Approve emergency powers bill, JV Ejercito echoes

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. LYN RILLON/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Friday rallied behind calls for the immediate approval of the emergency powers bill that would also expedite the implementation of transportation projects, saying the country is already 20 years behind in terms of infrastructure development.

“There really is an urgency to pass the bill granting emergency powers to the President so that big ticket infrastructure projects specially the railways can be expedited at the soonest possible time,” Ejercito, one of the principal authors of the bill, said in a text message.

“With the volume of new vehicles added to the streets every month, we need to act on this yesterday!” he added.

The senator believes that the country is already “20 years behind in terms of infrastructure development specially the railway system.”

Ejercito was reacting to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade’s call for Congress to immediately grant President Rodrigo Duterte’s emergency powers to avoid delays in the implementation of transportation projects.

Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, has repeatedly expressed her hope to have the bill passed in the chamber before the year ends.

She said her committee had already started crafting a partial report on the bill while holding technical working group meetings.

Ejercito was confident that the bill would get the approval of the chamber.

“I would think the majority of the senator are supportive of this measure given the worsening traffic condition,” he said.

Asked about Poe’s earlier statement that they might not allow the implementation of the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Metro Manila study, Ejercito said studies and estimates on big-ticket projects would take time and that the Department of Transportation headed by Tugade could not be expected to submit a “comprehensive plan” in just a few weeks or months.

READ: Poe: Senate body tepid on proposed bus rapid transit system

Ejercito, however, agreed that the BTR system needs further study.

“I would prefer improvement of MRT since infrastructure is already in place,” he said.

“There is just a need to add more trains and rehabilitate the existing rails,” Ejercito added. RAM/rga