Message of the Chairman, Committee on Transportation Re: Meeting with the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (25 April 2017) Good afternoon everyone. I am Congressman Cesar V. Sarmiento, representing the Lone District of Catanduanes, an island province in the Bicol Region. I am also currently the Chairman of the Committee on Transportation for the 17 th Congress and was also the Chairman of the said Committee last 16 th Congress. I accepted your invitation and prepared for this meeting both out of gratitude and privilege . Out of gratitude because you, the different foreign chambers, through your business endeavors and social enterprises, have helped our economy and people in so many ways . I even remember specifically the benevolence of the American Chamber of Commerce Foundation in 2013 when they donated school supplies to elementary students and medicines to barangay health offices in Catanduanes. On behalf of the people in our province, thank you once again for that. I also joined this meeting out of privilege . It is my honor to begin working with you and strengthen this partnership that will hopefully bring significant reforms to our transportation sector. Let me outline my presentation for you today: I shall first discuss shortly the FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THE 16 TH TRANSPORTATION AND ITS CONGRESS . Then, I will discuss the LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES OF THE COMMITTEE . You will find out that your proposed legislative priorities- the Traffic Crisis Act, the CAAP law amendments and the creation of the Philippine Airport Development Corporation and National Transportation Safety Board- are also our priorities in the Committee. Then, as we end, we can have an OPEN FORUM ON THE TRANSPORTATION CONCERNS you want to air out. So, let me first introduce the Committee on Transportation. We are in charge of all bills, resolutions and other matters directly relating to land, rail, sea and air transportation . We also exercise oversight over the Department of Transportation and its sectoral and attached agencies . We are one of the biggest Committees in the House of Representatives, composed of 85 members, including one (1) Chairman and ten (10) Vice-Chairpersons. The Committee on Transportation also plays a special role insofar as the aviation sector is concerned. The Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008 established the Congressional Oversight Committee on CAAP (“COCCAAP”) composed of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and co-chaired by the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services. Page 1 of 12
The COCCAAP ensures the proper implementation of the charter and programs of CAAP and reviews its collection performance and its use of collected fund. On the legislation aspect of our job, I can say that we were very productive. During the 16 th Congress when I first became the Chairman of the Committee, we were able to facilitate the passage of six (6) major laws : 1) Republic Act No. 10635 (MARINA Single Maritime Administration Law); 2) Republic Act No. 10638 (Charter Extension of the Philippine National Railways); 3) Republic Act No. 10666 (Children on Motorcycle Safety Act); 4) Republic Act No. 10668 (Co-Loading Act); 5) Republic Act No. 10913 (Anti-Distracted Driving Act); and 6) Republic Act No. 10916 (Road Speed Limiter Act). During the end of the 16 th Congress, the Committee also launched the first- ever Transportation Policy Framework entitled, “Larga Pinas” with the intention of guiding the future Committee on Transportation and future transport officials. The book details: 1) The accomplishments of the Committee during the 16 th Congress through our law-making and oversight functions; 2) The issues observed by the Committee in all modes of transportation- land, rail, maritime and aviation; and 3) The Committee’s policy recommendations to address these issues. Based on the lessons that it had gained, the Committee on Transportation has come up with the ideal transport system which can be described in four (4) key words- sustainable, organized, predictable and safe or “ SOPS .” The motivation to establish a SOPS transport system in the Philippines guides all or our actions and priorities in the Committee on Transportation. ----PAUSE--- At the end of this meeting as well, we also plan to give each one of you a copy of our Larga Pinas book. We will surely make a second or updated version of this before the 17 th Congress ends. Page 2 of 12
Let me now go to the meat of our discussion- the Committee’s legislative priorities . Committee’s legislative priorities for the 17 th Congress Let me start with the Traffic Crisis Act. For you to appreciate this bill and better understand how the Committee approaches the issue on land transportation in general or what is going on in our minds, allow me to first share to you what we found out as “ An Inconvenient Truth “ in our transportation sector. What is the inconvenient truth? The “inconvenient truth” is that the Philippine transport system, rather than focusing on doing what it ought to do- which is to move people and goods- is being maintained and operated in a particular manner and to a great extent, to sustain the livelihood of people. Taking it further, it appears that the land transport system is designed not with the prime objective of transporting but to be a palliative solution to poverty. For example: Our land transport system does not prioritize sustainable mass transit which leaves less carbon footprint but instead maintains outdated and inefficient forms of transport which can only carry a few passengers so that the operators and drivers get to keep their jobs. Our land transport system does not also seek to determine the optimal number of public vehicles on the road but encourages new forms of transport so that more people would have livelihood but at the expense of congesting our roads. It must be stressed that this observation does not seek to discredit the role of the transport system as a source of livelihood. After all, operating a public transport vehicle or being a driver is a noble profession and the transport system presents various opportunities. Instead, the Committee has come to this conclusion to put things in perspective and to finally expressly state this painful truth which we should at least try to address if we are serious in solving the chaos we are in. And the Committee will try to correct the status quo through HOUSE BILL 4334 OR THE TRAFFIC CRISIS ACT. MAKIISA. MAKISAMA. MAGKAISA (loosely translate is ACT AS ONE, COOPERATE and UNIFY). This bill was crafted with the end view of providing an urgent, immediate, and comprehensive response to the traffic crisis , primarily by harmonizing overlapping and conflicting laws such as the Local Government Code and the respective charters of the transportation agencies. This measure seeks to simply use the plenary powers of Congress to enact a responsive law on the traffic crisis. Addressing the traffic crisis would entail a lot of changes and sacrifices; hence , the phrase “Makiisa. Makisama. Magkaisa.” which is a call to all- including the Joint Foreign Chambers- to collectively set aside personal interests for the sake of the general welfare of the people and economy. Page 3 of 12
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