emergency powers in dealing with what the senator described as an “alarming transportation crisis” within Metro Manila.
“It is also of the highest importance that the bill will provide safeguards that can adequately protect the system and the people from abuses,” Drilon asserted.
He insists that members of Congress should take a careful look at previous experiences, citing, for instance, the country’s experience when Congress enacted the Electric Power Crisis Act of 1993.
“We must learn from the experiences with the Electric Power Crisis Act of 1993, which was crafted to address the power crisis, but, in the end, resulted in the execution of onerous contracts with independent power producers that led to expensive and higher electricity rates,” Drilon said. “We must avoid making the same mistakes all over again,” he added, saying, “the bill must ensure that the most advantageous price for the government is obtained.”
According to Drilon, the measure should also ensure that the procedure is undertaken in a transparent manner.
“We should strive for the highest standards of transparency and accountability in crafting the bill,” he said, adding, “we must make sure that these powers will not be misemployed and exploit our people, rather than help them.”
Drilon also noted that a no-bidding policy and negotiated procurement must only be employed “as a last resort,” when all other alternative methods of procurement have already been exhausted.
Lower House
THE leadership of the House of Representatives said the lower chamber will prioritize the passage of House Bill 3, or the Traffic Crisis Act of 2016.
Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, author of the bill, said the country is experiencing horrendous and worsening, unsolved traffic crisis caused by insufficient infrastructure, coupled with inefficient management of transportation services.
Alvarez also cited the data in the Jica study noted by Recto.
“Also, the National Economic and Development Authority [Neda] concluded that without the necessary intervention by the authorities, traffic costs will likely increase to P6 billion a day, which costs are based from several factors,” Alvarez said. He added that the Neda cited these costs as value of time lost due to delay, fuel costs, vehicle operating costs, impact of health, greenhouse-gas emissions, great demand for transport-cost expenses from household income, productivity losses and overcapacity of registered vehicles, whether public or private.
Under the Constitution, Congress is tasked to approve the grant of emergency powers to the President through a resolution by voting two-thirds in a joint session.
Alvarez’s bill allows Mr. Duterte to reorganize the Department of Transportation and Communications. The reorganization would include the Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Toll Regulatory Board of the Philippines for land-transportation concerns. The Civil Aviation Board and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, meanwhile, would be reorganized for air-traffic problems.
Reorganization
ACCORDING to Alvarez, the reorganization aims to make these agencies more effective, innovative and responsive agencies to solve the traffic crises.
The bill said the President may also abolish or create offices; split, group, or merge government positions; transfer functions, equipment, properties, records and personnel; institute drastic cost-cutting measures; and take such other related actions necessary to carry out the purpose herein declared.
“The authority granted to the President under this act be valid and effective for a period of two years from the effectivity of the act, unless sooner withdrawn by a resolution of Congress,” the measure said.
It also allows the President to create and establish a centralized traffic authority, both on air and on land; empowered to address all traffic concerns; and implement better management services resulting from balanced integration of traffic education, engineering and enforcement of services.
The bill, meanwhile, said the President shall submit a monthly report to Congress on the efficiency and effectiveness of the measures undertaken to implement this Act. It also created a congressional committee to monitor and oversee the implementation of the Act.
Arroyo, Yap
FORMER President and now Lakas Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga and National People’s Coalition Rep. Arthur C. Yap of Bohol also filed separate bills granting Duterte emergency powers.
Arroyo said the current traffic congestion in Metro Manila impedes progress and leads to a situation where billions of pesos are lost daily in fuel cost, manhours and opportunities.
“No one is spared from this crisis,” Yap said. “The public suffers from the pains of commuting in the grungy Metro Rail systems and public-utility vehicles.”
According to Yap, “Problems of this proportion call for drastic solutions, because these have already resulted in higher operating cost, lost income opportunities and productivity; higher foreign-exchange outflow for fuel; and redundant transportation equipment.”
Meanwhile, leaders of the 17th Congress are eyeing to grant Duterte emergency powers by next month.
