Mayor Isko Moreno said that he would support the proposal to give President Rodrigo Duterte an emergency power to address the traffic along Metro Manila.
In an interview after his meeting with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, Moreno said that he agrees with giving an emergency power to the President as long as they would put enough safeguards from it to avoid any misuse.
He pointed out that giving emergency power to the chief executive is not against the constitution, and they only need to ensure that the President would not mishandle it.
“Hindi ‘yung buong-buo. Lagyan mo ng mga tamang duda, karga mo ng konti doon sa probisyon para ‘pag merong abuso gagamitin mo ‘yung mga probisyon na ito. But ako lang ha…bakit hindi natin bigyan ng pagkakataon?” he said.
Moreno pointed out that as the President, it’s Duterte’s responsibility to address the traffic in Metro Manila, which according to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) costs the Philippines ₱5.4 billion daily.
“Di ba governance is about the people? Well, the people are happy with the leader, they have full trust… If he is the leader for that particular matter, ask Congress, ‘Congress, I need this, to implement this’ because that is his vision,” Moreno said.
Like Duterte, Moreno is also focused on solving the traffic and cleaning the streets of Manila.
On Friday, Senator Francis Tolentino pushed for another attempt to give President Duterte emergency power.
Tolentino claims that the proposal he passed to the Senate is better than its previous version that got shelved.