Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 16)— Malacañang dismissed a call for Congess to grant President Rodrigo Duterte special powers to fast-track the administration’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, saying it is no longer a priority agenda of the administration.
In a statement Saturday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the proposed measure seeking to speed up the implementation of the flagship program is already overdue given that Duterte has less than three years left in office.
“We consider this proposed measure belated and no longer a priority legislative agenda of the President, given that we only have less than three years left in office,” Panelo said in response to House Bill 5456 or the “Flagship Emergency Act of 2019” filed by Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda on Wednesday.
Salceda’s proposal, if enacted, would allow the chief executive “to urgently utilize all necessary government resources, exercise police power, and employ executive actions and measures.” The House bill also seeks to prohibit courts, except the Supreme Court, to issue temporary restraining orders or any directive that could stop the flagship projects.
Malacañang, however, said Duterte will instead maximize the available policies under existing laws.
“One of the inherent powers of the State is the power of eminent domain where pertinent government offices, through the Office of the Solicitor General, may expropriate or initiate proceedings therefore to acquire private property for public use,” Panelo noted. “This power is particularly essential in securing rights of way, an issue that hampered the construction of vital infrastructure.”
The government’s revised Build, Build, Build program recently went through a major overhaul, with some several big-ticket infrastructure projects getting dropped from the original list.
Emergency powers were earlier sought for the President to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila. Duterte had given up on the proposal after it failed to hurdle the 17th Congress.
While Malacañang is appreciative, it says the proposed measure to grant the President special powers to speed up the implementation of the 'Build, Build, Build program' is no longer a priority given that Duterte only has three years left in office
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— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) November 16, 2019
