Hell’s fury can’t compare

She insisted that no plans had been submitted to her by Tugade, whom she hardly gave a chance, as she already made it clear that she is against the emergency power grant since corruption follows.

What could have been almost done by way of easing the traffic crisis, not only in EDSA but probably all over Metro Manila streets, could have been enjoyed before the end of this year — had the Senate committee headed by Sen. Grace Poe acted on President Duterte’s request for emergency powers.

But no, Poe refused to budge to even begin giving Duterte’s Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade a chance to present his plan, insisting throughout that the Cabinet secretary had not bothered to present her his plan to ease the traffic crisis in EDSA, when all the while, there was a complete plan that was much earlier submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) where such programs are submitted in the first place.

Instead, Poe continued to give Tugade and, of course, Duterte, whom she seems to be punishing for having won the presidential elections when she wanted to win the presidency, a very hard time, refusing too many times to give in to the emergency powers being asked by Tugade, even claiming that emergency powers usher in corruption. This despite the fact that she had no evidence pointing to her claim of corruption by Tugade whose reputation is clean, especially as the traffic project had not even begun.

It was clear that Poe wanted Duterte, through Tugade, the President’s alter ego in the Transportation department, to virtually go down on his knees and beg her to approve the grant of emergency powers through a legislative measure.

Duterte would have nothing of it, and neither did Tugade want to beg before Poe, who really should be held to account for the worsening traffic crisis, even as she keeps on claiming that the crisis can be solved without the grant of emergency powers — as if the problematic right-of-way, as well as other project problems, can be solved with the snap of her fingers.

Yet Poe certainly must have realized even during the term of the yellow president that the traffic situation Filipinos in Metro Manila face today is the result of the accumulated problems that were clearly not acted upon over years of “non-performance and neglect,” as described by Tugade.

Former President Noynoy Aquino’s term was known to have underspent the budget, and the backlog of infrastructure, such as road and train projects, is the result of today’s traffic crisis, to which Poe contributes greatly by refusing to even listen to Tugade’s plans and projects speeded up through the grant of emergency powers.

Poe must have known this, yet she did nothing by way of her committee to act on the seriousness of the traffic crisis, and only because it is Duterte who is today the Philippine President, and not herself.

Tugade was quoted as saying in a television interview that the government is not into begging and will no longer push for the grant of emergency powers for the President to address the crisis, since, “We do not beg for emergency powers to solve the traffic problem.”

Poe certainly knows that the traffic crisis will eventually blow up in her face, and she will have no chance in 2022 to even dream of winning the presidency after Duterte’s term is over.

But Poe, during her committee hearing, claimed she now looks forward to the inputs of the resource persons during the technical working group (TWG) in crafting a bill that will fix the traffic mess in Mega Manila, saying that her “3Ps” should be in place before the passage of a law on traffic.

She sums up her “3Ps” as PPP, meaning plano (plan), pondo (funds) and pagsisiyasat (oversight).”

In seeking emergency powers, Duterte and Tugade certainly had the plan, the funds and she has the oversight right, but Poe refuses to listen, always claiming that the Transport chief had not presented his plans to her, even as he already submitted the plans to NEDA. But as she wanted Tugade and Duterte to beg and beg some more, she insisted that no plans had been submitted to her by Tugade, whom she hardly gave a chance, as she already made it clear that she is against the emergency power grant since corruption follows.

Poe still insists that “not everything is legislated. At times, you just need to bring people together… It might not be emergency powers, it can be just a traffic solution.”

Really? Can the following suggestions the TWG, urban planners, transportation experts and Department of Transportation representatives stated before the Poe panel be done without legislation and emergency powers in the quickest time possible?

They called for the need for better mass transportation to ease the traffic gridlock, incorporate provisions for lanes and parking spaces for bicycles, smart and well-made walkways, an intelligent transportation system and more parking buildings to declog streets.

The participants said development plans of cities should put a premium on the mobility of people to spur productivity and growth.

And all this can be done without legislation and without emergency powers in the quickest time possible? Really?

Poe still refuses to get it. The traffic crisis certainly can be solved faster with the grant of emergency powers but she apparently wants Duterte to fail.

Indeed, trust a scorned woman’s fury with which not even hell’s fury can compare.