Piston: Emergency powers may result in corruption

POLITICAL WILL, not emergency powers.

A militant transport group on Monday warned against the use of emergency powers to solve the traffic problem in Metro Manila, saying it may lead to unchecked corruption.

According to George San Mateo,  president of the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston), “the emergency powers will… bypass government requirements such as public biddings. It [may] result in negotiated contracts with sovereign guarantees [for projects] for the Metro Rail Transit, Light Rail Transit and the like which are fertile grounds for corruption.”

He said that the granting of emergency powers would only put the country in the same predicament in 1993 when the Ramos administration, using emergency powers, signed contracts with independent power producers (IPPs) to address an energy crisis.

“Even if the IPPs didn’t produce any electricity, their income was guaranteed by the public,” San Mateo added.

Under Sen. Franklin Drilon’s Transportation Crisis Act of 2016, the President will be authorized to adopt alternative methods of procurement for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of transportation projects to solve the traffic crisis not only in Metro Manila but also in other urban areas.