‘Emergency corruption’
BUT Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay warned the government against authorizing “emergency” shortcuts in the performance of public-transportation projects.
Atienza said emergency powers would only lead to “emergency corruption.”
“Government does not need special powers to sort out the growing motor vehicle-traffic mess, which is largely due to sprawling corruption, incompetence, bad enforcement and poor compliance,” he said. “Every day we see obstructive road diggings everywhere left unattended by insensitive and inept district engineers who can’t seem to get the job done fast enough.”
According to Atienza, “In exchange for bribes, bus operators have illegally annexed our roads as their virtual terminals or waiting areas, adding to the ‘jamming.’”
“Meanwhile, colorum public-utility vehicles continue to proliferate unchecked,” he added.
Atienza said traffic problems may be addressed without extraordinary powers.
“We will surely be swamped with ‘emergency’ transportation projects, including unnecessary and irrelevant projects, because that is where the biggest kickbacks will be, considering that all best practice standards will be cast aside.”
To address traffic problems, Atienza urged Malacañang to start the planning for a rapid subway system around Metro Manila, designate “competent” executives to run the LRT Lines 1 and 2 and the MRT 3, which could help move another 1 million passengers every day.
Oversight committee
FORMER Speaker and Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of Quezon City also proposed the creation of a congressional oversight committee that would scrutinize all negotiated contracts that may be deemed disadvantageous under the proposed emergency powers for President Duterte.
While he is supporting the proposal granting Mr. Duterte emergency powers to address the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila, Belmonte said the creation of the congressional oversight committee is important to protect the government’s transport-related projects.
Belmonte said Congress has a power to oversee all negotiated contracts that are not subject to public bidding to promote transparency in the government.
Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano of Magdalo said, “We would have wanted to see the present administration to exhaust all the options in solving the problems of our traffic before the grant of emergency powers. The assurance of President Duterte that his government is clean is not enough. The point is there are checks and balances to avoid abuse [of powers].”
For his part, Liberal Party Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay said, “Emergency powers [could be] conceded to the Executive by the Legislative department on very special circumstances.”
“But the President in his Sona didn’t say what [are] the parameters of the emergency powers that he is seeking,” Lagman said. “He should first outline what specifically he wants.”
Measures forwarded by House Bill 3, or Traffic Crisis Act of 2016
THE bill would allow the President to administer and implement remedial and such other related measures to address the traffic crisis in the country. These measures would include the following:
- Creation and establishment of mass-transport system.
- Transfer of transport terminals to decongest choke points in Metro Manila and other major cities.
- The creation or immediate establishment or designation of alternative international airports and the creation of parallel runways, if feasible, to decongest airport traffic, in order to relieve and alleviate traffic situation and spread through less congested areas near or adjacent Metro Manila.
- The transfer of public markets located on busy highways.
- The establishment of friendship routes, or alternative routes, by opening an otherwise private subdivision road to nonresident motorists, with the option to provide nonfiscal incentives in return for the use of the said private roads; gated communities and gated military camps parallel to major thoroughfares may, likewise, be opened, subject to conditions and restrictions.
- The issuance and implementation of rules on the working hours of employees and workers in government and, whenever it becomes necessary, in the private sector to alleviate traffic congestion during rush hours.
- Exercise state power of eminent domain in order to appropriate private property for establishment of easement or right of way, expansion of public roads or other public purposes, with payment of reasonable compensation usually based on the fair market value of the strip of land and for any effect the condemnation of that strip has on the value of the owners’ remaining property.
- Formulate, coordinate and regulate the implementation of medium- and long-term plans and programs for the delivery of nationwide transportation-related services, consistent with national developmental objectives and priorities.
- Whenever it is advantageous to the government, the President may enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of roads, bridges, railways, toll roads, expressways, skyways, airport runways and facilities, and similar infrastructure and facilities, and the procurement of coaches, subject to requirements.
- Implement the “Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas” approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board, known as the “dream plan” road map, estimated to cost the government P2.3 million.
- To temporarily take over or direct the operation of any transportation franchise that is found to have redundantly violated the herein declared national policy.