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Arroyo, Fernando push for Metro Manila Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 …Former President and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Marikina Rep. Bayani Fernando have jointly initiated the passage of a measure that seeks to solve the traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

Both lawmakers have endorsed House Bill (HB) 554 or the “Metro Manila Traffic Crisis Act of 2016” that prescribes measures crucial in effectively addressing

the traffic crisis in Metro Manila. The proposed bill has been referred to the House Committee on Metro Manila Development for its appropriate consideration and action.

“The current traffic congestion in Metro Manila has reached a crisis situation, impeding progress and leads to a situation wherein billions are lost daily in fuel cost, man hours and opportunities,” the two lawmakers emphasized.

A Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) report estimates that Metro Manila’s traffic jams are costing the Philippine economy about P2.4 billion pesos a day in potential income. JICA warned that the figure could balloon to P6 billion a day by 2030 if the government fails to address the daily gridlock in the country’s capital.

The proposed measure mandates the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to allocate 10% of its annual aggregate gross earnings for the next 5 years as subsidy to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Both lawmakers also stressed that all contractors would have to accelerate the implementation and completion of infrastructure projects in Metro Manila in order to decongest it.

The proposed bill grants the President power to enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of critical infrastructure projects and facilities, subject to the following requirements:

a) In order to inform competitive contracts, the list of projects to be undertaken under this Act, together with their description, the budgetary estimates involved and other salient features, shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation 30 days after the effectivity of the measure;

b) Upon perfection of the contract, the terms and conditions of the same, with the name and qualification of the contractor, shall likewise be published in a newspaper of general circulation 2 weeks before the signing of the contract;

c) The contracts shall be awarded only to contractors with: (i) proven competence and experience in similar projects; (ii) competent key personnel and sufficient and reliable equipment and (iii) sound financial capacity; and

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d) All the awarded projects shall be subject to existing government auditing rules and regulations governing negotiated contract.

The bill empowers the President to reorganize the MMDA to make it more effective, innovative and responsive to the traffic crisis in Metro Manila. It also allows the President to upgrade the compensation of the personnel of the MMDA who are involved in traffic reduction to take effect upon approval by Congress of the MMDA’s budget for 2017.

The bill also mandates the creation of an Oversight Committee in each chamber of Congress to be composed of 5 members of each, as may be designated by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to monitor the implementation of the law and the exercise of the authority granted under the approved measure.

HB 554 is among the proposed measures that grant President Duterte emergency powers to solve the traffic crisis in the country that has been crippling the economy for decades now.

While waiting for the passage of the emergency powers bill, the Department of Transportation (DOTr has been implementing a number of measures that seek to alleviate traffic congestion in the country’s capital.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has ordered the MMDA, the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and the agencies attached to the DOTr to solidify traffic enforcement by coming up with just 1 chain of command. He has ordered that Metro Manila be split into at least 10 traffic sectors, each to have a sectoral head. He has also ordered the agencies to come up with uniform penalties for traffic violations and traffic personnel to undergo joint training.

These measures will help, but they are just temporary. Emergency powers are still necessary, and must be granted immediately.

…as Congress finalizes bill granting Duterte emergency powers

The House Committee on Transportation has approved the creation of a technical working group (TWG) or subcommittee that will consolidate the 10 bills filed by House members seeking to grant President Duterte emergency powers to address the traffic crisis in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Public Services has concluded public hearings on the emergency powers sought by the current administration to fix the country's worsening traffic situation and hasten the implementation of key infrastructure projects.

The House committee on Transportation led by Catanduanes Representative Cesar Sarmiento said since committee hearings in the House are suspended from September 26 to October 7, 2016 to give way to the plenary deliberations on the 2017 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), the TWG on the emergency powers bill will be able to start holding meetings after this period.

“After Oct. 7, that will be the time the TWG can meet and invite resource persons. Before the congressional break on Oct. 22, we will meet and then present to the mother committee what we’ve agreed upon,” Rep. Sarmiento said.

Rep. Sarmiento is optimistic that the TWG will be done with the substitute bill by November and be able to present the measure to the committee on transportation before the House goes on a holiday break. He said the bill will subsequently be referred to the committee on appropriations because of the funding component.

Emergency powers must be granted immediately.

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The emergency powers bill is among the measures included in the legislative agenda of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez for the 17th Congress. Its swift approval is expected given that it is backed by both the executive and legislative branches.

Pursuant to Article VI, Section 23 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, Speaker Alvarez said the proposed bill authorizes the President to exercise emergency powers to effectively respond “to the multiple problems caused by the worsening and debilitating land and air traffic crisis in the country.”

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe is positive that the emergency powers bill will hurdle the Upper Chamber by December.

Sen. Poe emphasized the need to solve traffic in the country’s capital, saying that Metro Manila residents spend an estimated 1,000 hours a year in traffic, while other countries in the world spend only 300 hours.

