Poe hits DOTr’s failure to ease traffic congestion

Sen. Grace Poe has lamented the dismal performance of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in easing traffic congestion while Congress is hammering out a bill granting President Duterte emergency powers to address the traffic crisis.

Poe, chair of the Senate public services committee that is drafting the emergency powers bill, said her panel was forced to hold one more hearing this week because many provisions in the proposal submitted by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade are vague.

Poe agrees with the creation of a central traffic authority, but she noted that the DOTr can coordinate with mayors to remove obstructions while waiting for the bill to be enacted into law.

“I want to be kind (but the DOTr’s actions) are really lacking. They keep harping on emergency powers but there are many things you can do that don’t require emergency powers,” Poe said.

“We cannot simply grant emergency powers and say

bahala na or it’s up to you. It’s incumbent upon us to supply strict public scrutiny on how the power granted to them will be used,” she added.

Poe also said she was forced to call for a fourth hearing for the DOTr to explain “why some of their projects, which apparently have nothing to do with traffic decongestion, are included in their proposals.”

“While I agree on the urgency to pass a transport emergency powers legislation, I have some reservations as to the list of projects DOTr presented during the hearings… For example, they seek emergency powers to procure license plates and establish a national emission-testing center. Do they need to wait for an emergency powers law before they can accomplish this?” she pointed out.

She noted that the proposal to implement the Bus Rapid Transfer line project along EDSA is also unclear. “Will the BRT use existing city buses or will they require a new type of bus for this project?”

Poe also called Tugade’s attention for failing to provide proposals for the development of ports outside of Metro Manila to reduce the number of cargo trucks plying the capital.

She lamented the list of projects submitted by the DOTr provides for migrating cargoes from Manila ports, but it does not include any proposed project for Subic and Batangas ports.

At the House of Representatives, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was equally hesitant to grant Tugade and his team blanket authority for the next three years.

“We are okay with emergency powers but they have to define the areas where they will need emergency powers. We cannot just give them shotgun emergency powers,” Alvarez said.

DOTr officials’ ties with private firms

Lawmakers also raised concerns over the previous ties of transportation officials with private corporations that have stakes in ongoing projects of the government.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said Tugade and Undersecretary Noel Kintanar were both former executives of the contractors involved in the Metro Rail Transit-Light Railway Transit Common Station project.

“I have to be very straightforward with my concern. This concerns the Ayalas. Two of the executives – Secretary Tugade and Usec. Kintanar are from Ayala firms or have done business with the Ayalas. They might favor the Ayalas’ business interests. That’s not right,” Suarez said.

Accidents

Meanwhile, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III is seeking a review of the traffic safety rules and regulations owing to the alarming rise of vehicular accidents in the country.

Pimentel filed Senate Resolution 190 seeking an inquiry into the various traffic ordinances as well as information drives of the Land Transportation Office, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and local government units.

He cited statistics from the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNPHPG) that there were 15,272 incidents of vehicular accidents nationwide in 2014 resulting in 1,252 deaths.

The PNP-HPG said the figure rose in 2015 that saw 24,565 accidents that resulted in 1,040 deaths.

In the first four months of this year, the PNP-HPG recorded 10,656 accidents resulting in 549 deaths.

The MMDA recorded much higher figures under its jurisdiction in 2014 with 90,258 vehicular accidents resulting in 418 deaths; and 95,615 accidents with 519 deaths in 2015.

“The increase in the frequency of vehicular accidents highlights the pressing need to reassess current road safety rules and regulations and to initiate appropriate legislation to curb the significant number of injuries and casualties caused by non-compliance with traffic and road safety rules and regulations,” Pimentel said.