Senate resumes hearing on traffic emergency powers

THE SENATE will resume hearings on Thursday, 10:30 a.m., on the proposed emergency powers being sought for President Rodrigo R. Duterte to help resolve the traffic crisis in Metro Manila and other urban centers.

In a statement, Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Public Services Committee, said the Department of Transportation (DoTr) will be asked to present its plans and projects in detail.

Ms. Poe said her public services committee has scheduled the resumption of the public hearing at 10:30 a.m. at the Session Hall.

“The bottleneck will not be in the Senate because we will conduct hearings consistently. But when we asked the Department of Transportation — give us already, as early as now, while we are discussing the problems in the hearings — what your proposed projects are. There’s none yet. Kahit na di pa kumpleto ( Even if the plans are not yet complete),” the senator said at a recent forum.

On Tuesday, Ms. Poe visited the Southwest Integrated Provincial Terminal in Parañaque City, ahead of the resumption of the hearings, to inspect its facilities and talk with passengers. She noted what she called the “sorry state” of the terminal.

“As the chairperson of the Committee on Public Services in the Senate, we will invite private sector advisers that will be part of the oversight to look at the contracts,” Ms. Poe said, adding that if this oversight is approved, this body will include a former chief justice, an economist, and an engineer “who is really familiar with these contracts.”

Invited to Thursday’s hearing are officials of the DoTr, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and other agencies as well as stakeholders. The DoTr recently took over the MMDA’s traffic management function. The agency is now mainly tasked with solid waste management, flood control projects, and local government coordination.