DAVAO CITY—Only this city’s airport had been inspected by transport officials seeking upgrade of facilities to ease transportation woes nationwide.
This prompted Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to express opposition to the grant of “blanket” emergency powers to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
At a hearing on the DOTr budget at the House, Alvarez grilled DOTr officials after learning that only the Davao City airport, out of 80 airports nationwide, had been inspected as part of plans to improve the efficiency of transport terminals to help ease road woes, not only in Metro Manila, but in other highly urbanized areas as well.
“Only one airport?” he told Transport Undersecretary for Airports Bobby Lim at the hearing for the proposed P55.4 billion 2017 budget of the DOTr.
“How will you address the problems of airports if you have not visited them?” he said.
“It cannot be that we’d allow blanket emergency powers,” Alvarez said. “We have to identify which areas will need emergency powers. It cannot be a blanket coverage.”
He also warned transport officials against conflict of interest as some of them had worked for companies involved, directly or indirectly, in the transportation business.
Alvarez had grilled Transportation Undersecretary for Railway Noel Kintanar, who had been vice president of a firm involved in several businesses, including transportation; Lim, former country manager of the International Air Transport Association; and Undersecretary for Land Transport Anneli Lontoc.
“Let us not fool ourselves. In every administration, private corporations put their people in departments covering their business,” Alvarez said.
“We want this administration to succeed, I and (Transport Secretary Arthur) Tugade are partners in ensuring that we all work for the interest of the government,” said Alvarez.
Tugade, however, said if he notices any conflict of interest in the actions of his team, “I will not wait for an investigation, I will fire them immediately.”
But he said he and his team should be given a chance to prove themselves worthy of emergency powers.
“We are aware of the issues and problems that make people mad and angry,” Tugade said. “This is why we need the special powers,” he said.
“We are all new in the job,” Tugade said. “Please give us that fleeting chance so we are able to perform our job.” Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao