Alvarez says traffic, railway breakdown still a problem in Duterte’s first 100 days

SPEAKER Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez on Monday lamented that the problems such as the breakdowns of the railway system and the traffic crisis continue to hound the first 100 days of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a press briefing, Alvarez said he felt like the first 100 days of the President already felt like a year into the administration for having some significant achievements.

“Well, yung assessment ko personally parang ano na, parang first one year na nung administration, dahil ang dami ng nangyari. I-compare mo dun sa mga previous administrations, yung 100 days halos hindi mo maramdaman,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said the Duterte administration succeeded in bringing down the criminality rate in his first 100 days by targeting suspected drug personalities.

“At least ngayon tingnan mo yung drop ng criminality, it has dropped to about 50 percent at least. Malaking bagay ho iyon,” Alvarez said.

He lamented though that the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines continue to suffer breakdowns even though the administration vowed to fix this problem.

“Hanggang ngayon problema pa rin, may tumitirik pa rin na tren. Iprinivatize na yan di ba? May mga lines na na-private corporations yung nagpapatakbo, hindi na dapat nangyayari yon,” Alvarez said.

He said the condition of the trains has not improved even though the services in the MRT and LRT were privatized.

“Saka yung nakikita mo yung train na minsan hindi nagsasara, minsan naman sobrang bilis nung pagsara, e hindi ko maintindihan bakit ganun. Supposed to be privatized yan nung nakaraang administrasyon para i-address yung problema kuno, but until now walang nangyayari Siguro yun kailangan talaga i-adress yung problema na yan,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez added that traffic remains a big headache, especially in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, reiterating his call to grant Duterte emergency powers to resolve this.

“Sad to say, wala pa akong nararamdaman na improvement as far as traffic is concerned sa Metro Manila and maybe Metro Cebu. Pero hindi lang naman ito tungkulin ng national government kundi more on local government po ito, ang pag-address ng traffic problems,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said he does not oppose granting Duterte emergency powers as long as these are well-defined.

“Okay naman tayo dyan sa emergency powers na yan. Basta defined lang kung anong areas no. Hindi naman yung shotgun na bibigyan natin ng emergency powers. Kailangan naka- specify po yung mga areas kung saan kailangan ng emergency powers,” he said.

Alvarez lauded Duterte for shifting to a more independent foreign policy, as the president called for an end to military joint agreements with the United States while vowing to strengthen ties with Russia and China.

“So far naman sa nakikita ko, maganda naman yung nagiging foreign policy ng Presidente. Bakit? Dahil pinapakita niya, pinaglalaban niya yung sovereignty ng nation, ng bansa. Whereas before, sunud-sunuran lang tayo sa mga western countries, lalung-lalo na yung Amerika, Europe,” Alvarez said.

“Ngayon, siguro for the first time nakikita natin na sinusulong yung national interest ng Pilipinas at naninibago tayo,” he added.