President elect Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/EDWIN BACASMAS
The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has reiterated its call to grant emergency powers to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to solve the perennial problem of traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
MAP gov. Eduardo “Eddie” Yap said emergency powers would allow the incoming President to clear all roadblocks in the traffic flow, including local ordinances on parking and franchise of bus terminals.
READ: Edsa traffic jams: Rody exec eyes extra powers
“Hindi naman tayo pwedeng umasa sa Edsa lang eh. Kailangan natin mga alternate routes, eh kaso may mga permiso na pwedeng pumarada, pwedeng magtayo ng talyer o kung anu-ano. So kailangan may power si Presidente na i-override ‘yung mga ordinansa na ‘yan,” Yap said over Radyo Inquirer 990AM.
(We cannot rely on Edsa alone. We need alternate routes, but these are being used for parking or workshops and other establishments. The President needs special powers to override those ordinances.)
“Pangalawa ‘yung mga permiso na ibinigay sa mga bus terminals. Dito naman sa Edsa, sa Pasay, marami din diyan. Eh kada papasok ‘yung bus o lalabas apektado na ‘yung trapiko. Ang kailangan kasi sa isang highway tulad ng Edsa o C5, kailangan diyan tuluy-tuloy ang daloy ng trapiko diyan, hindi pwedeng pahintu-hinto. Sa laki ng volume ng sasakyan, kailangan tuluy-tuloy ang daloy para ma-clear,” he added.
(We also need to look at the bus permits given to bus terminals like those in Pasay. Each time a bus enters or exits a terminal, traffic is stalled. Traffic on highways like Edsa and C5 needs to be uninterrupted. Because of the high volume of vehicles, the roads should be clear to pave the way for continuous flow of traffic.)
READ: ‘Give Duterte emergency powers to solve Metro traffic’
Emergency powers are a prerogative that can be invoked when the country is in a state of war or nationwide calamity.
Yap said emergency powers were needed to allow the creation of a bus consortium in the capital for a more organized public transportation system.
“Sa dami ng mga bus natin, halimbawa sa Edsa nakikita natin libu-libo ‘yung operasyon at ang daming prangkisa, kailangang i-organize ‘yan. Hindi pwedeng isang kalakihang siyudad katulad ng Metro Manila, hindi pwede ‘yung kanya-kanya ang sistema ng public transportation. Kinakailangan maayos, organized, isang system. Kaya without emergency powers, hindi magagawa ‘yan,” he said.
(We need to organize the number of buses and thousands of other vehicles plying Edsa and other highways. Several public transportation systems won’t work in a big city like Metro Manila. We need a system that is orderly and organized. But without the emergency powers, we cannot achieve that.)
Yap noted that a combination of management and engineering measures were needed to solve the metro traffic, which has been dubbed one of the worst in the world.
He also expressed optimism on the choice of Duterte to head the Department of Transportation and Communications, in the person of Arthur Tugade.
“Kaya itong si incoming secretary Tugade, nag-meeting kami, ipinakita namin sa kanya ‘yung mga tinatawag na short-term, medium-term, at long-term solutions, dahil hindi tayo pwedeng umasa lang sa long-term solutions dahil araw-araw ‘yung problema nandidiyan,” Yap said.
(We met with incoming secretary Tugade and presented him our proposals for short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions because we cannot rely on long-term solutions alone because we face different problems every day.)
“Natutuwa ako kasi nakikita ko si secretary Tugade ‘yung ika nga desidido talaga na ayusin ‘tong problema. Nakikita niya na malala talaga,” he added.
(I am happy because I can see Secretary Tugade’s desire to solve the problem. He sees how bad things really are.) IDL/rga