Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. (davaotoday.com file photo)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Mayor Sara Duterte is pushing for the inclusion of Davao City in the areas to be covered by the proposed Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act.
Under the proposal, President Rodrigo Duterte will be granted with emergency powers to remedy the traffic crises in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized cities.
In a City Information Office dispatch today, the mayor announced her desire to include Davao City to be placed under the emergency powers of the President “just like Metro Manila and Cebu.”
The Congress concluded a public hearing on the traffic crisis in Davao City on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in a bid to consult the city’s transport sector and local officials about its inclusion in the bill that is currently being fine tuned.
During the hearing, Davao City Administrator Zuleika Lopez re-echoed Mayor Duterte’s position.
“With the way urban development in happening in Davao City now, there is an urgent need to complement these with effective measures and traffic mitigation programs,” said Lopez.
Lopez said the city is looking at various proposals to solve the traffic woes of the city, which includes management of the volume of car ownership, congestion management, elevated toll ways, mass transport system, walkways, bikeways, and multi-level parking facilities.
Tuesday’s hearing was presided by House Transportation Committee Chair Cesar V. Sarmiento and Deputy Speaker Raneo Raine Abu. It is the 9th in the series that was first conducted in Cebu.
The hearing was also attended by Committee Vice Chair Cesar Sarmiento and Land Transportation Office Asst. Sec. Edgar Galvante and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chair Martin Delgra. (davaotoday.com)
