Solon sees emergency powers as solution to 6-hour commute

A solon on Sunday cited anew the need to grant transportation officials emergency powers as commuters in Metro Manila spend as much as six hours traveling to and from work.

"Anim na oras ata ang nawawala sa ating mga kapatid, sa biyahe lang — tatlong oras papunta sa opisina, tatlong oras naman pauwi," House Transportation Committee chair and Samar 1st District Representative Edgar Mary Sarmiento said on Super Radyo dzBB.

Given the appalling situation, Sarmiento said there was a need to immediately address the traffic situation by granting emergency powers and placing all transportation-related agencies under the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Under the proposed Traffic Crisis Act, all agencies involving transportation such as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) would be placed under the DOTr.

The measure was passed on third and final reading at the House of Representatives, but it has yet to be passed into law.

"Binibigay sa Secretary ng Department of Transportation ang lahat na ng gagawin dapat ng DOTr, kung anong dapat gawin, under na po ng opisina ng DOTr lahat ng ahensya na dapat tutulong sa kanya," said Sarmiento.

"Hindi pa nakakalusot. Siguro, kung naibigay 'yun ng maaga aga, nagawa na siguro ng Secretary ng Transportaion ang kaniyang gagawin."

Talks of granting emergency powers have recently resurfaced, with patients dying on the way to hospital as ambulances find themselves stuck in traffic.

In a 2017 study, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) also estimated that the economic cost of the gridlock had increased to P3.5 billion.

A similar emergency powers measure had been filed in the Senate by Senator Francis Tolentino. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News