By Kathleen Mae P. Guerrero and Pauline Faye V. Tria THE COUNTRY'S traffic problem is a matter of national emergency that calls for the granting of emergency powers on President Rodrigo Duterte, a Thomasian urban planner claimed on Sept. 23. In a lecture given at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati, Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr., an architect from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), reiterated that traffic is the country’s most pressing challenge. “Metro Manila has the highest potential development center,” Palafox said. “We can be 400 Singapores, 350 Hong Kongs, three times Taiwan.”
“To answer the problem of chronic traffic congestion was a more complicated issue: it being a symptom of poor planning and, at the same time, being the root of other problems,” he added. Palafox said he supports the granting of emergency powers to the president as long as he delivers the right scope of work without delay. He said granting Duterte emergency powers would help alleviate the traffic crisis in Metro Manila and would accelerate bidding and procurement procedures for necessary road infrastructure projects. According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, in a state of emergency, the President can be granted emergency powers, given that the emergency affects economic growth, natural disaster, and national security. The crisis must also be declared by the Congress in order for the President to exercise emergency powers. Traffic a stumbling block to PHL’s economic growth Palafox noted that according to a 2012 projection by the international bank HSBC, the Philippines is set to be the 19th strongest economy in the world by 2021 and 16th by 2025, but the heavy traffic and inefficient mass transport system hinders the country’s economic growth. He also cited corruption, drugs, and criminality as factors that impede the Philippines from becoming a strategic center of Asia Pacific. Palafox also said the government must provide an order of prioritization of transportation by utilizing waterways to be used for transport, upgrading and maximizing other airports outside of Metro Manila. “The government should be exemplar. Open up the government lands before they go to private subdivisions. And the government should repave the roads of the private roads for public use,” he pointed out. Subdivisions located in cities must be moved to the suburbs, considering it as a long-term solution for decongesting Metro Manila, Palafox suggested. “I think Metro Manila is the only place in the world where you have mansions in major cities,” he said. “In Manhattan, people live in condominiums.” E
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