The Philippine Star

Lawmakers oppose Tugade as traffic czar

- By JESS DIAZ

Lawmakers crossed party lines yesterday to oppose the grant of traffic-related special powers to Transporta­tion Secretary Arthur Tugade and to designate him as “traffic crisis manager.”

Reps. Rodolfo Albano lll and Harry Roque said Tugade should not be given blanket authority to reorganize agencies that have to do with traffic.

Roque sees no need for Congress to enact a law to give additional powers to Tugade, including the authority to reorganize agencies under him, since President Duterte can already do this. “No such law is necessary,” he said. “The President can already reorganize agencies through an executive order under the Administra­tive Code.”

The proposed “Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act of 2016” that Tugade submitted to the House of Representa­tives names him as “traffic crisis manager.”

It provides that “all powers, authority and functions over land traffic management of Metro Manila Developmen­t Authority, local government­s, Land Transporta­tion Office, Land Transporta­tion and Franchisin­g Regulatory Board, Philippine National Police, Toll Regulatory Board, Philippine Ports Authority, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippine­s, Civil Aeronautic­s Board, Manila Internatio­nal Airport Authority and other agencies and instrument­alities... shall be vested in the Traffic Crisis Manager.”

It also grants Tugade the power to “modify, amend, or expand the functions of the concerned agencies...”

Albano said it is only the President “who can reorganize the agencies under the Department of Transporta­tion and those that have to do with traffic and transporta­tion.”

Reps. Alfredo Garbin Jr. of Ako-Bicol and Lito Atienza of Buhay joined their colleagues in opposing Tugade’s request to be designated as traffic management czar for the next two years.

Garbin said Congress needs a detailed list of projects that the government would implement to address the traffic crisis.

“The executive branch is in a hurry to pass the emergency powers bill, but based on our hearings, we have learned that the DOTr and MMDA have yet to come up with concrete projects under the bill,” he said.

Atienza said Tugade must first exhaust all available legal means to deal with the traffic problem before seeking additional blanket powers.

“There are many factors contributi­ng to the traffic problem that can be addressed without resorting to emergency powers,” he said.

“There are so many roads in Metro Manila which are not being utilized as alternate routes to ease traffic congestion simply because they are being used as illegal parking spaces or as terminals of public utility vehicles such as the bus terminals at Buendia and Taft.”

Atienza said Tugade does not need special powers to clear roads of obstructio­ns.

Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting said the parameters must be concrete and transparen­t.

“In this case, with great power comes great responsibi­lity,” he said.

“And whoever shall be given these powers needs to be very qualified. Imagine how much worse the traffic problem will be if no solution or the wrong solution is implemente­d using these powers.”

Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said it was difficult to grant blanket powers to the DOTr since its officials are “conflicted.”

“I have to be very straightfo­rward with my concern,” he said. “Secretary Tugade and Undersecre­tary Noel Kintanar are from Ayala firms or have done business with the Ayalas. They might favor the Ayalas’ business interests.”

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has raised the same conflict-of-interest issue against DOTr officials.

“In every administra­tion, private corporatio­ns put their people in department­s covering their business. Whose interests are you serving?” he asked Tugade and his officials.

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