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Gloria Arroyo to file critical bill even on hospital arrest
Quote:
Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, is poised to file the proposed “Metro Manila Traffic Crisis Act of 2016,” which seeks to grant President-elect Rodrigo Duterte special powers to address the humongous traffic problem in Metro Manila.
In a draft of the bill sent to the Inquirer, Arroyo proposed a number of measures authorizing Duterte to enter negotiated contracts for traffic and transportation projects without bidding, and to reorganize the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), among other powers.
The special authority will be effective for two years unless sooner withdrawn by Congress, according to the bill.
On Monday, designated Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade announced plans of the Duterte administration to declare a traffic crisis in Mega Manila and seek emergency powers to deal with the problem in two years, citing a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency that P2.4 billion is lost to the capital’s monster gridlock daily.
"Our quality of life has been bastardized,” Tugade said.
Transport and traffic problems have deteriorated, shaming Filipinos here and abroad, he said. “If our life has been bastardized and this is not a crisis, what is a crisis?” he said.
Explanatory note
In an explanatory note, Arroyo, who is under hospital arrest on a plunder charge, said traffic congestion in the nation’s capital “impedes progress and leads to a situation where billions are lost daily in fuel cost, man hours and opportunities.”
“The Duterte government aims for an annual growth rate of at least 7 percent to make a significant dent on poverty. One of the ways to speed up growth is to get infrastructure moving, either by government or by build-operate-transfer (BOT) or any of its variants,” she said.
“Contractors would have to accelerate the implementation and completion of infrastructure projects in Metro Manila in order to decongest it. Drastic traffic reduction measures also need to be undertaken through traffic management reforms,” Arroyo said.
[Under her proposal, the President may enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of critical infrastructure, projects and facilities, subject to certain conditions.
The conditions include the publication of the list of projects to be undertaken, including budgetary estimates, and the winning contractors having “proven competence and experience in similar projects, competent key personnel and sufficient and reliable equipment, and sound financial capacity.”
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