The Philippine Lower House Committee on Transportation (COTr) unanimously approved in principle House Bill (H.B.) No. 4334, or the Traffic Crisis Act of 2016. The measure does not bestow emergency powers on any instrument of government as earlier pushed by the Department of Transportation.
In a statement, COTr said it deliberated on January 18 on some of the amendments to H.B. No. 4334 proposed by various government agencies, stakeholders, and representatives from the Lower House.
The draft act is the new version of the Traffic Crisis Bill filed by House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas, and COTr chairman and Catanduanes representative Cesar V. Sarmiento.
Proposed amendments include minor revisions to the areas to be covered by H.B No. 4334, as well as the provisions on the submission of the projects to be implemented to resolve the traffic crisis, and the social mechanisms for those to be affected by the rationalization of public utility vehicles.
As approved by the committee, the Traffic Crisis Bill is only focused on the crisis found in the land transportation system. The bill places the Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) at the helm as the Traffic Chief vested with powers to resolve the traffic problem.
COTr said, however, that “the Traffic Crisis Bill is not founded on the concept of emergency powers as provided for in Section 23 (2), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution.”
“Instead, the Bill merely seeks to harmonize and put order in the various traffic policies of the national government and the local government unit,” it noted.
The committee added that the bill also seeks to establish a Traffic Crisis Court in each metropolitan area that will have exclusive jurisdiction in hearing and quickly resolving all actions that may emanate from implementing the Traffic Crisis Bill.
With its approval, the Traffic Crisis Bill will be referred to the Committee on Appropriations for deliberations on the funding needed to implement it.
The bill’s counterpart in the Upper House, Senate Bill No. 1284, is one of the priority bills and is set to enter the period of interpellation.