The proposed bill, once approved, would grant President Duterte the power to do away with tedious public bidding and instead use alternative procurement methods. The bill would also ensure that the implementation of transportation projects will proceed "unhampered by existing laws, agreements, regulations, court orders and procedures that may cause delay in addressing the crisis." The emergency powers will last for 2 years.

The emergency powers bill also authorizes Pres. Duterte to reorganize the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), and all other agencies in the transportation sector and rationalize their functions.

The measure appoints the Transportation secretary as Traffic Crisis Manager who will have the power to exercise overall land, air and sea traffic management and control.

Senator Poe also said the committee is studying to include a provision in the emergency powers bill that would incorporate (ICT) based solutions to solve traffic, specifically on the immediate issuance of permits for cell sites to help make Internet faster and promote work-from-home scheme.

Earlier, DOTr submitted its own draft emergency powers bill and the list of sectoral projects that the agency will implement to address the traffic and congestion crisis in the country. Among the key projects are (see table below):

ROAD SECTOR• Metro Bus Rapid Transit Line 1• Metro Bus Rapid Transit Line 2• Integrated Transport System Southwest Terminal along Coastal Road• Integrated Transport System South Terminal, FTI Compound• Improvement of existing national roads

RAIL SECTOR• Procurement of new train coaches• LRT Line 1 extension to Cavite• LRT Line 2 extension to Masinag, Antipolo• LRT Line 2 extension to Pier 4• Increase of MRT3 capacity to include procurement of new carts and general overhaul• Construction of Line 4 from Taytay, Rizal to Pureza• Construction of Line 5a from Makati CBD utilizing existing tunnel• Construction of Line 5–subway connecting existing business districts• Construction of Line 6 from Niyog, Cavite to Dasmariñas, Cavite via Aguinaldo hiway• Construction of Line 7 from North EDSA to San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan via Commonwealth Ave• Extension of PNR North Commuter from Tutuban to Malolos, Bulacan to Clark, Pampanga• Extension of PNR South Commuter from Tutuban to Los Banos, Laguna• Construction of Mindanao Rail, Cebu Rail, and Central Philippines Rail

AIR TRANSPORT• Construction of exit taxiways, runway overlay and additional CCTVs• Improvements in domestic airports to allow night-time flights• Decongest NAIA traffic. Legislation is needed to allow the government to redistribute air traffic while promoting air connectivity in other alternative gateways

Metro Manila residents spend an estimated 1,000 hours a year in traffic, while other countries in the world spend only 300 hours.

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Ejercito proposes housing bills

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito is pushing for the passage of a law that provides for the creation of housing department, as well as the promotion of an in-city relocation project to address the housing problems in the Philippines.

The Philippine housing sector remains unresolved as it continues to face the same challenges over the years – the need for affordable housing, limited access to housing finance, and the need to relocate families and households to a safer place.

Sen. JV Ejercito, head of the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement, has re-filed his bill that would create a Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHUD). The creation of a full-fledged housing department was low priority in the past administrations. Sen. Ejercito said the bill was almost passed in the 16th Congress as it was already on its 3rd reading, but a quorum didn’t push through due to the May 2016 national elections.

Based on recent data from the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the country has a housing backlog of some 5.5 million units, and a growing number of 1.4 million informal settler families. If enacted into law, the DHUD is intended to address the 2. The DHUD would also consolidate and coordinate the functions and powers of the different key shelter agencies (i.e. HUDCC; Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board [HLURB]; National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation [NHMFC]; Home Guaranty Corporation [HGC]; Home Development Mutual Fund [HDMF];

and National Housing Authority [NHA]), so as to fast-track the country’s housing needs. “The housing sector desperately needs a full-fledged Housing Department that would serve as the sole and main planning and policy-making, regulatory, program coordination, and performance monitoring entity for all housing and urban development concerns,” Sen. Ejercito noted.

Aside from the creation of the DHUD, Sen. Ejercito also urged the Senate to pass the On-site, In-city- or Near-city Resettlement Act. This will help the government evaluate whether an off-city relocation to areas such as Rizal, Bulacan and Cavite would still be practical, given that most of the relocated informal settlers move back to Metro Manila due to lack of job opportunities and lack of access to public services. “It is high time that the government provide for a sustainable and viable resettlement program within cities and no longer at faraway places in order to provide employment and transportation access for informal settler families,” Sen. Ejercito said. Given this, the senator believes that in-city resettlement would be a more effective measure primarily because it has already been accomplished in his hometown, San Juan City. The program was launched by his mother, San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez.

With the appointment of Vice President Leni Robredo as chairperson of the HUDCC, Sen. Ejercito is confident that the vice president can effectively address the impending issues of the housing sector. There is, and has been for a very long time, a need to build and provide sustainable and resilient housing for the poor, wherein natural and man-made calamities are taken into consideration since these greatly affect not just their properties, but their livelihoods as well.

Despite the alarming increase in housing backlog and informal settlers, the housing sector seems to be the government’s least priority.

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development seeks to facilitate faster response to housing needs.