MANILA, Philippines—Senator Grace Poe’s opposition to the granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to address traffic congestion in Metro Manila will “haunt her when the time comes,” Malacañang said Wednesday.
“From the very start—obviously the grant of emergency powers would have helped a lot. Since kinontra niya iyon, it will haunt her when the time comes,” Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in an interview over CNN Philippines.
Panelo made the remark after Duterte, in a speech in Malacañang Tuesday night, said traffic in the capital region will be the senator’s legacy.
READ: Metro Manila traffic is Poe’s ‘legacy,’ says Duterte
“Sinadya ko talaga ‘yan. Pagdating ng panahon p***** i**, meron na ngang solution eh sabihin niyo ‘corruption’ … Yan ang legacy niya. Make it a legacy ng pagka-politiko. It’s not mine,” he said.
Duterte had previously chided Poe for supposedly being suspicious that the money for traffic-related projects could be lost to corruption.
Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, has held hearings on the proposal to grant the President special emergency powers to address transportation and traffic congestion in the country.
Several bills were filed in the Senate and House of Representatives in the previous Congress seeking emergency powers for the President. The House approved the bill, but the Senate version did not progress.
The President said he would no longer ask Congress to grant him emergency powers to solve Metro Manila’s traffic congestion because according to him, it is no longer feasible to complete projects in the remaining years of his presidency.
“I cannot complete the project. I cannot clear Edsa with the remaining years of my term,” he said.
“So ‘pag kinuha ko ‘yan, umalis ako hindi tapos, may maiwan pa ‘yan. “See? I told you. Corruption. Tingnan mo ang ginawa. Iniwan pa na incomplete,” he added.
Duterte also warned Poe that he will raise the issue when the latter seeks reelection or run for higher office. /muf