CA set to hear allegations vs Tugade

The Commission on Appointments (CA) is set to hear the case of an umbrella network of road users opposing the confirmation of Secretary Arthur Tugade as head of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Road Users Protection Advocates (RUPA) chairman Ray Junia said yesterday Tugade’s dismal performance, along with his questionable emergency powers package of P8 trillion worth of projects that will no longer undergo public bidding, will only worsen the traffic situation while enriching DOTr officials who stand to benefit from negotiated contracts.

He likened the emergency powers package to the proverbial Trojan horse that will have adverse effects on commuters.

Junia expressed gratitude to the CA, particularly to Cebu Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, who is in charge of transportation, for its assurance that the group will be heard on its opposition to Tugade’s confirmation.

He urged Congress and the CA to go beyond cursory examination into the background of Tugade and “his motives in hiring officials whose intentions are suspect, given their history in taking the side of service providers on big projects under the then Department of Transportation and Communications.”

“Consumers have all the reasons to fear that the emergency powers being sought. It is nothing but a grand scheme to commit more corruption,” he said.

He said the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila and in other urban areas has already reached the level of a “crime against the people.”

In previous hearings at the House of Representatives, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez noted Tugade and his men had conflicts of interest, having been in the transport sector before joining the government.

He said the CA’s decision to bypass Tugade was already a “vote of no confidence” from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, especially in light of the flawed emergency powers package proposal the DOTr is seeking.